The Lord Jesus loved us to the uttermost, so He washed our feet; foot-washing in John 13 shouldn’t be taken merely in a physical sense, but even more, in a spiritual sense, for we need the Lord’s spiritual foot-washing day by day as we live in this world. Amen!
This week in our morning revival we come to John 13 and the topic is, Life’s Washing in Love to Maintain Fellowship.
The most excellent way for us to do anything and to be anything in the church life for the building up of the organic Body of Christ is love.
The Lord’s recovery is a recovery of loving the Lord Jesus with the best love, the first love, and of loving one another for the building up of the Body of Christ.
Therefore, we need to be those whose faith is growing and whose love is increasing. Our faith needs to grow and our love needs to increase.
Our love for the Lord needs to increase, and our love for one another also needs to increase.
If we want our love to increase, we need to particularly pay attention to certain portions in the New Testament that speak about love.
The first one is 1 Cor. 13, which is a chapter on love, and another one is the entire epistle to the Ephesians, where “in love” is mentioned 19 times.
Then in the book of Revelation, there’s the epistle the Lord wrote to the church in Ephesus.
All throughout these epistles we see our need to love the Lord with the first love and return to the first love to do the first works; we need to repent, do the first works, and love the Lord with the best love.
2 Tim. 3 also speaks of love, mentioning certain kinds of lovers that are not positive while the lovers of God are positive.
And another portion is John 13, for this chapter speaks of how the Lord loved His disciples to the uttermost.
If we read John 13 and keep our religious background, we may not understand much and light may not shine on us.
We need to freshly open to the Lord and allow His light to shine on His word, and we need to let Him remove any veils from our eyes so that we may see what His word is talking about, especially in John 13.
If we come to God’s word and are full of prior knowledge and concepts, we may not be able to receive anything new.
May we open to the Lord and ask Him to empty us and cause us to be poor in spirit and pure in heart as we come to His word so that we may see how this one chapter, John 13, speaks of life’s washing in love to maintain fellowship, and how shepherding is involved.
The key to the entire Gospel of John is shepherding; the Lord came not only to save us but to shepherd us by first cherishing us in His humanity and then nourishing us in His divinity so that we may be His one flock of which He is the Good Shepherd.
Shepherding is the main thing the Lord is doing today in His heavenly ministry.
He is shepherding each one of us individually and He is shepherding the churches corporately so that we may be led to maturity, be built up together, and become the Body of Christ that is built up so that we may be the bride of Christ to bring Him back.
It will help us to just open to the Lord as we come to His word and tell Him,
Lord, we open to You. Remove any veils from our eyes. Grant us to be poor in spirit when we come to Your word. Purify our hearts. We want to be pure in heart so that we may see God when we come to Your word. Speak to us in a fresh way. Shine on us with new light and infuse us with Your heart’s desire. We open to be washed by the water in the word. Wash us of any uncleanness and defilement. Lord, shine on us!
Seeing the need for Spiritual Foot-washing in the Church Life for the Maintaining of Fellowship
Today we live in the age of grace, the age of the church; this age is an age of shepherding.
This is what the Lord is mainly doing in His ministry – both in His earthly ministry and now in His heavenly ministry.
If we read the gospel of John we will see that in every case He not only healed the sick or raised the dead but shepherded people.
Christ came as a man to meet every man’s need, and He shepherds men.
After He loved His disciples, He loved them to the uttermost, especially since He knew that His time has come to go to the cross (John 13:1).
When we read that the Lord loved His disciples to the uttermost we may automatically think that He died for us and this is how He loved us in this way; however, John 13 reveals that the Lord washed His disciples’ feet.
Yes, His sacrifice on the cross is a great shepherding and a sign of His great love for us, but foot-washing is the Lord’s loving us to the uttermost.
Why does it say here “to the uttermost”? This means He loves us to the end. Christ’s crucifixion was not the end; it was the beginning.
Even after His crucifixion, Christ still loves us, and He loves us for the building up of the church.
This is the uttermost love that is expressed through foot-washing. We need spiritual foot-washing in the church life for the maintaining of our fellowship.
May the Lord shine on us in this matter and enlighten us to see what spiritual foot-washing is.
May this matter be brand-new to us, shining with new light and bringing us on with the Lord in the church life.
Without the spiritual foot-washing, the church life cannot be realized. It is impossible for us to have a proper church life if we do not wash one another’s feet.
Without the spiritual foot-washing, the reality of the church would be gone.
If we do not practice washing one another’s feet spiritually in the church life, there is no proper fellowship and the church life is not real.
Some believers take the matter of foot-washing literally and the elders or leaders wash the believers’ feet physically; this can be an expression of love but it can lead to merely an outward practice or routine.
May we see the spiritual significance of foot-washing, realizing it is a washing of life in love for the fellowship to be maintained.
Since the gospel of John is a book of signs (John 2:11), what is recorded in John 13 concerning foot-washing should be considered a sign, which is a symbol with spiritual significance (vv. 1-17).
The matter of foot-washing shouldn’t be taken merely in a physical sense but rather, and even more intrinsically, we should take this matter in a deeper, more important, and spiritual sense.
In John chapters 1 through 12 the Lord as life came and brought forth the church, composed of the regenerated ones.
In their spirit, the believers in Christ are those regenerated by the Lord with His divine life and nature, and they are holy, spiritual, and victorious.
We believers in Christ are in the heavenlies when we are in our spirit. Praise the Lord!
![[Jesus,] knowing that the Father had given all into His hands and that He had come forth from God and was going to God, Rose from supper and laid aside His outer garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself; Then He poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe [them] with the towel with which He was girded. John 13:3-5](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/knowing-that-the-Father-had-given-all-into-His-hands-and-that-He-had-come-forth-from-God-683x1024.webp?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "[Jesus,] knowing that the Father had given all into His hands and that He had come forth from God and was going to God, Rose from supper and laid aside His outer garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself; Then He poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe [them] with the towel with which He was girded. John 13:3-5")
But in our body, we are still living in the flesh and walking on the earth, and are therefore subject to defilement.
This shows us the necessity of the Lord’s fellowship in John 13.
Christ as life came to meet every man’s need; if we just open to Him, His life comes in, washes us, fills us, and meets all our needs spiritually speaking.
The Lord comes in as life to supply us in our spirit, and when we touch Him in spirit, we are full of the divine life. But what about our body, and our living today?
Yes, our spirit is life, and there’s a ladder set up in our spirit to touch heavens and bring the heavens to earth, but our body is still in the earthly realm.
We are still walking on the earth, and we’re still being dirtied.
There is a great need today, for we are dirty simply by our walk on earth, by our contact with the world.
May we really open to the Lord concerning this matter and allow Him to wash our feet; may we tell Him in all honesty,
Lord, thank You for loving us and even loving us to the uttermost. Thank You for not only laying down Your life for us to redeem us but even more, thank You for washing our feet. Oh Lord, we love You! We love to turn to You. Thank You for making our spirit life. Hallelujah, we are joined to the Lord in spirit, and in spirit, we are one with God! But oh Lord, what about our daily living? What about our living in the world today? We sense, dear Lord, that even though we love You and enjoy You in spirit, our walk in the world causes us to be dirty. How much we need the foot-washing! Oh Lord, though we may not sin, we realize we’re dirty and defiled by just living in this world. Wash us with Your life in love so that we may maintain our fellowship with You and with the saints.
The Lord Washes our Feet and Charges us to Wash other’s Feet in Love with His Life so that the Fellowship may be Maintained
John 13:1-5 is such a sweet portion in the word of God; here we see that the Lord knew He had a very short time before He had to go to the Father, so He loved His disciples to the uttermost. How did He love them?
Well, He knew that the Father had given all in His hands and that He had come forth from God and was going to God, so He washed their feet.
In particular, He rose from supper and laid aside His outer garments and, taking a towel, He girded Himself.
Then, He poured water into the basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet and wipe them with the towel with which he was girded.
After this, He told them that, even as He did to them, so they should do to one another also.
This is a sign, a picture, with much spiritual significance.
What would we do if we know we had just a few hours before we were to depart? The Lord chose to love His disciples to the uttermost by washing their feet.
He knew that Judas will betray Him and Peter will deny Him, so he washed the feet of all His disciples.
He took His time to wash His disciples’ feet.
First, He put aside His outer garment; this means that He laid aside His virtues and attributes and lowered Himself to their level, even lower than them, to serve them and wash them.
The Lord girded Himself with a towel; this signifies that He was bound and restricted with humility (see 1 Pet. 5:5).
This is why later Peter says that we all need to gird ourselves with humility toward one another.
Yes, the younger ones need to be subject to eh older ones, but all of us need to gird ourselves with humility, even as the Lord humbled Himself and came to wash our feet.
The elders are not the CEOs of the church, nor are they the boss or great leaders; they are the slaves of the saints, and their function is to shepherd the saints by washing their feet to maintain their fellowship with the Lord and with one another.
In ancient times the Jews wore sandals, and since their roads were dusty, their feet easily became dirty; when they came and ate at the end of the day, they had to wash their feet, otherwise, the smell would frustrate the fellowship.
When they came to a feast and sat at the table, stretching out their feet, the dirt and smell would certainly frustrate the fellowship.
In order for the feast to be pleasant, foot-washing was necessary.
They did not sit at the table on chairs but rather, they reclined at the table.
This is very similar to our experience; when we come to enjoy the Lord with the saints, to feast on the Lord with our fellow believers, we need to wash our feet, otherwise, our dirty feet can hinder the fellowship.
If we sin, we need to contact the Lord and confess our sins, but sometimes we may not sin; simply by our contact with the world and with the people in the world, our feet get dirty.
We have to carry ourselves in the world and we need to interact with people; the inevitable non-sinful contact with the world causes us to dirty our feet and be defiled.
We may contact the Lord in the morning, but then we may go to work; even on our way to work, we may be defiled by what we hear or see.
By the time our lunch break comes, we are dirty and defiled, for many things of this world separate us from God.
In the morning we may have such a sweet time of fellowship with the Lord; we may touch the heavens and really enjoy the Lord in his word. But by the afternoon time, the heavens are far away, and we are so dirty and defiled by the things in the world that we had to deal with.
A mother may enjoy the Lord in the morning, and then she may go to drop her children at school, exchange some words with her fellow mothers, and do some shopping; by the time she comes home, she may be defiled and dirty. Oh, Lord.
We may contact our relatives and neighbours, and we need to contact them and maintain a good relationship with them, but after that, we feel we are defiled.
The Lord washed His disciples’ feet to show them that He loved them to the uttermost (John 13:1), and He charged them to do the same to one another in love.
He is the Lord and Teacher, and He washed their feet; therefore, they also ought to wash one another’s feet (v. 14).
The Lord’s washing of the disciples’ feet was the washing away of their dirtiness so that their fellowship with the Lord and with one another may be maintained.
We need spiritual foot-washing so that our fellowship with the Lord and with one another may be maintained.
Lord Jesus, we love You! We love You because You loved us first. Thank You for loving us to the uttermost, even to the extent of humbling Yourself to wash our feet. Thank You for coming to us in love to wash our feet with Your life so that we may maintain our fellowship with the Lord and with one another. Oh Lord, how much we need Your constant washing! We want to maintain our sweet constant fellowship with You. Keep us coming to You, dear Lord, so that we may be washed by the water in the Word. Make us those who learn from You, our Lord and Teacher, to also wash others’ feet in love. Amen, Lord, show us the need for spiritual foot-washing in the church life for the maintenance of our fellowship with the Lord and with one another!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by Ricky Acosta in the message, and portions from, Life-study of John, msgs. 27-28 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Loving the Lord and loving one another for the organic building up of the church as the Body of Christ (2022 fall ITERO), week 5, entitled, Life’s Washing in Love to Maintain Fellowship.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin, / And be washed in the blood of the Lamb; / There’s a fountain flowing for the soul unclean, / O be washed in the blood of the Lamb. (Hymns #1007 stanza 4)
– What I never could do God is doing in me, / By saying Amen to His Word. / And the change is so real all the brothers can see, / By saying Amen to God’s Word. / I have ceased from my wandering and going astray / By saying Amen to God’s Word. / And my old inclinations are passing away / By saying Amen to His Word. (Hymns #1213 stanzas 2-3)
– Oh, purify us, Lord, by speaking in our heart; / Thy living, spoken word this washing will impart. / Increase Thy speaking, Lord, and cleanse our every part. / Oh, purify us, Lord, we pray. / Oh, purify us, Lord, today; / Wash all our natural life away. / Speak now Thy words in us, / And make us glorious. / O Lord, do speak in us today. (Hymns #1135 stanza 2)
About aGodMan
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To be sinful is one thing and to be dirty is another. You may be absolutely sinless and yet be very dirty. Perhaps nothing is wrong, but you are dirty simply because of the earthly touch…We constantly touch the earth, and this makes us dirty. As a result, much of the time we are not clean. Therefore, we need foot-washing. [The Jews] washed their feet especially when they came to a feast. A feast is a center for fellowship. At that time the Jews wore sandals, and since their roads were dusty, their feet easily became dirty. If, when they came to a feast, they would have sat at the table with dirty, outstretched feet, the dirt and smell would have frustrated the fellowship. Therefore, for a pleasant feast they needed foot-washing. When the guests were invited to a feast where they fellowshipped with one another, they had to wash their feet before the fellowship. Without the washing the fellowship would have been hindered. Before they could come together to feast and fellowship at the table, they had to be washed. Otherwise, they simply could not have had pleasant fellowship. Life-study of John, pp. 329-331, by Witness Lee
The Lord Jesus loved us to the uttermost not only by dying for us but by humbling Himself, putting aside the outer garments of His virtues and attributes, and coming to wash our feet.
We may not sin but simply by our contact with this world we get dirty and defiled, and when we come together our fellowship is hindered by our dirty feet.
How much we need the Lord’s washing! How much we need to learn from Him, our Lord and Teacher, to wash one another’s feet!
Dear brother, the practice of foot-washing that the Lord instituted with disciples whom He loved to the uttermost, shows us regenerated ones that though God has been brought into us, and God has been brought into us, because our bodies remain on earth and we are in contact with earthly things of the old creation, spiritually we need foot-washing.
Without such a washing – by the Holy Spirit, the word and the inner law of life – our fellowship with the Lord and one another, whenever we meet together, would be frustrated.
Amen brother!
“O Lord we need to love others to the uttermost with your love to wash them by spiritually by the working of the Holy Spirit, by the enlightening of the word, and by the operating of the inner law of life.
How wonderful it is that our Jesus washes us spiritually by the Holy Spirit, by the word, and by the inner law of life.
In our spirit, God has been brought into us by the Lord’s coming and we have been brought into God by the Lord’s going. In our body, we’re still on earth; still in the old creation.
Through the fallen flesh, we are often dirtied. We may be sinless and yet be dirty with the earthly realm that we touch every day.
We need to see that for much of the time we are unclean and in need of foot-washing.
Without the washing of our defilement from the earthly realm, our fellowship with the Lord and with one another is hindered.
Aaaaameeen! Thank You Lord for washing our feet! May we learn from You to wash one another’s feet! Amen Lord!
Amen brother, yes Lord May we learn from you to wash one another feet to maintain our fellowship with you and one another.
Yes, He expressed His love and gave us a new commandment to love each other as He loves us. He’s griding Himself signifies His being bound and restricted with humility.
Our Lord is Hlly and needs Holly temple to live in. Therefore the inner and outer part of the temple should be kept clean and neat so that our fellowship can have an attractive and pleasant smell.
Praise the Lord for the revelation of the Word.
Yes amen! How we need the foot washing!
We get so dirty just by being in the world, yes that’s why it’s important to come to the meeting in the homes and be washed in the fellowship of the saints, the fellowship of life, it’s very expiriential indeed!
Amen!
Thank You Lord for feet washing which is the expression of Your love toward us to love on and other as You love us and maintain a clear sky fellowship with You and all the Saints.
May we continue this fellowship through the word, the Spirit and prayer until You come back!
Amen brotherwe see that the Lord is pattern for washing the disciples feet he loved them that he was willing to wash the mir feet.
The we need to realise that in our body we are still in the old creation, and the earth is full of dirt, so although we may not sin,we still get dirty from the world so we need our feet to be washed from the worldly stuff and we can get washed by spending time with the Lord in his presence
AMEN
In this Gospel [of John#, the first section, chs. 1 — 13, describes how the Lord as God Himself, as the Son of God, came through His incarnation to bring God into man that He might be man’s life for the producing of the church. The second section, chs. 14 — 21, describes how the Lord as the Son of Man went through His death and resurrection to bring man into God that man and God, God and man, might be built together as a mutual abode. This chapter, coming at the end of the first section, is a dividing line and a turning point.