He Took a Towel

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From chapter 13 onward, John's gospel moves into private space. The public ministry is over. What follows — chapters 13 through 17 — takes place at a table, and then in a garden. Jesus is with his disciples, and he knows what is coming.

Read this chapter in three movements: a meal that begins with an act no one expects, the departure of a man into the night, and the commandment and the warning that close the evening.

Walk-through

What he knew before he rose (verses 1–3)

John sets the scene with care. It is before the Passover feast. Jesus knows his hour has come — the moment toward which everything in this gospel has been moving. He knows the Father has given all things into his hands. He knows he came from God and is going back to God.

Knowing all of this:

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he came from God, and was going to God, arose from supper, and laid aside his outer garments. He took a towel, and wrapped it around his waist. Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

John 13:3–5

In the ancient world, washing the feet of guests was the work of the lowest household servant. Roads were unpaved. Feet were genuinely dirty. It was not a symbolic gesture — it was a task no one of status would do. Teachers did not wash feet. The disciples themselves apparently had not done it for each other. And the one who the Father has given all authority, the one who came from God and is returning to God, is on his knees at their feet with a basin.

John's point is in the setup. He is not doing this because he has forgotten who he is. He is doing it because he knows exactly who he is. The one with all authority takes the servant's place — not as a performance, but as a picture of the whole shape of his life.

The exchange with Peter (verses 4–17)

Peter will not have it. When Jesus comes to him:

Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I don't wash you, you have no part with me."

John 13:8

Peter's objection is understandable. There is something in us that resists being served by someone greater — it is easier to do things for God than to receive from him. But Jesus says: the washing is not optional. To refuse it is to refuse relationship.

Peter swings to the other extreme: not just my feet then — my hands and my head! Jesus says: that is not necessary. Whoever has bathed only needs their feet. And you are clean — though not all of you.

The "not all of you" is pointed. Judas is in the room. Jesus has washed his feet too. John confirms that when he adds: Jesus knew who would betray him — that is why he said they were not all clean.

When he has finished, Jesus puts his outer garments back on, returns to the table, and explains:

If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

John 13:14–15

A servant is not greater than his master. The one who is sent is not greater than the one who sent him. The shape of his life — giving, serving, stooping — is the pattern they are to follow. Not as a burden but as an example he has already lived out in front of them.

It was night (verses 18–30)

Jesus tells them plainly: one of you will betray me. The disciples look at each other, uncertain. The beloved disciple is reclining next to Jesus; Peter gestures to him to ask who it is. Jesus says: the one to whom I give this piece of bread after I dip it.

He dips the bread and gives it to Judas. Then he says: what you are going to do, do quickly. The others at the table assume he is sending Judas on an errand — to buy food, or to give something to the poor. Judas takes the bread and goes out.

Having received that morsel, he went out immediately. It was night.

John 13:30

Three words that carry more weight than they seem to. John has used darkness and night throughout this gospel to mean more than the time of day. Nicodemus came by night. Judas goes out into the night. The light has come into the world, and there are those who prefer the dark.

Love one another (verses 31–38)

When Judas leaves, Jesus speaks. Now, he says, is the Son of Man glorified. He tells them he is going where they cannot follow — not yet. Then the commandment:

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

John 13:34–35

The commandment to love is not new — it appears throughout the Jewish scriptures. What is new is the standard: as I have loved you. Not love in general, not goodwill toward people you find easy to like. The love modelled in this chapter — on your knees with a towel, washing the feet of the man who will betray you tonight — that is the as.

Peter asks where Jesus is going. Jesus says he cannot follow now, but he will follow later. Peter does not accept this: Lord, why not? I will lay down my life for you. The answer is quiet and precise:

"Will you lay down your life for me? Most certainly I tell you, the rooster won't crow until you have denied me three times."

Peter means what he says. He believes it. And he is completely wrong about what he will do in the next few hours.

Take with you

The foot washing and the new commandment are the same statement made two different ways — once in action, once in words. The love Jesus calls his disciples to is not an abstract virtue or a warm feeling. It looks like a towel and a basin. It goes to the lowest place. It serves people who do not deserve it and people who are about to fail you.

He did it knowing what Judas was going to do. He did it knowing what Peter was going to say before morning. He did it for all of them — not after they had earned it, not when they had proved themselves, but on the last night, before any of it happened.

Just as I have loved you — the commandment comes with a demonstration already complete. You are not being asked to love in some abstract way. You are being asked to love the way you just watched him love.