Jesus Washed the Feet of the Disciples
John 13 :1 to 17 tells us the familiar story of Jesus washing the feet of the Disciples.
We have all heard the story many times and we have heard many different preachings on the subject that indicate to us how we should serve those below us etc.
Today I want to lead you far deeper into the subject that is in this scripture, but is seldom touched on and seldom preached on.
John 13:7 Jesus answered and said to him " What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.
" Often we will hear and read a scripture over and over again and not grasp the true meaning behind the scripture, until one day our spiritual eyes suddenly get opened and we find a whole new meaning to the words that are before us.
13:8 Peter said to Him, "You shall never wash my feet!" Jesus answered him "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.
" We all know that unless our sins are washed away by Jesus, we can not enter into His presence or into Heaven.
13:10 Jesus said to him "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean, and you are clean, but not all of you.
" The first part of the scripture relates to the fact that as a Christian we have already been forgiven of our sins, but seeing that we are human and that we are still subject to sin, we need to do a small cleansing to be forgiven of these daily sins that are in each of our lives.
The latter part refers to Judas betraying Jesus but that is a separate subject which we will not cover here.
13:12 "Do you Know what I have done to you?" Now we start to get to the part where most do not see the second meaning of these scriptures.
We tend to get side tracked at this point about Jesus actually having washed the feet of His disciples.
Jesus was serving the disciples and tending to them.
We also should do the same to our fellow Christian brothers and we should learn to serve each other.
But Wait! There is a far deeper meaning coming up, which we so often miss! 13: 14 " you also ought to wash one another's feet.
" Is Jesus referring to the fact that we should serve one another as well, or is He referring to the fact that we should forgive one another their daily sins.
I know that I am on Holy ground here and will maybe have many a religious person on my back about this.
My answer before you jump up and down about my statements is "Either you believe what is in the Bible or you do not.
" I believe that every word in the Bible is true.
Therefore I believe that we have been empowered by Jesus to forgive the sins of fellow beings.
John 20 : 23 "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.
" We have the power through Christ Jesus to forgive the sins of our fellow Christian brothers as well as the sins of the unsaved.
Why do we spend so much time condemning instead of forgiving.
Why do we not rather spend that time to love, forgive and uplift.
13:15 "For I have given you an example , that you should do as I have done to you.
" Jesus has given us the example, and we also should learn that each one of us has sins that we commit.
We are so quick to condemn a fellow Christian that falls, especially if his sin is not the same as our sin or is a sin that we have already conquered.
We must learn to serve our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We need to set them free from their sins by forgiving them and by not judging them.
The next time you see a fellow Christian that falls, stop, Forgive him and help him to get up!
We have all heard the story many times and we have heard many different preachings on the subject that indicate to us how we should serve those below us etc.
Today I want to lead you far deeper into the subject that is in this scripture, but is seldom touched on and seldom preached on.
John 13:7 Jesus answered and said to him " What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.
" Often we will hear and read a scripture over and over again and not grasp the true meaning behind the scripture, until one day our spiritual eyes suddenly get opened and we find a whole new meaning to the words that are before us.
13:8 Peter said to Him, "You shall never wash my feet!" Jesus answered him "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.
" We all know that unless our sins are washed away by Jesus, we can not enter into His presence or into Heaven.
13:10 Jesus said to him "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean, and you are clean, but not all of you.
" The first part of the scripture relates to the fact that as a Christian we have already been forgiven of our sins, but seeing that we are human and that we are still subject to sin, we need to do a small cleansing to be forgiven of these daily sins that are in each of our lives.
The latter part refers to Judas betraying Jesus but that is a separate subject which we will not cover here.
13:12 "Do you Know what I have done to you?" Now we start to get to the part where most do not see the second meaning of these scriptures.
We tend to get side tracked at this point about Jesus actually having washed the feet of His disciples.
Jesus was serving the disciples and tending to them.
We also should do the same to our fellow Christian brothers and we should learn to serve each other.
But Wait! There is a far deeper meaning coming up, which we so often miss! 13: 14 " you also ought to wash one another's feet.
" Is Jesus referring to the fact that we should serve one another as well, or is He referring to the fact that we should forgive one another their daily sins.
I know that I am on Holy ground here and will maybe have many a religious person on my back about this.
My answer before you jump up and down about my statements is "Either you believe what is in the Bible or you do not.
" I believe that every word in the Bible is true.
Therefore I believe that we have been empowered by Jesus to forgive the sins of fellow beings.
John 20 : 23 "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.
" We have the power through Christ Jesus to forgive the sins of our fellow Christian brothers as well as the sins of the unsaved.
Why do we spend so much time condemning instead of forgiving.
Why do we not rather spend that time to love, forgive and uplift.
13:15 "For I have given you an example , that you should do as I have done to you.
" Jesus has given us the example, and we also should learn that each one of us has sins that we commit.
We are so quick to condemn a fellow Christian that falls, especially if his sin is not the same as our sin or is a sin that we have already conquered.
We must learn to serve our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We need to set them free from their sins by forgiving them and by not judging them.
The next time you see a fellow Christian that falls, stop, Forgive him and help him to get up!