By
Dan & Brenda Cathcart
The video version
of this teaching is available at:
The
scripture reading for this teaching is John 13:1-30
Preparations
for the Passover had been completed. All was now in readiness to celebrate the most
important Passover of all.
Luke 22:7-8 NKJV 7 Then came the Day
of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. 8 And He sent Peter and
John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat."
As
Peter and John prepared the Passover at which Yeshua would give His life so
that others could have eternal life, Judas Iscariot was also making
preparations.
Matthew 26:14-16 NKJV 14 Then one of
the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said,
"What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?" And they
counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. 16 So from that time he sought
opportunity to betray Him.
The
scriptures go on to describe the last Passover meal Yeshua shared with His
disciples. In this description we see contrasting behaviors and motivations of
Yeshua and Judas’ actions.
The
events set in motion with the preparation of the Passover play out as the
Passover began. Yeshua had one last opportunity to demonstrate the depth of His
love for His disciples. John’s gospel describes that love and contrasts it with
Judas’ betrayal of that love.
John 13:1-2 NAS95 1 Now before the
Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would
depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the
world, He loved them to the end. 2 During supper, the devil having already put
into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him,
Even
as the meal began, part of Yeshua’s awareness is focused in the upcoming
betrayal by Judas.
Matthew 26:20-21 NKJV 20 When evening
had come, He sat down with the twelve. 21 Now as they were eating, He said,
"Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me."
The
disciples couldn’t conceive that one of them would actually betray Yeshua. They
had lived together with these men and with Yeshua for the past three years. At
Yeshua’s announcement that one of them would betray Him, each one of the
disciples sought to establish his own innocence by asking in essence, “I’m not
the one am I?
Matthew 26:22-24 NKJV 22 And they were
exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, "Lord, is it
I?" 23 He answered and said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the
dish will betray Me. 24 "The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written
of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have
been good for that man if he had not been born."
First
Fruits of Zion in The Chronicles of the Messiah explain that Yeshua is
describing the ritual of the karpas which involves dipping a vegetable twice in
red wine vinegar. The modern observance of this ritual is that of dipping the
vegetable, specifically parsley, into salt water. Like many rituals of the
Passover, it has multiple meanings. First Fruits of Zion explains:
The meaning of the ritual is obscure,
but according to some opinions, it represents the betrayal of Joseph whose
brothers dipped his coat in goat’s blood—the event that initiated the descent
into Egypt. It may also represent dipping the hyssop into the lamb’s blood.[i]
Both
meanings can apply to Judas dipping his hand into the dish at the same time
that Yeshua did. Judas’ betrayal is a betrayal of Yeshua’s blood poured out for
Him. The writer of Hebrews warns that those who know the Torah of God but
reject it are subject to judgment. The writer, then, applies that same concept
to those who know that salvation comes through the blood of Yeshua but reject
it.
Hebrews 10:29 NKJV 29 Of how much
worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled
the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was
sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
Judas,
who just happened to have dipped his hand at the same time that Yeshua did,
understood the reference to the dish and that Yeshua knew Judas would betray
Him.
Matthew 26:25 NKJV 25 Then Judas, who
was betraying Him, answered and said, "Rabbi, is it I?" He said to
him, "You have said it."
As
the disciples speculated who among them was the traitor, the discussion degenerated
to boasting about who was the best disciple.
Luke 22:23-24 NKJV 23 Then they began
to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing. 24
Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be
considered the greatest.
This
was not a new argument; the disciples had engaged in this same type of
discussion before. One time, James and John’s mother got involved lobbying for
her sons to have the seats of greatest honor in Yeshua’s kingdom! At the
Passover meal,Yeshua, once again, rebuked them for behaving like the Gentiles
who were without God.
Luke 22:25-26 NKJV 25 And He said to
them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those
who exercise authority over them are called 'benefactors.' 26 "But not so
among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the
younger, and he who governs as he who serves.
Yeshua
had stated before that the greatest among them would be the one who serves.
Mark 9:35 NKJV 35 And He sat down,
called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he
shall be last of all and servant of all."
How
could Yeshua get this message through their heads? The fact that they were once
again arguing about who was greatest shows that they still didn’t get the
message! Yeshua had only this one evening left to convince them that His
kingdom was ruled differently than the world. That in His kingdom, service to
others was the most prized action and was associated with the character trait
that would lead to the greatest reward! Yeshua decided to demonstrate in a way
that could not be denied. Yeshua begins by explaining that He comes as a
servant.
Luke 22:27 NKJV 27 "For who is
greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at
the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.
Yeshua,
then, knowing His place in the kingdom of God, set it all aside and began to
wash the disciples’ feet.
John 13:3-5 NKJV 3 Jesus, knowing that
the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God
and was going to God, 4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a
towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began
to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was
girded.
The
act of washing a guest’s feet was a duty of a slave of the house. It was a duty
that only the lowest of servants was expected to carry out. First fruits of
Zion in The Chronicles of the Messiah explains that although a slave was
expected to wash the feet of guests, it would be beneath even his dignity to be
expected to remove the guests sandals to do so. So, only the act of removing
the sandals to wash the feet would be of lower caste than that of actually
washing the feet! Yeshua took on the lowest of duties. First Fruits of Zion explains:
Yet another [passage of the Talmud] says, “A disciple
must render to his teacher all the service that a slave renders to his master
except that of loosening his shoe. In other words, the disciples considered it
beneath their own dignity to wash the Master’s feet, how much less should He
have washed theirs.[ii]
The disciples
were all both outraged and embarrassed! Their own Master was performing a duty
to them that only a slave was expected to perform!
It was a duty that
they would not even consider doing for their beloved Master! Peter, as usual,
the impulsive one, immediately cried out against Yeshua washing his feet!
John 13:6-8 NKJV
6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, "Lord, are You
washing my feet?" 7 Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing
you do not understand now, but you will know after this." 8 Peter said to
Him, "You shall never wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I
do not wash you, you have no part with Me."
Yeshua told Peter
that he would understand Yeshua’s actions after He had completed them and
explained. Yeshua continued to wash all the disciples’ feet delaying the
explanation for after He had finished.
John 13:12-16
NKJV 12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down
again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13 "You
call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 "If I then,
your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one
another's feet. 15 "For I have given you an example, that you should do as
I have done to you. 16 "Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not
greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.
The context of
Yeshua’s words was that He knew that He was sent from God and was returning to
God. Yeshua’s own Master was none other than God the Father. If serving others
as a slave was not beneath Yeshua whose own master was God, than serving others
was certainly not beneath the dignity of a disciple! This lesson was not about
washing feet, but about serving others and performing even the tasks that are
considered the lowest of the low! Yeshua, who loved His disciples to the very
end, was demonstrating that love here!
However, Yeshua
hints at a deeper meaning when He says it is necessary for Yeshua to wash their
feet if they are to have any part of Him. We go back to the Torah and the
requirements of the priests to wash their feet in the laver before approaching
God.
Exodus 30:18-20
NKJV 18 "You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base also of
bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tabernacle of meeting and the
altar. And you shall put water in it, 19 "for Aaron and his sons shall
wash their hands and their feet in water from it. 20 "When they go into
the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to
burn an offering made by fire to the LORD, they shall wash with water, lest
they die.
When Peter
understood that he needed to allow Yeshua to wash his feet, He offered up both
his head and his hands for washing as well.
John 13:9-10 NKJV
9 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and
my head!" 10 Jesus said to him, "He who is bathed needs only to wash
his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you."
Yeshua stated
that they had already bathed and the rest of their body was already clean. Before
participating in the Passover, Yeshua and all the disciples would have
undergone a mikvah or ceremonial cleansing. Only those who were ritually pure
could participate in the Passover.
Then, as part of
the opening rituals of the Passover Seder, Yeshua and the disciples would have
already ceremonially washed their hands before drinking from the first cup of
the Seder, the cup of sanctification. So, at this point only the feet of the
disciples, which would have become dirty in the walk from the ceremonial baths
to the location of the Seder, would need to be washed again. Only their feet, with
which they interact with the world in an intimate way as they walk through
life, needed to be cleaned once again.
Yeshua refers to
the state of their cleanliness when He told them He is the vine and that they
are the branches who abide in Him and produce fruit.
John 15:3-4 NKJV
3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4
"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
Once we have our
entire bodies washed, we are clean and sanctified before God. Paul writes to
Titus that we are saved by the washing that comes through faith in Yeshua.
Titus 3:3-6 NKJV
3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving
various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one
another. 4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man
appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the
Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our
Savior,
Paul again writes
in his epistle to the Ephesians that we are both cleansed and sanctified
through the word.
Ephesians 5:25-26
NKJV 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and
gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the
washing of water by the word,
Although all the
disciples had undergone the mikvah and had their feet washed, Yeshua stated
that not all of them were clean. He was, of course, referring to Judas Iscariot
who, even as Yeshua was washing his feet, was planning to betray Him! Once
again, the identity of the traitor would be revealed through a ritual of the
Passover Seder. This time it was at the time when the matzah is declared to be
the “bread of affliction” and is dipped into the bitter herbs and charoset.
Eating the lamb, the matzah and the bitter herbs together is called the korech
or binding because it binds the elements that God commanded to be eaten during
the Passover together. Rabbi Yechiel Lichtenstein, as quoted by First Fruits of
Zion in The Chronicles of the Messiah explains:
But here Yeshua
dipped and gave it to Judas, for it is the custom until today that the host
does this dipping [of korech] of the Passover and bitter herbs in the charoset;
he divides it among all the guests, as we know.[iii]
It is after
Yeshua served Judas the korech, the lamb, bitter herbs, and matzah together,
that Judas immediately leaves and rejects God’s Passover sacrifice!
John 13:30 NKJV
30 Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was
night.
John makes the
obvious statement that it was night. Remember, that Yeshua stated that He was
the light and they were to walk in the light not the darkness.
John 12:35-36
NKJV 35 Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with
you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in
darkness does not know where he is going. 36 "While you have the light,
believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." These things
Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.
Judas rejected
the light and did not receive the blessing of becoming a son of light! What
exactly did Judas reject? If Judas left as soon as the meal was complete, then
he would have participated in receiving the matzah, the bread that Yeshua
blessed and broke for them.
Matthew 26:26
NKJV 26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and
gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."
Judas would have
received the cup that Yeshua stated was the blood of the new covenant. Yeshua
stated that they were all to drink it!
Matthew 26:27-28
NKJV 27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying,
"Drink from it, all of you. 28 "For this is My blood of the new
covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Judas betrayed
the body and blood of Yeshua. Judas betrayed the love that Yeshua had for him!
He truly trampled the Son of God and insulted the spirit of grace! Judas
rejected the New Covenant! It is right that Yeshua later calls Judas the son of
perdition!
John 17:12 NKJV
12 "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those
whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of
perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
The word
perdition is translated from the Greek word ap-o’-lia, #684 in Strong’s
Concordance meaning ruin, loss or destruction. Judas lost the salvation offered
to him! His end was ruin and destruction! Judas demonstrated selfishness,
pride, rejection and unbelief.
But Yeshua kept
all the others that God gave to Him. He demonstrated His love for them by
serving them physically as He washed their feet and served them the Passover
meal. He served them spiritually as He broke His body for them and poured out
His blood to establish the New Covenant. Immediately after Judas had gone out
and into the night, Yeshua stated that now, the Son of Man is glorified.
John 13:31-32
NKJV 31 So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man is
glorified, and God is glorified in Him. 32 "If God is glorified in Him,
God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately.
The betrayal had
been set in motion; Yeshua would be delivered to the hands of the Jewish
authorities and Roman officials. He would pour out His life on the cross for His
disciples and for us. This is His love for us! At this time, Yeshua gave His
disciples a new commandment.
John 13:34-35
NKJV 34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I
have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 "By this all will know
that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
The commandment
to love each other is not a new commandment. Loving your neighbor as yourself
is a commandment of the Torah. Loving God above all is the first and greatest
of the commandments! Loving one another is a new commandment because it was
given to be observed after Yeshua died on the cross. Yeshua’s words that He
would humble Himself to wash His disciples’ feet even though He was sent from
the Father and would return to the Father remind me of Paul’s words in
Philippians 2:5-11:
Philippians
2:5-11 NKJV 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who,
being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7
but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming
in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above
every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in
heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.
As Paul said, we
are to have the same mind as that of Yeshua. So, we are to love one another as
He demonstrated His love for His disciples then and now. As Yeshua washed the
feet of His disciples then, we are to wash each other’s feet now. As Yeshua
demonstrated His love by coming as a servant, we, also, are to be servants! As
He was and is the servant of all, we, also, are to be servants of all!
Study
Questions:
1. Passover
is called the LORD’s sacrifice in Exodus 12:27. Zephaniah writes about the day
of the LORD’s sacrifice in Zephaniah 1. In what was this fulfilled when Yeshua
was rejected as the Passover sacrifice? In what way can it be understood that
it will be fulfilled again?
2. Yeshua
said that unless He washes their feet, the disciples would have not part of Yeshua.
What is required of them and of us to have a part of Yeshua?
3. John
writes about the evidence of love in 1 John. What evidence does John cite?
4. Judas
chose to walk in darkness as described by Yeshua in John 12:35. What does Paul
say in Ephesians 5:1-14 about walking in love and light? What does John say
about walking in the light in 1 John 1? What does this mean in our daily lives?
5. In
what way is Judas a son of Perdition or loss? Paul calls the Antichrist the man
of sin and the son of perdition in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Compare the description
of the actions of this man in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12. How does Judas fit the
description of an antichrist as described by John in 1 John 2:18-19?
© 2018 Moed
Ministries International. All rights reserved.
[i] The
Chronicles of the Messiah. D. Thomas Lancaster. First Fruits of Zion. ©2014
D. T. Lancaster. P.1463.
[ii] The
Chronicles of the Messiah. D. Thomas Lancaster. First Fruits of Zion. ©2014
D. T. Lancaster. P.1464..
[iii] The
Chronicles of the Messiah. D. Thomas Lancaster. First Fruits of Zion. ©2014
D. T. Lancaster. P.1473.
