Happiness comes from applying doctrine and not just knowing it. John 13:14

John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

 

John 13:2And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him,

 

John 13:3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God, and was going back to God,

 

John 13:4 rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about.

 

John 13:5 Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

 

As the participants in a Passover meal came to the place where it was customary to wash the feet, either a servant would be provided to do the washing or the one in the lowest position would assume a servant’s role and wash the feet of all at the meal. The submission to the washing was a sign of confession of the need for cleansing and an affirmation of faith that when Messiah came, He would provide cleansing for His people. None of the dis­ciples would have thought of arising from the table to wash the feet of those present, for that would have been a public announcement that they considered themselves the least, when each one wanted to be the greatest. Their failure to put themselves in a servant’s place revealed their own insecurity.

 

In contrast to their insecurity, the Lord, knowing His victory, is completely secure and therefore able to take the position of a servant.

 

This shows us the importance of SSE in Christian service.

 

John 13:6 And so He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, "Lord, do You wash my feet?"

 

John 13:7 Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do you do not realize now, but you shall understand hereafter."

 

         

John 13:8 Peter said to Him, "Never shall You wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me."

 

John 13:9 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head."

 

John 13:10 Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you."

 

John 13:11 For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, "Not all of you are clean."

 

Though He knew Judas was betraying Him, He loved Judas to the end and would still offer salvation to him two more times before Judas left the upper room.

 

John 13:12 And so when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments, and reclined at the table again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you?

 

John 13:13 "You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.

 

John 13:14 If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.

 

The command therefore is for them to communicate doctrine after the Lord is gone. This is why He uses these two titles for Himself. He is kurios and didaskalos. They cannot be kurios (Lord) but they must have authority to be a didaskalos and that authority must be passed down from the Lord - a teacher of doctrine. No one can assume this authority unless it is given to him by the Lord.

 

This is a command to communicate doctrine and to do so with clean feet.

 

The basin of water now becomes a clear picture of a basin full of doctrine.

 

The Lord filled the basin with water and that represents all the years of filling His soul with doctrine. The command is for the disciples to do the same.

 

One cannot communicate doctrine without have a basin or soul full of doctrine. We never arrive to fullness, but there must be a certain depth of understanding of many doctrines before effective communication can exist. To the communicator, preparation is everything.

 

John 13:15 "For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.

 

He gave all preachers right here, “an example.” This is a grace gift to the communicator as well as to his congregation. He graced us all out right here.

 

The word example is u(podeigma[hupodeigma] which means a model or a pattern. He set up a mould and we are never to get out of that mould—study and teach, study and teach….that is the function of the didaskaloj.

 

The word u(podeigmaprecludes the idea of a ritual here in terms of being a repeated pattern, as a mould is used repeatedly in manufacturing. The repetition of doctrine manufactures invisible heroes. The heritage of grace is perpetuated through the communication of Bible doctrine, and grace is passed from one generation to another because God raises up pastor-teachers to communicate Bible doctrine.

           

“that” introduces a purpose clause; “you should do as I did to you” - the present active subjunctive of poiew[poieo] is addressed to communicators.

 

You cannot do the will of God without the proper attitude and motivation, so the example comes first and then the doing.

 

The first generation of communicators were the apostles who were seated there, minus the apostle Paul who will fill in later.

 

The Lord communicated to them and in the near future God the HS will communicate more to them and then they, with the apostle Paul, will rise up other men to communicate the correct doctrine, and on and on has this pattern repeated itself for over 2000 years.

 

There will always be sowing by the Lord and so there will always be prepared men to communicate sound doctrine.

 

Now that the command is given the Lord goes into five principles concerning foot washing.

 

John 13:16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master; neither is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.

 

“slave” - douloj[doulos] refers to the disciple from the standpoint of his discipleship. He is a slave since by redemption he belongs to the Lord and is the property of the Lord.

 

This is a word of position in Christ. And by this position the believer belongs to Christ and is under the authority of Christ.

 

A disciple is a student under strict discipline. The English word discipline is taken from the same word as disciple. The disciple’s objective is to be under academic discipline and receive information.

 

However, to be a disciple or a disciplined student you have to choose to be so, which makes you a willing servant. If you are not a willing servant you are still a slave, and that is why you and I will give an account to the Lord, our Master, at the Rapture of the Church.

 

So although we sometimes use the words slave and servant interchangeably, there is a slight distinction.

 

Every believer is a slave. Servants are mature believers who willingly serve the Lord. In Israel, on the year of Jubilee, slaves were set free. However, a slave could choose to remain with his master as a willing servant. If he made this choice the master would put his ear against the door post and pierce it with an awl.

 

The doorpost signified that the willing servant was always allowed in the house and the pierced ear represented his positive volition to the commands of his master. To us this represents our willingness to approach the throne of grace boldly in prayer and in perception of doctrine and our positive volition to the commands of God in the Scripture.

 

“is not greater than his master” The word kuriojfor “master,” connotes deity and it also indicates a great contrast between the disciple and Jesus Christ.

 

A disciple is under strict discipline with no privileges and no rights. A slave is exactly the same thing.

 

Why does the Lord use interchangeably the words slave and disciple? If the Lord is actually teaching He calls them disciples, or if He is giving them some principle related to His teaching. But if they are not under teaching at the moment they still belong to Him and so they are called slaves.  

           

The Lord Jesus Christ has just washed the disciples’ feet. To do so He took upon Himself the form of a servant to perform this humiliating task. Even though Jesus took the place of a slave and washed their feet it did not take the rank of His shoulders.

 

It did not make Him inferior to them, nor did it rob Him of His authority. His is still kuriojand He is still didaskaloj. Kuriojis His authority over the disciples called douloj—slave, and didaskalojis His authority over the disciples when they are called disciples.

 

So even though He has done a very humiliating thing He has not traded places with the disciples.

 

Principle: In life there is authority of all kinds. At times we are tempted to put down the people who are in authority. We may succeed in business, in social life, in some establishment relationship, but we never take away the authority of those we put down.

 

A woman who puts down her husband has not changed a thing; he is still the authority over her. Authority is designed for a purpose and under God no matter how you try or what you do you never gain by undermining authority.

           

“neither is he that is sent greater than he that sent him” - in this case He is recognising the authority of the Father in the first advent, the incarnation. Jesus Christ is Lord over the disciples and, now speaking from His humanity, the Father is over the Son. “He that is sent” is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. He was sent by God the Father. 

 

Principle: Occasionally, spiritual service is accomplished in a very humble capacity but it does not rob the one who has the authority from God.

 

John 13:17 "If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

 

“If you know” is a first class condition with the perfect tense of oida. Oida means to already know so it refers to doctrine that is already in the right lobe of the soul.

 

So far the things that they should know is eternal security, confession of sin, fellowship, being prepared to communicate doctrine, the commission by the Lord to communicate as He did, and that they belong to the Lord and are therefore both disciples and slaves.

 

Up to this point in their exposure to the Lord’s teaching they should know these things.

 

Now they have a chance to do them. “Do them” is the act of teaching these things to others. “Do them” also refers to living in them themselves, but that goes without saying.

 

A communicator of doctrine is far more effective when he is living in and applying what he is teaching. He’s not perfect, and nor is any member of the body of Christ, but he should be applying whatever he is teaching. 

 

So the Lord is again entreating them to know mystery doctrine and to communicate mystery doctrine and if they do so a promise is given.

 

You are “blessed” - the nominative masculine plural of makarioj, [makarios] happinesses (pl.).

 

This means that by taking in doctrine consistently you are accumulating a concentration of happiness. Divine happiness is shared with you to the extent that you take in doctrine. The plural indicates that you can go all the way to having a maximum happiness from God based upon your entrance into the supergrace life.

 

And then there is the doing. For the disciples the doing is teaching, and so it refers to all believers as functioning in their spiritual gifts.

 

If you are functioning in your spiritual gift you are fulfilling your personal sense of destiny in the plan of God. With your earthly life laid aside and your spiritual life running on all cylinders you are sharing the happiness of God. There is no better place to be in the whole universe. That is the second principle.