The text begins…
Now before the feast of the passover, 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.
John 13:1
John had previously alluded to two Passover events during Jesus’ ministry. In chapter two of his Gospel record, Jesus entered Jerusalem for Passover for the first time as the anointed Messiah. He promptly made His presence known by driving the money changers away from their station (ch2:15-16). This drew the ire of the religious leaders and sparked a feeling of bitterness and resentment against Him that would culminate in His unjust arrest years later.
A year later, in chapter six, as Jesus made His way toward Jerusalem to take part in the Passover, He fed over five thousand and then told them to eat His flesh and drink His blood in order to find eternal life. Considering the significance of the Passover feast (wherein bread and wine is consumed in remembrance of God’s salvation over Israel in Egypt), the Lord’s choice of metaphor was very apt: A year later He would be giving His body and blood on the cross as payment for man’s salvation.
Though chapter thirteen brings us the third mention, this is actually the first time John will describe Jesus engaging in the actual ceremony (the feast of the Passover). Though the Lord has eaten around thirty of these meals, this will be the most significant of them all: This will be His last Passover meal, as John says: “Jesus knew that His hour was come.”
This is Thursday…
There are no more sermons to preach, no more miracles to perform for people, no more disappearing just before the angry Pharisees could lay hold of Him. Now it is time to finish His business and depart out of this world, back unto the Father. In the meantime, He sits to eat this meal with His closest friends. These are the ones the writer calls “His own, which were in the world, which He loved unto the end.”
That’s a powerful statement, considering that it would not be returned in kind. “In the end” of Jesus’ life, His beloved disciples will forsake Him and flee. Yet His love for them will remain. They will come back to Him, of course (except for Judas), and will do great work in His name and eventually die for Him too. Over the years, their love for him might waver, as it happens to all of us, but through it all, His love for them will be unbreakable.
After the supper was finished, the Lord washed His disciples’ feet, making it the last lesson He would teach them before dying. It’s no coincidence, I think, that the last commandment He gave them was as humongous as “love each other to the point of death” and the last object lesson He taught them was a small and simple as washing feet. Both belong to the same category: Love.
Afterward, Judas left to carry out his betrayal, Jesus left to pray in the Garden, and then His so-called “passion” began.
The word “passion” is commonly used to describe the agony, brutality, and suffering the Lord endured in the final hours of His life. Why is a word that, in our common language, is used to describe intense romance, used in a religious context to describe great anguish? The reason is because the word in the Greek that is translated “suffer” is “pasko.” Later, the Latin word for it became “passio,” which is even closer to our English word. Today it is used to mean “intense romance” but take out the romance part and you get a sense of the original word’s meaning. Passion is about intensity. In the case of our master, it describes the intensity and severity of the hardships He endured.
“Love as I have loved you” He said on that fateful Thursday (John 15:12-13). How much did He love us? His passion is evident. He proved it the next day when He was beaten, scourged, mocked, and mangled.
But His love is also seen in the simple act of washing a dozen pairs of dirty feet. Two extremes, but the same action: He loved unto the end.
~ Matthew