That His Own Might Be Clean
Notes
Transcript
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.2 And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him,
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God, and was going back to God,4 *rose from supper, and *laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about.
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 And 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 shall 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, not my feet only, 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.”
11 For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”
In the first twelve chapters of John, we have found to be true that statement which John made from the start, when he said of Jesus in...
11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
The Messiah that was predicted to come, had come, and the nation of Israel as a whole, rejected Him. There were some individuals, however, of Israel who did receive Him.
Jesus said in...
32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.
It is to that “little flock” (that is...those who received Him), that Jesus here turned in the final hours of His earthly ministry as we see in Chapter 13.
As we open chapter 13, Jesus’ public ministry to Israel has ended. After issuing a final invitation to believe in Him, Jesus “departed and hid Himself from them.” Jesus now turns His focus of ministry from those who had rejected Him, to those who genuinely received Him.
John the Apostle writes...
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
2 And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him,
The time for the annual Jewish Passover Festival was approaching.
This Passover would be the last divinely authorized one. From this time on, there would be a new memorial- not one recalling the lambs’ blood on the doorposts, but the blood of the precious Lamb of God, “poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”
Jesus and His disciples were gathered around the table at supper.
Jesus knew full well, that the time for His crucifixion was at hand. His hour had come. Earlier in John’s Gospel, on several occasions, we are reminded that His “hour” or “time” was NOT YET!
But now, His “hour” had come that He should depart (or pass over, or pass away) out of this world (from this temporal place of residence to the eternal, from this old house of decay, to a new and glorified one)
Jesus loved His own whom the FATHER had given Him.
Jesus’ genuine love for His sheep is revealed in the fact that He was preparing to give an atonement, NOT FOR THE WHOLE WORLD, BUT....for HIS own elect.
Despite the suffering by cruel punishment, until having been nailed hand and foot to the cross....His love for His own... endured. You can be sure, the nails didn’t keep Him on the cross, it was love that held Him there. He loved them to the end…(that is, He loved His own “perfectly, or completely.”
The stage is fully set. Judas Iscariot, came to the supper table not yet possessed by, but inspired and convinced by Satan, to betray the Christ.
Satan works through his spiritual agents such as demons and fallen angels to lead people away from God.
Likewise, people who oppose God’s purposes are the very ones that Satan uses to pursue his evil desires. This is the condition of Judas Iscariot. His own evil heart wanted the same thing Satan did, Jesus’ death. And the responsibility for his betrayal of Jesus, fail completely on Judas.
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God,
This verse makes crystal clear, that Jesus was in complete agreement with the Fathers plan.
The Father had given all things into His hands, (had given Him all authority) Nothing could or would occur that Jesus was not agreeable to. Remember, His love for His own, is perfect and complete. He was in complete submission to the Father, yet He had all authority and power to avoid the suffering of the cross.
His love for His own, brought Him from the glorious splendor of heaven, to a rugged cross in a fallen world steeped in sin.
But Jesus knew His sovereign authority, His origin, and coming destiny.
He had come forth from God and was going back to God
Knowing with certainty, the betrayal that was soon to take place, verse 4 tells us that Jesus....
4 got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.
All indications suggest that supper was not over.
As the Lord and His disciples reclined around the table, no one had taken the initiative to cleans or wash their feet. This would have been a task performed by the lowest slave. Since there was no slave or servant there, one of the Twelve should have volunteered to wash the feet of the others.
11 “But the greatest among you shall be your servant.12 “And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.
The Lord’s teachings had not thoroughly sunk in.
When they should have been humbling themselves, the disciples were continuing their ongoing debate over which of them was the greatest, and who would attain the most prominent position in the kingdom.
Notice in this verse…{ Only Explain }
4 *rose from supper, and *laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about.
Jesus rose up from the table, and laid aside His garments
Notice the word “garments” is plural. Not just one but at least two! To give a little more clarity, it would be like a man stripping down to His inner most garment.
What is happening here, we need to understand, is that Jesus assumed the position and the attire of the lowest slave.
Now remember, Jesus did NOT enter Jerusalem riding the powerful steed of a king, but He came triumphantly, yet humbly into Jerusalem riding the colt of a donkey.
We find it true, when Paul said that He “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men…He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross”
You wanna know something? Therefore, the Father highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name.
Jesus tied a towel around His waist....
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.
Can you imagine how awkward this must have been for the disciples? How humiliating it must have been for the disciples as they watched the Lord, humble Himself as a slave?
I would have dropped my head in shame.
Jesus did for them, what they were unwilling to do for one another.
Can you imagine how they must have felt as they sat there in silence, as the Lord knelt before them, one by one, washing the filth picked up from the dirty streets of Jerusalem? And then wipe their feet with the towel.
6 And 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 shall understand hereafter.”
Peter always had something to say. And in this case, he questioned why the Lord would stoop down and wash his feet as a slave would do.
Peter, along with the other disciples, were still holding out for Jesus to establish his kingdom. Peter could not comprehend the divine King washing his feet.
Peter and the other disciples were not understanding the spiritual symbolism that is taking place here.
Jesus plainly tells Peter, “What I do you do not realize now, but you shall understand hereafter.”
Much of the things that Jesus spoke would not be fully understood until after His death, resurrection, and ascension to Heaven.
Peter meant well, but shows his lack of understanding in Jesus’ messaging...
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.”
Jesus “ did NOT come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many”
Jesus is the One doing the work of a slave, by kneeling before His disciples and washing their feet.
Jesus is also the One doing the work of a Savior.
He Himself, perfectly obedient to the point of death, was indeed God’s precious Lamb without spot or blemish, who came to bare the penalty for the sins of His people.
To be clean before God, takes the cleansing power of the blood of the Lamb!
Listen closely!!!! He said.... “If I do not wash you......you have no part with Me.”
If you and I are spiritually clean, if we are spiritually without spot and fit subjects for Heaven, it is only because Jesus did the washing.
9 Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.”
I like that! Whatever Jesus was offering, Peter wanted all of it!
By asking Jesus to not only wash his feet, but also his hands and head, indicates that Peter wanted most of all, to be joined with Christ. He wanted to be washed all over!
But the real lesson here is HOW one is spiritually cleansed and WHO is doing the spiritual cleansing.
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne;5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood,6 and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
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.”
What is in view here is spiritual defilement.
When a person is washed in the blood of the Lamb at salvation, he is clean.
It hope all who hear the sound of my voice have been cleansing by the powerful blood of Jesus.
Adrian Rogers once said, “ The problem with many people in the church is that they’ve been starched and ironed, and NEVER WASHED, and they’ve never truly been saved.”
Here is one of the most glorious truths in all of Scripture...
He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean,....
Peter, who had genuinely been saved and cleansed did not need to re-saved and cleansed again! But just as it is with every single christian, as we walk through the dirt of the world, we ask Jesus to cleanse us from the filth which we may pick up along the way.
Having been regenerated, sin lost its strength over us. Having been regenerated, the righteousness of God holds the superiority in our lives.
Jesus assured the disciples, “You are clean,” .... and this is only because they had experienced the cleansing of redemption.
Now here’s a concerning statement....
after Jesus assures the disciples that they are clean, He says, “But not all of you.”
11 For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”
Judas had rejected the life-giving, cleansing words of Jesus, so he was still in his sin.