Laying His garments aside

John 13: 4

It is getting close to Easter, and this passage is about the Last Supper. It says Jesus “got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.”

I will stay in this passage for a few days, for it is rich in instruction and example...and there is no better example for us than our Lord.

They are celebrating Passover and are reclining at the table. I have seen these tables and they are not our tables...the paintings are NOTHING like what was happening here. It says John leaned on Him, which would be terribly awkward if you are sitting in chairs. This table would look more like a long skateboard ramp...there are inclines on both sides and a long level plank arising along the center. They would lay on their sides on the inclines and the food would be on the high level plank. Therefore, John could lean back on him if he had him back to him. And all of their feet were sticking out to the outside, making the washing He was about to do very accessible. This posture aided also in digestion.

So Jesus is at dinner and sees that no one has had their feet washed...this is usually done by the servant of the household, and there was not one there, and no one had volunteered. So Jesus, setting the example of the servant that He actually was (Phillipians 2:7) decided to teach them a lesson and serve them in the most humbling way possible.

He laid aside His garment.

He had to take off His clothes to play the part of the household slave. This was not disrobing to keep from getting his clothes wet or dirty, but to take on the role of the servant. If you are in a play, you do not go out in your street clothes onto the stage...you change to “become” the character that you are called to play. But in this case, Jesus was playing Himself, but just showing Himself as another part of who He was. He was a teacher and preacher, and a man, and dressed the part. But He was also a servant in every sense of the Word. The Phillipians passage tells us that He took off the robes of God-head in heaven and dressed like a man, becoming Human-God...making Himself nothing...a slave, a servant, a man without any value in that society. He was to be used by mankind, but also used by God to reach down to mankind. And even as a man, He humbled Himself. He did not exalt Himself on earth, but exalted the Father. He was God, but pointed people to the Father, and not to Himself much at all. He avoided those who focused too much on what He could do on the earth...He was more worried about them focusing on their relationship with God! He didn't demand attention, riches, thrones, the best hotel accommodations. He had nothing, and the one thing He did have, His garments, even those He took off to serve. And Paul tells us that because He was willing to do that, that God exalted Him to the highest place.

Taking off was the way to put on...humbling led to exalting. Stripping self of any glory led to the most glory for Him and for God. And the disciples saw it and protested. This was just not right. Jesus shouldn't be stripped for them, but they didn't realize that He had already been stripped of His heavenly garments for their knowledge of God, and He would be stripped of them the next day again for their salvation by God. He laid aside His garments for them, and for us. He washed them with water and He washes us with His blood. He laid aside the very last thing He owned to serve, and He laid aside His life to serve through dying for us.

And that is what Easter is all about. He laid aside His garments to serve, to cleanse, to wash, to Glorify the Father as an example to us.

No pride.

No attention.

No lecture.

No refusals allowed.

He had to do it. He wanted to do it. He was called to do it.

And we are called to lie still and let Him do it to us. Don't pull your feet back from the servant-God. Put your feet out there and let Him do the dirty work. That's why He came.