"Wash My Feet" Sermon: John 13:1-17; 31b-35

“Wash My Feet”

[John 13:1-17; 31b-35]

April 5, 2012 Second Reformed Church

            “Now before the Feast of the Passover,” Our Scripture this evening takes us to the night of the Passover – that Thursday evening when Jesus celebrated the Passover and instituted the Lord’s Supper.  Our text takes place before the Passover meal – they had not joined together in receiving the Passover yet.  They had gathered to eat and be taught that night, as well as receive the Passover with their Teacher – their Rabbi, Jesus.

“when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper.”

This scene occurred as Jesus understood that it was now time for Him to leave this world and return to the Father.  It occurred as a witness to the fact that Jesus loves all those who were His in the world, and He would continue to love them – to the end of His Life – to the end of their lives – to the end of the world – to the end of this sinful brokenness which made God’s coming to earth necessary for our salvation – for us to be made right with God.

While they were eating their meal, Jesus knew that the devil had taken Judas, and Judas had betrayed Jesus.  Even so, everything that belongs to God also belongs to Jesus.  Jesus had come from God, because He is God, and He was going to return to God – to sit on His Rightful Throne.  All things were in Jesus’ hand.  He was not surprised.  As He said, “No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:18, ESV).

All things had come together according to the Eternal and Triune Plan.  The hour had come.  Jesus would lay down His Life for His people.  But first: 

“He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”

We must remember that people in Jesus’ day walked barefoot or with sandals.  They did not have shoes and sneakers like we do.  And the roads were mostly dusty or dirt roads.  Most of the roads were not paved in any way that we would understand paving.  So, if you walked from one place to another in Jesus’ day, your feet would get dirty.  It was customary, then, for the host to provide water to wash your feet in when you arrived – to cool off your feet and clean off the grit and grime.  Jesus rebuked a Pharisee who did not show Him that courtesy:  “Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair’” (Luke 7:44, ESV).

“He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, do you wash my feet?’”

The problem for Peter was one of rank.  Jesus was his Teacher – his Rabbi.  If anything, the disciples should wash the Teacher’s feet.  It seemed to him completely backwards and inappropriate for the Teacher to wash His disciples’ feet.  So Peter objected.

“Jesus answered him, ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.’”

In Jesus saying this, we understand that the point of what Jesus did was not foot-washing.  Peter understood very well that Jesus was washing his feet, and he was appalled, because the Teacher ought not to stoop to wash the disciples’ feet.  That he understood, so Jesus meant something more in this action than simple foot-washing.

“Peter said to him, ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.’”

So, Peter jumps in and tries to forbid Jesus from washing his feet.  And Jesus tells him that if he does not allow Him to wash his feet, then Peter has no share with Him – Peter has no salvation.  How can that be?  Isn’t salvation by faith alone?

            Paul wrote, “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:15-16, ESV).

            And the writer of Hebrews confirms that Jesus Alone brings us to a state of holiness, not our works:  “So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood” (Hebrews 13:12, ESV).

            We are saved through the Work of Jesus.  We are saved from the Wrath of God because Jesus lived a holy life and died for the sins of all those who will ever believe in Him.  We see this taught again and again in the Scripture:  “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31, ESV).

            Salvation is not by our works but by faith alone through Jesus Alone.  God gives us faith to believe in Jesus and His Work on our behalf.  That is salvation.  So what did Jesus mean that Peter would not have a share with Him if Peter did not allow Him to wash his feet?

            Peter obviously didn’t understand yet either – let us continue:

            “Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’  Jesus said to him, ‘The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’”

            Peter jumped again and asked Jesus to completely bath him, then.  If Jesus was going to stoop to the humility of washing Peter’s feet, then why not completely bathe Peter?  And Jesus explained that eleven of them were already clean – only Judas was unclean.  There was no need to be completely bathed – they had been bathed – only their feet were dirty – except for Judas who was completely unclean.

            Was Jesus saying that Judas forgot to take a bath?  Of course not – here we begin to understand.  The eleven apostles believed Jesus and His Gospel; Judas did not.  The eleven were cleaned through baptism and through the Blood that Jesus would shed.  Judas was unclean – he was an apostate – he renounced Jesus and His Salvation.  Judas repudiated – despised – Jesus.

We are cleansed through the Blood of Jesus and through baptism, as the sign and seal of those who believe in Jesus.  Baptism is once.  Jesus shed His Blood once.

            “When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, ‘Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.’”

            Jesus finished washing the apostles’ feet and resumed His seat at the table as their Teacher – as their Lord.  And Jesus told them that if He has done this for them, they should do it for each other.  If Jesus as their acknowledged superior did this, they should also do it for each other. 

What did Jesus do?  Jesus washed their feet.  But we said the point cannot be washing feet, because Jesus said that Peter would not be saved, and we are not saved by our works.

We have the image of being washed in Blood and washed with water associated with salvation, but we said that both of those acts are one-time acts.  Peter and the rest of the eleven were washed – they were clean – they were physically clean – they were believers.

We said that it was customary for the host to wash his guests’ feet, because they had walked on the dirty road and their feet were hot and grimy.  It would not have been customary for the host to completely bathe his guests – they would have bathed before they came to the banquet.

We find a clue in the construction of the Tabernacle:

“The LORD said to Moses, ‘You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it, with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet. When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn a food offering to the LORD, they shall wash with water, so that they may not die. They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die. It shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his offspring throughout their generations’” (Exodus 30:17-21, ESV).

What did the washing of Aaron’s hands and feet symbolize?  What would change from day to day that would necessitate his being cleansed – not totally bathed – cleaned – washed – but just his hands and feet?

What changes about us from day to day that we would need to address that does not save us or take salvation away from us, but indicates that we have been saved?  What is the dirt that clings to us day by day that we must wash away?

            Do we understand?

            We are saved by Jesus’ Work Alone.  We contribute nothing to our salvation.  And even after salvation, we sin – we continue to step into it, and our feet become dirty.  We need to have our feet washed daily because we sin daily and must go to God in repentance and faith believing that Jesus did not just pay the debt for our sin in the past, but the debt for our sin today and the debt for every day that we walk on this earth.

            And Jesus told them that they are to wash each other’s feet.  There are churches that take this literally and actually join in washing the feet of each other as part of the worship service.  There is nothing wrong with doing that – it is certainly a humbling thing.  But since foot washing cannot be the point of what Jesus did, His instruction did not mean that we literally have to wash each other’s feet.  What Jesus meant is that we have to forgive each other and ask for forgiveness from each other day by day.

            We are forgiven for all of our sin by Jesus, still He calls us to repent of our sins daily and to ask for forgiveness and to forgive our brothers and sisters daily.

            This is the daily cleansing that is part of our sanctification – part of the process of our becoming holy like Jesus.  As John wrote, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, ESV).

            Paul wrote, “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Colossians 3:12-13, ESV).

            And remember how Jesus taught us to pray:  “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12, ESV).  Forgive us our sins, as we also have forgiven the sins of others against us.  Wash our feet, as we have also washed the feet of others.

A. W. Pink, in his commentary on this passage, says to think of it this way:  Imagine you are on holiday at the shore.  In the morning, you get up and shower, and the shower cleanses you.  This is what Jesus has done for us.  Then you dress in your suit and tie and ready yourself for a walk on the beach.  You walk down to the beach, take off your shoes, and walk along in the sand and the surf, enjoying the Glory of God in Creation.  Then it is time for you to return home, and you walk off the beach, but your feet are dirty with sand.  This is how sins and the guilt of it cling to the Christian.  So you wash your feet in the spigots on the boardwalk, and your feet are cleansed.  This is what Jesus is talking about in this passage.

Finally, we skip down and read:

            “When [Judas] had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, “Where I am going you cannot come.” A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’”

            With Judas gone to fulfill his betrayal of Jesus – with the Passover meal, now the Lord’s Supper having been eaten – with the troops readying to march to take Jesus into captivity for an illegal night trial, after which He would be turned over to be tortured and then put to death on the cross – now, with all of this coming to pass – with Jesus performing the greatest act in human history – the act that changed all of human history – Jesus said He was now glorified.  Now the Son of Man was being revealed.  Now it would be the Creation-wide declaration of Jesus being God the Savior, the Only Savior.

            And Jesus told His beloved, little children that they could not go with Him.  For a short time, the apostles and all the disciples would be thrown into confusion until they saw the Plan of God come to pass.

            Even so, and from now on, love one another.  Love each other as much as you love yourselves.  Do for others what you would do for yourself.  Forgive each other in love, as brothers and sisters.  And then the world will know who you belong to.

            Let us remember several things as we prepare to receive the bread and the cup as the apostles did that evening:

First, since Jesus told Peter he didn’t understand what He was doing, the foot-washing signified something other than merely foot-washing.

Second, salvation is once through the Work of Jesus – through His Blood shed once for all those who would ever believe – as symbolized through the one-time act of baptism which is a sign and seal of salvation for the believer.

Third, just as dirt clings to the feet of a person walking on the road, so sin clings to the Christian, and it must needs to be confessed and repented of – washed – each day.

Fourth, Christians are not merely to wash their own feet – to confess and repent of their sin to God – but we are to confess sins that we have committed against others to them and ask their forgiveness, as well as hear others’ confession and forgive them.

And finally, just as we are to forgive one another, we are to love one another.  This is part of what it means to Glorify God.  And as we forgive each other and love each other, the world will know Whose we are.

Wash each other’s feet.  Wash my feet.

Let us pray:

Almighty God and Savior, You came to earth, not to be served, but to serve.  On the night before Your Crucifixion, You taught Your apostles that they – and all we who believe – sin every day, and need to be forgiven every day, and we need to forgive each other every day – in love.  As we receive the bread and the cup, we ask that Your Love would well up in us, that we would be better examples of You to the world that others would see us and glorify You.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.