Washing our feet - Part 3
"You are clean, though not every one of you"
10th April 2015
Last time, we remembered the time when Jesus responded to Peter:
John 13v10b-11
John 13:10a
Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean".
They'd just walked into Jerusalem, and the dusty roads had made their feet dirty. Peter and the others needed their feet washed, so Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was washing their feet, because nobody else was willing to do the job. Jesus was ready to do what they needed, but there was no point in washing the rest of their bodies.
But of course, Jesus was also saying something far more profound. As well as being an act of humble service, His washing of His disciples' feet was an enacted parable about the atoning sacrifice He would soon make on the cross, washing all who repent and believe clean from our sin.
If you're a Christian, born again as a child of God, Jesus Christ has definitively washed you clean of your sin, and presented you acceptable before God. But living in this sinful world, with our still imperfect hearts, we all get dirty again. We all still sin, even after we've been converted. And, when we go to Christ in prayer and confession, He washes away the dirt we've accumulated. He does this again and again, as often as we need it.
Jesus continued:
John 13:10b
And you are clean, though not every one of you."
In the next verse, John explains why Jesus said this:
John 13:11
For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
One of the twelve, Judas Iscariot, had never truly repented of his sins (John 12v6) and can't have truly believed that Jesus was the Son of God (although we can't be sure about whether he believed Jesus was the Messiah). Without repentance and faith in Christ, no-one can be cleansed. We can't be precise about His motives, but Judas was planning to betray Jesus. If he'd truly accepted Jesus as Lord, he would never have done so.
The blood of Christ that washes us clean would never avail for him. And Jesus knew it. But Jesus washed Judas's feet, too.
Jesus had taught His disciples, and us, to love our enemies and do good to those that hate us (Luke 6v27). He gives us this wonderful example, stooping to wash the feet of the one who would betray Him that very evening. So great is His love for sinners.
And very soon, He would pour out His life on the cross for you and for me - who were His enemies, too, until he saved us:
Colossians 1v21-22
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour.
But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight,
without blemish and free from accusation
In His humility, Jesus Christ was willing to die so you and I could be transformed from enemies of God into children of God. And in His mercy, we're washed completely clean of sin, again and again. Amazing grace indeed!