Wash One Another's Feet

It was right before the Feast of the Passover, and Jesus knew that his hour had come for him to depart from this world. Then during supper the devil put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus. Then Jesus rose from supper, he laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, he began to wash the feet of his disciples. But Peter objected. So Jesus told him plainly:

“If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 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.” John 12:8-11 ESV

So, can a refusal to have a bodily washing be cause to be cut off from Jesus Christ and from eternal life with him? And can a dirty (unclean) physical body be cause to be cut off from a relationship with Jesus Christ? And does betrayal of someone have anything at all to do with whether or not our physical bodies are clean? The answer is “No” to all three questions. So, we then have to interpret this passage of Scripture less literally and more symbolically, right?

For by the words that Jesus spoke, we have to conclude from this that he was speaking more of a spiritual cleansing rather than a physical one. Why? Well the fact that he mentioned that he knew that Judas was going to betray him, and that is why he said that not all of them were clean, it obviously indicated that Judas was the unclean one. And Judas being unclean physically would have nothing to do with his betrayal of Jesus. So Jesus had to be speaking of spiritual uncleanness. That is what separates us from God.

And it was the same with his words with Peter. For the Scriptures make it quite clear that things like physical circumcision will not save us, and lack of circumcision physically will not keep us out of heaven. And we are taught that it is the circumcision of the heart that matters for our salvation and for our eternal life, which is a cutting away of the sinful flesh, not the physical flesh, so that we can now have pure hearts surrendered to Jesus Christ to where we are now obeying his will and his moral laws.

“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.’” John 13:12-15 ESV

Did Jesus physically wash the disciples feet? Yes! And did he encourage them to wash one another’s feet? Yes! I believe he did. But is that all there was to his lesson? No! For he asked them if they understood what he had done to them, and obviously they could see with their physical eyes that he had washed their physical feet. And Jesus was known for speaking in parables and for speaking metaphorically, at times, in order to illustrate biblical truth. So, there was something more here to what he did other than the obvious.

So, again, Peter’s refusal to be washed physically by Jesus would not be cause for Jesus to then tell Peter that if he did not permit Jesus to wash him that he would have no share (part) in him, i.e. that he would be cut off from Jesus. And Judas being physically unclean would have nothing to do with his betrayal of Jesus. So Jesus was using his actions of washing the disciples feet much like a parable to illustrate for them that they must remain spiritually clean, and this involves a daily dying to sin and obeying the Lord.

Now I know it was customary for the people back then, and in that culture, to have their feet washed since they wore sandals and they walked on the dirt, so their feet got dirty. But when we think of our feet more in a spiritual sense, we have to remember the words that said, “Beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news.” And all throughout the NT Scriptures it talks about our walks, which is not speaking of physical walks but of our walks of faith in Christ Jesus in conduct and in practice.

So, our feet represent both our spiritual walks of faith and they represent our witness and our testimonies for Jesus Christ. And the Scriptures teach that we must die daily to sin and to follow Jesus in obedience, and so that involves a daily cleansing. And in 1 John we read that if we walk (involves feet) in the light (Christ, truth, righteousness, the Word) as God is in the light that we have fellowship with God and with others who are also in fellowship with God. And the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin.

So, the bottom line here, I believe, is that Jesus was using this physical washing of the disciples feet to illustrate for us a biblical truth. And that biblical truth is that if we don’t allow the Lord to daily cleanse our walks of faith, i.e. if we resist him, and we do not yield to his Lordship, and we go our own way, instead, and so we continue in sin and not in walks of obedience in holiness and in righteousness, then truly we have no share in him or in his salvation nor in eternal life with him. And the apostles taught the same.

And when he encouraged the disciples to do what he did, yes this can be about physical foot washing, but I see this more in a spiritual context, because the illustration had a spiritual context to it. And so I see this as us as servants of the Lord serving one another in sharing the truth of the gospel and in encouraging (exhorting, urging) one another to walk in holiness and in righteousness and to not walk in sin. And this includes a warning that if sin is our practice, we will have no share in Jesus Christ.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

Video Talk

Wash One Another’s Feet

November 7, 2021

https://vimeo.com/643260584