“DIRTY FEET”
JOHN 13:1-17
JULY 30, 2000
INTRODUCTION:
TRANSITION SENTENCE: To be like Jesus is to Serve. To serve is to be willing to “WASH DIRTY FEET.”
How COULD Jesus wash Dirty Feet?
I. WE MUST KNOW WHO WE ARE/ JESUS KNEW WHO HE WAS (vs. 3)
A. Jesus knew His origin
1. He had come from God/ He had remembered his up bringing
2. Jesus remembered From whence He came. From the Glory of God.
B. Jesus knew His destination:
1. “Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father (vs. 1).” “And was returning to God (vs. 3).”
2. Jesus knew what He came to do and knew how it was to end and to where he was returning.”
C. Jesus knew His authority:
1. “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power (V. 3),” 2. Jesus was well aware of what was happening and what His soon Death would bring.
Bottom line here is that Jesus had His being and Foundation in God. He knew he belong to God totally. He knew that He was fulfilling God’s will and that Regardless of all the soon coming circumstances, He was going to be with the Father once more and Forever.
If we are ever going to “Wash Dirty Feet,” it will be because we know we belong to the Father and that our being and foundation are in Him and that it doesn’t matter what happens to us in this life, for when it is over we will spend an eternity with Him!
ILLUSTRATION:
How COULD Jesus wash Dirty Feet?
II. JESUS KNEW HIS GOAL/ WE MUST KNOW OUR GOAL (v. 1)
A. Jesus’ Goal was love
1. Having Loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.
2. For Jesus Love had to be more than words, LOVE IS A VERB.
B. Love as defined by Jesus was setting aside his glory to serve.
1. “Jesus took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash is disciples feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him (v. 4-5).”
2. Jesus explains it to us: “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life... (John 10:17).”
3. “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).”
4. The Apostle Paul puts it this way, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and become obedient to death -- even death on a cross (Philippians 2:6-8)!”
5. Jesus goal was to demonstrate Love, regardless of the Cost.
6. Even if it meant that God himself would dawn a towel and “WASH DIRTY FEET.” Can you imagine, the God of all creation, “WASHING DIRTY FEET?”
C. If we are ever to reveal the Love of God, We must be willing to be like Jesus and “WASH DIRTY FEET.” To be Christ like, to be a Christian, to be like Jesus, is to “WASH DIRTY FEET.” IT IS THE GOAL OF LOVE!
ILLUSTRATION:
How COULD Jesus wash Dirty Feet?
III. JESUS KNEW WHAT IT MEANT/ WE MUST KNOW WHAT IT MEANS
Peter could not understand it and possibly some of us today cannot comprehend what Jesus was doing, but let us let Jesus explain as He did to Peter.
A. Washing dirty feet represents salvation:
2. Jesus said, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
3. Jesus has the ability to wash away our sins. Without His washing, we can have no part of him, for sin separates us from God.
B. Washing Dirty feet is more than Salvation, it is also CONTINUAL CLEANSING:
1. Peter always represents the extremist in every Crowd. He always took things to the outer most limit! “Not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” 2. Jesus reply is that Peter is Clean, because “a person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet(v. 10);”
3. Haven’t you always wondered what that meant? What Jesus is saying is “Even though you are clean, the journey of life often soils our feet.” What Jesus offers us is a continual cleaning for the Journey.
4. I John 1:7 makes it a little clearer: “If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
5. The Salvation Jesus offers is able to cleanse us completely, but apart from Jesus we become soiled and dirty. We need Jesus to wash our feet.
ONE ASIDE HERE: Do we have a role to play in the foot washing business, when it concerns our feet being washed? Judas Iscariot was one of the disciples whose feet were washed. Did he and Peter receive the same cleansing power? Verse 2 tells us that “the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus.” Also, when Jesus told Peter that he was clean, he added, “though not every one of you (v.10).” Verse 11 makes it all to clear, “For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.”
It appears that the Cleansing Jesus offers depends upon our response to the washing.
C. Washing Dirty Feet represents Humility:
“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should was one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you (13:14-15).”
1. Jesus is not telling the disciple to go get a bowl of water and to repeat the process. Jesus is calling the disciples to remember what he had done for the masses and to model his servant behavior.
2. I will say it over and over again, Our highest goal is to be like Jesus and it will take the Spirit of the Living God to lead us and guide us into the Character and Behavior of Jesus.
3. Jesus is also not saying that it is time for a “MUTUAL FOOT WASHING.” This is not, I’ll scratch your back and you scratch mine. This would never reveal true humility. There would be no loss. Jesus demands a “NO RETURN POLICY” on his service
4. The “Do as I have done” for us today takes on an even greater responsibility. The Disciples did not understand that Jesus must die on the Cross until way after it happened. We however, realize the reality of the Cross and “EXACTLY” what Jesus meant as he said, “Do as I have done.”
5. True Humility equals doing all for others without considering any cost to ourselves.
WASHING DIRTY FEET MEANS OFFERING SALVATION TO A LOST AND DYING HUMANITY. IT IS ALSO THE PROMISE OF THE CONTINUAL CLEANSING FOR ALL SIN THAT COMES FROM JESUS ALONE. ULTIMATELY IT MEANS SERVING OTHERS IN TRUE HUMILITY WITHOUT CONSIDERING THE COST TO ONES LIFE.
ILLUSTRATION:
CONCLUSION:
