The Disciple Peter - Lord, Not My Feet, But My Feet Will Follow - Part 2 Of 4 Series

THE DISCIPLE PETER - LORD, NOT MY FEET, BUT MY FEET WILL FOLLOW - PART 2 OF 4

SERIES - THE CHARACTERS IN JOHN’S GOSPEL

We are doing a 4 part series on the Apostle Peter and today come to the second Part. This wonderful, devoted man has so much to teach us.

John 13 v 5 Then He poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. John 13:6 He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” John 13:7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realise now, but you shall understand hereafter.” John 13:8 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.” John 13:9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.” John 13:10 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,”

This incident happened in the upper room on the night of the Passover Supper with the disciples. It was the servant’s place to wash the feet of the guests when they entered, never the other way round. Jesus washed and wiped the feet of the disciples, and then He arrived at Peter. Peter questioned the act of foot washing being performed by the Lord and Master, through utter astonishment. The Lord’s reply was enigmatic, a riddle to Peter, so he objected to His Lord washing his feet. The Lord told him the simple truth – if Peter was not washed (symbolised by the feet), then Peter could have no part with the Lord. Simon Peter’s response was his desire not only to have his feet washed but also his hands and his head. Now what does all this mean, and what is behind the story?

The act of washing the feet of others was always performed by the inferior on the greater, as all the writings of the rabbis confirm. We note this verse in Luke 7 v 44 when Jesus had been invited to the house of a Pharisee named Simon - 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.” Gill says, “This custom of washing the feet was not used by the Jews at their Passover, nor at their private entertainments, or common meals, but at the reception of strangers or travellers, who had just arrived from a journey, whereby they had contracted dirt and filth, and was a servile work, never performed by superiors to their inferiors, but by inferiors to superiors; as by the wife to the husband, by the son to the father, and by the servant to his master; and was an instance of great humility in any others, as in Abigail, who said to David, "Let your handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord",

Verse 6 is interesting. Just picture all the disciples relining at the table with their feet poking out (they did not sit on chairs but reclined), and Jesus taking up the basin and towel, and he begins to wash the disciples’ feet. Jesus comes to Peter but this is best understood as (Then he comes) The construction suggests Simon was not the first one Jesus arrived at, but the great bulk of ancient and modern expositors suppose that Peter was the first to whom this great grace was offered. At all events, in his impulsive manner always rushing forwards, and ready to give his Master advice, and to be the mouthpiece of the otherwise unuttered feelings of the others. Peter was the first to exclaim his amazement or disapproval. There is an emphasis on the word “You”. YOU wash my feet!! Never””

Verse 7 is another amazing verse. Peter could not have understood what that could possibly have meant. “You won’t know at this stage what I am doing but later on you will realise.” What Jesus is implying here is the cleansing of the cross through His precious blood. The cleaning of the feet pales into insignificance when compared with the cleansing of the soul to eternal life. It is physical cleansing set against spiritual cleansing. No way did Peter understand this for they did not even comprehend the Lord would die.

Here is verse 8 again - John 13 v 8 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.” This exchange teaches us a lovely thing about Peter. He was determined the Lord would not wash his feet for that would have been a humiliating thing for Jesus to do, demeaning in fact, but then the Lord told Peter that unless he was washed, then he could have no part in the Lord. That was the truth that hit home with Peter as we see in the next verse - John 13 v 9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.” Peter wanted all of Jesus. He wanted to be part of the Lord. His love and dedication embraced his Lord. The extension Peter added about the hands and the head was to reinforce his great desire to be part of his Saviour. He did not understand how that was to work but he wanted it, and soon he would know even how it worked.