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Wednesday 12 August 2015

John 13:9-11 - Being clean

13:9
In typical Peter fashion, Peter now went from one extreme to the other. Rather than not wanting Jesus to wash his feet, he now wanted Him to wash his hands and head as well. Peter wanted to be a part of Jesus above all, so if getting washed by Jesus was necessary, then he was all for it.

13:10,11
Jesus’ reply is somewhat enigmatic. The practical reference is to the fact that someone going to the feast would have washed themselves before leaving, so only their feet would need to be washed again after arriving. Then Jesus says they are already clean. Later in John 15:3 Jesus says they are clean because of the word that He has spoken to them. So what does all this mean for us? We need to believe the word that Jesus speaks, we need to believe the gospel, and indeed the whole Bible. That is essential, but there are still things that need to be done for us. Now faith itself is a gift of God, but we need to exercise the gift, but there are also things where we are passive and just to let God do things for us.

Even so, Jesus knew that one of the disciples was not clean. That of course is Judas who was going to betray Him, and Jesus always knew that Judas would do this. Judas had not believed the gospel and so was not clean.

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