He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”
Have you ever taken the trouble to get all dressed and ready to go to a special event -- like a wedding or a funeral -- only to have a tough time staying clean before the event starts?
It seems everything you come in contact with leaves something behind -- lint -- dust -- stains!
Imagine how difficult it was for the disciples -- they didn't enjoy our carpets, paved walkways, and vinyl flooring. Even though they bathed, as they walked from place to place, their feet would not stay clean.
Jesus, understanding this, used the occasion to teach His disciples. He got up, dressed Himself appropriately for the task, and began cleaning His disciples’ feet before dinner.
As Peter often did, he voiced his opinion… “No, you will never wash my feet!”
He saw the act of washing his feet as a demeaning task for his Master to be doing for him. Maybe the others would let Jesus, but Peter was not about to have anything to do with demeaning the Master!
Jesus explained, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”
Oh? -- If that was the case, then Peter suddenly saw it all differently -- “Then wash my hands and head as well, and not just my feet!” -- Peter wanted Jesus to know that he was “all in.” He wanted everything to do with Jesus.
But -- and here is the valuable lesson -- Jesus told Peter that he didn't need the “full-body treatment,’ just his feet. Peter was clean already, and just needed a “spot treatment” where he had come in contact with the filth of the world. For Peter, at that moment, it was his feet.
Like Peter, if we have obeyed the Gospel, we have been washed clean by the cleansing blood of the Lamb. Though we try to stay clean, we still have some contact with the world that leaves some spiritual -- lint -- dust -- stains -- on us. Those “spots” are the parts that need attention.
As Christians, we try to stay clean -- try to be free of the sin and filth of this world -- but we also know that we cannot remain completely clean.
Jesus knows this too. And that is why He -- even now -- washes the feet of His disciples!
Our challenge is to do the best we can to keep clean -- and make Jesus’ task easy.
1 John 1:7: This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
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