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Jesus’ Love for His Own
This post by Chris Anderson is an excerpt from Sundown to Sundown: Meditations on the Twenty-Four Hours Preceding Jesus’ Death (Day 1), released in 2025.
“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (John 13:1)
The disciples gathered to observe the Passover feast with Jesus at sundown. If there were ever a moment in Jesus’ brief life when He might have selfishly insisted on solitude, this was the night.
Our Lord was mere hours away from betrayal, beatings, and a bloody death. A night of quiet contemplation was in order, it would seem. Or perhaps even a night of doting and encouragement by His friends before His fast-approaching agonies.
And yet, Jesus spent His final night serving His disciples in the upper room. With patience and gentleness, He would teach them, warn them, and pray for them (and for us). In the words of John 13:1, “He loved them to the end.” To the end of His life. To the end of His mission. To the end of His crucifixion. To a measure so absolute that no more love was even possible.
As day dimmed into the Passover night, Jesus did something remarkable. Rather than receiving the service of others—as He had when Mary anointed His head a few days earlier (Matthew 26:6–13)—Jesus took upon Himself the most menial and demeaning of tasks.
He took off the garments over which the soldiers would gamble a few hours later, clothed Himself with a towel, and washed the disciples’ feet (John 13:3–5). The condescension is staggering—a small picture of the downward spiral described in Philippians 2:5–8.
The washing of the disciples’ feet was a living and breathing sermon.
Jesus’ actions were filled with significance. It was one of the most remarkable moments in a ministry marked by miracles. It was a picture of selflessness—a living and breathing sermon.
Jesus washed the feet of His disciples to serve them and love them.
Washing the disciples’ feet was no mere object lesson. We mustn’t lose the wonder of what Jesus did in our rush to get to the “moral of the story.” Jesus served them because He is the ultimate Servant.
Yes, He was their Lord and Master, as He would remind them (John 13:13–14). He was fully cognizant that He was coequal with the Father and Spirit, that “the Father had given all things into his hands” (John 13:3). Nevertheless, He served the disciples just as He had served lepers, cripples, and harlots throughout His earthly ministry.
Before we see an example to follow, we must savor the beauty and benevolence and breathtaking love of our Savior.
Jesus washed the feet of His disciples to teach them to serve and love one another.
After Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, He commanded these men to follow His example by serving one another (John 13:15, 17). Matthew Henry writes, “When we see our Master serving, we cannot but see how ill it becomes us to be domineering.”
The disciples didn’t yet get it. They were still annoyingly ambitious. Admiring Jesus’ humility is much easier than adopting Jesus’ humility. We, like the disciples, are infuriatingly selfish. But this lesson would eventually take and become a reality for them after the outpouring of the Spirit.
Let the gospel produce in you a Christlike compassion for real people.
Jesus washed the feet of His disciples to show that He had washed their souls.
D. A. Carson notes that the foot washing was “symbolic of spiritual cleansing.” Jesus had come to earth to cleanse the disciples’ spiritual filth, just as He was washing from them the grime of the day. So the foot washing was a metaphor.
In a typical mingling of virtue and vice, Peter initially refused to allow Jesus to wash his feet (John 13:6, 8). But upon learning from Jesus that cleansing was a condition of fellowship, Peter asked Jesus to wash his entire body (John 13:8-9)!
But note Jesus’ response: He used the image of foot washing to describe daily spiritual maintenance (John 13:10). Because walking through this sin-filled world inevitably gets us splattered with the world’s muck, we need regular washing—daily confession, ongoing repentance, and the blessing of relational forgiveness (1 John 1:9; 2:1-2).
It’s a beautiful lesson. But it’s also a staggering affirmation of the eleven. Notice how Jesus affirmed the disciples’ faith, frail as it was: “You are clean” (John 13:10).
The commendation staggers almost as much as Jesus’ condescension. Fully aware that they would argue about their greatness in mere minutes, and fully aware that they would forsake Him in mere hours, Jesus assured the eleven that they were indeed forgiven. They had believed in Him. They had been cleansed from their sins. They would be preserved, and even their heartbreaking failures of that tragic night would be washed away. That’s astonishing grace.
Jesus loved the disciples to the end. They were His own. Feeble as they were, they were clean—all because of Jesus. Are you?
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Sundown to Sundown
What if you could step into the final 24 hours before Jesus’ crucifixion and witness His love, suffering, and sacrifice firsthand? Sundown to Sundown is a 31-day devotional that journeys through the most profound day in human history, following Jesus from the upper room to Gethsemane, from Gabbatha to Golgotha. Each meditation unpacks the depth of His words, prayers, and trials, helping believers slow down and behold the wonder of Christ’s love.
