What's the central significance of Jesus washing the disciples' feet? Stay tuned, Renewing Your Mind Weekend Edition is next. Welcome to this weekend edition of Renewing Your Mind with author and teacher Dr. R.C. Sproul. Dr. Sproul is also the Senior Minister of Preaching and Teaching at St. Andrews, a Reformed congregation in Sanford, Florida. On the night when Jesus was betrayed, he washed the disciples' feet in the upper room. But when it was Simon Peter's turn, he protested. He didn't understand the significance of that holy moment at the time. The same could be said of many Christians today. Was the washing of feet given to us only as an act of humility and servanthood? What else can we learn from that peculiar moment in Jesus' ministry? Today on Renewing Your Mind, as we continue our study of the Gospel of John, Dr. Sproul will teach us the central significance of the foot washing and what that means to believers today. Here now is Dr. Sproul with today's message, The Foot Washing. This morning we will continue our study of the gospel of Saint John. I will be reading from John chapter 13, verses 1 through 17. Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come, that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper. and laid aside his garments, took a towel, and girded himself. And after that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the tile with which he was girded. And then he came to Simon Peter, and Peter said to him, Lord, are you washing my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, what I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no part with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only. but also my hands and my head. Jesus said to him, he who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not all of you. For he knew who would betray him. Therefore, he said, you are not all clean. So when he had washed their feet and taken his garments and sat down again, he said to them, do you know what I've done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. If I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I've given you an example. that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. And if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." He who has ears to hear the Word of God, let them hear. For almost three weeks now, I've been able to do very little except to sit in my chair and watch the war. But what took my notice specifically was the way in which the people of Iraq used their shoes or their sandals to pound against these statues. or to pound against the posters that were still being displayed in Baghdad. And the commentators explained to us the significance of that particular activity among Arab people, that to take off one's shoe and to use that shoe to beat upon another or upon a person's image was to show the lowest possible form of contempt for that person. And I was reminded of this week's text wherein our Lord was involved in this act of washing the feet of his disciples, where he stooped to that point of lowliness, to their uncovered feet, to their filthy feet, and engaged in this ritual of cleansing. Again, before we look at the text itself, let me make this comment that in antiquity, the washing of a person's feet by another was considered such a low and degrading menial task that it was reserved for slaves. And even within Israel, If a Jewish person had a Jewish slave, the slave owner was not permitted to require his Jewish slaves to be engaged in such an action as the washing of his master's feet. Only a Gentile slave could be required to do such a menial task. And so that Jesus himself undertakes this in this week that we call holy is filled with theological and ethical significance for us. And so, let us heed the words that John gives us. We are told that Jesus knew that His hour has come, that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, and He loved them to the end. Real briefly, we must understand this action, understanding that it was done in the shadow of the cross. We've talked much of recent weeks about the hour of Christ and the hour of his appointed death is at hand and we cannot properly understand the significance of this foot washing episode apart from its context of being done right now in the shadow of the cross. And Jesus is now ready to lay down his life for his sheep and John tells us that He loved the ones out of the world that the Father gave Him, and He manifests this love to the very end. That also gives us a hint of the significance of what is about to take place. In verse 2, and the supper being ended, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from the supper and laid aside His garments. Now that's significant. The meal is over. Jesus takes off His robe. Jesus takes off his outer garments. Jesus takes off his finery, if you will. If it were in a modern context of a feast, we would see a man taking off his suit, off his tie, his coat, and not only that but his shirt and his pants. And then takes a loincloth and wraps it around his waist because now he assumes the garb of a slave. Now let's just back up for a second. I trust that when you heard the choral anthem this morning, you were following in your bulletin the words of the anthem. Let me read them to you just to refresh your memory. The anthem is entitled, On the Road to Jerusalem. on the road to Jerusalem slowly rides King Jesus. And people come to call his name, Son of David, they cry, heal us. Down the ancient streets he rides. A donkey is his stallion. No golden coach, no chariot bright brings him to his kingdom. Where is his chariot? Where is his robe of silk? Where is his scepter? Where is his crown? Where are the trumpets? How will he be able to rule the land if he comes as a prince of peace and humble as a lamb? On the road to Jerusalem rides the man of sorrows. Save us, King, the people cry. But what will they cry tomorrow? The author of that choral piece has captured the very essence of what is going on here during Holy Week where Christ who comes humbly into Jerusalem riding on a donkey on Palm Sunday continues throughout Holy Week embracing all of the symbols of humiliation as he sets his face as a flint for the cross that is waiting for him. And so now after this dinner, he strips himself of his dignity. He empties himself of his glory. Is this not perfectly reminiscent of the canonic hymn of the second chapter of Philippians where Paul says, have this mind among you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, took his equality with God not as something to be grasped, that is not as something to be jealously guarded or tenaciously held onto, but he emptied himself. and took upon himself the form of a servant and became obedient even unto death. Wherefore has God mightily exalted him, given him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord. to the glory of God the Father. God is immutable. God does not lay aside His deity when He becomes incarnate in the Son. Well, then what does Jesus do of what does He empty Himself? Well, here we see it. He empties Himself of His dignity. He empties himself of his glory that he enjoyed with the Father from all eternity. He laid aside his prerogatives as the second person of the Trinity. And for the sake of us men and of our salvation, according to the Nicene Creed, he descended from glory to lay down his life for us. Now, usually when we look at this scene in the upper room of the washing of the feet, we tend to see it merely as a moral lesson of humility. It is certainly that. as Jesus later on explains to His disciples when He said, you don't understand this now and you will understand it and I want you to continue to do this one with another, that is Jesus giving a model or an example of humility to His disciples. But ladies and gentlemen, if we stopped there and even focused on that dimension of this, we would miss the central point. of what's going on here. The central significance of what's taking place here is caught up as part of the significance of baptism, which is the sacrament of the entrance into the new covenant. And baptism signifies many things, but at the very heart of the symbolism of baptism is the symbolism of cleansing. John Gerstner, who was invited to preach in Little Country Parish on one occasion, and The elders met him at the door and said, Dr. Gerstner, we forgot to tell you, but there's a celebration of infant baptism here this morning and wondered if you'd be willing to perform the sacrament. He said, I'd be honored to do it. And they said, well, part of the ritual that we use here is this white rose that we pin on all of the gowns of the infants that are to be baptized. And would you please pin these white roses on the children before you baptize them? And Dr. Gerstner said, well, let me ask first, what's the significance of the white rose? And the elder said, well, that signifies the infant's innocence. And Dr. Gerstner said, oh, I see. And what's the significance of the water? And the elders said, well maybe we shouldn't be using the white roses, not unless you put it after the water, if you want to use that symbolism at all. But the point of the water in baptism refers to cleansing, and that cleansing of baptism directs our attention to the supreme act of cleansing by which we are made clean in the sight of God, a cleansing that is affected not by water, but by the blood of Christ in the atonement. And so our baptism, among other things, even as the Lord's Supper does, looks backward in time to the cross, to that event by which we are made clean in the presence of God, by which our sins are removed and remitted. And our baptism looks backwards to that. But you see, in the upper room, this rite that Jesus is performing is looking ahead. He obviously teaches that it's tied to the cleansing that is about to take place. It's far more than just giving His disciples an example of what humility looks like. So let's look at the text. We read that Jesus poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. And Peter objects. And he said, You're going to wash my feet? What's wrong with this picture? You're the Lord, I'm the disciple. This isn't proper." Jesus said, what I'm doing you don't understand, but you will later. Peter said, never. You'll never wash my feet. Listen to how Jesus answers him. Jesus doesn't say, Simon, you impetuous rash person. He doesn't say, Simon, you just watch me. I am going to wash your feet. Rather, he puts it this way. Okay. You don't want me to wash your feet? I won't touch your feet. But unless I wash your feet, you have no part with me. Whoops. Now, Simon says, my hands, my head, whatever it takes, wash any part of me you want to wash. But beloved, we can transfer that warning to Jesus to each one of us here this morning. Because anyone in this room who is not washed by Christ will have no part with Him in the Father's house. That's why we see that what Jesus is getting at is preparing his disciples for that cleansing that makes them possible for those who have been soiled by human sin and transgression, who are the blessed to whom the Lord will not impute iniquity. Jesus is pointing them to the perfection of the cleansing. that is to come, so that everyone who is cleansed by the cross participates in the kingdom of Christ. I've said this many times because it's a theme that's repeated on the lips of Jesus throughout these final weeks of His life, and now the final days and hours of His life, where He said, unless you're willing to participate in My humiliation, you have no part in my exaltation, and our very baptism, as I've said until you're tired of hearing it, is a sign, not simply of our being raised with Christ, but it's also a sign of our being buried with Christ. That we join Him in His humiliation where we have no part in Him. So Jesus said to Simon, he who is bathed needs only to wash his feet and is completely clean. Now, in the ancient world, you took a bath, you were clean. So you walked outside in the dust and your bare feet are in your open sandals, and you can keep the rest of your body pretty clean, but your feet would get dirty in a hurry. And that's why there was this ritual of cleansing of the feet without having to take a complete bath. Jesus said He was bathed, needs only to wash His feet, but is completely clean. And again, the symbolism here, the irony of what Jesus is saying, when I wash your feet, I make it clean all over. See, one touch of the cleansing power of Christ cleanses us from all sin. Then Jesus warns that there was one there who would betray Him, and He said, therefore, you're not all clean. But He went ahead and washed their feet, and He washed even the feet of Judas, presumably, but not without the warning. that what he was referring to would not apply every morning. You're listening to Renewing Your Mind Weekend Edition with R.C. Sproul as he takes us through the Gospel of John How are you keeping yourself immersed in God's Word? How do you apply biblical principles to everyday life in a fallen world? Established more than 30 years ago by Dr. Sproul, Table Talk magazine continues to offer structure to daily Bible studies for your devotional life. 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