John 13:1-30
Verse 1-2-Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him,
Jesus knowing that His time is short, that a cruel cross is ahead of Him, He also knows that His disciples, one is going to betray Him, one is going to deny Him, and they all are going to desert Him! And yet He still loves them! He loves them while people are beating Him! He loves them when people are spitting on Him! He love them when they are slapping Him! He still loves them even when they nail Him to the cross!
The Bible tells us His love is a everlasting love, it also tells us that nothing can separate from the love of God.
You want to know if God loves? Here’s you sign….It called a cross!!
Verse 3-Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God
Jesus’ comfort was that He came from God and that He was going back to God!
That’s what got Him thru the pain, that’s what got Him thru the insults, that’s what got Him thru the death on the cross!
Do you know what will get you thru difficult days, thru hard times, thru pain and suffering? Knowing that you are God’s and one day you are going to be with Him forever!!
Verse 4-5-rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.
After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
Girded-To prepare one self conflict or vigorous activity.
We need to prepare our self for activity, for service, in other words we need to be ready, when ever and where ever we can serve!
The One who should have been served, is serving!!!
Ephesians 2:4-9-But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Verse 6-8-Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”
Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
The first thing you have to learn if want to be a disciple of Christ is…Obedience!
We are just like Peter, there are things we accepted from God automatically and then there are things God wants to give us and we know we don’t deserve them, so we reject those things, but the truth is nothing God give us have we earned or deserve!
We may tend to feel ashamed when the Lord blesses us, because we know we do not deserve His goodness and grace. Yet, at the same time, we should gratefully accept His gifts and praise Him for them.
Verse 9-Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”
Peter completely surrenders. That attitude God can use!
If Jesus was willing to humble Himself to die on cross for our sins, what are we willing to do for Him?
Verse 10-11-Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”
For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.”
Jesus is telling Peter that when a man has washed his entire person, he gets his feet soiled by walking through the streets, he don’t need to take a bath again, he just needs to wash his feet.
When we accept Jesus as our Savior, He washed us from our sins, we know that, we sing about that, we teach that, we do the Lord’s Supper because we believe that!!
We have been eternally cleansed from head to toe already through His cleansing blood, but as we walk through life, we still sin and we need cleansing.
But we don’t have to get born again….again, we just need to be cleansed of the sin or sins we committed that day!
Understanding that and reading these Scriptures makes these Scriptures a lot clearer!
1 John 1:7-10-But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
1 John 2:1-2-My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
Jesus is saying to us that we do not need to get re-saved every time we sin, but we do need to come to Him for forgiveness and restoration of fellowship.
If you allow yourself to go on in sin, you will keep widening the breach between you and the Lord.
