Jesus washed the disciple"s feet fully aware of His authority from the Father, His divine origin, and His divine destiny. John"s mention of this awareness stresses Jesus" humility and love still further. Washing feet in such a situation was the role of the most menial of servants (cf. John 1:27). [1] Here Jesus reversed normal roles and assumed the place of a servant rather than that of a rabbi. His act demonstrated love ( John 13:1), provided a model of Christian conduct ( John 13:12-17), and symbolized cleansing ( John 13:6-9). Jesus even dressed Himself as a slave (cf. Philippians 2:6-7; 1 Peter 5:5). His humble service would take Him even to death on the cross ( Philippians 2:8). Normally a servant would have been present to perform this task, but there were none present in the upper room since it was a secret meal. The disciples did not want to wash each other"s feet since they had just been arguing about which of them was the greatest ( Luke 22:24). [source][source][source]
"We today, just like the disciples that night, desperately need this lesson on humility. The church is filled with a worldly spirit of competition and criticism as believers vie with one another to see who is the greatest. We are growing in knowledge, but not in grace (see 2 Peter 3:18). "Humility is the only soil in which the graces root," wrote Andrew Murray. [2][source]