Continually
Cleansing Through The Word Of God
John
13: Jesus
washes His Disciples' feet(13:1-11)
Jesus was no longer walking among the
hostile Jews. He had retired with His disciples to an upper room in
in Jerusalem for a final time of fellowship with them before going
forth to His trial and crucifixion.
The
day before the crucifixion, the Lord Jesus knew that the time had
come for Him to die, to rise again, and to go back to heaven. He had
loved His own, that is those who were true believers. He loved them
to the end of His earthly ministry and will continue to love them
throughout eternity. But He also loved them to an infinite degree,
as He was about to demonstrate.
John13:5
In eastern lands, the use of open sandals made it necessary to
wash ones
feet
frequently.
It was common courtesy for a host to arrange to have a slave wash the
feet of his guests. Here the divine Host became the slave and
performed this lowly service. “Jesus at the feet of the
traitor—what a picture! What lessons for us!”
13:6
Peter was shocked to think of the Lord's washing
his
feet,
and he expressed his disapproval that One so great as the Lord should
condescend to one so unworthy as he. “The sight of God in the role
of a servant is disturbing.”
13:7
Jesus
now taught Peter that there was a spiritual meaning to what He was
doing. Foot-washing was a picture of a certain type of spiritual
washing. Peter knew that the Lord was performing the physical act,
but he did not
understand
the spiritual significance.
He would know
it soon, however, because the Lord explained it. And he would know
it by experience when later he was restored to the Lord after having
denied Him.
The
basin
speaks of cleansing from the pollution
of sin and must take place, continually cleansing through the Word of
God. There is one bath but many foot-washing.
John13:8
Peter
illustrates
the extremes of human nature. He vowed that the Lord would never
wash
his feet—and
here “never” literally means “not for eternity.” The Lord
answered Peter that apart from His washing, there could be no
fellowship with Him.
The
meaning of foot-washing is now unfolded. As Christians walk through
this world, they contract a certain amount of defilement. Listening
to vile talk, looking at unholy things, working with ungodly men, inevitably soil the believer. He needs to be constantly cleansed.
This
cleansing takes place by the water of the Word.
As we read and study
the Bible, as we hear it preached, and as we discuss it with one
another, we find that it cleanses us from the evil influences about
us. On the other hand, the more we neglect the Bible, the more these
wicked influences can remain in our minds and lives without causing
us any great concern.
When
Jesus said “you have no part with Me,” He did not mean that Peter
could not be saved unless He washed him, but rather that fellowship
with the Lord can be maintained only by the continual cleansing
action of the Scriptures in his life.
13:9,
10
Now Peter
shifted to the other extreme. A minute ago, he was saying, “Never.”
Now he said, “Wash
me all over.”
On
the way back from the public bath, a person's feet would get dirty
again. He didn't need another bath but did need to have his feet
washed. “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is
completely clean.” There is a difference between the bath and the
basin. The bath
speaks of the cleansing received at the time of ones salvation.
Cleansing from the penalty
of sin through the blood of Christ takes place only once. The basin
speaks of cleansing from the pollution
of sin and must take place continually through the Word of God. There
is one bath but many foot-washing. “You are clean, but not all of
you” means that the disciples had received the bath of
regeneration—that is, all the disciples but Judas. He had never
been saved.13:11
With full knowledge of all things, the Lord knew
that Judas would
betray Him,
and so He singled out one as never having had the bath of redemption.
Mat_4:4
But He answered and said, "It
is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD
THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.' "
Pro
4:20:22
My son, give attention to MY WORDS; Incline your EAR to my SAYINGS.
Prov
4:21
Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of
your heart;
Prov
4:22
For they are
LIFE to those who find them, And HEALTH to ALL their flesh.
Heb
10:22
1.
With
a true heart.
The people of Israel drew near to God with their mouth, and honoured
Him with their lips, but their heart was often far from Him
(Mat_15:8).
Our approach should be with utter sincerity.
2.
In
full assurance of faith.
We draw near with utter confidence in the promises of God and with
the firm conviction that we shall have a gracious reception into His
presence.
3.
Having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.
This can be brought about only by the new birth. When we trust
Christ, we appropriate the value of His blood. Figuratively
speaking, we sprinkle our hearts with it, just as the Israelites
sprinkled their doors with the blood of the Passover lamb. This
delivers us from an evil conscience. Our testimony is:
Conscience
now no more condemns us,
For His own most precious blood
Once
for all has washed and cleansed us,
Cleansed us in the eyes of
God.
—Frances
Bevan
4.
And
our bodies washed with pure water.
Again this is symbolic
language. Our
bodies
represent our lives. The pure
water
might refer either to the word (Eph_5:25-26),
to the Holy Spirit (Joh_7:37-39),
or to the Holy Spirit using the word in cleansing our lives from
daily defilement. We are cleansed once for all from the guilt of sin
by the death of Christ, but cleansed repeatedly from the defilement
of sin by the Spirit through the word (see Joh_13:10).
Thus
we might summarised the four requisites for entering God's presence as
sincerity, assurance, salvation, and sanctification.
10:23
The second exhortation is to hold
fast the confession of our hope.
Nothing must be allowed to turn us from the staunch confession
that our only hope
is in Christ.
For
those who were tempted to give up the future, unseen blessings of
Christianity for the present, visible things of Judaism, there is the
reminder that He
who promised is faithful.
His promises can never fail; no one who trusts in Him will ever be
disappointed. The Saviour will come, as He has promised,
and His people will be with Him and like Him forever.
1Pe
1:23
having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible,
through the word of God which lives and abides forever.