With the washing of water

In John 13:4-5, it says that Jesus Christ, when He rose from eating the Last Supper, “laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
[5] After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.”
Jordan says, “Go to John 20 and you learn that when Peter and John came to the tomb they saw the ‘linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.’

“What did He do in the resurrection? He didn’t need the wrappings that His dead body was in so He laid the grave clothes aside; that’s what you do in resurrection. You lay the old house aside and you have the new glorified body.

“Here He is on resurrection side of things and it says He took a towel, which is the insignia of a servant, and He girded himself. He wraps Himself in that. He’s ready to serve on behalf of His own. The whole point is that after the resurrection, He’s still going to be serving them. He’s going to go away but He’s not going to leave them helpless.

“It says that ‘he poureth water into a bason.’ Water is used to symbolize something in the Book of John. In John 2, when they didn’t have any wine at the wedding and He took water pots and poured water in and turned it into wine, we saw another object lesson. Wine is what cheers the heart of God and man the psalmist says. The nation had lost their joy. So what did the nation need to have their joy back in?

“That water pot—we are earthen vessels. Over and over, man is described as clay because that’s what we’re made out of. Just made out of dirt. Not even high class dirt.

“That poured water is a type of the Spirit of God. That’s what God’s going to do in the New Covenant –He’s going to put His Spirit in them and He talks about that in John 7 and describes His Spirit as the water flowing out. How does the Spirit of God do that?

“Water is the washing of water by the word. ‘Now you’re clean through the words that I speak unto you,’ He tells them in chapter 15. So the water represents the Spirit working through His word. So what does He do? He’s going to wash them with water.

“He began to wash the disciples’ feet. The symbol of washing is the symbol of complete servitude. The lowest of the servants. In Psalm 60 is a fascinating verse where David is describing some people who he’s conquered.

“You notice in the inscription to the song ‘to the chief Musician upon Shu-shan-eduth, Michtam of David, to teach.’ Michtam is a Hebrew word for a prayer of David.

“Those inscriptions are there to describe the circumstance in which the psalm was written. David smote the Edomites, killed 12,000 of them, completely wiped them out and subjugated them.

“I just want you to notice the way he describes that in verse 8: ‘Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me.’

“Notice when he describes the victory, the subjugation of Moab in Edom, he uses that term ‘a wash pot.’ The disciples would understand that what Jesus Christ is doing is He’s taking the place of the lowest position of servitude there is.

“Here’s someone who is God Himself, comes from the Father, going to go back to the Father, and has all the authority of the Father and what’s He doing? He’s on His knees in a towel and He’s washing their feet. That’s humbling Himself right down to the bottom. That’s the illustration of Philippians 2.

“You remember in chapter 12, the lady there took the alabaster box and anointed His feet. His feet didn’t need washing. They needed worshipping. The disciples’ feet needed washing.

“Now, your feet represent what carry you through life; your walk. How do you go through life? You put one foot in front of the other. You progress through life. Their walk, He said, you don’t need anything but your feet washed because you’re already clean, but you need your walk to match your identity.

“That’s why in Matthew 3 John the Baptist said ‘bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.’ Go bring forth some fruit in your life that matches the attitude of your heart and your profession.”

(Editor’s note: Just getting back in the swing of things after returning from Ohio last night. I am officially on a huge diet after my “last hurrah” of everything I love to eat, including lobster tail, rib eye steak (cooked rare on the grill by my brother), my mom’s famous broiled salmon, my famous avocado omelet and spinach pancakes, on and on.

Writing this up reminded me of the old hymn “Whiter than Snow,” In which the third verse goes, “Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat;
I wait, blessed Lord, at Thy crucified feet.
By faith, for my cleansing I see Your blood flow
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.”