February
21, 2003
CLEANSING
"The
devil had put it into the mind of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot,
to betray him. During supper, Jesus, well aware that the Father
had entrusted everything to him, and that he had come from
God and was going back to God, rose from [the] table, laid
aside his garments, and taking a towel, tied it round him.
Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash his disciples'
feet and to wipe them with a towel" (John 13:2-5, NEB).
One of
the lessons that Jesus was about to teach His disciples was
so important, he could not merely tell them, it had to be
demonstrated. Jesus began to wash His disciples feet. "When
it was Simon Peter's turn, Peter said to him, 'You, Lord,
washing my feet?' Jesus replied, 'You
do not understand now what I am doing, but one day you will.'
Peter said, 'I will never let you wash my feet.' 'If
I do not wash you,' Jesus replied, 'you
are not in fellowship with me.' 'Then, Lord,' said
Simon Peter, 'not my feet only; wash my hands and head as
well!'
"Jesus
said, 'A man who has bathed needs no
further washing; he is altogether clean; and you are clean,
though not everyone of you.' He added the words 'not
every one of you' because he knew who was going to betray
him" (John 13:6-11). Christ's reference here is to something
more than physical cleansing. "If I do not wash you,"
He told Peter, "you have no part with me" and then
He added, "you are clean, though not every one of you"
because He knew who was going to betray him.
The point
here is that unless we accept Christ's cleansing as exemplified
here in Christ washing the disciples feet, then we are not
in fellowship with Him or have any part with Him, we are not
clean. Christ washed all the disciples feet, yet he said,
"you are not all clean." Unless we accept His cleansing
of our hearts, the outward demonstration of that cleansing
has no meaning for us. Christ offers to cleanse us and we
have the privilege and pleasure to cooperate with Him to allow
it, as Peter accepted Christ to wash his feet.
In John
15:3 Jesus says, "You have been
cleansed by the word that I spoke to you." 1 John
1:9 says, "If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness." It is Christ's purpose
to cleanse us from the defilement of sin. Are we willing to
accept Christ's offer to cleanse us from all our sins? The
first act of Jesus, following dinner, was to share with them
the importance of allowing Him to cleanse them from all their
sin.
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