John 13:14

If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. IF I THEN, YOUR LORD AND MASTER, HAVE WASHED YOUR FEET (O YE SERVANTS), YE ALSO (WHO ARE BUT FELLOW-SERVANTS), OUGHT TO WASH ONE ANOTHER'S FEET - not in the narrow sense of a literal washing, profanely caricatured by Popes and Emperors, but by the very humblest real services one to another....

14._If then I, who am your Lord and Master. _This is an argument from the greater to the less. Pride hinders us from maintaining that equality which ought to exist amongst us. But Christ, who is far exalted above all others, stoops down, that he may make the proud men ashamed, who, forgetting their station and rank, look upon themselves as not bound to hold intercourse with the brethren. For what does a mortal man imagine himself to be, when he refuses to bear the burdens of brethren, to accommodate himself to their customs, and, in short, to perform those offices by which the unity of the Church is maintained? In short, he means that the man who does not think of associating with weak brethren, on the condition of submitting mildly and gently even to offices which appear to be mean, claims more than he has a right to claim, and has too high an opinion of himself. (47)...

1-17 Our Lord Jesus has a people in the world that are his own; he has purchased them, and paid dear for them, and he has set them apart for himself; they devote themselves to him as a peculiar people. Those whom Christ loves, he loves to the end. Nothing can separate a true believer from the love of Christ. We know not when our hour will come, therefore what we have to do in constant preparation for it, ought never to be undone. What way of access the devil has to men's hearts we cannot tell. But some sins are so exceedingly sinful, and there is so little temptation to them from the world and the flesh, that it is plain they are directly from Satan. Jesus washed his disciples' feet, that he might teach us to think nothing below us, wherein we may promote God's glory, and the good of our brethren. We must address ourselves to duty, and must lay aside every thing that would hinder us in...

Verse John 13:14. _YE ALSO OUGHT TO WASH ONE ANOTHER FEET._] That is, ye should be ready, after my example, to condescend to all the weakness of your brethren; to be willing to do the meanest offices for them, and to prefer the least of them in honour to yourselves....

YE ALSO OUGHT TO WASH ... - Some have understood this literally as instituting a religious rite which we ought to observe; but this was evidently not the design; because: * There is no evidence that Jesus intended it as a religious observance, like the Lord’s Supper or the ordinance of baptism. * It was not observed by the apostles or the primitive Christians as a religious rite. * It was a rite of hospitality among the Jews, a common, well-known thing, and performed by servants. * It is the manifest design of Jesus here to inculcate a lesson of humility; to teach them by his example that they ought to condescend to the most humble offices for the benefit of others. They ought not to be proud, and vain, and unwilling to occupy a low place, but to regard themselves as the servants of each other, and as willing to befriend each other in every way. And especially as they were to be...

EXPOSITION IV. THE FINAL MANIFESTATIONS IN WORD AND ACTION OF THE LOGOS INCARNATE, EXPRESSING ITSELF ABSOLUTELY AND TO THE UTTERMOST AS LOVE. (Jn 13-21.) In two divisions— A._ The inner glorification of the Christ in the presence of those who received and believed on him_. *** The Loges incarnate as life, light, love, and sacrifice, lavishing all his grace upon his own (Jn 13-17.). B._ The outer glorification of the Christ in his Passion and resurrection_. *** The fully manifested love laying down life that he might take it again, and lift

IF I THEN YOUR LORD AND MASTER,.... Christ argues from these titles and characters, which his disciples rightly gave him, and from what he had done to them, though he stood in such a superior relation to them, to their duty one towards another; that since, says he, I HAVE WASHED YOUR FEET, YE ALSO OUGHT TO WASH ONE ANOTHER'S FEET: by which he does not mean barely, that they should perform this single action; but as this was an instance of humility and condescension, and doing a good office to strangers and travellers, and was afterwards an expression of love to the saints, see 1 Timothy 5:10, so he would teach them hereby, to behave in a spirit of humility and condescension to one another, to do every kind and good office, and by love to serve one another in all things....

John 13:1. _Now before the feast of the passover,_ Or, just as it was about to begin, John 13:1. _When Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end._ That is a very beautiful description of Christ's death: «His hour was that he should depart out of this world unto the Father,» just as though he was merely going on a journey, leaving one land for another; and if this be a fair description of such a stormy passage as that of our Lord Jesus, who died for our sins upon Calvary's cross, it must with equal truth describe the death of any of the children of God. There is also an appointed time for us to depart, and to be with Christ which is far better than remaining h

CHAPTER 13 _ 1. The Washing of the Disciples' Feet. (John 13:1 .)_ 2. Instructions given; to Wash One Another's Feet. (John 13:12 .) 3. The Betrayal Foretold. (John 13:18 .) 4. His Own Departure and the New Commandment. (John 13:31 .) 5. The Denial of Peter Foretold. (John 13:36 .) We reach with this chapter the most precious portion of this Gospel. The multitudes are left behind. Israel has completely rejected Him and now He gathered His own beloved disciples around Himself and gave them the sweet and blessed words of in

THE MEANING OF THE ACT: THE ONE EXCEPTION. The disciples recognise in Him their teacher and master. They should, therefore, follow His example by helping each other even in the lowliest services. The Master had set an example which the slave need not be ashamed to copy. If they realise that by doing such things He has made it their duty to do the same, then they will be happy in the doing of them. He returns to the theme of the traitor. He knows, as they do not, the character of each disciple whom He has chosen. But it had to be. The Scripture must be fulfilled (Psalms 41:9). He has warned them, that when the event happens, instead of being discouraged, they may recognise in the fulfilment of prophecy a proof of what He is. In John 13:20 the author adds that acts of humility will not degrade them, but prove them t