AM April 28th John 13

April 28th   

John,  13

The Lord washes the feet

1: Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. 2: And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him; 3: Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; 4: He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. 5: After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. 6: Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? 7: Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. 8: Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. 9: Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. 10: Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. 11: For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. 12: So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? 13: Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. 14: If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. 15: For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. 16: Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 17: If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. 18: I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. 19: Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he. 20: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

The Last Supper

21: When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. 22: Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. 23: Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. 24: Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. 25: He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it? 26: Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27: And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. 28: Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. 29: For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. 30: He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.

When the meal was finished Jesus rose from the meal and made an apron with a towel. Then he poured water into a basin to wash the disciple’s feet. When Christ came to Peter, Peter complained, Lord will you wash my feet? Jesus said what l am going to do, you will not understand just now, but you will understand later. Peter was shocked. The reason why Peter was shocked is that in the hierarchy of servants the servant who kept the door and who had the job of washing the feet of those that came in was considered the lowest of the slaves. Rhoda had this job in the Acts. Here Christ has come to Peter to wash his feet the thing that lowest servant does. He blurts out; you will never wash my feet. But Jesus says, Peter if l do not wash you then you can have no partnership with me. Then Peter says Lord don’t just wash my feet but also my hands and my head. Then Jesus says he that is washed only needs to wash his feet. He is clean completely. So, what is Jesus saying? Christ is saying through a visual act that in the company of disciples there is a constant need for cleansing. Yet not a total cleansing just the cleansing of the feet. Christians are forgiven of all their sin. They are clean before God through out, yet day by day they come into contact with the earth and this requires a constant cleaning. Of course Peter could not understand this. This was going to be part of the truth of NT Church truth and Peter was not ready for that yet. Christ was not instituting a Christian rite. He was demonstrating Christian truth. We see the same thing when people have been swimming in the sea they are completely clean yet they must cross the sand to their belongings. So they carry a small pail of water and when they reach their towel they sit on it and wash their feet. They are completely clean but when they cross the sand and pick up contamination which needs to be washed away. As Christians we may be forgiven but daily we must know the cleansing of the Lord from the contamination of the world. After Christ had washed their feet he sat down and then he said do you know what l have done? The answer was no they didn’t understand so Christ gives them a level of understanding that they will comprehend. He says You call me Master and Lord and that’s right because l am so if l have washed your feet then you also aught to wash each others feet. Again he is not instituting a Christian rite rather he is encouraging them to an attitude of humility with each other. Then Jesus was deeply troubled in his spirit and he said, one of you will betray me. They all looked at each other. Peter asked John to ask Jesus who it would be. John asked, Lord is it me? Then Jesus said the one who will betray me is the one who l give the bread to and he gave it to Judas. When Judas received the bread Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to Judas, What you are going to do, do it quickly. Nobody at the table knew what was going on. Some thought that Jesus had told Judas to buy bread or to give something to the poor from the bag. As soon as he heard this Judas went out and it was night. Judas he would never see the light of day again. Never was there a darker night.

Steve