Sunday School Lesson

If I Wash Thee Not, Thou Hast No Part With Me
"He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all." -- John 13:4-10
Posted by Joey Kelly

Simon Peter makes for an interesting character study. We see him transformed from a rough-and-tumble fisherman into a great man of God. He boasts, he promises, he jockeys for position, he loses focus, he denies the Lord in His hour of need, but he also stands up with the eleven on the day of Pentecost, opens up the gentile world to the gospel and is eventually crucified upside-down at his own request. We can learn a lot about how the Holy Spirit effects sanctification in the life of the believer by watching this disciple.

In this portion of scripture The Lord makes a couple of interesting statements: if I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me and he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit. One might assume that Jesus is speaking of justification when He says if I wash thee not, since the second statement does have the phrase he that is washed, but the case can be made that Jesus is speaking mostly about sanctification throughout His exchange with Peter (though the entire passage, verses 1 through 19, mentions several other things, including Christ's betrayal by Judas Iscariot).

When trying to decipher New Testament doctrine is it often helpful to turn to the Old. Exodus 30:18 reads thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. The brazen laver (or lavatory or basin) was constructed and placed in the tabernacle of Moses so that the priests could wash between each sacrifice. We understand that those in the congregation wanting to approach God would bring a sacrifice to the priest and would lay his hand upon the lamb or other animal while the priest slit its throat, and stood watching as his offering was butchered a certain way and its various parts were placed on the altar of sacrifice to be burned or roasted. These sacrifices pointed to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29). The brazen altar, which typified Calvary, was the basis of all worship in the tabernacle and the later temple in Jerusalem. Coals from this altar were placed by the priest upon the golden altar of incense, and it was one of these coals that touched Isaiah's lips in his vision of heaven in chapter 6 of his book. So we see that the golden altar of worship (And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints – Revelation 5:8) and the brazen laver are linked to the altar of sacrifice, and truly all of our Christian walk and service is inextricably linked to Golgotha's tree.

Exodus 38:8 gives us even more information about the brazen laver: And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. We know the term lookingglass from the fabled Alice and her wonderful adventures in that strange land: a lookingglass is a mirror. Back in bible times they did not have glass as we have today, but they used polished brass, copper and other metals to see their reflections. Moses called upon the women of the Israelite camp to surrender their mirrors, which they dutifully and joyfully did. Bezaleel and Aholiab melted down these polished bits of brass and fashioned the priests' laver out of their offering. This is a key point: the priests washed themselves, while laboring at the altar, in a basin fashioned from recycled mirrors.

In his discussion of family relationships in Ephesians chapter 5, Paul makes mention of justification and sanctification: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish (verses 25-27). He is saying that Christ first justifies us by His blood which He spilled on the cross, then He further sanctifies us through the word of God. This is in line with the one of the phrases from the foot washing account: he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit. We are justified and positionally sanctified (in Christ) and have in fact been washed at the time of conversion. We are then further progressively sanctified by the word of God as it does its work in our heart, with an eye towards the glorious appearing of our Lord on that great gettin'-up morning. So we are washed (1 Corinthians 6:11), but the Lord needs to further wash us, as He explained to Peter. Psalm 119:9 exhorts us thusly: Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

The preaching and teaching of the word of God should be of primary importance in the church. It's by that foolishness that the lost come to hear of our wonderful savior, and it's by regular teaching that we make disciples. Nehemiah chapter 8 describes how Ezra the priest and many others others took their time in explaining Moses' law to the congregation of Israel. 2Chronicles chapter 34 tells of another priest, Hilkiah, that brought the book of the law to the attention of the Judaean king Josiah, who promptly rent his clothes when he heard the law read out loud and sent the elders to seek the Lord, asking what sort of wrath God had in store for His people. His heart was smitten after hearing God's law and he knew that surely God must be angry with His people for having neglected the bible for such a long time. This is exactly the type of response that God wants and that His messengers today should expect: the bible, preached boldly and in faith, does bring results, namely repentance and a change in the heart along with subsequent actions of obedience in those that will heed it. From an evangelistic point of view, preaching produces conversions, and from a pastoral vantage, expository teaching molds mature believers. It is instructive to note that while the Old Testament and the gospels point out cases of false doctrine and its fruit, a close reading of many of the prophesies and testimonies given by ordinary Jews (Manoah's wife, Ruth, Mary, Elizabeth, Simeon and many others) shows that they understood sound doctrine, had an expectancy of the coming of the Lord and lived righteous and holy lives according to Michah 6:8.

As important as preaching and teaching is, today in these last days we find ourselves in a situation very similar to Eli's and Samuel's time, where the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision. (1Samuel 3:1). As we follow the narrative, Eli was judged because he refused to correct his sons, instead allowing them to profit from their priestly office while oppressing the people. Amos (8:11) might well have been foretelling our day when he said Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. It is well past time for us as ministers of the gospel to weep between the porch and the altar for neglecting or downplaying the preaching of God's word to the lost and our congregations. Paul's charge and prophecy rings ever true: Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:1-5).

The weeping prophet lamented The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? (Jeremiah 8:20). Today is not the time to look back, nor to weary in well doing nor faint along the way. God promised that if we but wait upon the Lord, we shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31). Let us boldly proclaim the gospel and may the Spirit empower us to bring in lost souls and feed our Master's flock.

Peter, when protesting that the Lord would never wash his feet, was answered If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me (John 13:8). God's work of sanctification in the believer's life is something that He alone can accomplish, but it's our duty and privilege to co-labor in His fields. The tools of our heavenly trade are prayer and the quick and powerful word of God (Acts 6:4, Hebrews 4:12), and as we lift up Jesus by preaching His word, those in our care are afforded the opportunity to gaze into those recycled mirrors and have the dust of this world washed off their feet.