Washed by the Water

Dear Sister,

My friend’s puppy was out playing in the yard. It had been raining, and there were mud puddles everywhere outside. The recently groomed dog had turned into a mudball mess! The door was slightly ajar by accident, ready to let the dog come back in from doing his business. The mud-caked dog barged open the door and started frantically running around the pristine mopped floor and the vacuumed rug. What a mess! That doggie needed a bath before it came inside!

In the first century, in Palestine, men and women did not have shoes like we do to cover their feet. They would walk around in the muddy, dirty streets. It was a mark of honor for a host to provide a servant to wash a guest’s feet; failing to do so was a breach of hospitality.1 Servants were to wash their guests’ feet, but it was unheard of for the honored guest to wash the host’s feet. This is the context in which we begin our story in John 13.

"After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean,” John 13:5-10a

Peter did not understand what Jesus was doing. He wanted Jesus to give him a full bath! Jesus was showing Peter and the other disciples something much more profound than the washing of his physical feet and body. Jesus’ deeper meaning was that unless he washed your sins away by His atoning death, you have no real relationship with Jesus. 1

Have you ever asked Jesus to wash away the sin from your life? He is right there and is willing to wash away all that you have done. As humans, we tend to become dirty, both physically and spiritually. We like that puppy rolling around in the mud way too often and don’t think about coming to our Lord to be washed. Ask Jesus to wash your feet, and the result is that your whole body will be cleaned. You can pray, Jesus, can you clean my heart and mind from the sin in my life so I may be clean? Amen.

Your worth is immeasurable. You have been bought at a price. You are loved.

Love,

Kayleen Moore

1. Walvoord, John F.; Zuck, Roy B. (1983) The Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament. (pg 320) David C Cook.