John 13:3

The Father having given up all things into His hands, i. e. having given up to Him the salvation of the faithful, He deemed it right to show them all things that pertained to their salvation; and gave them a lesson of humility, by washing His disciples' feet. Though knowing that He was from God, and went to God, He thought it in no way took from His glory, to wash His disciples' feet; thus proving that He did not usurp His greatness. For usurpers do not condescend, for fear of losing what they have irregularly got.

Knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, according to that passage in the last chapter of Matthew: "All power is given to me in heaven and on earth"; and knowing that he came forth from God and goes to God, according …

He knew that He had even His persecutors in His hand that He might convert them from malice to love of Him.

Then (v 3) he considers the dignity of the one acting, for "The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself" (Sir 3:18). So the Evangelist, about to speak of Christ's humility, treats first of his very great dignity because of his knowledge, saying, …

"Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands," that is, had entrusted to Him the salvation of the faithful, and it was now necessary to show them everything pertaining to salvation, among other things, also to wash the feet of the …

Here is the rightful advancement of the Lord Jesus. Glorious things are here said of Christ as Mediator. (1.) The Father had given all things into his hands; had given him a propriety in all, and a power over all, as possessor of heaven and earth, in pursuance of the great designs of his undertaking; see Matt. xi.

Jesus knowing that the Father,....

Jesus knowing ... - With the full understanding of his dignity and elevation of character, he yet condescended to wash their feet. The evangelist introduces his washing their feet by saying that he was fully conscious of his elevation above them, as being intrusted with all things, and this made his humiliation the more striking and remarkable. Had he been a mere human teacher or a prophet, it would have been remarkable; but when we remember the dignity of his nature, it shows how low he would stoop to teach and save his people.

The passage we have now read begins one of the most interesting portions of John's Gospel. For five consecutive chapters we find the Evangelist recording matters which are not mentioned by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. We can never be thankful enough that the Holy Spirit has caused them to be written for our learning! In every age the contents of these chapters have been justly regarded as one of the most precious parts of the Bible. They have been the food and drink, the strength and comfort of all true-hearted Christians. Let us ever approach them with peculiar reverence.

Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, &c.--This verse is very sublime, and as a preface to what follows, were we not familiar with it, would fill us with inexpressible surprise.

The passage we have now read begins one of the most interesting portions of John's Gospel. For five consecutive chapters we find the Evangelist recording matters which are not mentioned by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. We can never be thankful enough that the Holy Spirit has caused them to be written for our learning! In every age the contents of these chapters have been justly regarded as one of the most precious parts of the Bible. They have been the food and drink, the strength and comfort of all true-hearted Christians. Let us ever approach them with peculiar reverence. The place whereon we stand is holy ground. We learn, for one thing, from these verses, what patient and continuing love there is in Christ's heart towards His people. It is written that "having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." Knowing perfectly well that they were about to forsake Him shamefully in a very few hours, in full view of their approaching display of weakness and infirmity, our blessed Master did not cease to have loving thoughts of His disciples. He was not weary of them—He loved them to the last. The love of Christ to sinners is the very essence and marrow of the Gospel. That He should love us at all, and care for our souls—that He should love us before we love Him, or even know anything about Him, that He should love us so much as to come into the world to save us, take our nature on Him, bear our sins, and die for us on the cross—all this is wonderful indeed! It is a kind of love to which there is nothing like it, among men. The narrow selfishness of human nature cannot fully comprehend it. It is one of those things which even the angels of God "desire to look into." It is a truth which Christian preachers and teachers should proclaim incessantly, and never be weary of proclaiming.

IT seems to me that the true text of this enacted sermon of the foot-washing is to be found in the first verse of the chapter—"Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." Our Lord washed the feet of His disciples to show that to the last moment of His communion with them He was full of the deepest and truest love to them and was willing to perform the most menial action for their good.

IT seems to me that the true text of this enacted sermon of the foot-washing is to be found in the first verse of the chapter—"Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." Our Lord washed the feet of His disciples to show that to the last moment of His communion with them He was full of the deepest and truest love to them and was willing to perform the most menial action for their good. Nor was this all, for we may regard that one condescending act as the pledge and type of His daily kindness towards all His own which are in the world. Those deeds of love, which the foot-washing sets forth, are continuous among us and are the sure tokens of His abiding love to us. Our Lord's affection for His people is not a transient passion. He loved them before the earth was. He continues to love them and He always will love them, even when these heavens and this earth shall have passed away. In token of the continuance of His love, He has left on record this washing of His disciples' feet, not because He only did it once, but because it is a type of what He is always doing. Even in His Glory He is caring for His saints with that same condescending love which led Him to wash their feet. And He is acting towards them, spiritually, in the same way. The love of Christ will assuredly endure all the strain that can ever be put upon it, for at the time when He acted as menial servant to His disciples, His love was enduring and enduring right gloriously, three great trials—any one of which might have broken it had it not been altogether Omnipotent. For, first, He was about to go away from them. Much of human love needs the presence of its object for its maintenance.

Knowing that the Father had given, etc. - Our Lord, seeing himself almost at the end of his race, and being about to leave his apostles, thought it necessary to leave them a lesson of humility exemplified by himself, to deliver them from the bad influence of those false ideas which they formed concerning the nature of his kingdom. On all occasions previously to this, the disciples had shown too much attachment to worldly honors and dignities: if this ambition had not been removed, the consequences of it would have been dreadful in the establishment of the religion of Christ; as after his death, it would have divided and infallibly dispersed them. It was necessary therefore to restrain this dangerous passion, and to confirm by a remarkable example what he had so often told them, - that true greatness consisted in the depth of humility, and that those who were the willing servants of all should be the highest in the account of God.