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The Gospel of John, The Period of Conference, Transition, Christ Washes His Disciple's Feet, Part VII, John 13:10-15 - Lesson 115
John 13:10,11 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.
By saying, Ye are not all clean, Christ refers to Judas Iscariot.
He wants us to know that Judas was not saved.
He has not given himself to Jesus Christ to be fully bathed in his righteousness.
He would manifest his lost condition in less than one hour as he goes forth to sell the man who he pretended to be his Master.
One commentator has said that he was not a sheep of Christ becoming unclean, but a dog returning to his vomit!
For a time he maintained a form of outward godliness but he was always a stranger to the washing of Jesus Christ.
John 13:12, So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?
Notice the method that Jesus uses here to teach his disciples.
This washing of the feet of the disciples and the questions of Jesus show how it is his way to teach us afterwards the good which he has already done for us.
Jesus Christ wants us to know and appreciate what he has done for us.
You should often reflect and ponder the things that Jesus Christ has done to you.
Everything he has done is for our good!
And in everything he wants us to know the whys and the wherefores of what he has done.
He does not wish for ignorant disciples, he does not wish for robots to follow him.
He does not wish for his followers to follow him out of habit or tradition or because it is a family thing.
He desires his followers to know, to be knowledgeable.
We must realize as we study the life of Christ that everything he did was full of meaning, everything he did is intended to serve a purpose.
And there is no other example more full of meaning than the washing of his disciples feet and he wants his disciples to know what he had done to them in the fullest sense.
Know ye what I have done to you?
John 13:13-15, Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
Jesus, Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He reminds his disciples of what he is to them.
He is Lord, he is Master and if they call him Lord, if they call him Master, then honesty demands that they believe him and obey him.
Do not call Jesus Christ, Lord if Lord means nothing.
Calling someone Master means that you believe him.
Calling someone Lord means that you obey him.
Jesus Christ tells his disciples that it is right and well to call him Lord and Master.
He validates those titles for us.
This is what we ought to call him, but it must be accompanied by believing and obedience.
If you do not obey the one you call Lord you are nothing but a hypocrite, a liar and a deceiver.
Everything Jesus Christ does provides examples for his followers to follow.
Does not God intend his children to be conformed to his Son?
So he provides us spiritual lessons by example.
He says to his disciples, observe what I have just done so that ye may do the same.
I have washed your feet.
Ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
Jesus Christ, Lord and Master is teaching a lesson to his disciples.
It involves much more than the physical act of washing dirty feet.
He uses this example to tell the disciples that what he has done to them he expects them also to do to each other.
Note that the Lord Jesus Christ accepted the fact the their feet were dirty.
He did not point this out to them in a critical and judging manner.
He did not compare their feet among themselves, saying that Peter's feet were dirtier than Andrew's feet or John's feet were cleaner than Judas's feet.
He simply washed their feet.
By this he demonstrated that every disciple had dirty feet that needed cleaning.
He demonstrated that he was the cleansing agent whereby dirty feet were made clean.
This is the lesson that Jesus Christ desired to teach his disciples.
He wants them to relate to one another in the matter of cleansing in the same way that he has related to them.
We may look at the feet of our brethren, we will see that they are dirty.
We are not to ignore the dirt pretending that it is not there.
We are not to call the feet of our brothers clean when we know they are dirty.
Every foot on every brother or sister in Christ is dirty.
We are not to judge his feet dirtier than our own feet or the feet of others.
What are we to do?
We are simply to wash one another's feet.
The Lord Jesus Christ was talking about a spiritual washing and that is what I'm talking about
I have to get down to my brother's spiritual feet to wash them.
I have to humble myself to get into the right position to participate in the washing of his feet.
My flesh has to be subdued if the spirit is to work on behalf of my brother's spirit.
Jesus Christ is simply demonstrating the same thing that Paul said in:
Gal 6:1,2, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
But if I am to restore such an one in the spirit of meekness there is required a submission of my brother as Peter said in:
1 Pet 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
In this vein your Pastor is in the foot washing business.
I as your Sunday School teacher am in the foot washing business.
And you as a brother or sister in Christ are in the foot washing business. |