John 13:10
Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”(NIV)
So much in this single verse!
1. Jesus had always known that Judas would betray him. Jesus was calm, accepted Judas and his role, never showed a hint of emotion that no one foresaw the betrayal, and remained committed to the goal of His purpose. It may seem impossible to learn to be calm, but it is not. I am living proof. I was volatile and anxious, but God revealed to me a way to become calm through somatic quieting.
Many “Christians” do things that are questionable. Hypocrisy is everywhere. Yet Jesus never showed judgment and neither should we.
“If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.” John 12:47 – NASB
2. We can be hypocrites if we say we believe and then do not act accordingly. But Jesus demonstrates by washing his disciples’ feet how far we go to make servants of ourselves to love another. The law and the prophets rest on two commandments: Love God and love one another. Being a hypocrite is a matter of character and God knows we all need growth in character. That is what trials are for: to refine us like gold having impurities drawn out by smelting in high heat.
“All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”
Hebrews 12:11 NASB
3. We are “clean” because baptism washed away our sins, yet we still live in the world where Satan rules. We walk on Satan’s streets and are influenced, fooled, and encouraged to act with weak character. Everyone has strengths AND weaknesses. By refining, God makes us pure, uses us in our weakness with His power and strengthens us in character as we learn His way. We wash our “feet” only, a metaphor for our hearts, which are deceitful above all things, out of which “unclean” things come.
Some scholars believe that sometimes when the Old Testament mentioned feet, like in the story of Ruth and Boaz, it referred to private parts. I wonder if that may also apply here, such as after using the toilet.
We can wash our hearts by reading the Word and applying it to our lives, and by prayer asking the Lord to purify us.
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;”
2 Timothy 3:16 – NASB
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 – NASB
Summary: Be calm, love one another, and purify your heart.