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 main evening 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.
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