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. . . . Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; he riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. John 13:1,3, 4.
The great Teacher was about to do something regarded as below the dignity of any Jew, much less a rabbi: he was about to cleanse the feet of his disciples. This was an act that a Jewish master would not even have required of a Jewish slave.
Christ Jesus was not concerned here with hygiene; he was teaching. The Master was teaching by symbols. Now his silent lesson began as he knelt and washed. He moved from disciple to disciple, including Judas Iscariot, whom, like the rest, Jesus himself had chosen. There is no evidence that he had ever done anything like this for others.
