Be Washed

First Thing’s First

Over the next several weeks we will be looking at what is usually called the Upper Room Discourse or the Farewell Discourse. In the Gospel According to John we will spend our time going through chapters 13-17. We were initially going to only focus in on Jesus’ high priestly prayer in ch.17 but we knew that to ignore the previous chapters wouldn’t help with understanding everything Jesus is saying. Today we will look at John 13:1-20.

John 13:1–20 ESV

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 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.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 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.” For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.” 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? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”

Dirty Feet

Before coming to Horeb, and even some of my time here, I was Roman Catholic, devoutly Roman Catholic. Not just for the major feasts, but played music and taught there as well. And in all my years there were a few liturgical events that really moved me. One was Easter, another Good Friday and another was Maundy Thursday. On Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday, There was a special service where we would do a footwashing. It is humbling to have someone wash your feet, especially for someone like me that never gets pedicures. The priest would start and a few of us would volunteer to help and wash other’s feet, which was also very humbling.

I feel that in this modern time the significance of this can be lost on us, especially here in the US. While feet today are definitely still smelly, they generally don’t collect as much dirt as they used to. Feet in the Ancient Near East were considered the dirtiest part of your body. You could have bathed and as soon as you stepped out, boom, your feet were covered in dirt. So it was customary to have your feet washed by someone if they had you over for dinner. Usually a servant or that you would wash your own feet. In the OT we can read how one’s feet aren’t just physically dirty, but signify an imperfection, unworthiness, spiritual dirt. In Isaiah 6:3 we see that the seraphim had 6 wings, two for their eyes, two for their feet and two to fly. Though they were created to do the father’s will and did so, they still had to cover their feet.

Exodus 30:19–20 NASB95

“Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet from it; when they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they will not die; or when they approach the altar to minister, by offering up in smoke a fire sacrifice to the Lord.

Here we read that the priests are to wash their hands and feet before entering the presence of the Lord in worship. This was to come before the Lord in purity.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Chapter 30

This laver was provided for the priests alone. But in the Christian dispensation, all believers are priests, and hence the apostle exhorts them how to draw near to God (Jn 13:10; Heb 10:22).

This is figurative of our spiritual standing before God. Where in the OT the priests were able to wash themselves off, we as gentiles couldn’t. And either way, the priests had to wash themselves repeatedly, it was never enough. Nothing we did could ever cleanse us. What could?

Servant mindset

In John 13:4 Jesus removes His outer garments, what exactly does that mean? This was the equivalent of removing your clothes down to an undershirt and undies then wrapping a towel around your waist. This was a servants posture.

John Chapter 35: The Foot Washing (John 13:1–17)

in antiquity, when a rabbi had disciples, they typically acted as his servants. However, they were never required to wash the rabbi’s feet; that task was reserved for slaves. But even some slaves were spared this task. Within Israel, if a Jewish person had a Jewish slave, the slave owner was not permitted to require that slave to wash his feet. Only a Gentile slave could be required to perform such a menial task.

Here Jesus Himself takes this on and begins to wash their feet. Peter tries to deny Him and Jesus Tells him that He doesn’t understand it now, but that He will soon. What does Jesus mean by this? I’m glad you asked.

The Gospel according to John A. The Last Supper (13:1–30)

Several of the signs in the first half of the Fourth Gospel are immediately followed by extended discourses that ‘unpack’ the significance of the sign. Here the order is reversed: one of the purposes of the chapters immediately before us, embracing the last supper, the farewell discourse and the final prayer of Jesus (Jn. 13–17), is to ‘unpack’, before the event, the significance of Jesus’ departure—his death, burial, resurrection, exaltation and the consequent coming of the Holy Spirit.

As believers, baptism points back to to something that God has done in our lives, a cleansing. What Jesus does here is that He points forward to what is to come, the cleansing of our sins by His blood. This is the Master, The Creator humbling Himself to the point of death, Philippians 2:7-8 So of course at first the disciples will not understand. Jesus is there washing their feet and saying, “you don’t even know!” This wasn’t just the rabbi cleaning them, but the creator of the dirt itself.

Take Part

Peter tries to deny Jesus. Everybody gives Thomas a bad name for asking good questions in a difficult time. Peter denies Jesus 3 times, plus all the times he misspoke against him and nobody bats an eye. And I get it, it’s a humility thing, but come on and think about it. Imagine that the one you call messiah is washing your feet, not just that, but bring the context of the situation in. The feet are the most dirtiest thing and the washing of them at a dinner was reserved for gentile servants. I get it.

John 13:6–9 NASB95

So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” 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.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”

In this Jesus reveals a bit more about what He is doing. He is effectively showing them that they need to be cleansed in order to be part of what He is doing, to be part of the Kingdom, to be saved. In true Peter fashion he takes it to the next level, “bathe me!!”

English Standard Version Chapter 13

“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.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

Where Peter only understood a physical cleansing, hence the request to be bathed, Jesus focuses on the feet. Here two different greek words are used.

λούω bathe

νίπτω Nipto to cleanse with use of water, wash

These two words are used in order to distinguish what Jesus is doing, not something purely physical, but something spiritual and symbolic, pointing to something to come.

English Standard Version Chapter 13

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? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ 19 I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”

Here He is say basically this, “I am the king of kings, lord of lords, eternal father, unchanging, the one true and living God and I have forfeited my dignity, not my deity but my dignity, for you and for the many who will be saved. I came to serve and not to be served. Go and do the same for each other.”

Granted, I understand it’s an over simplification.

What Next?

There are some key take aways from all of this:

First, we must note something beautiful in this exchange, He first makes us clean before we can do anything. In Exodus we read of the basin for the cleansing before the priests would enter to worship. Because of this cleansing that pointed to the ultimate cleansing that would wash us once and for all, we can now come before God without pretense, without needed to be perfect, without having to be made right, because Jesus paid it all and has made us right, once and for all. This is the identity Jesus gives before sending out His disciples out to wash one another’s feet. It is done before do. It is You Are before what you’ve done. This is your identity, Cleansed and ransomed.

Secondly, we are to wash one another’s feet. Not physically, though we can also, but we are to serve the church as Christ has served us. It is so easy to be complacent and forget all that God has done. To forget that we are to serve each other in this church and in the Universal Church. We are not saved to sit in a pew, but saved for good works. Firstly we are saved and cleansed, Next we serve each other. Ask yourself, How am I serving the church, the body of christ? It doesn’t have to be preaching, teaching or music. There are so many different ministries to learn from here at Horeb and different Para-church ministries to partake of as well.

Ephesians 5:25–26 NASB95

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,

Let us work together to continue to wash the Bride of Christ using the gifts we’ve been given.

Believer, take heart, you have been cleansed and our kept by our God and saviour. We are His and He is ours.

Thirdly, unbeliever, Jesus has paid it all for those who will rely on Him. There is no sin too great that the grace of God cannot blot out. You are never out of reach. If you have heard Him speak to you today and want to know more, please reach out to us, we want to help you in this time.

In closing,

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus

Oh! precious is the flow That makes me white as snow No other fount I know Nothing but the blood of Jesus