Now that is ground upon which the Evangelists very seldom enter. They
tell us what Christ did, but very rarely do they give us any glimpses
into why He did it. But this section of the Gospel is remarkable for
its full and careful analysis of what Christ's impelling motives were
in the final acts of His life. How did John find out why Christ did
this deed? Perhaps he who had 'leaned upon His bosom at supper,' and
was evidently very closely associated with Him, may, in some unrecorded
hour of intimate communion during the forty days between the
Resurrection and the Ascension, have heard from the Master the
exposition of His motives. But more probably, I think, the long years
of growing likeness to his Lord, and of meditation upon the depth of
meaning in the smallest events that his faithful memory recalled,
taught him to understand Christ's purpose and motives. 'The secret of
the Lord is with them that fear Him,' and the liker we get to our
Master and the more we are filled with His Spirit, the more easy will
it be for us to divine the purpose and the motives of His actions,
whether as they are recorded in the Scripture or as they come to us in
the experience of daily life.
But, passing that point, I desire for a moment to fix your attention on
the twofold key to our Lord's action which is given in this context.
There is, first of all, in the first verse of the chapter, a general
exposition of what was uppermost in His mind and heart during the whole
of the period in the upper room. The act in our text, and the wonderful
words which follow in the subsequent chapters, crowned by that great
intercessory prayer, seem to me to be all explained for us by this
first unveiling of His motives. '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.'
And then the words of my text, which apply more specifically to the
single incident with which they are brought into connection, tell us in
addition why this one manifestation of Christ's love was given.
'Knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that
He was come from God, and went to God.' There, then, are two
explanations of motive, the one covering a wider area than the other,
but both converging on the incident before us.
The first of these is just this—the consciousness of impending
separation moved Christ to a more than ordinarily tender manifestation
of His love. For the rendering which you will find in the margin of the
Revised Version, 'He loved them _to the uttermost_,' seems to me to be
truer to the Evangelist's meaning than the other, 'He loved them unto
the end.' For it was more to John's purpose to tell us that the shadow
of the Cross only brought to the surface in more blessed and wonderful
representation the deep love of His heart, than simply to tell us that
that shadow did not stop its flow. It is much to know that all through
His sorrow He continued to love; it is far more to know that the sorrow
sharpened its poignancy, and deepened its depth, and made more tender
its tenderness.
How near to the man Christ that thought brings us! Do we not all know
the impulse to make parting moments tender moments? The masks of use
and wont drop off; the reticence which we, perhaps wisely, ordinarily
cultivate in regard to our deepest feelings melts away. We yearn to
condense all our unspoken love into some one word, act, look, or
embrace, which it may afterwards be life to two hearts to remember. And
Jesus Christ felt this. Because He was going away He could not but pour
out Himself yet more completely than in the ordinary tenor of His life.
The earthquake lays bare hidden veins of gold, and the heart opens
itself out when separation impends. We shall never understand the works
of Jesus Christ if we do as we are all apt to do, think of them as
having only a didactic and doctrinal purpose. We must remember that
there is in Him the true play of a human heart, and that it was to
relieve His own love, as well as to teach these men their duty, that he
rose from the supper, and prepared Himself to wash the disciples' feet.
Then, on the other hand, the other motive which is brought by the
Evangelists more immediately into connection with this incident is,
'knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that
He was come from God, and went to God.'
The consciousness of the highest dignity impels to the lowliest
submission. 'All things given into His hands,' means universal and
absolute dominion. 'That He was come from God,' means pre-existence,
voluntary incarnation, an eternal divine nature, and unbroken communion
with the Father. 'That He went to God,' means a voluntary departure
from this low world, and a return to 'His own calm home, His habitation
from eternity.'
And, gathered all together, the phrases imply His absolute
consciousness of His divine nature. It was that that sent Him with the
towel round His loins to wash the foul feet of the pedestrians who had
come by the dusty and hot way from Bethany, and through all the
abominations of an Eastern city, into the upper chamber.
This was He who from the beginning 'was with God, and was God.' This
was He who was the Lord of Death, Victor over the grave. This was He
who by His own power ascended up on high, and reigns on the throne of
the universe to-day. This was He whose breast the same Evangelist had
seen before he wrote his Gospel, 'girded with the golden girdle' of
priesthood and of sovereignty; and holding, in the hands that had laid
the towel on the disciples' feet, the seven stars.
Oh, brethren! if we believed our creeds, how our hearts would melt with
wonder and awe that He who was so high stooped so low! 'Knowing that He
came from God, and went to God,' and that even when He was kneeling
there before these men, 'the Father had given all things into His
hands,' what did He do? Triumph? Show His majesty? Flash His power?
Demand service? 'Girded Himself with a towel and washed His disciples'
feet'!
The consciousness of loftiness does not alone avail to explain the
transcendent lowliness. You need the former motive to be joined with
it, because it is only love which bends loftiness to service, and turns
the consciousness of superiority into yearning to divest oneself of the
superiorities that separate, and to emphasise the emotions which unite.