‘Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, and laying aside his top clothes, took a towel and wrapped it round him. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet, and to wipe them with the towel he had wrapped around himself.'
The contrast given here is deliberate and striking. Judas was set on the pathway of greed and betrayal. Jesus was set on the pathway of humility and loving service. For in full knowledge of His glorious status as the One into Whose hands ‘all things' had been delivered, and as the One Who had come from God and was returning to God, He performed the duties of the lowest servant. He put off His robe and vest and, deliberately cladding Himself like a slave, began to wash the disciples' feet. Here He was depicting in an earthly setting the amazing humility He had shown when ‘being in the form of God He thought not equality with God a thing to be grasped at, but humbled Himself, taking on Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man' (Philippians 2:6-7). To Him humble service was the prime honour.
‘Began to' probably simply prepares for the interruption that will shortly come. It is doubtful if we are to see in it the sacramental significance that He would go on doing so through the years.
We have to be careful what we read into what is said here. John gives no hint that the disciples had somehow been remiss. It is true that when people in the Middle East entered a house to dine it was the custom of a servant of the house to wash their feet, to remove the dust and grime accumulated in their journeying on the dusty roads, and that Jesus is copying this act. But His action was ‘during the supper' and ‘He rose from supper' in order to do it, while the feet washing would have occurred some time before the meal, i.e. before the supper commenced. It had quite possibly been performed by a servant of the owner of the house.
It is hardly possible to believe that if Jesus had risen to perform the menial task of washing their dirty feet there would not have been an outcry and a rush of willing volunteers, or that Peter would have waited for Jesus to get round to him before he did something. Had it been the normal feet-washing impetuous Peter would surely have protested immediately and risen to take over from Jesus saying, ‘Be it far from you, O Lord', even if he had then suggested that someone else do it. It is true, of course, that they were proud. But they were surely not so proud that they would have allowed Jesus to get on with it without making at least some move from themselves. The fact that they did not make such a move suggests they saw the whole thing as unusual and did not know what to do because they were not sure what Jesus was doing.
Besides it is specifically pointed out that His action was symbolic. Thus we are not to see here that Jesus was rebuking His disciples, but rather that He was teaching them lessons through an acted out parable. It may well be that His action followed their discussions as to which of them would be the greatest (Luke 22:24), in which case a quiet rising at that point to wash their feet would have been all the answer to that question that He needed to give. He was thereby bringing out that they were not to think of greatness but of being servants.
It does, however, turn out that His action had a deeper significance even than that, and we must ask, What was Jesus seeking to convey to them? His action was truly an action of humility, but it soon becomes clear that He wanted the disciples later to look back and remember what He had done. He wanted them to recognise that He had had one thing more to do for them. He wanted them to recognise that in going to the cross He was going there for their benefit, so that there might be for them a way of total cleansing. He had done much for them, but one thing further was necessary. He must die for them, His final service for them on earth.
Some, however do consider that what happened was that as there was no servant present at a meeting that had been deliberately kept secret, Jesus waited to see if any of His disciples would take the lower place. And that as they all went and lay at the table, and then discussed who was the greatest, Jesus, after a short pause, arose to teach them a vital lesson for the future. Only He was the greatest and yet He was the servant of all. This may have been so, but as mentioned above it does not seem to fit in with the timing mentioned or with what we would expect of normal human beings. And even if it was we must not allow it to take away from us the main significance of His act which was symbolic and demonstrating that He was about to humble Himself deeply at the cross so that cleansing might be available to them all.