Spiritual Cleansing and Feet Washing

John 13:1-14, John 14:1-6

The words Jesus speaks take place on the night before His crucifixion, during the Last Supper with His disciples. Jesus talks with them about his departure from this world. He predicts to them the betrayal of Judas and Peter’s denial. All these things left the disciples confused, perplexed, and troubled. Not only were the disciples troubled in their hearts, but so was our Lord Jesus, troubled in His spirit, in John 13:21, when He began to speak about His impending betrayal. Jesus, taking notice of the demeanor of His disciples, comforts them in John 14:1 by redirecting their focus toward God. “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. You who are here today and have placed your faith in Jesus Christ are also His disciples. Not only disciples, but you are His bride, His church, His children, and He loves you. He gave His life for you. Considering those facts, what has troubled your heart and mind in the past? What currently troubles your mind and heart now? Recognize that in this world, we will continue to encounter troubling circumstances. But our God is sovereign. Think of God. Believe in God. Believe in Christ. This belief is not just a mere cognitive acknowledgement. Belief in God is understanding who He is as declared by the scriptures. Belief in Christ is understanding who He is as declared by the scriptures. Belief in the Holy Ghost is who He is, as declared by the scriptures. Having an understanding of the scriptures of who and what God is as the Godhead is to know God. So let me ask you. Do you know God? How often are you in the scriptures with understanding? Because to know God through the scriptures is to believe in God.

As previously mentioned, Jesus was also troubled in His spirit before His betrayal. But He was motivated by His love for us. He was encouraged by the fact that He would soon be with the Father in Heaven. Jesus had confidence in Himself as the Son of God. That the Father had given all things to Him in His hands, that He came from the Father in Heaven, and that He was soon returning to His Father in Heaven. And similarly, you who have faith in Christ should have confidence in your new identity in Christ. You are now an adopted son of God and an adopted brother of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are no longer slaves to sin, but we are heirs through God, and we receive an inheritance through God, as written in

Galatians 4: 4 – 6 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. 

Heb 2:10 – 11 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers.

This is our identity. Not that we are somehow equal as sons of God with the Son of God. Jesus Christ is still God and our God. But the spiritual language communicates to us that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work in unity to unite us into their divine family. This is why we also have the right to address God in the same manner as Christ addresses God as Father. We are heirs of God. And Jesus speaks of our inheritance in John 14:2: “In my Father’s house are many rooms.”

During the Lord’s Supper, as recorded in Luke 22:24-30, the disciples began to dispute among themselves about who was the greatest among them. Jesus realizes their selfishness and pride and gives them a sharp lesson in humility. Jesus tells them in,

Luke 22: 26-30 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. 

Luk 22:27  For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves. 

Luk 22:28  “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, 

Jesus reminds them that it is not who is the eldest or youngest among them that deserves prestige or authority over the other. It is not the one who holds a dignified position at the table waiting to be served at their request. Obviously, it is not the one who deserves honor and service, since (Jesus said) I myself am here among you all as a servant. Jesus reminds His disciples that they have been there with Him and have witnessed all His trials. Although they by now acknowledge He is the Son of God. Immanuel God in the flesh. The Word of God made manifest to them in a real physical reality. Yet, Jesus reminds them of the humility of the Son of God, exemplifying what humble submission to God the Father as a servant looks like, as they witnessed the afflictions and reproaches of the Scribes and Pharisees. As they listened to the snaring questions in attempts to stone their Master. Do you not think that at those moments, Jesus was not tempted to use His Godly attributes to escape trials and tribulations, the mockery, the beatings, the torment of the crucifixion? Jesus is the Sovereign King, yet He accepted the place of a servant by sacrificing His life on the cross for us. The Apostle John reveals in his writings the splendor of Christ’s deity, but also shows Christ’s humble submission to the Father’s will as the Father’s servant in John 5:19: “The Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing.”

John 6:38: “For I came down from Heaven, not to do mine own will.”

John 7:16: “My teaching is not mine, but His who sent me.

John 8:50: “Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and He is the judge.”

John 14:24: “Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.”

So I ask you all rhetorically today, who is the greatest among us all? Such a question should not be asked. Such a concept should not be thought of in our minds. The greatest is not the one with the most spiritual gifts. It is not the prophet, the healer, the evangelist, the bishop, the prayer warrior, the preacher, the Pastor, the teacher, or the church volunteer. But all of us need to humbly realize that whatever position we have in the kingdom of God is that of a servant doing the will of the Father from the highest to the lowest, from the richest to the poorest, to the most seemingly magnificent, the likes of Billy Graham preaching to tens of thousands and all over the world, to the seemingly modest volunteer who scrubs the church’s toilets. All are equally submitted to servanthood in the Kingdom of God to the Father’s will, and even if it leads to our death for the sake of the Gospel, as demonstrated by our master Jesus Christ.

You’ve heard me mention the Kingdom of God several times. That is because we need to bear in mind the bigger picture Jesus is speaking about in Luke 22:29-30. Jesus said:

Luk 22:29  and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, 

Luk 22:30  that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 

God has a Kingdom in heaven which He appointed to Christ. And in this Kingdom, Jesus has assigned a position to each of us as we serve our God on earth. We store our riches in heaven as we obey the will of the Father during our time on earth. In this Kingdom, there are many rooms, and our Savior Jesus Christ has gone to prepare a room for us. The Kingdom of God, in a real sense, belongs to us. So, we must act as if we believe the Word of God in this respect.

Luke 12:32 Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.

Matthew 25:34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 

As we humbly serve God on earth, obeying the teachings of Christ and submitting to the will of the Father in servanthood. Yes, we have a motivating factor of attaining our riches in the Kingdom of God in heaven as our inheritance. But there is another motivating factor that we need to have in perspective. And to this point, 18th-century Bible expositor Matthew Henry wrote,

“This kingdom he appointed to his apostles and their successors in the ministry of the gospel, that they should enjoy the comforts and privileges of the gospel, help to communicate them to others by gospel ordinances, sit on thrones as officers of the church, not only declaratively, but exhortatively judging the tribes of Israel that persist in their infidelity, and denouncing the wrath of God against them, and ruling the gospel Israel, the spiritual Israel, by the instituted discipline of the church, administered with gentleness and love. This is the honour reserved for you.”

Listen church. God appointed the Kingdom to Christ, and Christ appointed the Kingdom to us. We are currently on assignment, serving in a real Kingdom of God in heaven as it transcends to the Kingdom of God on earth. The Kingdom of God reigns on earth through His visible church of Christ. We are all contributors in the church of Christ on earth, spreading the message of the Kingdom, and the message of the Kingdom is the Gospel of Christ. Our assignment as those appointed to the Kingdom of God is to contribute to the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on earth. And again, whether you hold a church office as a Deacon, Elder, Pastor, or perform other church functions or volunteer, it all contributes to the spreading of Christ’s victorious gospel of the Kingdom of God. (Speak about the victory of the Gospel).

Now, returning to the events of the Lord’s supper. Jesus, acting in servanthood, removes His outer garments, He pours water into a basin, and begins to wash the disciples’ feet and wipes them with the towel wrapped around His waist. When the Lord came to Peter to wash his feet, Peter was reluctant to allow the Lord to wash him. Jesus said, “What I am doing you do not understand, but afterward you will understand. If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” The King James Version reads, “You have no part with me. Notice that Jesus did not say If I do not wash your feet, you have no share in me. Instead, Jesus said If I do not wash you, you have no part in me. And the same applies to us today. If the Lord does not wash our sins away with His blood, we will have no part in Christ. You will remain stained with your sins with no righteousness to claim before God. And the only part you will have is a separation apart from God’s grace and mercy, and subject to His wrath. We ought to respond as Peter did. Peter’s response was for the Lord to wash not only his feet but his hands and head. Peter realized that what Jesus was doing was not just a mere act of humility, but the washing was symbolic of the cleansing of the spirit and not just the body. We need to have the same response as Peter. Calling out to the Lord to save us. To cleanse us from our sins, from our inadequate deeds that we try to pass off as good works without faith, which are as filthy rags to the Lord. We ought to cry out to God to grant us repentance, forgive our sins, and save us from eternal torment. Lord, don’t just wash my feet, wash my hands, my head, my body, my mind, my spirit, and soul so that I may have a part with you in eternity. Lord God, you prepared a place for me in heaven, and I want to be a part of your kingdom in heaven and serve you with humility on earth. Cleanse me, oh Lord, as it’s written in your scripture:

Isaiah 4:4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.

Ezekiel 36:25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

Zechariah 13:1 On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.

Acts 22:16 And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on His name.

1Corinthians 6:9-11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Which of these sins have we been guilty of? But if we have called on the name of the Lord Jesus, all our sins are washed away. Sanctified and justified by the Spirit of our God. Thank you, Lord, for your grace and mercy.

Do you want to be clean from all your impurities? Do you want to be cleansed by the blood of Christ? To be pardoned by God Himself? John 14:1 Believe in God and believe in Christ. Acts 22:16 What are you waiting for? Rise and be baptized, washing away all your sins and calling on the name of Jesus.  

Jesus said something very interesting in response to Peter’s request to wash more than his feet. Jesus said:

John 13:10 The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not everyone of you.”

The one who is bathed is not in reference to someone who is baptized. It is in reference to one who has had all their sins washed away by Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross. The one who is bathed is the one who has been born again by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. The one who is bathed has confessed all their sins to the Father and has had their sins pardoned. The one who is bathed is justified to enter the Kingdom of God because of the faith they have in Christ. We are no longer held accountable by the law of Moses but instead accountable by our faith in Jesus Christ and His righteousness, which becomes our righteousness since we have none of our own to offer God the Father. To approach God with our own righteous works is to approach God defiled, unrighteous, full of unforgiven sin, and most importantly, without Christ and His righteousness.

            Jesus said if you’ve been bathed, you only need to wash your feet because you have been completely clean. You do not need to rewash repeatedly.

The Song of Solomon 4:7 says, “You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.” Once you are entirely cleansed, you are wholly forgiven for all your sins. There is no double jeopardy with God. He does not forgive you of sin and later raises the issue to condemn you. (Talk about Christ’s example of forgiveness).

2Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

But do you believe it? Do you truly believe with faith and confidence that God has forgiven and Christ has washed away all your sins? The atonement of Christ is part of the Gospel of Christ. You cannot believe in the gospel only in part. If you believe in Christ, then you must believe in the entire gospel and not just in part. I know it may seem complicated to think that God would forgive us, or some of our sins. We have all sinned in different measures. But the grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness of God are qualities and attributes exclusive to God and have no measure, limits, or boundaries. If you believe in Christ, believe in His atoning work. But remember, for those who do not come to the Lord for the washing of their sins once and for all, the wrath of God against sin, evil, and those with unforgiven sin, the wrath of God is also an attribute without measure, limits, or boundaries. Choose life, choose Christ.

After you’ve come to believe in Christ and His Gospel and have your sins pardoned, this does not mean you will never sin again. This does not mean you should not confess and ask God for forgiveness when you sin. And this is the relevance of Christ washing the disciples’ feet. I need you to understand this. The washing of the body is symbolic of the once-for-all atoning work of Christ – the one-time sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for all sin. However, we will continue to sin daily in thought or action. 1John1:8 reminds us that if at any time we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. John 14:6 says Jesus is the truth that leads to the Father. If we do not have our minds renewed by the sound doctrines of the gospel, we do not have the truth, and if we do not have the truth, we do not have Christ.

1John1:9 says if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The forgiveness of God is an ongoing blessing and promise to us. But we cannot hide our sins from God. We must confess our sins directly to God, ask for forgiveness, repent, and believe He has forgiven us. Because as

Proverbs 28:13 reads, Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and turns from them is shown mercy.

Christians listen carefully. In this world, we continually walk through the dirt and filth beneath our feet. We walk within a struggle of darkness and light, evil and good, unethical and immoral deeds, and righteousness. In that process, as we struggle to love Christ and submit to His commandments, we fall short daily, and our feet become soiled with the unclean things of this world. And so, our Lord makes daily intercessions for us and washes our feet, keeping us clean and undefiled before the Father in heaven. Do you understand the difference between being washed entirely once and for all and the necessity for the symbolic work of Christ washing your feet frequently? I hope so. Because in

John 13:14 Jesus said, If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

Let me make something clear, that when Jesus spoke these words. He did not necessarily mean this as a sacrament or ordinance, such as baptism and participating in the Lord’s supper. But the symbolic lesson is that, just as Jesus washed your feet to cleanse you of your ongoing sin, so washing each other’s feet is comparable to forgiving each other when one sins against us. Jesus said in

Matthew 6:12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

The final thing Jesus said in John 13:10 was that you are clean, but not everyone of you. By this time, it was revealed to Jesus who was to betray Him. And it may be that Jesus did wash Judas’ feet, but his entire body was not clean. And this is indicative of the fact that there will always be false conversions among us, and we judge them not in hypocrisy, as if we have never sinned as they have sinned, or as if we continually have no sin of our own. We judge them by their deeds and what they say, so that we may be watchers of false doctrine and those who may mean to cause harm to the body of Christ. However, this does not mean abandoning anyone entirely. There is no relief from responsibility to reach the lost. Let me remind you of

Ezekiel 3:18-19 Eze 3:18  If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 

Eze 3:19  But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. 

Is there anyone among you who is unclean? That has not been washed by the blood of Christ. That has not confessed their sins to God and begged for mercy and forgiveness. What are you waiting for? Rise and believe in God and Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Confess your sins to God, repent, and be baptized. Turn from the wicked things that God despises and walk in holiness, emulating the character of God and obeying Christ’s commandment because of your love for Jesus, because Jesus loved you to the point of His death on the cross. In the Father’s house, there are many rooms, and Jesus has gone to prepare a room for those who believe in Him. But there is only one way to the Father, and that is through Jesus Christ. There is only one truth in this world, and that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is only one life eternal in paradise, and that is given through the life of Jesus Christ. Christ is all. Make Him all in your life and repent of your sins today. Tomorrow is not promised, and God may require your soul tonight. Are you fully cleansed by the washing of sin with Christ’s blood?