NOTES for Joh 13:1-20

Of course, Peter and the other apostles were embarrassed. No wonder: the King of Israel washes their feet and performs a slave's work! Surely many of us would dislike it if the person we love most began doing something humiliating and improper. Yet this foot washing is a decisive moment in the history of Jesus' relationship with His disciples; those who dislike it may leave. Why is it so important? Apparently, it is impossible to understand the Lord and follow Him without learning through experience this lesson in which the Master serves His juniors and the Teacher His disciples. As the text says, this is an example, but not an example on a blackboard or in a picture. Peter and all of us must pass through this shock so that we will never again be shocked by the thought that we too must serve those who are smaller and weaker than we are.