Tag Archives: towel

SYMBOL OR RITUAL? – 17

Christian Life, ,

John 13:3-5 NLT‬
[3] “Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. [4] So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, [5] and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.”

‭John 13:12-17 NLT‬
[12]”After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? [13] You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. [14] And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. [15] I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. [16] I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. [17] Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.”

It amazes me how often God’s people turn spiritual truth into a religious ceremony! Jesus used ordinary human activities to illustrate profound spiritual truth but, instead of applying the truth, we like to major on the activity and turn it into a ritual.

John 13 is a case in point. Why did Jesus wash His disciples’ feet?

In the culture of His day, it was the host’s responsibility to assign a slave to wash the feet of his guests. Sandaled feet picked up dust and dirt as they walked, on paths covered with animal dung. Since they usually ate a meal reclining on cushions at a low table, dirty feet would soil one another’s clothes.

The smelly task of washing feet caked with animal dung was assigned to the lowliest of slaves. So, no one in Jesus’ group of disciples considered himself responsible to do the job, least of all Jesus, their rabbi.

However, imagine the disciples’ shock when Jesus Himself took on the role of a slave. Peter, as usual, resisted! He saw only the action, not the profound truth in what Jesus was doing.

However, Peter’s resistence brought the real meaning of Jesus’ action to the surface.

‭John 13:8-10 NLT‬
[8] “No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.” [9] Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!” [10] Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.”

How does Jesus cleanse His people? Not literally by washing their feet but spiritually, by cleansing away the pollution of sin

‭John 15:3 NIV
[3] “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”

‭Ephesians 5:25-26 NLT‬
[25] “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her [26] to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.”

Without God’s Word, we would never know what God did through His Son to cleanse us from our sin. His Word is the instrument by which we learn all the truths about Him that quicken our faith and bring us into union with Jesus. So, the Word teaches us that

‭1 John 1:7 NLT‬
[7] “But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.”

As disciples of Jesus and children of God, we are to love one another, then, as Jesus loves us. One of the practical ways in which we show that love is to build one another up in our faith.

‭1 Thessalonians 5:11 NLT‬
[11] “So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”

‭Galatians 6:1 NLT‬
[1] “Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.”

“Walking” in a filthy world soils our feet. Loving each other means washing one another’s feet. We use God’s Word, which tells us of God’s solution for sin, gently to bring a fallen brother or sister back to the path that takes us to the Father.

This loving action takes courage and humility since people’s pride often deters them from acknowledging their sin. Jesus’ actions shows us that, to wash another’s “feet” means to step down into selflessness that is willing to take the consequences even to resistance and hostility, to bring another, who is walking the wrong way, back into the light.

So, literally washing another’s feet has no meaning apart from restoring one to fellowship with the Father and His children who has walked in the dung of this world.

Go ahead, then, and wash one another’s feet. We do it only as a reminder that, as members of the Jrsus’ body, we are to be as concerned about clean souls as we are about clean feet.

Someone Has To Wash Feet

Bible Study, , ,

SOMEONE HAS TO WASH FEET

“It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

“The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God; so He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing and wrapped a towel around His waist. 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.” John 13:1-5 NIV.

This is such a familiar story that we can almost recite it from memory. But we don’t only know the story; we also know the ceremony. Hasn’t someone at some time washed your feet? Some churches even incorporate it into their Easter services as a ritual.

So what is it all about? Since the roads were dusty and the people wore sandals, it was the householder’s responsibility to provide water to wash their feet. They either washed their own feet or it was done by a slave.

The disciples had just been arguing about who would be the greatest in Jesus’ new government (Luke 22:24). There was no slave in the house to do the job. They were certainly not about to wash each other’s feet! Jesus’ feet, perhaps, but that was all. No one made a move before supper, and still no one made a move after supper. Was Jesus waiting for one of them to get up and do the job or did He know them well enough not to expect any of them to do the courteous thing? Not one of them was willing to be humiliated by doing a slave’s work.

These guys needed to be taught something. What was His intention? To set up a new ritual for the church to follow? Not likely since He wasn’t interested in adding to the burden the Pharisees had already put on the people. Whatever Jesus did had to fit His nature — “gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29), and the nature of His yoke which was “light”.

How could Jesus, who was the Son of God, stoop down and do so menial a task? He could have left their feet dirty rather than do a slaves’ work. What Jesus did the disciples could not do for two reasons:

Firstly, He was secure in His identity. Had not He lived His entire public life out of the knowledge that He was the beloved Son of the Father? The Father had publicly affirmed Him at His baptism and given Him the mandate to represent Him in His life and work because Jesus had His unqualified approval. By washing His disciples’ feet He showed that He had nothing to prove and nothing to lose.

Secondly, He did it because He loved them. It did not matter as much to Him that He was the Son of the Most High God as that their feet were dirty and needed washing. That’s what love does — love meets someone else’s need at its own expense. Two simple reasons why it cost Him nothing to wash their feet! He did not have to swallow His pride, humiliate Himself or make a show of what He was doing. It was an act of hospitality any host would extend to his dinner guests except that, this time it was the host Himself who did the honours!

This was completely in line with the disposition of Messiah we see so clearly in Isaiah’s prophecies. He gives us glimpses of the “Ebed Yahweh” — the Servant of Jehovah — across the 66 chapters of his magnificent writing. He was the one upon whom the Spirit of the Lord rested (ch 11); He would bring justice without raising His voice or trampling the weak (ch42); He would be a polished arrow hidden in the Lord’s quiver (ch 49); He would be beaten, rejected and punished for the sins of His people (ch 52, 53) and He would bring freedom and healing to His people through the power of the Spirit (ch 61).

What was Jesus doing? He was showing them the heart of a true servant; not a ceremony to be performed but the disposition of a disciple that flowed out in loving service to whoever needed it. Simple but not easy! It depends on whether that disciple has anything to defend or to prove. If we, like Jesus, are secure in our identity in God and our love for His people, we can humbly “wash” one another’s feet as Jesus did without shame or embarrassment.