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Jesus Washes the Disciples Feet, Part III, John 13:10-15
We are at the Passover Supper, the Last Supper on Earth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke, the physician, has recorded in his Gospel, chapter 22, Jesus Christ assigning a task to Peter and John to “Go and prepare us the Passover, that we may eat.”
They asked him for details as to where it should be and were told by the Lord to enter into the city and there you would find a man bearing a pitcher of water.
They were then told to follow that man to the house where the Passover Supper would be conducted.
And upon entering you are to ask the goodman of the house,
The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.
But one thing they lacked in their preparation was the important task of seeing to it that as they lay around the supper table they would lay prone with feet that had been washed.
Why this was neglected we are not told.
Perhaps this band of men, a somewhat rough band, perhaps not taught well in proper manners, gave only thought to what they would put in their bodies in the way of food but thought little of what was needed to be removed from their bodies in order to be acceptable at the last supper of our Lord.
But Jesus found in this neglect an opportunity to teach this little band of men the great necessity of staying clean in order for fellowship with him to be continued.
It was not only a lesson in manners but a lesson in their relationship with God the Son, and God the Father.
So confronted with this by our Lord, Peter has objected vehemently and passionately saying never, never, never will his Lord stoop to such a lowly task on his behalf.
But after hearing Jesus Christ’s absolute regarding continual fellowship with him he quickly yields his entire body to the Lord and as quickly hears Jesus response in:
John 13:10 where, 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.
Jesus is saying that only a partial washing is needed if the full washing has taken place.
Peter, you have been washed, but as long as you remain in your natural body a partial washing is needed to maintain fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
John has this same message in 1 John 1:6 when he says: If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
In other words: In this context of the actions taken at the last supper, If we say that we have fellowship with him, and have dirty unwashed feet, we lie, and do not the truth:
Jesus is telling Peter: I expect you to maintain continual dependence upon me if we are to maintain fellowship.
The road of this life is rough and dusty and dirty and paved with wickedness and I know that in your strength you cannot wash anything away by yourself.
Cleaning the road will not maintain fellowship.
I do not intend to clean the road!
I do not intend to get rid of the dust and the dirt!
I do not intend to make the way clean!
I do not intend to clean up the road so your feet will not get dirty!
And I don't expect you to clean it up either!
The road is beyond cleaning.
I don't rebuke you either for having dirty feet for having dirty feet is the way of this world.
I simply expect you to come to me daily knowing that your feet are dirty and you need them washed by the water of my word.
My word will not clean the world. My word is intended to clean you every whit!
That is my plan for you to maintain fellowship with me as long as you are in this world.
And I expect you to come to me daily because your feet get dirty daily and I will do the washing by the water of my word.
He is talking to Peter for Peter is the one who rejected such daily washing but there is another in the upper room who has rejected Christ’s full washing and Jesus will not let this pass for he speaks of this in:
John 13:11, For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.
By saying, Ye are not all clean, Jesus 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 whom 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.
We should often reflect and ponder those things that He has done for 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 fuller of meaning than the washing of his disciple’s 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 whom 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 that 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 as he spreads the water of the word.
I as your Sunday School teacher am also in the foot washing business.
And you as a brother or sister in Christ are in the foot washing business.
The washing of the disciple’s feet teaches how fellowship is maintained with the Lord Jesus Christ.
The feet represent the child of God walking in this world system and being affected and influenced by it.
The dirt on the feet is the world influencing God's child as he conducts his daily affairs.
God's child daily finds himself loving the world, loving the things of the world, exercising the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
These things as they daily influence the child of God separate God's child from fellowship with God.
Something must be done if fellowship is not to be broken.
That which daily affects and influences the child of God must be removed by Jesus Christ who is the word of God.
In other words the lesson that Jesus Christ teaches us is that the only defense his children have against the corrupting influence of this world is the applied water of the word of God on a daily basis.
Fellowship with Christ requires a submission of oneself on a daily basis to the word of God.
In the washing of his disciple’s feet please note that Jesus Christ concentrates on the washing away of the dirt.
He does not concentrate on the dirt or how much dirt is there.
He does not caution his disciples about how much dirt is on their feet.
He simply expects them to submit their dirty feet to him.
He did not criticize Peter because of how dirty his feet were.
He told him that he would have no part with him if he did not let him wash his feet.
This is an important principle to remember.
Jesus Christ is capable of washing all feet regardless of how dirty they are.
But he expects us to confess our sins (regardless of how dirty they are) and he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and in so doing fellowship is maintained. |