Sunday Devotional
The Meaning Of Washing One Another's Feet
John 13:1-17
Pastor Wes
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When Jesus taught, He would use illustrations from ordinary common life, in order to point to a higher, spiritual truth. He helped fishermen catch fish, and then told them they would from that point on be “fishers” of... men. There was a higher, spiritual connotation to many of the things He said. He had a conversation at a well about drinking and thirsting again, but then said whoever drinks of the “water” that He gives, will… never thirst again. Was He talking about special water He had in a canteen? No, by “water,” He was alluding to something different, something spiritual. Jesus did many great physical acts- healings and feeding the hungry. He gave great moral teachings, but… you will miss the real Jesus if you interpret His actions as being just merely physical in nature.
I would argue that most all of what Jesus did and taught was rather aiming for spiritual effect, more so than physical effect. Though He spoke in physical, earthly terms, His intent was to point to spiritual/eternal terms. Through He met physical needs, His greater intent was to meet spiritual needs. What He did and taught was to be interpreted on a higher, spiritual level.
Today we’re going to look at a familiar passage, one where the application has often stopped at the physical level application, and I don’t want us to miss the higher, spiritual level application. The introduction to our passage is given in John 13:1-4…
I love how John clearly sets the stage. We have the timing- it’s before the Passover feast. We have the motivation- what Jesus is about to do is motivated by love and by the knowledge that He would soon leave. Despite Jesus knowing Judas was moments from betraying Him, despite Him knowing that He was from God and could do anything with God’s power in that moment- despite this knowledge- He proceeds to get up from supper, take off His cloak, tuck a towel into His waistband, and roll up the hem of his tunic.
Now the rest of the 12 disciples were still reclined at the table, and what this looked like at the time was a table low to the ground, with pillows and cushions all around it. And one reclined at the table not with their feet facing the table, no their heads would be facing the table so that hands and mouth were close to the food, and the feet would then be behind them, facing out, furthest from the table. And so without any announcement, without asking any permissions, verse 5… Jesus began making His way around the circle of the table, doing a service that would only a paid servant would do in the home of a wealthy person. Verse 6-8…
Here in verse 8 is where Jesus’ physical demonstration begins to take on the spiritual level meaning. Jesus says “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Do you think He really meant that if Peter continued hanging out at the dinner table with dirty feet, then he would forever be disassociated from Jesus? No, Jesus wasn’t talking about feet washing anymore. He had already moved on to the higher, spiritual meaning that He wanted His followers to know. What spiritual sense of “washing” was He talking about? The washing away of sin! But Peter doesn’t get it yet, he’s still thinking physical washing of feet, verse 9…
I love Peter’s enthusiasm, what a sweet way to respond to Jesus, conveying that he wants to be a part of whatever would join Him closer to Jesus, and then some. Jesus then replies with words that delve deeper into His spiritual point, verse 10…
Ok, not to give it away too soon, but Jesus isn’t talking about who has taken a physical bath and who hasn’t. The physical illustration is that one who has taken a bath walks around physically clean, with exception for the feet. In this time period, everyone was either barefoot or wearing sandals as they walked around the dusty environment of the Middle East. So even if you had taken a bath within the past hour, chances are your feet would already need to be cleaned off. The custom would be to wash off your feet as you entered someone else’s home, or like I mentioned earlier, the wealthy would have servants wash your feet for you. But Jesus is still talking on the spiritual level here, referring to the washing of sin and spiritual cleanliness. What do you think might be the spiritual correlation of being clean after bathing, but still having to wash your feet?
Here’s what I think: one who has given His life to Jesus, who receives His forgiveness and follows His teaching, is cleansed from sin- becoming morally purified- holy to the extent that they can enter into God’s holy presence in Heaven. But that same person, who has been once and for all cleansed, for the meantime, still lives and walks within the dusty dirty environment here on earth. We who have been bathed and cleansed by Jesus, still are susceptible to being contaminated by the corruption of everyday life through which we walk, and we need to be washed from it regularly. Case in point: the disciples had been cleansed by Jesus spiritually, but still fell morally, falling into temptation, temptations like arguing over who was the greatest amongst them. (Which had just happened- perhaps just minutes before Jesus got up to wash feet- Luke 22:24)
This falls in line with what I talked about several weeks ago concerning the act of repenting and turning to Jesus for His forgiveness- as in the day you chose to surrender to Him and follow Him- but then after that day, you still live with a repentant heart as He continues to convict you and weed out imperfections.
Verse 11 tells us who the one in this passage is who hasn’t taken the spiritual bath- the one who hasn’t surrendered and chosen to fully follow Jesus, verse 11…
John has already told us back in verse 2 that it is Judas who is betraying Jesus. So, there are 11 disciples who are clean, yet still need their feet washed periodically, and there is 1 (Judas) who is not clean- who hasn’t taken the spiritual bath. Ok, so we understand the spiritual principle Jesus is teaching- we need to take a spiritual bath (coming to salvation) and yet still be regularly cleansed from the ways the world creeps in and taints us (having a repentant heart). Now here’s where the spiritual level teaching bumps up a notch, in the verses that follow, verses 12-17…
Now what is really tempting to do here is to return back to the physical level, and walk away with the application that: we are to serve one another, and leaders are to be servants, and we are to do as Jesus did in following His footsteps of doing kind things for others. This is all true, yes, do these things! But don’t miss the spiritual application. We can’t just strip away the bathing and cleansing as it pertains to sin now that Jesus says we should wash each other’s feet. What is He talking about now spiritually? We know that He alone can cleanse sin and that there’s nothing we can do to cleanse ourselves or anyone else from the stain of sin. So how are we to wash each other’s feet spiritually?
Often within Christianity, the church’s response to an individual’s sin is a response somewhat like- “Wow, you’re dirty. You need to take care of that and get cleaned up. Come back when you have your stuff more together.” And they walk off, shaking their head in disgust at the dirtiness of the other’s feet. What I believe instead, is that Jesus is desiring His followers to take an active, hands-on role, in humbly helping one another work through our short- comings, mistakes, and failures. This is how the body of Christ is intended to operate and serve. You are not greater than your master Jesus, and He lovingly serves, helps, strengthens, forgives, encourages- and you are to do the same! We help clean each other up- the Holy Spirit uses us as we pray for each other, share scripture and testimonies with each other, as we refrain from judging and rather join hands saying “We’re in this together!” You and I have an active role (not an active judging/master role, but an active humble/servant role) in helping our church family around us be cleansed, purified, and ready to meet Jesus upon His return.
In closing, I want to draw your attention to the last verse in our passage, verse 17: “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” Notice the blessing is not in the knowledge. The blessing is not in the tickling of the mind, it’s not in the discovery of understanding this passage’s physical and spiritual applications. The blessing is in doing, the blessing is in the life application of these physical and spiritual principles. May we not just be hearers, but doers of His word. (James 1:22)