John 13:1-5
What Jesus knew before He knelt, and why it changes everything
Before Jesus washed his disciples’ feet in John 13:1-5, John tells us twice what Jesus knew. Because he knew his calling, his identity, his assignment, his authority and his inheritance, the King of the world could pick up a towel. When we know what Jesus knows, we can serve the way he serves.
Message notes
Pastor Pat steps away from Matthew for a week and opens John 13. It is the night before the cross. Jesus is at dinner with his friends, the devil has already prompted Judas, and Jesus gets up from the meal, wraps a towel around his waist, pours water into a basin and starts washing his disciples’ feet. Pat admits he has wrestled with this passage. The next hours of Jesus’ life will be excruciating, and he spends them on dirty feet. “It would be like the king deciding to be on toilet duty.” He connects it to Daniel and Ross, who were prayed for and blessed that morning, and the way they serve where few people see.
Pat points to a word John repeats twice before Jesus ever picks up the towel: “knew.” Because Jesus knew something, he could kneel. Pat walks through five things Jesus knew, pairing John 13 with Jesus’ prayer later that night in John 17.
First, his calling. Jesus prays for the Father to be glorified, and Pat says our calling is the same: worship, loving God with everything and then loving people. He used to think his calling was a “magical unicorn” he had to find, when he was fulfilling all of it by loving Jesus the best he could. Second, his identity. The Father called Jesus his Son before any miracle, and “the one who designed us is the one who defines us.”
Third, his assignment. Jesus finished the work the Father gave him. Our identity and calling never change, but our assignments do, from careers to seasons. Pat tells of losing a job and working maintenance for a friend’s company, watering plants and angry at God, until he saw the season was sifting out his entitlement. Assignments are handed to us, so we are stewards. Fourth, his authority. Jesus had authority over all people and used it to lay his life down. The measure is faithfulness, “well done, good and faithful,” not growth metrics. Fifth, his inheritance. Every spiritual blessing, gift and fruit of the Spirit is ours in him, but what Jesus wanted most was his Father’s presence.
Because Jesus knew all this, he didn’t compete, didn’t strive to prove himself, and dirty feet and mockery couldn’t shake who he was. Pat calls the church to abide, surrender and obey, and gives a prayer from the end of his sabbatical to pray every day this week: my calling is worship, my identity is sonship, my assignment is stewardship, my success is faithfulness, my reward is Jesus.
From the message
If we know like Jesus knows, then we can kneel like Jesus kneels.
If your calling is worship, you can do it with a towel.
Orphans grab because they’re fighting for things they don’t have. But sons can kneel because we can offer things that we’ve been given.
If the reward is applause or comfort or money, you’ll always need more. But if the reward is Jesus, you already have what you’re looking for.
Life Group discussion guide
What Jesus knew before He knelt, and why it changes everything, John 13:1-5. October 25, 2026.
Start here
What is a job or chore you once thought was beneath you, and what did it end up teaching you?
Read John 13:1-5
Open your Bibles and read it out loud together before you start.
What does it say?
John 13:1 and 13:3 both tell us what Jesus “knew.” What did he know, and what does he do right after, in verses 4 and 5?
In John 17:1-5, later the same evening, what does Jesus ask the Father for, and what does he say he has finished in verse 4?
What does it mean?
Washing feet was one of the lowest jobs at a meal. Why would knowing he had come from God and was returning to God free Jesus to pick up a towel instead of keeping him from it?
Pastor Pat separates calling, identity and assignment. How would you explain the difference between the three, and which of them never change?
Jesus says “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21), not “good and successful.” What changes when faithfulness is the measure instead of size or reach?
What do we do with it?
What assignment are you in right now, at work, at home or in a hard season, that you wish God would hurry up and end? What might he be shaping in you there?
Which of these do you tend to grip like an owner instead of holding like a steward: your job, your money, your schedule or your family? What would holding it open look like this week?
Pastor Pat’s challenge is to pray five lines every day this week: my calling is worship, my identity is sonship, my assignment is stewardship, my success is faithfulness, my reward is Jesus. Which one is hardest for you to say and mean, and why?
Pray
Pray the five lines together, slowly. Then ask Jesus to show each of you the towel he is handing you this week, the person or task you have avoided because it felt beneath you, and for the humility to pick it up.
New Hope Hawaii Kai. Watch the message and read the notes at newhopehk.org/sermons/what-jesus-knew-before-he-knelt-and-why-it-changes-everything/