John 13:9-11 - Not all of you are clean

13:9

Peter, true to form, having made one inappropriate statement, follows it up with another one in the opposite direction. He accepted Jesus’ rebuke, and then went all out in the opposite direction, no doubt trying to demonstrate his commitment. So he volunteers to have his hands and head washed as well!

13:10,11

Jesus corrects Peter’s exuberance. Jesus  says “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean.” There is some textual doubt about “except for his feet”, but on balance it does seem as if it is part of the original. Assuming “except for his feet”, then the verse could be taken as saying the blood of Jesus has completely cleansed us of sin, but that, as we all know from experience, we still do sin and need forgiveness for these things on a day to day basis. The key point then is to recognise that the cross has made us clean, acceptable in God’s sight. The “you” in “you are clean” is plural, applying to all of them, except Judas. Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him. We should note that there is no “forgiveness by association”! Judas had been with Jesus and the other disciples and had experienced all that they experienced, but he was not “clean”.