5 Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
6 So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, "Lord, do You wash my feet?"
7 Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter."
8 Peter said to Him, "Never shall You wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with me."
9 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head."
10 Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you."
In this passage, we find
Jesus and His twelve disciples were preparing to eat together. This meal will
come to be known as the Lord’s Supper. After sitting down, Jesus poured water
into a bowl and began washing the disciples’ feet. Simon was astounded He would
do this and proclaimed that His Lord and teacher should not wash his feet, but
he the Lord’s.
We have read and heard
teaching on this passage. We understand that Jesus lowered Himself to serve the
disciples. At the end, He told the disciples to go and do as He did, be a
servant to another.
Another thing we need to notice is
Jesus’ words with Peter. When Peter exclaimed that the Lord should never wash
his feet, Jesus said if I do not wash you, you will have no part, no destiny,
with me. We rightly understand that the washing Jesus spoke of was the washing
that cleansed people from sin and made them children of God, co-heirs with
Christ.
What we need to notice is
that Peter exclaimed then that he wanted Jesus to wash more than his feet.
Jesus’ reply gives us a new understanding. Jesus said, "He
who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean.” We understand
that walking in Israel at that time was very dusty and when people sat to eat,
they sat on the floor with their feet near the food and others. People did not
want to offend others by their dirty feet so the host or his servant would
bring water to wash the feet of people before they ate. Jesus recognized this
when He told Peter not all of him was dirty, but only his feet. That is the
literal interpretation of this passage. There is figurative interpretation,
too. These disciples, except Judas, had come to believe in Jesus as the Messiah
and he cleansed them from their sin already. They no longer carried the death
penalty for their sins. The disciples were His and not Satan’s. However, each
day a person sins and needs to repent and receive forgiveness. Forgiveness from
the Lord is cleansing. This is the cleansing Jesus meant when He told Peter He
only needed to wash His feet. Being in the presence of Jesus, God’s Son,
required His disciples to be clean from their sins, the ones they committed
since they became His disciples. Jesus taught this to them when He washed their
feet that day.
This
is the lesson for us today. If you are already a disciple of Jesus, He has
already cleansed your whole self. However, as we live in this sinful world day
by day, we sin and need to be cleansed from our sin. We need to go before
Jesus, confess our sins, repent, and ask Him to cleanse us. Our “dirty feet”
keep us from being in the presence of God. It will weigh us down so that we
cannot hear God as well and then we do not do all that God requires. Sin
entangles us so that it is harder to run the race God has prepared for us. It
is harder to be Jesus’ disciples and serve Him and other people.
How
long has it been since you allowed Jesus to wash your feet? Today, right now,
is the right time to go before the Lord confessing and repenting of your sin.
Take the time now, for the next five minutes to be with the Lord and let Him
cleanse you for this new day.
