clean – Three Minute Bible

You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

This phrase in John’s gospel seems a bit of a non sequitur. Yet I have come to believe that God’s Word, the Bible, is absolutely the way he wants it to be. Just as Jesus is a “stumbling stone” for those whose pride will not let them bow to their Creator, the Word also can be a stumbling stone to those who insist that the Bible must conform to their ideas of writing structure and form. God, in His wisdom, says the book is exactly the way he wanted it.

So let’s assume that God knows what He is doing. Let’s assume that what John tells us about what Jesus said is here for a reason. If the answer to the question, “Why is this sentence here?” is that God wanted it that way, then what does it say and what does it mean?

”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…”

I love the stories about Simon Peter. He is like the proverbial bull in a China shop! One minute he is UP, the next he is DOWN. Peter is emotional and passionate. The fires of his impulsiveness drive him from one extreme to another. Yet Jesus picked him to be a disciple. Even more, Peter is often considered the lead disciple.

Today’s passage follows verse 8 where Peter tells Jesus (Jesus!!), “… you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus reprimands him and says, “Unless I wash you, you have no part in me.” Then Peter goes to the other extreme.

Tag: clean

Clean – John 15:3

Bull – John 13: 9 – 10a