'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. After
that He poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples'
feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded.'—JOHN
xiii. 3-5.
It has been suggested that the dispute as to 'which was the greatest,'
which broke the sanctities of the upper chamber, was connected with the
unwillingness of each of the Apostles to perform the menial office of
washing the feet of his companions. They had come in from Bethany, and
needed the service. But apparently it was omitted, and although we can
scarcely suppose that the transcendent act which is recorded in my text
was performed at the beginning of the meal, yet I think we shall not be
wrong if we see in it a reference to the neglected service.
The Evangelist who tells us of the dispute, and does not tell us of the
foot-washing, preserves a sentence which finds its true meaning only in
this incident, 'I am among you as He that serveth.' And although John
is the only recorder of this pathetic incident, there are allusions in
other parts of Scripture which seem to hint at it. As, for instance,
when Paul speaks of 'taking upon Him the form of a servant'; and still
more strikingly when Peter employs the remarkable word, which he does
employ in his exhortation, 'Be ye clothed with humility.' For the word
rendered there 'clothed' occurs only in that one place in Scripture,
and means literally the putting on of a slave's costume. One can
scarcely help, then, seeing in these three passages to which I have
referred echoes of this incident which John alone preserves to us. And
so we get at once a hint of the harmony and of the incompleteness of
the Gospel records.