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6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” 9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” 10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. ~ John 13:6-11
Peter was aghast that Jesus was about to wash his feet, so he tried to prevent Him from doing so. The Lord Jesus doesn't rebuke Peter, rather He gives him a promise: "but later you will understand." This is the adventure of the Christian life. This is what makes it so fascinating. We do not know how the events of this day will impact eternity.
This summer I spoke at a camp in the mountains in North Carolina. Two weeks later I received an online message from a young man who attended that camp. I had no idea that he was contemplating suicide. In his words, "your messages changed my mind." Wow, I had no idea, and I suspect when we get to heaven, we will be amazed of how the Lord used our yielded lives for the good of others.
Peter's reaction to this promise is typical: "You shall never wash my feet!" He's so sure he's right, and so totally unaware of his pride, self-righteousness, and ignorance wrapped up in his response. The response of the Lord Jesus comes with a warning: "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." The Lord Jesus is talking about Peter's progression in his relationship with Him. The Lord Jesus is saying, "your walk with me will be stunted."
In typical fashion, Peter seeks to demonstrate his love for the Lord Jesus. Peter says, "Then, Lord, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!" Like many Christians Peter did not have good doctrine. He seems to say all the wrong things, yet his heart seemed to always be right. And, the Lord Jesus saw Peter's heart.
In v.10-11, the Lord Jesus responds to Peter again. He says to Peter, "Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean."
The Lord Jesus brings attention to the fact that people take baths in the morning, and thus were "clean." But as they went about the dusty streets their feet became dirty. This didn't mean they needed another bath, however, they only needed to wash their feet. The Lord Jesus explains to the disciples, "You are clean." They were born again, and that only occurs once.
At the end of v.10, the Lord Jesus brings attention to the fact that Judas was not clean, he was not right with God. But the eleven are clean. They have bathed and they are clean. That is, they are born again. They had believed in the Lord Jesus. Only Judas is excluded. Peter is clean, even though he messes up often.
The first year of my Christian experience, I walked the isle at the end of almost every message that was preached. My Pastor one day said to me, "Bobby, you do not have to come down here every time I preach." To which I responded, "But, Frank, I sinned this week." Afterwards, we had a good discussion and Frank corrected my bad theology.
In 1 John 1:8–9, we read, “If we say 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.” This is a picture of Peter’s and my mistake. What we failed to realize is, even though we are “completely clean” (John 13:10), that is, even though we were born again, there were sins that needed daily confession but not for forgiveness. These sins were forgiven the moment we became believers in Christ. This daily confession of sin is spiritual foot-washings. The purpose for confession of sin for the Christian is for a clear conscience, that our walk with the Lord would not be impeded by a distracted conscience.
Believers of the Lord Jesus know our true, unshakable standing with God as “completely clean” and we do not claim that we have no sin, but we know how to deal with our ongoing sins. We confess our forgiven sin and we receive daily cleansing of our consciences. We do this for the sake of our fellowship with God which is different than our relationship. Our relationship gets us into heaven, whereas our fellowship gets heaven into us now. When the Lord Jesus offers to wash our feet, we say, "yes," so that our fellowship with God will deepen.
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