“I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me”. We need to accept God in our life and if we accept him we should praise him everyday and say thank you for what he has done for us.

This passage partly answers the question, did Jesus come to save us or set an example for us. Even though his purpose was our salvation from sin, here he clearly says, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (v 15)

13:14-15 How humble Jesus is to wash the feet of the disciples and asked them to do the same. Even if we don’t wash the feet of others literally, it shows us how humble we need to be.

Jesus washing his disciples feet displays humility and love. He wants us to imitate him.

Jesus was very humble that he washed his disciples feet–we should be humble too. “Jesus knew it before that Judas is going to betray him” –Jesus knows everyone’s heart.

We find Peter as a person who always opens his heart and speaks out. He never hid his feelings. – Let us not hide or feel shy in expressing our thoughts. Come out openly and speak out. It will give a chance for us to get corrected, if wrong.

Power + Humility In modern times, Vulnerability and Power are generally considered opposite. The more vulnerable, the less power you have. But here we see that is not true.
Both power and vulnerability go together. They both can coexist peacefully in a Christian.
Jesus the ultimate powerful ( no servant his greater than his master – no denying that) dispenses His Power for washing the feet of disciples (in practice).
By washing, He still remains our Master but we know “what kind” of Master we have. His Power over us is magnified by this humble act not diminished.
There is something majestic when power is combined with humility. Let us not get worried by power but see if there is humility- that is the missing part.

By washing the feet of the disciples and encouraging us to do the same for one another, Jesus is inviting us to see the beauty of Salvation. At least, a dimension of Salvation. If we define Sin as a Fall from its intended purpose, then this event clearly brings us back to our original state of being created to serve/respect/love one another.

Jesus wants to wash away our sins. He knows we are dirty.

Vs 12 – ” Do you understand what I have done for you”?Jesus washes the unclean feet of His disciples .
Vs 18 – ” he who shared my bread has turned against me”.
The sting of betrayal
Love covers a multitude of sins.

In the first part of the chapter we could see how Jesus humbled himself and washed the disciples feet.

1. Holy bath
– Jesus answered “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet;their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you” (v19).
-His disciples have already had a holy bath through His Word. They had an unshakeable faith and personal relationship with Jesus that made them very clean (except Judas).
2. Humble
-Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master… (v16). Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet…(v14).
-Like I humbled myself to wash my disciples feet, you should also humble yourself to anyone. I have set you this example!
3. Honor
-Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me (v20).
-If I get accepted and honored, you too get accepted and honored! If I get glorified by Father, you too get glorified!

Jesus demonstrated real posture of service. “Got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself…” (V.5). Jesus has set us an example, let’s follow it in real sense.

Jesus is very clear that he wants us to do what he has done for us. Are we humble like Jesus?Jesus washed the feet’s of all the disciples in spite of knowing one of them is against him.
Are we humble to people who are against us?

Jesus sets an example of servant leadership. Leader should serve people, it should not be the other way. Jesus showed humbleness to Judas also who betrayed Him. It shows the power of Love. If we regard others more important than yourselves (Phil 2:3) its the starting point of humbleness.

Jesus when he was in the world knew the time he was going to leave this world, even then he was relaxed and he humbled himself. If we knew the time when we are going to leave this world,what would be our thoughts and reactions? Would we be like Jesus?

Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray Him, but He didn’t treat him differently from the other disciples. He treated everyone equally.
Though He knew what was going to happen, He waited patiently to complete His ministry by teaching the disciples what they must do. He created the next leaders to follow His footsteps.
If the same position comes to us, what would we do? Would we be teachers to teach the betrayer too or would we show vengeance against the betrayer?

Theoretically, we will be like Jesus and we wish to be so. But what we are, will be revealed only when we are put in a similar situation (fire). What I would like to do now is to utilize the smaller opportunities to inherit the characteristics of Jesus. I shouldn’t be waiting for something big to happen to show my humbleness.