¹² So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?

When Jesus asked a question, He was not looking for information. Being the master teacher that He was, the goal was to draw His listeners into an indelible learning experience. Some things are best learned in perplexing situations. His comments so far served to knock the disciples off balance, as evident from Peter’s response. Now Jesus wanted to drive home at least one of the points He was trying to communicate.

Of all the gospel writers, John reveals the teaching side of Jesus more than the others. The number of stories included by John reflect a distinct selectiveness, as he explains later in John 20:30-31. But those he does include come with great details of Jesus’ conversations surrounding those events. And in the Gospel according to John, Jesus shows many layers of meaning to his actions.

While in the preceding verses, the aim was to give forewarning of Judas’ betrayal (he was the member of disciples who was not “clean,” the uncleanness that had to be removed). Now the Lord is taking the disciples to another level of meaning in His actions, namely that the way of the follower of Christ was the way of servanthood.

Jesus could have simply sat the disciples down for a three year academic program of classroom lectures. “Here is the truth, now write this down and memorize it.” He could have provided His teaching strictly in monologue form, but instead He often taught with questions, creating a problem or illustration first and then inviting the disciples to contemplate the meaning. The world may call this the Socratic method of teaching, but Jesus is the greatest Teacher of all.

Does this not reflect how the Lord often teaches us, how He takes us to deeper levels of understanding of Himself and His ways? When we don’t understand why things are happening, that can become the greatest time of learning. When heaven is silent, when God does not answer prayer, when our faithful living does not result in well-being, when pain is unrelenting, when disappointments travail us. Then it is like Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet without immediately telling them why. To be sure, He did answer the question, but it is important to note that He wanted them to ponder it first, “Do you know what I have done to you?” God leaves us to wait and ponder so that we can more readily appreciate the answer when it is given. And sometimes the wait can be a lifetime.

Lord, help me to understand that when questions arise in my mind that You are in the process of teaching me deeper truths about Yourself and Your ways.