SERIES: The Gospel of John
Who Needs a Bath?
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Introduction: I’d like to begin with a question this morning: “How many of you took a bath or a shower last night or this morning?” Good! That’s encouraging, but some of you are probably thinking, “that’s an awfully personal question to be asking in church.” Well, I guess it is, but bear with me if you will. If you took a bath last night, did you take another one this morning? I doubt it, but I’ll bet you washed your face. If you took a shower this morning, do you plan to take another one before lunch? I doubt it, but I’ll bet you’ll wash your hands.
Tell me something, would you rather have lunch today with someone who took a bath this morning but came to the table with dirty hands or someone who forgot to bathe but washed his hands thoroughly? Tough choice, isn’t it? You see, there’s a place for a bath and there’s a place for washing one’s hands. A bath or a shower solves one basic problem—it eliminates body odor, but it doesn’t solve another basic problem—the problem of germs or just good manners. In our text today Jesus uses these physical facts from everyday life as an acted parable to teach His disciples (and therefore us) about the critical difference between bathing and washing in the spiritual realm.
The problem Jesus is addressing is that a great many religious people are trying desperately to get to Heaven by washing their feet or hands or faces, but He tells them they can’t spend eternity with Him unless they take a spiritual bath. On the other hand, many people who have had the spiritual bath are trying to get through this life without washing their hands regularly, and Jesus is going to tell themthat such an effort is just as futile.
Let’s start by looking at the background of this passage. The public ministry of Jesus is over. It is Thursday night, less than 24 hours before His death. He has gathered His disciples together in an Upper Room for a final meal. It was customary in those days when one invited guests for a meal to provide a servant to wash their feet, for people wore sandals and walked on dirt streets. But if there was no host, as in this case, then usually the first one to arrive would get out the basin, wash his own feet, and prepare to wash the feet of the others as they arrived.
Who arrived first at the Upper Room we are not told. But we do know that no footwashing was going on, and we also know why. Let me read to you a few verses from Luke 22, which tells this same story, only with a little more detail. Jesus says to His disciples,
“‘The hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him.’ They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this. Also (and here’s the key) a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.”
Imagine it! Jesus has just announced that one of them would betray Him, and they start arguing over who is the greatest! The disciples were willing to fight over the throne but not over the wash basin.
A lesson in humility, which Jesus gives by ignoring His position of divine privilege and washing His disciples’ feet. (1-5)
Nowhere in the pages of Scripture can we find a more moving example of humble service than we find on the part of Jesus in these first five verses of John 13. It is difficult to appreciate the enormity of His action, however, without first seeing Jesus for who He is. The New Testament makes it clear that Jesus is a unique person. He is the Son of God, but He is also God, the Son. In Him dwells all the fullness of deity in bodily form. This one who is kneeling and serving his fellowman is no ordinary man. This is the omnipotent and holy God humbling Himself before weak and sinful people.
Now two facts about humble service are illustrated in this story. First, only a loving person willserve others humbly, and secondly, only a secure person can serve others humbly.
Only a loving person will serve others humbly. Here’s what it says about Jesus in the first verse of our passage: “Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.” Then it adds, “so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet.”
Does it not seem incongruous to you for the Lord of the universe to kneel in front of the likes of Matthew, the former tax-collector, and doubting Thomas, and confused Philip, and even the Judas the Betrayer, and wash their feet? If it seems incredible, it is probably because we see so little of this kind of love in the world today. Even the Church is full of people who are standing on their dignity when they ought to be kneeling at the feet of their brothers and sisters. I recall an Elder in the church I pastored in Wichita who was asked to fill in as an usher one Sunday. He replied, “I don’t usher.” If he had been in the Upper Room, I suspect he would also have said, “I don’t do feet.”
Only a loving person will serve others humbly. Secondly, …
Only a secure person can serve others humbly. I want you to note that in the first two paragraphs we are told that Jesus knew three specific facts. These are important in John’s mind to explain Jesus’ actions. First, He knew the time had come for Him to leave this world. Secondly, He knew that the Father had put all things under His power. And thirdly, He knew that He had come from God and was returning to Him.
Now how does Jesus’ knowledge of these things relate to His humble act at this last supper? I believe it shows that Jesus is perfectly secure and totally unthreatened in His relationship with His Father; therefore, He has no pride to protect. He can humble Himself with no fear of losing face.
Let’s think for a moment about how this applies to service in the home or at work or at church. There are some men who have a distorted view of what it means to be the head of the home. They can’t be bothered with “women’s work,” like dishes and vacuuming and ironing, because it is beneath their dignity. Such men are actually quite insecure. Or think about the business executive who demands that his employees defer to him in everything. I was talking recently to a lady in our church who works for a prominent physician in St. Louis. She says he acts like a little god and makes unreasonable demands on everyone around him. The fact is, such behavior hints more at insecurity than at greatness.
Such insecurity can affect pastors, too. I remember an incident a number of years ago in which the Lord pounded home to me the reality of this. I received a special invitation to a breakfast where only 12 pastors were invited. These were the pastors of all the big churches in Wichita, and I was the youngest there. The guest of honor was Ray Ortlund, at that time pastor of the prestigious Lake Avenue Congregational Church in Pasadena. I made sure I was there early, and soon about half a dozen of us were standing around Pastor Ortlund, picking his brain on theological issues and trying to ask profound questions.
I hadn’t noticed, but the waitress, who had been uninformed of our arrival and had not yet prepared the room in which we were meeting, was feverishly trying to move some tables. Dr. Ortlund quietly excused himself from the circle and went over to help the waitress. As soon as the tables and chairs were ready, he followed the waitress into the kitchen and began to carry silverware, glasses of water, and plates into our room. There was a rather awkward moment of embarrassment, and then the rest of this august group of clergy began to fall all over ourselves to join Dr. Ortlund in demonstrating true servanthood. For Dr. Ortlund it was a natural response; he had no one to impress. To some of the rest of us it was a forced afterthought.
Jesus, quietly and without fanfare, teaches a crucial lesson in humble service. You will notice that there is not a word of conversation while He gets up from supper, wraps the towel around His waist, and begins to wash His disciples’ feet. I think I know why. I smell the heavy silence of shock and embarrassment in the air. How would you like to have been that first disciple whose feet Jesus stooped to wash? I think it would give you the same kind of feeling you get when someone much poorer than you gives you a beautiful gift at Christmas—the day after you send them a 25c card.
But the silence is never prolonged when Peter is near. When Jesus comes to him, Peter asks, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” It is not a question seeking information so much as it is a challenge. In the original Greek the words “you” and “my” are back-to-back and are both emphatic. “Lord, do you my feet wash?” You see, Peter is humble enough to feel the incongruity of having his feet washed by Jesus but not humble enough to refrain from telling his master what not to do. But Jesus responds kindly, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand. Peter, trust Me.” I love this verse and it often comes to mind, especially when I sit with grieving loved ones, or counsel a person whose home is breaking up, or pray with a person suffering the pain of some frightful disease. “What God is doing you do not understand now; but someday you will understand. Have faith in Me.”
But Peter is inclined to live by feeling, not by faith, and suddenly he feels very humble. He can’t accept the fact that the Lord wants to wash his feet and he speaks with conviction and even belligerence: “You shall never wash my feet.” The Greek reads literally, “By no means shall you ever wash my feet until the end of the world.” But Jesus doesn’t get angry with him. He just quietly responds, “OK, Peter, have it your way, but if I do not wash you, you have no part with Me!”
And suddenly this man of conviction who ten seconds before refused to have his feet washed by Jesus for all of eternity, is begging Jesus to give him a bath. “Then, Lord, not just my feet, but my hands and my head as well!” Wow, anyone who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor surely never heard of Peter! He could change directions faster than a Kansas wind, and just like a Kansas wind, he was always blowing. But Peter has a lesson to learn, as do the rest of the disciples, and we as well. It is a lesson in theology. Theology is the study of God and His relationship to us. All of us have a theology, i.e., a view of God, but it is not always well-informed.
The theology lesson Peter receives is couched in everyday terms:
A lesson in theology: a bath is needed only at the beginning of a journey; washing must be done frequently. (6-11)
Jesus uses Peter’s excesses to teach him about the difference between bathing and washing. In ancient times when you were invited out to dinner you would bathe at home and then only your feet needed to be washed when you arrived at your destination. Of course, Jesus, in comparing the journey to a friend’s house with our journey through life, is not interested in physical dirt, but rather is talking about sin and the need to be cleansed from spiritual dirt. He is saying that we need a spiritual bath at the beginning to take care of sin’s eternal penalty, but we also need to wash regularly and frequently along the way to get rid of sin’s contaminating effects. Or another way to put it is this: a spiritual bath guarantees a permanent relationship with Jesus; subsequent spiritual washing guarantees continuing fellowship with Jesus. Let’s examine each of these propositions a bit more closely.
A spiritual bath guarantees a permanent relationship with Jesus. The bath is symbolic of one’s initial commitment of his life to Christ. Some believers remember exactly when that happened because it was a crisis moment. Others cannot pinpoint the date because they came to trust Jesus more gradually, or perhaps trusted Him sincerely since early childhood. But whether we can pinpoint it or not, I believe on God’s calendar there is a specific time at which the spiritual bath occurs, a point when we are “born again” (to use a very good biblical term which has been much maligned in recent years).
Now once a person has bathed, that is, once a person becomes a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ, he doesn’t need to be born again again. But even a Christian gets his feet dirty as he journeys through life. Pride creeps in, as does indifference; bad attitudes develop; sins of omission and commission sully one’s life. That’s where the washing comes in, and it this …
Subsequent spiritual washing guarantees continuing fellowship with Jesus. It was impolite in Jesus’ day to come to the table without having your feet washed. The reason is that the dinner table was very low and people reclined around it instead of sitting in chairs. It was quite possible that your feet would be near someone else’s face. Dirty feet in someone’s face are not conducive to good fellowship. Let’s translate it into our day. Suppose you are invited over to someone’s house for dinner. Further suppose the hostess is playing with the dog and then immediately begins working on the meal without washing her hands. Or the host is working on his car when you arrive, and he sits down to eat without bothering to wash the grease off his hands. Wouldn’t such actions affect your decision to accept future invitations to that home? Wouldn’t they hinder your fellowship?
Even so, God’s children need to wash frequently to keep the channels of communication open and the fellowship sweet. 1 John 1:9 tells us how that is accomplished: “If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” This is a verse that talks not about the spiritual bath but about spiritual washing. It is assumed in 1 John that the people to whom the Apostle is writing have already had the bath; what he is concerned about is that they experience cleansing from the defilements that impact us while living in a fallen world.
This lesson is especially important for Peter, because in less than 24 hours he’s going to step right into the worst mud hole of his entire life when Jesus is on trial and really needs Peter’s support. He’s going to deny three times that he even knows who Jesus is. But as terrible as that act is, it doesn’t hold a candle to Judas’ act of betrayal. The difference is that Peter has had the bath, so the sin of his denial could be washed away through confession. Judas has not had the bath, so his betrayal remained on his account when he went before God’s bar of justice.
So far today we have had a lesson in humble service from Jesus and a lesson in theology for Peter and all of us. Let’s consider thirdly …
A lesson in practical Christian living, namely, that it’s inappropriate to give someone else a bath, but anyone can wash feet. (12-17)
In our last paragraph Jesus again speaks metaphorically to His disciples. After washing their feet, He asks,
“Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”
Truths are easily forgotten if not pressed home directly, and Jesus is not about to let His disciples, or us, off the hook. The argument form He employs here is called an a fortiori argument, which means “from the greater to the lesser.” They have called Him “Rabbi” (a term of respect) and even “Lord” (a term of high reverence, even deity), and He has commended them for their insight. But precisely because He has been willing to wash their feet, despite His exalted position, they have an even greater responsibility to wash one another’s. They aren’t just to admire His action, or think about it, or remember it. Rather they are to do it. Theoretical response is of no value.
Friends, is Jesus instituting a new religious rite? Is He commanding His disciples to practice literal foot-washing in perpetuity? There are those who believe so. A few small denominations practice foot-washing regularly in their services to this day. I admire their desire to hold to the literal word of God, but I personally don’t believe Jesus was establishing a new religious ritual here. In the first place, there was a very practical need for foot-washing in those days which is absent today, since we don’t walk around in sandals on dusty streets. Secondly, Jesus doesn’t command His disciples to do just what He has done. Rather He says, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” The foot-washing was just an example or illustration of His love, His humility, and His service. The illustration will change with the times and with the culture.
The question then arises, “How do we wash one another’s feet today?” Or, to put it differently, as the brief drama earlier in the service did, “How do we help a friend recover when he has blown it?” Galatians 6 offers this advice: “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.” I’d like to share seven practical guidelines for this kind of foot-washing.[i]
1. First, make sure your brother’s feet are really dirty. It is so easy to assume the worst about another person, and often what appears as a sin to us may be a perfectly innocent, but perhaps careless, action on his part.
2. Secondly, make sure your own hands are clean. The person who tries to wash his brother’s feet with stains on his own hands will undoubtedly botch the job. To paraphrase a well-known statement of Jesus, “First wash your own hands, then you will see clearly to wash your brother’s feet.”
3. Thirdly, choose a private place. The foot-washer shouldn’t sound a trumpet before announcing, “I’m about to set so-and-so straight.” Our job is to wash feet, not splatter the filth around. Sometimes the sin is public and requires public correction, but more often than not, foot-washing is best done privately.
4. Fourthly, stoop low. To wash feet effectively you have to kneel. You can’t strut like a drill officer or parade like a peacock when washing feet. “Watch out for yourself, lest you also be tempted,” Paul adds in Galatians 6. F. B. Meyer in his book, Love to the Uttermost says,
“We do not often enough wash one another’s feet. We are conscious of the imperfections of those around us; we are content to note and criticize them. But we do not attempt to remove them, partly because we do not love with a love like Christ’s, and partly because we are not willing to stoop low enough. None is able to restore those that are overtaken in a fault who does not count himself the chief of sinners and the least of saints. We need more of this lowly, loving spirit.” [ii]
5. Fifthly, use water. Ray Stedman, late pastor of Peninsula Bible Church, points out that some Christians try to dry-clean feet. They scrape them free of dirt and unfortunately sometimes take the skin with it.
6. Sixthly, check the temperature of the water. Neither scalding water nor ice water will do.
7. Finally, dry them. A specific point is made in our story that when Jesus finishes washing His disciples’ feet, He takes a towel and dries them. Unless they are dried, damp feet become worse than dry feet when contacting dirt—they become muddy. Restoring an erring brother involves drying his feet—forgiving and forgetting the offenses—so that he may again walk with his head up.
How desperately we need to correct one another as Jesus corrected Peter and the rest of His disciples—gently, but firmly, desiring only the other person’s greatest good.
Conclusion: The last supper Jesus ate with His disciples, as recorded in this passage, occurred just a few hours before His crucifixion. Above all else I believe His act in washing their feet was a foreshadowing of that greatest act of humble service ever performed by any person—when the very Son of God, heir of the universe, and Lord of glory, renounced everything and accepted the death of a common criminal on Calvary’s cross. He did that so that you and I might have eternal life.
I said at the beginning that the problem with a great many people is that they are trying to get to Heaven by washing their hands or face or feet, when what they really need is a spiritual bath. Some of the ways people wash are by joining a church, or doing deeds of mercy, or giving money to charity. One of the most common ways is by being baptized. The problem is that baptism looks a lot like a bath; in fact, it is a great symbol of the bath, but it is not the bath itself. The bath we must receive if we are to become a member of God’s family is a spiritual bath, not a physical one. In the NT book of Titus, the Apostle Paul describes it this way:
“At one time we were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing, really the spiritual bath, of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been declared ‘not guilty’ by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”
But just as you can’t get to Heaven by washing your hands, so you can’t grow to maturity by justtaking a bath. The words to Peter, who had already received the bath, are stunning: “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.” If the believer refuses to keep short accounts with God, refuses to confess his sins, refuses to go to Christ for regular cleansing, his eternity may be settled but his life now will be miserable. There will be no partnership in ministry with Jesus, no daily fellowship with God, no joy and peace to make this life worthwhile and meaningful and fulfilling.
If you’ve never had a spiritual bath before coming here today, you can receive one right now. Just acknowledge your unworthiness and put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. I’m going to pray a brief sinner’s prayer and if it expresses the attitude and desire of your heart, you pray along silently with me.
“Dear Father, thank you for sending Jesus to die for me. I acknowledge that I fall short of your commandments and your standards. I realize that all my efforts to clean up my act for you are futile. I need a bath. Cleanse me with the blood of Christ. I believe in You. I believe that Jesus died for me on the Cross. Thank you for forgiving me and accepting me into Your family, forever.
DATE: April 25, 1993
Tags:
Humility
Born again
Washing feet
[i] Most of these are suggested by Leslie B. Flynn, Great Church Fights, What the Bible says about Controversy and How to Resolve It, 78-80.
[ii] Cited by Flynn, 80-81.