Washed

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

WASHED

John 13:2-11

2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" 7 Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."  8 "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."  9 "Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!" 10 Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you."  11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

NIV

We needed to keep the first part about the evening meal with this conversation between Jesus and Peter in order to have the context needed to see this truth. As it was the custom with the Jews, upon entering a house especially for the purpose of dining together, their feet were to be washed. Although they well may have already taken a bath at home, they walked on a dusty road to arrive at this place and therefore they feet were dirty and in need of washing, but this was most likely done by the lowest servant in the house. So when Jesus, the highest of the group of thirteen, began to wash the feet of his followers, it was a very unusual event. We do not know if there were any servants at this meal, it is most likely there were none, as this was simply a guest room in this man’s house which the Lord told his disciples to find this man while he was carrying water. We do not know if the man had servants, but again unlikely as he was the one carrying the water, not his servant, so who would be the one to wash the feet, the least of the thirteen, no, it was the Lord. The truths here for us show first he was demonstrating he came to serve, not to be served. If we desire and confess to others that we want to be like Jesus, that we want to live our life like Jesus, then we would understand we are to serve others, rather than expect others to serve us. Of course in our busy lives that is a bit more difficult than it was in the time of Jesus. We simply do not have as much time to serve others as they did, seeing how they just walked around the country side all day, visiting various towns and people. We work, we have television, we have hobbies, we have stuff that needs our attention, mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, repairs, families to attend to, time to relax, and all sorts of other things to occupy our time with, so we have very little time to actually serve others as Jesus demonstrated, although we do have Sunday mornings and at least one evening every other week so that counts for something. Most of us have sort of given up on the Sunday night, Wednesday night thing of years ago, for whatever reason. So we should consider if in fact we are following the pattern Jesus set out for us. Perhaps some of us are actually serving others in our chosen occupation, which could work. Perhaps some of us are putting aside some of our own time in the service of others, which would work as well, but it might appear many of us still need to work on this truth. We certainly cannot ever think we are too good to serve, as Jesus was a good as it gets and he was doing the feet washing.

But there is another truth here and it is about being clean, and only in need of having our feet washed. Peter may well have understood the spiritual significance of what Jesus was telling him, that unless Jesus washed his feet he would have no part of him. That is the fact, unless we are washed by Jesus we are not a part of him. Unless we are washed in the blood, we are not a part of the family of Jesus; we will not inherit eternal life. But Jesus also told Peter he was clean, only his feet needed washing. Is there a truth there for us? Although we might have been washed in the blood, is there a small part of us, which still have dust on? Have we been cleansed completely, or do we still have some dirt clinging to us that we need to allow Jesus to cleanse? As we wash the feet of others, let us make sure we have been washed as well.