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.”
Unless I wash you, you have no part with me…
That is a pretty amazing statement! The scene is the last supper. The last Passover meal that Jesus would have with his disciples. The disciples still do not understand what is going on. They do not know that Jesus must die to save us from sin.
Jesus then steps into the role of a servant and does two things. The first is he demonstrates how his followers must lead by serving others. Second, he is demonstrating how we must be washed of our sins.
This second point is very subtle, yet very profound. “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me…” If we want to go to heaven, if we want to avoid an eternity in the lake of fire, we need to allow Jesus to wash us of our sin.
This portrait of cleansing is very personal. For the Jew who is faithful to the teachings of Moses, there is no need to have the entire body washed. But we all sin. We all pick up “dirt” as we walk through this life. This dirt, or sin, is enough to keep us out of heaven. Jesus, by the power of his sacrifice on the cross, is willing and able to take that sin away.
Let’s Discuss: How do you understand what Jesus means when he says, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me…”?
It is as you say, this is a cleansing of our sins and not something that we can wash away in our own strength. We have to allow Christ to do this for us, we must accept it. I know that I have trouble here at times, on account of my own pride sadly. How desperate is the human condition…it is without end and we are utterly hopeless aside from Christ’s substitutionary atonement – so much so that we can even struggle with simply accepting this.
NMOP3PISdn,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Isn’t it ironic, yet very true, that we can even struggle about accepting Christ’s cleansing of our sin? Well said!
I agree with your assessment. It is personal and it is a must. Jesus is the only way to be cleansed from sin and receive salvation.
Thank you, Rich! Amen!!
Unless we are purified by Jesus we cannot be with Him eternally.
Nathan,
Being “purified” is a great way to put this truth about Jesus. To be made pure is Jesus’ gift to us. Of all the gifts He offers us, this is the most amazing.