14aIf I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, byou also ought to wash one another’s feet.
15For aI have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.
16aMost 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.
17aIf you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
Jesus Identifies His Betrayer
18“I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the aScripture may be fulfilled, b‘He who eats bread with Mehas lifted up his heel against Me.’
19aNow I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He.
Jesus teaches self-denial to His disciples not only with His words but also by His actions. Notice that His call to self-denial comes immediately after predicting His own sacrificial death. He is the supreme model of the self-denial to which He calls others. He even denies Himself any urge to avenge Himself or to threaten His persecutors for what they had done to Him. In Jesus' example, we see that, by committing ourselves to God who judges rightly, we deny ourselves the temptation of worldly lusts.
Because of their incessant bickering about who would be the greatest in the Kingdom (Luke 22:24-27), Jesus gave the disciples an object lesson designed to show them what their real position was under Him. He tells them, "He who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves" (verse 26). He shows them that they must be willing to do whatever task—even the most menial—that is necessary for the good of their brothers. This should have put them in the proper attitude for the Passover's greater purpose, Christ's sacrifice for our forgiveness and redemption.
