2 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 got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.
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.” 11 For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”
Message: The Cleansing We Need
Time: John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing was, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31)."
What the Lord is Saying: As I learned in the previous lesson and verse, the text is leading us up to the Passover. But first, feet washing by Jesus of the disciples.
There are bookends of similar ideas for this text - Judas and his betrayal of Jesus. In verse 2 it says it is the devil that places that into the heart of Judas. But that placement had already occurred. Judas was on the scene here at the Passover already with the notion that he was not all in...and yet he was still in the room, still walking with the disciples, but still not all in. For Judas he had a love of money and so his heart was inclined in that direction and Satan then takes him all the way down the path to betrayal. What starts the betrayal - desire. Desires are not bad, but the problem here with Judas is his desire for money got him sidetracked from what matters most. Like the Rich Young Ruler who wanted eternal life, but could not give up his desire for money.
I have wondered why Judas in betraying Jesus was necessary. But Judas is part of the process of Jesus being handed over to authorities to then be crucified (Mark 14:44-46). Despite Judas choosing that path, the path was necessary for what Jesus would accomplish. So there is seemingly free will, a choice by Judas, yet led by Satan and yet this choice is in the plan of Jesus going to the cross. There remains a tension, a question it would seem between free will and God's sovereignty. It remains a perplexing piece of life - whether we have in fact have free will. Remains hard for me to reconcile. Proverbs 16:33 - "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord." Every moment gives the appearance we do, but then in outcomes I just don't know. Somehow there seems to be a connection between the two otherwise are we not all robots? I mean, why would we have so many commands in our Bible which give the suggestion we have a choice? [There are scientists and philosophers throughout history that don't believe we have free will; there are atheists identify with this as well calling it determinism. And yet throughout life we are held accountable to our choices, and this is agreed despite how one holds to this notion of will.]
Well, in continuing on in this passage Jesus is washing the disciples feet. Jesus has been showing His love - mostly in communicating to people that He and the Father are one, that the Father gives the Son a mission and salvation is found in God, found in Jesus. God is one. Jesus and God are one. And along the way He heals people and saves them from physical death and storms to exemplify His power to all. And yet He remains a servant. While King He is also servant. And so in washing their feet, He goes to the level of the common servant, washing people's feet before entering a home. Mark 10:45, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” He reminds me of the importance of serving others.
And Jesus connects himself to these disciples through the washing.
But also here is a lesson of the need for regularly cleaning. "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." Jesus is surrendering Himself to the disciple, becoming low, becoming a servant. And then man (the disciples) yield to the will of the servant. This was the problem of Judas as he did not want to submit himself to the Lord. Peter initially did not want to either, but in hearing Jesus' words he was compelled and agreed. Judas had his feet washed, but his whole self had not been cleansed. Jesus points out that not all are clean before Him, completely clean, completely forgiven. The act of being forgiven is accepting the sacrifice of Jesus.
This here is an example of faith. Jesus is showing his cards and showing his desire to cleanse people from their sin, but we must yield and surrender to Jesus and allow our feet to be washed. And so there is faith. There is trust. And it is through that act of surrendering that I become whole.
And so there are two surrenders. Jesus sacrifices Himself and His position, but the disciple surrenders and allows himself to be washed, to be cleansed, realizing that the cleansing by Jesus is the best cleansing. The only cleansing we really need.
Summary: Most of the disciples surrendered themselves to the Servant King, Jesus, but one was unwilling to surrender himself and remained firm in his desire.
Promise: From Tabletalk, I like this reminder -- When we are converted, we are decisively cleansed (our whole body) from sin such that we enjoy salvation permanently. Yet, Christians continue to sin and need cleansing of that sin (our feet).
Prayer: Lord, these words that I travel through continually are a joy to travel through and you continue to teach and illuminate me and challenge my thinking. I am forever trying to understand this world that you have placed me in and how I fit here and how you have designed things. I surrender to You and pray that I would continually do this each day. Thank you for making me clean and stain free before You. But don't let me get ahead of myself and not see that I need that forgiveness each day as I continue to sin and go in selfish directions. Cleanse people. And give us understanding continually of the work that You are doing in making people clean.
Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.
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