Holiness, Not Hygiene:
Reflecting from a passage in the Gospel according to John – we come across the exclusive – where Jesus, the Son of God, took the role of a household servant – a job devoid of status.
He set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of His companions, drying them with his apron.
Amazing!
Yep, I know, it may be a surprise for some, but Jesus was not suggesting anything about anyone’s personal hygiene here – but we’ll come to that later!
So, why did Jesus wash their feet?
Let’s go through the steps:
HEARTY LOVE:
To demonstrate His love to His dear companions.
HUMILITY:
To give an illustration of His own meekness and humility – His servanthood.
HOLINESS:
To indicate to His companions “spiritual cleansing” which is mentioned in his conversation with Fisherman Pete.
HANDBOOK:
To guide, and show us an example.
Friends, from the moment we repent, and accept Jesus into our hearts and lives, we are spiritually clean.
But, we must realise that some of the grime and dirt we pick up along the way is just a consequence of living in a fallen world.
It is inevitable throughout our journey – that we will get our feet filthy, and we will need Jesus to wash our feet.
Okay, yes, let’s be honest here! We, all of us without exception, will occasionally sin as we walk through this life.
If we claim that we are free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves!
No-one is sinless, but we can try to sin less!
Jesus put it this way, “If you’ve had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you’re clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene. So now you’re clean.”
In light of this, none of us can carry unforgiven sins.
How often have you been set back by the in-growing toe nail, or the painful swelling in the big toe?
The blunders we make are just like that – they set us back, and cause us to make our way clumsily!
That’s why it’s so important to seek His forgiveness.
As we turn away from sin, He can wash our feet and make us completely whole and healed.
Looking at this more clearly, let’s follow in the steps of Jesus Himself, and imitate the heart of God.
If Jesus, the Master and Teacher, washed His companions feet, we must now wash each other’s feet.
Jesus has laid down a pattern for us.
What He did, we do.
John 13:
1 John 1:
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