He (Jesus) came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet .” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet, but my hands and my head as well! Jesus answered, ‘A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; His whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.’ For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean” John 13: 6-11, NIV.
Heavenly Father, we come before You today, because we realize that only through Your Holy Spirit we can understand Your Word. So please teach us the lessons that we need to learn today. In the name of our Savior Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
You will notice that our Scripture has been lengthened, and partially highlighted. That is because we are going to concentrate on that portion of Scripture today. We will continue with the story of Peter in the upper room, and try to learn some additional lessons from that experience.
Lesson #1: Jesus will never offer you something that you do not need (8)! Don’t ever refuse His gifts, whether you believe you need them or not! Because Peter did not realize what Jesus was doing, he was adamant about Jesus washing his feet. What a wonderful thing that the Savior did not just shrug him off, and say, “Well if you do not want me to wash your feet, I won’t!” I am so glad that Jesus will tell us the truth, in love! “If you are not willing to accept the help I offer you, you cannot become one with Me. If you and I are not one, you will not be prepared for what is to come! You cannot bear what is to come without My strength!”
Lesson #2: You can have too much of a good thing (9)! Just enough is better! I have heard it said, that the foot-washing service serves as a mini-baptism, between communion services. In other words, not every time we sin, we have to be re-baptized. Even though baptism is a good thing, re-baptism, is not always necessary. When Peter found out that to have a part with Jesus meant submitting to Jesus’ will, even if he did not understand what He was doing; he wanted, not only his feet washed, but his entire body. Jesus informed him that that was not necessary.
Lesson # 3: It is the constant direction of our lives that counts in the sight of heaven (10)! Jesus considered Peter clean even though He knew that Peter would deny Him. This opened my eyes to the fact that it is the way we live our lives from day to day, that determines how God sees us. We tend to live our lives in uncertainty in regards to our salvation. We live our lives as if we were in a “saved” today, “lost” tomorrow, see-saw; when in fact, after we accept Jesus – as long as we remain in the relationship with Him, we are saved! This thought is further developed in 1 John 3: 6a, 7, “No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning . . . Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He (she) who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous.” (Emphasis provided).
Lesson # 4: Knowing about Jesus does not save us (11)! This lesson is an addendum to lesson # 3. “You are not all clean.” Judas had been with Jesus just like the other disciples, but he did not know Jesus, he only knew about Him; not because Jesus did not allow it, but because he, Judas, was not interested. It is knowing Him that brings about the oneness with Him, and saves our soul! We cannot be saved outside of Him! Judas’ greed led him into the relationship (John12: 6). As he fed on that greed, it became strong, and overcame him. He fed his fallen nature, until he became fallen. Notice that I did not say he fell, but that he became fallen. Peter also fell, but he reacted immediately; not after he became aware of what the consequences of his sin might be. Judas’ fallen nature had gotten the victory over him! “No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him . . . . He (she) who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him (her); he (she) cannot go on sinning, because he (she) has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his (her) brother (sister)” (1 John 3: 6b, 8-10, emphasis provided). We all sin, but we do not all continue in sin.
We will continue this conversation!