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| Jas 5:16b The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. | August 29, 2008 |
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JOHN 13:1-14 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him. Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God, and went to God; 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. For He knew who should betray Him; therefore said He, Ye are not all clean. So after He had washed their feet, and had taken His garments, and was set down again, He said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet: ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. How wonderful these verses are, and the treasures hidden within. We read those words having loved His own which were in the world. To know that He loves us is more than one can truly take in. Those words that He loves them unto the end, or another translation reads, to the end of ages. That takes us in. But now we come to Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. We have here the only one who in this scene was perfect, washing feet. This goes beyond our thought. What an example of the Perfect Servant. So much can be gleaned from these verses, but one wanted to just take a few thoughts. Notice that Jesus looks on to a time when the work of salvation is complete, He says in verse 10. He that is washed is clean every whit: I trust that every one who reads this has been washed in His precious blood and is clean every whit. But every now and then we all need a good feet washing. We walk through a dirty and sin filled world, and we need the water of the Word to wash our walk. So He tells the disciples to wash each other’s feet. Now, I know of at least one church who do feet washing as a part of worship. But they may be missing the main thought. We need to watch out for each other and when we see one who may need to have their walk washed in the Water of the Word,, that we go and do so. We may know of a person, who at some point, confessed to be a Christian. Later on we find that they have fallen back into the ways of non-Christians. That is the person that Dr. Wilkinson in, The 7 Laws Of The Learner Videos, says needs Revival, or they need their feet washed. Let us back up, just a moment, for one other thought. Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end. If you, dear reader, are the Lord’s, that is, you are a believer. Then, you are special, to the Lord Jesus, and you are special to God. But it takes a really humbled heart to get down and wash another’s feet. A good example one can think of as being made humble, is Moses , who spent 40 years in Egypt learning to be something. He spent another 40 years in the back side of the desert learning to be nothing. It was at that point that God could use him for another 40 years leading His people out of Egypt. In a nutshell, one is saying that when we really get into the presence of God. We find that we are really humbled in heart and yet special. That is when you are ready to wash another’s feet. That is to wash that one with the water of the Word. At the same time keeping a humble heart, realizing that in some future time, we ourselves may need the same. P.W.D.
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