On the night of Jesus betrayal, Jesus is going to spend a lot of time with his disciples, teaching them and encouraging them before he would give his life. His very first teaching is maybe the most heart wrenching. Jesus stands up from dinner, takes off his outer garment and ties a towel around his waist. He fills a basin full of water and begins to wash the feet of the disciples with the towel wrapped around his waist. When Jesus gets to Peter, he enters into a very important dialogue with him.
Joh 13:6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?"
Joh 13:7 Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand."
Joh 13:8 Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me."
Joh 13:9 Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!"
Joh 13:10 Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you."
Joh 13:11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, "Not all of you are clean."
Joh 13:12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you?
Joh 13:13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
Joh 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
Joh 13:15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.
The words highlighted are very important. Jesus statement here reveals several truths that are of the utmost importance to us.
"The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean…"
If you have been born again by the cleansing power of Christ, you no longer need to be completely washed by Christ.
1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
So if we have been cleansed for all sin, why does Jesus go on to say…
"The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean…
At the end of his teaching and encouragement, Jesus prays for those who would follow him. Here we find a clue to why Jesus would say that our feet need to be cleansed despite the power of his blood to completely cleanse us.
Joh 17:11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
Joh 17:12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
Joh 17:13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Joh 17:14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
God uses us to display himself and the truth of the gospel to the world. He has left us here in direct contact with the world in order to bring them to him. But being here leaves us in danger of corruption. Jesus understood the danger of being exposed to the world. He knew it so much so, he prayed for their protection when he would leave. This is the danger:
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
The world holds the lusts of the flesh and eyes. If we respond and go toward the world and away from Christ, we are going to pass away with the rest of the world. We still have flesh and we still have eyes. The world is luring. It calls for us. It tries to grab for us. Our bodies and our eyes respond with desire but our spirit recoils.
"The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean…"
This is what Jesus is saying:
I am leaving you here together. I am leaving you here to be the church; the bride of Christ, that the world will see who you are united to and by. Your whole being will be toward heaven but part of you will still be touching the world. It must. You must touch the world for the world to know that I am in you. Your feet must be washed because it is touching the world. Wash each other’s feet because you are in danger of being corrupted by the dirt and filth that comes with touching the world. You must wash each other and keep each other from falling away.
The first question for us is, are we corrupted? Are we dirty? Are we lured away from by the world away from Christ? We cannot wash each other if we ourselves are dirty. It would be a dirty rag washing a dirty plate. Are you living in the world? The world is of the flesh.
Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
Gal 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
Gal 5:21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Does this raise any red flags? Seek to be cleansed by God and go to your brothers and sisters for help in confession and repentance.
If you are cleansed and you are living according to the Spirit, are you coming in contact with the world? We are to be in it and not of it. Many of us do everything possible to stay away from anything secular and to stay in our safe bubble of American Evangelicalism. The church has made many incredible attempts at this. If we do everything we can to avoid and be away from the world, if we shut ourselves up from contact with anyone or anything that is not institutionalized Christianity, how can we be a witness? How can we fulfill the great commission? Have you made contact with your neighbors? How many people have you tried to share Christ with in your city? Have you been purposeful in seeking and sharing with those around you daily?
Finally, we are to be confrontational to each other. We are the ones who are to wash the feet of each other. We are to come to our brothers and sisters and say, “Sit down while I help you rid the filth from this world.” We are also to receive such cleansing no matter how much we look the fool. Christ tells Peter that he must be washed. Scripture says it best. The author of Hebrews will conclude this matter.
Heb 3:12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Heb 3:14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Heb 10:24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
Heb 10:25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
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