Peter Gets a Lesson
He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, "Lord, do You wash me feet?" Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter." Peter said to Him, "Never shall You wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head." Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you." John 13:6-10, NASB.
Peter was uncomfortable enough having been shut out of the two most prestigious table positions. And now he watched in horror as the foot-washing Jesus served one disciple after another. But the crisis hit Peter as Jesus approached his own feet. Flustered and not knowing what to say or do, he blurted out that he would never allow Jesus to wash his feet. But, to put it mildly, Jesus asserted that what He was doing was essential, that if Peter would not allow Him to serve him, then he could have no place as His follower. At that point the ever-verbal disciple, not knowing what else to say, declared that Jesus should wash not only his feet but all of him.
Jesus responded that Peter didn't need a complete bath, but only a cleansing of his dirty feet. Here Christ probably alluded to the custom of bathing before attending a feast. When guests arrived they needed only their feet cleansed.
We fail to see the importance and full significance of Christ's words if we view them only in terms of physical bathing. They also contain a level of spiritual meaning. Verse 10 reflects, by analogy, two kinds of spiritual cleansing. The first is represented by baptism at the beginning of a Christian's life. At that point a convert is forgiven of all sin and justified in the eyes of God. Having been submerged in the watery grave of baptism, the new Christian is clean all over.
But as new believers move through life in their daily business, they make sinful contact with the world and its contaminants. Worse yet, they make mistakes and commit sin. Such individuals have not apostatized or left Christ. Thus they have no need of another full baptism. However, so to speak, they have messed up their spiritual feet in their journey and need a partial cleansing from time to time.
We should regard the foot-washing service in part as a mini-baptism. It is a time in which individuals are cleansed and rededicate their lives to Jesus as the Lord of their lives. They renew their vows of servanthood to the world around them and to fellow church members.
He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, "Lord, do You wash me feet?" Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter." Peter said to Him, "Never shall You wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head." Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you." John 13:6-10, NASB.
Peter was uncomfortable enough having been shut out of the two most prestigious table positions. And now he watched in horror as the foot-washing Jesus served one disciple after another. But the crisis hit Peter as Jesus approached his own feet. Flustered and not knowing what to say or do, he blurted out that he would never allow Jesus to wash his feet. But, to put it mildly, Jesus asserted that what He was doing was essential, that if Peter would not allow Him to serve him, then he could have no place as His follower. At that point the ever-verbal disciple, not knowing what else to say, declared that Jesus should wash not only his feet but all of him.
Jesus responded that Peter didn't need a complete bath, but only a cleansing of his dirty feet. Here Christ probably alluded to the custom of bathing before attending a feast. When guests arrived they needed only their feet cleansed.
We fail to see the importance and full significance of Christ's words if we view them only in terms of physical bathing. They also contain a level of spiritual meaning. Verse 10 reflects, by analogy, two kinds of spiritual cleansing. The first is represented by baptism at the beginning of a Christian's life. At that point a convert is forgiven of all sin and justified in the eyes of God. Having been submerged in the watery grave of baptism, the new Christian is clean all over.
But as new believers move through life in their daily business, they make sinful contact with the world and its contaminants. Worse yet, they make mistakes and commit sin. Such individuals have not apostatized or left Christ. Thus they have no need of another full baptism. However, so to speak, they have messed up their spiritual feet in their journey and need a partial cleansing from time to time.
We should regard the foot-washing service in part as a mini-baptism. It is a time in which individuals are cleansed and rededicate their lives to Jesus as the Lord of their lives. They renew their vows of servanthood to the world around them and to fellow church members.
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