Just as Jesus told them they would, Peter and John found the house that had a room upstairs that was large enough to hold all the disciples for the Seder. Now everything was ready for the Passover meal.
The tightknit group fell into a discussion they had had before: which of them was the greatest.
Jesus stood up and tied a towel around His waist. He poured water into a basin. Jesus dropped to the floor.
Their chatter gave way to silence as they realized what he was about to do.
One by one, Jesus gently washed the feet of the disciples and dried them with the towel.
Peter was horrified that he had just been arguing over who was the greatest. And now Jesus was doing the job of the lowliest servant. How could he possibly let His Lord, the Son of God, the Messiah, wash his feet? No, it shouldn’t be.
“Lord, do you wash my feet?” asked Peter.
“What I do you do not realize now, but you shall understand hereafter,” said Jesus.
“Never shall you wash my feet,” said Peter.
“If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me,” answered Jesus.
“Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head,” said Peter. Peter didn’t yet understand any of the things that would be done and said that night.
The example of Jesus’s love and humility compared to Peter’s boastfulness was not the only surprise. During the meal, Jesus said something that stunned Peter.
“Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me,” said Jesus.
The disciples looked back and forth at each other. Who could possibly do such a thing?
“Lord, is it I?” the disciples said at nearly the same time.
John was reclining in from of Jesus. From across the table, Peter caught John’s eye and gestured to him to ask Jesus who He was talking about.
“Lord, who is it?” asked John.
“That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him,” answered Jesus.
Jesus handed the dipped bread to Judas Iscariot.
“What you do, do quickly,” said Jesus to Judas.
Judas left the room and went into the darkness of the night. Jesus knew where Judas was going. But Peter and the others didn’t. Since Judas was the treasurer, they thought Jesus probably told Judas to buy some supplies, or give something to the poor.
Once Judas left, Jesus had much to tell them. And there wasn’t much time.
Carla Killough McClafferty