Moving to a Different Place

John 13:1-11 ESV:

 

“Now before the Feast of the Passover, 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. 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.

 

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”  Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 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.” 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.”

 

Jesus Christ was not performing a religious ritual or just an act of kindness to his disciples. And he wasn’t primarily teaching them that they should physically wash one another’s feet. But he was teaching them a spiritual lesson that has to do with our ongoing relationship with the Lord Jesus and with what that relationship should look like for us who claim to be Christ’s followers, and/or who profess him as our Lord and Savior. We see this in the wording, in how the words are being used here, as well as in his actions.

 

Although Jesus Christ was God incarnate, God among them, in a flesh body, he was not born with a sin nature as we are, for he was conceived of the Holy Spirit, not of man. So he was not born in the image of Adam as we are. Even though he was tempted to sin, as we are, he remained pure, and he did not sin. So he was able to be our pure Lamb sacrifice for the sins of the entire world when his enemies crucified him on that cross. For in his death, he put our sins to death, so that we can now die to sin and live to God.

 

So, when Jesus came to live on this earth, he humbled himself, and he became a servant, and he ministered to the needs of the people living on the earth with his love and grace. But Jesus was not someone who only said what people liked to hear. He loved the people enough to tell them the truth, for believing in the truth is what sets us free from our slavery to sin, and what empowers us to live godly and holy lives for the glory of God. So he was honest with the disciples so that they would walk in the right way.

 

In washing their feet, he was teaching them a lesson they needed to hear, to learn, and to apply to their lives. And that lesson was primarily taught via his conversation with Peter, who was one of his disciples. And the moral of the lesson is this. If we have believed in Jesus Christ with God-persuaded faith in him, then we have died with him to sin, and we are now walking in obedience to his commands. Thus, our bodies are spiritually clean. We are in a right relationship with the Lord doing what he has called us to do.

 

But if we refuse to let him “wash us,” i.e. to cleanse us from within, so that we are now new creations in Christ, no longer living as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness, then we have no share in him. For if sin is still what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord, and so we are living opposite of God’s design and purpose for our lives, in rebellion against the Lord, and not in submission to his will, then we have no part in him. We do not have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God, much like Judas.

 

But we need our feet washed daily, not physically, but spiritually. For our feet represent our walks of faith, how we live in conduct, in purpose, in word, in deed, in attitude, in thought, and in our behaviors. And that is why Jesus said that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. That is this daily washing of our feet. Every day we must “fight the good fight of faith” and refuse the flesh and follow the Spirit in doing the will of God.

 

For Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross so that we will die with him to sin and now walk in obedience to his commands. For believing in Jesus involves us turning away from where we used to live (in sin) and us now moving to a different place in walks of holiness and purity of devotion to our Lord, in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. This is what it means to be spiritually “clean.” But the spiritually unclean are like Judas, some of whom call Jesus “Lord” but who betray him with their lifestyles.

 

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:44; Jn 8:31-32; Jn 15:1-12; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:24; Rom 11:17-24; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; 2 Tim 1:8-9; 2 Tim 2:10-13; Heb 9:28; Heb 3:6,14-15; 1 Pet 1:5,9; 2 Pet 1:5-11; 2 Pet 2:20-22; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10]   

 

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

 

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

 

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

 

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg

 

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Moving to a Different Place

An Original Work / February 14, 2025

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love