Holiness: Jesus and Peter (13:6-11)

Holiness: Jesus and Peter (13:6-11)

Peter saw the Lord wash His friends’ feet. He was becoming increasingly upset and could not understand what Jesus  was doing. As you read the Gospels, you cannot help but notice how often Peter spoke impulsively and was corrected by Jesus. Peter opposed Jesus going to the cross (Matt. 16:21–23), and he tried to run our Lord’s affairs at the Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1–8). He conveyed the faith of the disciples (John 6:66–71), not knowing that one of them was a traitor.

The word translated “wash” in John 13:5–6, 8, 12, and 14 is "nipto" and means “to wash a part of the body." But the word translated "washed" in John 13:10 is "louø," and it means "to bathe all over." The difference is important, for Jesus was trying to teach His disciples the importance of a holy walk.

When a sinner believes on the Savior, he is “washed all over"; his sins are washed away and forgiven (1 Cor. 6:9–11; Titus 3:3–7; Rev. 1:5). “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Heb. 10:17). But it is easy for the believer, walking in this world, to become defiled. He doesn't need a whole bath again, just that defilement removed. When we confess our sins to God, He promises to cleanse us (1 John 1:9).

But why is it so important that we “keep our feet clean"? If we are defiled, we cannot have fellowship with our Lord. “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me” (John 13:8). The word translated as “part” is "meros," and its meaning here is “participation, having a share in someone or something." Then God “bathes us all over” in salvation, and that is a settled relationship that cannot change. Our union with Christ is a settled relationship that cannot change. (The verb "wash" in John 13:10 is in the perfect tense, which indicated that it is once and for all settled.) However, our union with Christ depends on our keeping ourselves “unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). If we allow unconfessed sin in our lives, we hinder our walk with the Lord. That is when we need to have our feet washed.

The Old Testament priesthood beautifully illustrates this fundamental truth of Christian living. When the priest was ordained, he was bathed all over (Ex. 29:4), and that was never repeated. But in his daily ministry he became defiled, so he had to wash his hands and feet in the brass laver in the courtyard (Ex. 30:18-21). Only then could he go into the holy place to trim the lamps and eat the holy bread and burn the incense.

The Lord cleanses us in the blood of Christ, that is, His work on the cross (1 John 1:5-10) and by the application of His Word to our lives (Ps. 119:9; John 15:3; Eph. 5:25-26). The “water of the Word” can cleanse our hearts and minds so that we are not polluted by the corruptions of this world. But if we sin, we have in glory a loving Advocate who will hear our prayers of confession and forgive us (1 John 2:1–2).

Peter didn't understand what his Lord was doing, but he would rather not wait for an explanation, so he impulsively tried to tell the Lord what to do. John 13:8 is a forceful double negative. In essence, Peter’s statement was, “You shall by no means wash my feet, no, never.” Peter really meant it! And when he realized that to refuse the Lord would mean losing the Lord's fellowship, he went the other way and asked for a full bath!

There is an important lesson we can learn from Peter: don’t question the Lord’s will or work; don’t try to change it. He knows what He is doing.  Peter had a difficult time accepting Christ's ministry to him because Peter was not yet ready to minister to the other disciples. Serving others takes humility and grace, but it also takes humility and grace to let others serve us. The beautiful thing about a submissive spirit is that it is able to give and receive to the glory of God.

John was quick to notice that Peter and Judas had a different relationship with Jesus. Jesus washed Judas’s feet, yes! But Judas was not washed all over, so it did him no benefit. Some people teach that Judas was a saved man who sinned away his salvation. But that is not what Jesus said. Our Lord obviously told us that Judas had not been cleansed from his sins and that he was an unbeliever (John 6:64-71).