Foot Washing Forgiveness –Part Two (John Part 42)
Text: John 13:1-17
We’ve come back to John 13 this morning, and we actually looked at this passage last week, but we didn’t finish it. And if you were here last week, or watching online, you heard me say that Jesus took this opportunity – when He washed the disciple’s feet, to teach them about true greatness. He basically said to them that true greatness is not found in having the most things, or being the most powerful, or having the most authority or highest position. It’s actually found in serving others… it comes from service that’s born out of love. But also; if you were here last week, you heard me say that Jesus goes even beyond this, and teaches the disciples a deep, spiritual truth in all of this, and that’s what we’re going to focus on today.
So if you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, go ahead and open them up to John 13:1-17 (READ TEXT).
Now this is so interesting when you think about it. Peter’s appalled that Jesus would wash his feet. He’s troubled by the Lord doing the work of the lowest household servant. And so Peter was like, “Jesus, you’re my Lord, not my servant.” And the reason I say this is so interesting, because in essence; what Peter is saying here is, “Jesus, you’re my Lord, so You need to listen to what I’m telling you.” I mean… Peter, if Jesus is your Lord, what right do you have to tell Him that He can, or can’t wash your feet? But that’s exactly what Peter does in verse 8, “Lord You will NEVER wash my feet.” And isn’t this exactly what you and I do throughout our daily lives? “I’m not going to share the Gospel with ‘THAT’ person.”, “I don’t feel like praying today.”, “Ah I can miss one Sunday, God understands.”, “My anger and un-forgiveness towards this person is justified.” And on and on we go, telling ourselves that the commands of the Lord don’t really matter at all… telling ourselves that if Jesus were just in our shoes, He’d probably do the same thing.
Now remember; Jesus had already said to Peter, in verse 7, “What I’m doing, you don’t understand it right now, but you will later.” But then Peter doubled down and said, “You shall NEVER wash my feet.” But look at what Jesus says to him in the last part of verse 8 there, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with Me.”
Did you catch the nuance there?
Jesus didn’t say, “If I don’t wash your feet.” He said, “If I don’t wash YOU.” And this is how we know that more is going on here than just Jesus giving the disciples an example of serving one another. Because of what Jesus says. In verse 7 He says, “What I’m doing, you don’t understand NOW, but afterward, you will understand.” Peter understood the outward picture. Jesus was washing his feet. Jesus was filling the role of a servant. Jesus was humbling Himself and showing love in action. Peter got that. But then in verse 8 He says, “If I do not wash YOU, you have no share with Me.” In other words, there’s another kind of washing that Jesus has in mind here. You know we just sang that hymn – “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” Later on in 1 John 1:7 John tells us that it’s the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from all sin.
So Jesus is saying to Peter, “Peter, if I don’t wash you, If I don’t wash away your sin. You have no share with Me. You can’t have eternal life, and you can’t be with Me in eternity if My blood hasn’t cleansed you from sin Peter.” “If I don’t wash you, you have no share with Me, because there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood… and Peter… buddy… you’ve sinned against an Almighty and Eternal God, and His justice demands an eternal sacrifice… So if I don’t wash you, you’ll pay for that sin for all eternity. But if I, the eternal Son of God, wash you, then My blood cleanses you, and redeems you, and pays the price that you could never pay.”
Of course Peter doesn’t understand all of that. Jesus just said as much in verse 7. You don’t understand it now… but you will. After the cross, after the resurrection. Then you’ll get it Peter.
And so Peter… this guy… he knew how to put his foot in his mouth… He said a lot of things out of over-zealous ignorance, but ultimately, he really is a guy who truly wants to be close to Jesus. And so when Jesus says, “If I don’t wash you, you have no share with Me.” Peter would’ve understood this as a rebuke for him telling the Lord what He could and could not do. And in one sense, that was probably going on as well, but like we just said, Jesus has a deeper spiritual meaning, and a deeper truth to teach and share here. But for Peter, this was Jesus saying, “Listen Peter, I’m going to do this, and if you say no to Me, then you’re rejecting My authority, and if you’re rejecting My authority, you’re really not part of what I’m doing are you?”
So look at what he says in verse 9, “Simon Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.’” In other words, Peter is saying, “I’m all in Lord.”
Now let me read verse 10 to you (READ John 13:10).
In this time and place, there were very few homes that had actual baths in them. Most places didn’t. They had wash basins, or water jugs for washing up. So what people would do is go to the public bath house. They’d grab a towel from home and walk down to the bathhouse, they’d wash themselves there, and then they’d walk back to their homes. And the thing is – at the bathhouse, they would wash themselves clean. They’d get their arms and legs, and faces all cleaned up, but then they’d have to walk back to their houses… that meant, when they got home, their feet would again be dirty, so they’d get one of those wash basins and wash their feet.
So again; Jesus is speaking in this way… in a way that Peter would’ve understood. But He’s talking about more than just bathing in the bath house and then coming home and washing up your feet. He’s saying here, “You are cleansed by the blood of Christ. You are redeemed, and justified, and brought near by the blood of Christ… But in your daily life, as you walk through this sin filled world, you’re gonna’ screw up. You’re going to stumble and falter along the way. So you are saved by the grace of God, which has brought you into a right relationship with God… but as you sin in your daily life, you need to confess your sin and repent, to maintain that fellowship with God.”
So this is the lesson here.
Not only is Jesus saying that we should let the love of God that fills our hearts flow out of our hearts in service to others… but we also need daily forgiveness, because we blow it each and every day. We’re saved! We’re justified before God, and we’ve been adopted into His family, so our relationship with Him is secure. He is, and will always be our Father, but our fellowship can be hurt when we sin. Our closeness and intimacy with God is damaged when we sin. It breaks fellowship with the Father.
I’ve used this example before, but it’s the one I’ve got, so I’ll use it again. Leslie and Gabby are my children. I love them more than life itself. And no matter what, they will always be my daughters. They might change their names, but the blood relationship is always there. And it’s possible that at some point in their lives they do something that I don’t approve of. It’s possible that they get into something that I don’t agree with, or make a decision that I think is wrong. And in doing that it may hurt our fellowship, but it will never change our relationship. So even if I get upset with them, or disagree with them, they are still, and always will be; my daughters.
That’s what Jesus is saying here. He’s saying “Peter, you’re clean – you’re saved. Nothing can change that, but from day to day you sin. You do things that are contrary to your Heavenly Father’s will, and it messes up your fellowship with Him. And so when that happens, wash your feet – meaning: Go to God, confess your sin, ask for forgiveness, and ask for the grace to repent.”
This is exactly the same thing John tells us in 1st John chapter one. He says, “If we’re walking in the light… walking with Jesus, we have fellowship, and that’s because the blood of Jesus has cleansed us from ALL SIN… but we slip up, so we go to God, and confess our sins, and He is faithful and just to forgive us, and clean us.” He also says there in 1st John, “IF we say we have no sin, we’re a liar and the truth is not in us.”
Now go with me quickly down to verses 13 through 15 (READ John 13:13-15).
So Jesus says, “What I’ve just done, you should be doing too.” In other words, “Listen fella’s – You’re human, you fail, you screw up, you have dirty feet, you walk through this fallen world, and from time to time, it’s dirt gets on you, but because you’re mine, I forgive you, I have mercy and compassion on you. Now you do the same for others.”
And then in verse 16 He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his Master, nor is a messenger greater than the One who sent him.”
Think about that for a second… If Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, who is holy, and righteous, and morally perfect, can look a fallen humanity and forgive us when we fall short, and when we rebel against Him, and when we sin… If He can forgive us – whose sins are what compelled Him to go to the cross and to endure the wrath of God, and to die on that cross… who are we to say that we can’t forgive someone for some slight they’ve committed against us? Who are we to say, “Oh I can never forgive that person for what they did, or for what they said.”?
And people say, “Well you don’t know what that person did Pastor Ken.” And that’s true, I don’t know what they did… but I do know what I’ve done to Jesus. I know that my sins drove the nails that pierced His hands. I know that my sins were placed upon Him, and He had to endure the wrath of Almighty God because of them. And I know that in-spite of that, He has forgiven me, and cleansed me, and washed me, and made me a new creation in Christ. How can I not forgive?
How can I say that I have the right to with-hold forgiveness?
Now this is not an ordinance like the Lord’s Supper, or Baptism… in verse 15 Jesus says, “This is an example for you to follow.” This is talking about the daily forgiveness we all need, and it’s talking about showing the love of God that is shed abroad in our heart through serving and forgiving others. And understand – you can do a lot of “good” things for a lot of people. You can feed the hungry, bless the poor, help people out, but if it’s not coming from the love of God that is within you – it’s not going to hold up in eternity. So this love and service, and forgiveness isn’t about “Oh I sure do feel better about myself”. It’s not, “Look how good a person I am for helping out the poor.” And it’s not, “Well we’re all part of the brother-hood of man, and we’re all in this together.” Because really that’s still about you. That’s “I’ll scratch your back in hopes that someday someone scratches mine.” What it’s about is the love of God. It’s about “God loves this person, so even if it costs me… even if I don’t get anything out of it. Even if it’s something that I really don’t enjoy, or particularly want to do. Even if it grosses me out (and trust me, feet gross me out), I’m going to do this, because the Love of God is flowing out of my heart for this person.”
Of course; you can’t do that if you don’t have Christ. You can’t truly have that love if you don’t have Christ.
So I want to ask you this morning… Do you know Him? Has He saved you by His grace, and forgiven you of your sin? Has pulled you out of darkness and given you the eyes to see, and the faith to trust in His beloved Son Jesus? I pray that He has.
CLOSING
