John 13:31-35
31When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’
34I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John tells us in the beginning of this chapter that Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart from this world. He wants to teach His disciples how to live after He is gone. He leaves them the example of washing His disciples’ feet.
Then Jesus announces that one of them will betray Him. After Judas leaves to betray Him, Jesus then gives the disciples the new commandment – To love one another, just as Jesus loved them. They are to love one another in a very visible way that others are going to be able to identify them as Christians by their love for one another.
The fact that Jesus left foot washing as a model of how to treat each other, lets us know that He was not talking about the emotion of love, but the act of love.
In the last section of this chapter, when Jesus tells Peter that he cannot follow Jesus where He is headed, Peter gets emotional. Peter wants to be with Jesus, and he declares that he is willing to lay down his life for Jesus. But we know that emotion of love can fade due to time, familiarity, fear, etc. It is only a few more hours until Peter denies Jesus when he is simply asked, “Aren’t you one of Jesus’ disciples?”
Washing the dirty feet before a meal was a servant’s task. We do not see any of the disciples scurrying to wash Jesus’ feet, and certainly not each other’s feet. That was reserved for the one with the lowest status. Apparently, no one felt that their status was low enough that they should wash other’s feet. But when they saw Jesus getting up and washing their feet and hearing His explanation, they understood what Jesus was teaching them. They are to treat others as better than themselves. Foot-washing is a way to show love and respect through action. It would be easier if we felt a deep love and respect for those whose feet we are to wash, but even if we do not feel it, we are to act in love.
Other passages in the New Testament also teach the same concept. An example of this is where Paul writes in Philippians 2:3 – “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.”
In the gospel according to Luke, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan. A man was robbed and beaten half dead. A priest and a Levite both did nothing, fearing that it might be a trap. It also could prevent them from doing their duties if they touched the man and the man died later. It is presumed that the beaten man is a Jew, since there is no mention that the priest and the Levite were withholding aid because the man was a Gentile. The Jews considered Samaritans as enemies, and the feeling was mutual – Samaritans considered Jews as enemies. This was due to historical events that happened and built-up animosity between the two peoples.
Yet, the Samaritan who saw the beaten man acted in compassion. He bound up the man’s wounds, put him on his own animal and took him to an inn, where he gave two days’ worth of money to the innkeeper to take care of the man, promising that if the innkeeper ended up spending more money to take care of the man, that he will repay it when he comes back.
In today’s numbers, average two days’ pay in the U.S. would be about $525. Not only was the Samaritan willing to pay the money (and more, if needed), he was willing to take a chance that the robbers had set a trap for him. This was not due to emotional attachment, since the Samaritan did not know the man except that he was an enemy. This is another example of how to act in love.
This morning’s passage specifically talks about love for one another, meaning other followers. However, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus commanded to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” This is even harder than loving one another.
It would be great if the Holy Spirit would guide our emotions to feel a great love for our enemies and those around us and they feel a great love for us. But this is not how it works. In Luke 6:32 Jesus said, “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.”
If we are to follow Jesus’ command to pray for those who persecute you, how would we pray? That those who are persecuting us might see the error of their ways and stop? That kind of prayer would imply that we are in the right, and they are in the wrong, which is not exactly a posture of humility – It might even border on pride that we are right.
The example Jesus left us is to get up and wash everyone’s dirty feet. He knows that He is the Messiah and yet He chooses to take the lower position to serve His followers. If we are to follow His example, then it does not matter what we think or feel about the other person – We are to humble ourselves and treat the other with love and respect.
How does it make us feel when we are treated with respect? It is much more pleasant than being treated with disrespect, and we are more inclined to put forward our best selves. Imagine how well it would go in our homes and churches if everyone felt loved and respected.
But Jesus is not just telling how to get along with one another. He also said the world is going to know that we are His followers by our love for one another. How we treat each other with love and respect is going to witness to the world about Jesus Christ.
God the Father showed His love for us by sending His Son to the cross to die for our sins, so that we can be saved simply by accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Jesus gave us an example of how to love one another. We are in turn to treat others with humble love, so that others will see the love we have for one another and turn to Christ.
(the above is a summary of the message shared by Pastor Shun Takano during our worship on October 26, 2025.)
Japanese Congregational Church 