Many years ago, when I was a younger Christian, in the late 70s and early 80s, there was a Christian musician by the name of Mark Hurd. Now, some of you may have heard of Mark Hurd. He has since gone on to be with the Lord. But if you know anything about some of the contemporary Christian music, back in the 70s is when so much of what we currently know as contemporary Christian music was somewhat pioneered. There were a number of different recording artists who were really pioneers in this regard. Mark Hurd was one of those men. And one of the songs that he wrote that I had an album from back in those days was called Everybody Loves a Holy War. And the song is really an indictment about the divisiveness and the conflict that often exists among Christians. And let me just read you a few of the stanzas from the song. And I won't try to sing it for obvious reasons, OK? But he says this. Some say that God has approved of their mob, esteeming their purposes alone, choosing sides with a definite pride and taking their cause for his own. And then the chorus goes like this. Everybody loves a holy war. Draw the line and claim divine assistance. Slay the ones who show the most resistance. Everybody loves a holy war. Another verse says, many's the man with the iron hand supposing his own thoughts to be divine. He will break any bond cause the other man's always wrong. It's a handy excuse for his crimes. And then he goes on to sing, dissident cries are met with cold eyes and treatment the devil would get. Righteousness and truth can be weapons in the hands of fools while innocents go to their deaths. Everybody loves a holy war. Draw the line and claim divine assistance. Slay the ones who show the most resistance. Everybody loves a holy war. I think that particular line hits at the very heart of a reality that all of us are all too aware of and all too ashamed of. And that is this, that in our sinful nature, there is a lust for and a delight in conflict. Particularly if we are convinced that we're right. Now to be sure, we understand from scripture that we are engaged in a spiritual battle. Scripture bears that out over and over and over again. But all too often, we who name the name of Christ are guilty of killing our own, often in the name of truth. Did you catch that one line that he says in there? Righteousness and truth can be weapons in the hands of fools. We need to hold on to righteousness and truth. We need to stand firm and contend earnestly for the faith as we're exhorted in the book of Jude. And yet if we do so foolishly, we can often end up destroying those from our own family. And conflict and division can have many different faces, can't it? And it can occur in many different arenas. Maybe it's the conflict that goes on between a husband and wife, maybe between a parent and a child, maybe between a brother and a sister, maybe between someone older and someone younger. But there's something appealing to our sinful nature about conflict. And if we're honest with ourselves all too often, it may be an accurate assessment of our own lives that we love a holy war. The reason I say that as we come back to John chapter 13 is because that is exactly the context again of what is going on with the disciples as Jesus has drawn them together to this upper room to share a final meal with them just before he is going to engage in the horror of the cross. Just as He is going to engage in that event by which His own blood is going to be shed, His body is going to be broken, and He is going to be bearing in His person the wrath of God Almighty for the very sin of those to whom He is now sharing a meal with, and to all of those who would trust Him. And we learn from the other Gospels in Matthew, Mark, and particularly in Luke, at this moment, the disciples are arguing about who's the greatest. There's a battle going on. There's a battle going on. And in John chapter 13, Jesus, before he says anything, he captures the attention of his disciples by performing this act of washing their feet. Now we've been in this passage for a couple of weeks and we've been looking particularly at verses 2 through 17 that have to deal with this event. And thus far, we have seen the significance of what Jesus does as He shocks them, in essence, by doing something that was completely outside the category of their frame of reference. That He whom they knew and ascribed as being the Lord and the Teacher, without saying a word, got up from the meal, put on the apron of a servant, and took the basin that was filled with water and began to wash the feet of these men. I just want to very, very briefly review where we've been and then pick up with where we want to zero in on again this morning, zeroing in this morning on verses 12 through 17. But just briefly by way of review, we've seen these principles that have come out of this narrative and principles that we are intended to understand and principles that we are intended to embrace and principles that we are intended by faith to obey. The first principle that we see is what flows from verses 2 through 11, and that is the principle that Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, is committed to the cleansing of His people. Now again, we've talked extensively about this in the previous couple of weeks, so I'll only make mention of it. But if you look in verse 2, let me just read the narrative as we go down through verse 11. During supper, the devil, having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come forth from God and was going back to God, he got up from supper, he laid aside his garments, and taking a towel, he girded himself. And 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. And so he came to Simon Peter and he said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, what I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter. Peter said to him, never shall you wash my feet. And Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no part with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. And Jesus said to him, he who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean, and you are clean, but not all of you. For he knew the one who was betraying him, and for this reason he said, not all of you are clean. Now clearly what comes out of this narrative and this event and this situation is the principle that the Lord Jesus Christ is committed to the cleansing of His people. This is what clearly flows out of this dialogue between Peter and Jesus when Peter resists the work of the Lord Jesus in his life. Jesus takes this physical activity of washing his feet, which in that culture was a very common occurrence for feet to be washed. It was a common expression of hospitality. When you would go to somebody's house, your feet would be dirty because of traveling on the road, and it was common that somebody in the household would wash your feet as an expression of hospitality and of love and of affection for you and appreciation that you were there. But what was so disorienting about this event for the disciples is that this was the Lord Jesus Christ, the one they knew was the Lord, the one they knew was the teacher, who was stooping down and washing their feet. And so through this dialogue that Peter has with Jesus and the things that Jesus says in response to Peter, we see that there is a very clear, distinct, spiritual meaning and significance to what Jesus is doing. And this is stated most explicitly in verses 10 and 11. Because Jesus instructs him to say, listen, if you've bathed, you only need to wash your feet. And he's making reference there to the culture when people would go to these public bath houses and they would bathe and they would be clean, but then as they would go home, their feet would be washed. And he's using that as a reference point to illustrate the spiritual reality that when one's heart has been cleansed, There is only the need for an ongoing cleansing of residual sin that yet dwells in a person's life. And this could not be more emphatically clear than when he says at the end of verse 10, you are clean. He's speaking to the disciples. He's saying you are clean and he means that in a spiritual sense you have been reconciled to God. You've been born again. You are clean. You've been made right. And then he says, but not all of you. And then verse 11 provides for us by way of commentary that he knew the one who was betraying him. For this reason, he said, not all of you are clean. He's clearly making reference to Judas himself. Who was the one among the 12 who was not a genuine believer in Christ, who had not come to genuine saving faith in Christ. And so we see in this that Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, is clearly committed to the cleansing of His people. And we need to be reminded and understand that the nature of this cleansing has both a one-time occurrence in terms of what God does in bringing a person to saving faith where they recognize the dirtiness, the sin of their heart, the fact that they're under the wrath of God and subject to His righteous judgment, and that they can't cleanse themselves and so they cling in faith to the provision that God has made through the Lord Jesus Christ and that through the shedding of His blood that cleansing has been provided for. And I've mentioned previously that what is of significance for the disciples here is not simply that Jesus had put on the robe of a servant and was pouring out water to wash their feet, but this becomes a parable, this becomes an object lesson of the infinitely greater reality that He had put on the apron of humanity. And He was about to pour out His blood to wash their hearts from sin. The point he's illustrating in a parabolic form with the activity of what he's doing is that there is this one time cleansing that occurs when by God's grace someone is brought to saving faith in Christ to recognize their sin and to recognize God's provision for sin through the Lord Jesus Christ and they lay hold of Christ through faith. That's what the Bible refers to as justification, being declared righteous, not because of our own righteousness, but because of trusting the righteousness of Jesus Christ and trusting His sacrifice that has borne the wrath of God and satisfied God's justice. It is through Him and Him alone that we're justified. But when Jesus goes on to tell Peter that even though you've been cleansed, you still need to be cleansed, you still need to have your feet washed. He's referring to this matter of the ongoing cleansing of sin, what the Bible refers to as sanctification, the process of becoming, in our day-to-day experience, more holy. The word sanctify means to set apart, to be made holy. So when we speak of sanctification, we're talking about this dynamic of being made more holy in our day-to-day experience. As we, through the Word of God and through the Spirit of God, grow in our understanding of His righteousness, we grow in our understanding of what is sin and what is not sin, and when we're convicted of sin, we confess that sin to the Lord Jesus, trusting His cleansing work to continue to purify us. And so we see that in all of this, again, it is the Lord Jesus Christ, both in justification as well as in sanctification, who is committed to the cleansing of His people. And this cleansing occurs through His Word and through the power of His Holy Spirit. Now, if you look over in chapter 15, Jesus says, in essence, this same thing in slightly different picture form to the disciples again. And here he draws upon the analogy of a vine and branches. And he says in chapter 15, verse 1, I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser. And every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away, but every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. And then He says, verse 3, you are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Now this is identical to what he says back in chapter 13, but he gives a little bit added clarification when he says, you're already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. In other words, the reason that Jesus is saying that his disciples are clean and in chapter 15, he is speaking to them with Judas now being absent. But He is saying that you're clean because of the Word that I have spoken and because you in faith and trust have received that Word. And it is in your reception of the Word of God, your trust and faith in what God has declared through Jesus Christ that you've been made clean. And if you look over in chapter 17, in His prayer to the Father on behalf of those who are His own, He speaks of this in even greater detail in chapter 17 and look at verses 6 through 8. As he is praying to the Father, he says, I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours and you gave them to me and they have kept your word. And now they have come to know that everything you have given Me is from you. For the words which you gave Me, I have given to them. And they received them and truly understood that I came forth from you, and they believed that you sent Me. He's affirming that His own, His disciples had received His Word. And they had believed on Him through that Word and in that Word. And this marks for us what the nature of saving faith is. It's a right apprehension of the truth of what God has revealed in His Word. And that's the basis of saving faith. And so, again, in chapter 15, verse 3, and again back in chapter 13, where we saw that statement previously, Jesus is affirming that His disciples have been made clean because of His Word. It's the Word of God that is the agent of cleansing that the Holy Spirit uses in bringing us into that place of saving faith, bringing us into that place of justification. But it is also the Word of God, which is the agent that the Holy Spirit uses in continuing to bring about that ongoing cleansing in our lives, in our day-to-day experience. Now again, in chapter 15, he's talking about this in the context of branches that are designed to bear fruit. And when these branches are bearing fruit, God sovereignly prunes those branches even more. Why? So that they'll bear more fruit. Now we understand this dynamic of pruning. This is the time of the year where a lot of pruning is going on and rose bushes and other things that have been previously pruned are getting ready to blossom into beautiful flowers and there's all other kinds of fruit and flowers that are beginning to emerge. That happens because of pruning. In essence, what Jesus is saying in John chapter 15 about pruning and cleansing in order to bear more fruit is very similar to what He is saying in chapter 13 and what He's illustrated by washing feet. So the picture and the point is the same, that while we have been cleansed, if we've come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, there's this need for this ongoing cleansing of Christ in our day-to-day lives. And again, Jesus is the one who is committed to bringing this about in our lives, and he does so through his word, and he does so through his spirit, and as we're gonna see, he does so through his people ministering appropriately to one another. I want to show you just a couple of other passages that bring in this picture of cleansing again and that just reinforce this. And again, we're still kind of in a review phase here and we're getting up to speed with where we're going to be looking in earnest in verses 12 through 17 in chapter 13. But turn over, if you will, to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Paul makes this statement concerning the Corinthian believers and he employs this language of cleansing once again in 1 Corinthians 6 verse 11. Well actually we'll start in verse 9. and read through verse 11 in 1 Corinthians 6. He says, Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And then notice what he says in verse 11. He's affirming this soul cleansing, heart cleansing that has taken place in their lives through the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then if you go over to the book of Ephesians, A particularly descriptive passage as well, related to this cleansing of Christ through his word. In Ephesians chapter 5, verses 25 through 27, and don't miss the context of this passage, particularly men, as this relates to your calling as a husband if you are married, or as a man if you desire to be married. Look at the exhortation and the framework of the exhortation in verses 25 through 27. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her. And what did he do? So that, verse 26, he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless. This is our job description, man, if we are married or if we desire to be married. This is our job description with respect to our relationship with our wives. Notice the reference point of Christ and his love for the church and the sacrificial nature of that love and having given himself up to sanctify the church, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. If you have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is because God the Father has set you apart from eternity past as one that He has sovereignly chosen to give to His Son as a gift. And in God's providential timing, He has caused you to be convicted of your sin, to see your need before His absolute blazing holiness. And He's revealed your helplessness, your hopelessness. He's revealed the glory of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the wonder of the cross, as we've already sung about, that He died as a substitute for your sin, and you've come to faith in Him. He's cleansed you. He's forgiven you. He's reconciled you to God. That's a permanent transaction that can never be lost. Because God the Son is committed to your cleansing, He's committed not only to restoring you in a judicial way to being delivered from the wrath of God, but He's seeking to restore you and working to restore you in a day-to-day practical way to sanctify you to become more and more like Him. And that's this process of cleansing. And again, as Jesus performs this act with his disciples in washing their feet, he's graphically, dramatically, shockingly demonstrating this principle for them. Now that takes us back to John chapter 13. Because not only in verses two through 11 do we see this principle that the Lord Jesus Christ is committed to the cleansing of his people, But the second principle that comes out of this entire narrative is in verses 12 through 17, and the principle is this. And I didn't put this in your notes, so you may want to write this down. The principle is this, that the Lord Jesus Christ commands his people to serve one another in his cleansing work. Here's the whole principle that Jesus is driving home with his disciples as he's initiated this foot washing incident, as it's been interrupted by the dialogue with Peter. Now he's illuminating the ultimate point and the principle is this, that he commands his people to serve one another in his cleansing work. And let me just read through verses 12 through 17 and then we'll go back and make a few comments. We introduced this last week and I want to just give fuller explanation to what is taking place here. So we read in verse 12, that when he had washed their feet and taken his garments and reclined at the table again, he said to them, do you know what I have done to you? Well, again, of course they knew that he had washed their feet. What he's ultimately meaning is, do you know the meaning of what I have done to you? He says, verse 13, you call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. And then in verse 18 and following, the focus of Jesus' attention shifts to this matter of Judas and what's gonna transpire with Jesus in ultimately sending Judas out from among the 12. So verse 17 really represents sort of a close in thought to this matter with washing the disciples' feet. But he's illustrating and he's impressing upon them, he's exhorting them, he's commanding them, he's obligating them to be washing one another's feet. Well, what is it that he means? I believe the ultimate meaning of what he is saying here is we understand that this matter of foot washing is a parable, it's a physical, graphic, object lesson for them. The meaning of what he is saying is in essence this, if I have so served you, in doing the menial, lowly task of washing your feet, ultimately of cleansing your soul through my blood, which is what he's ultimately pointing toward, then you also should so humble yourselves and serve one another in similar ways. Now, it's so important to understand at this point, this is not simply a good moral example of what it means to be humble before other people. That aspect is certainly there. But again, this whole thing revolves around this matter of cleansing from sin. That's why this is infinitely more than just a moral example of what it means to be a servant. Because in essence, anybody could do that, whether you were trusting Christ or not trusting Christ. Your motives might be suspect as to why you would want to be a servant and why you'd want to be seen as a servant, but anybody could serve anybody else for any number of reasons. But it's only those who have received and are continually receiving the cleansing work of God through Christ whose life has been cleansed from sin in terms of being reconciled to God and who now have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them and who are daily being cleansed through His Word and by His Spirit, it's only those who can genuinely, rightfully, in the power of the Holy Spirit, enter into another person's life for the purpose of being an instrument of God in their cleansing as well. You see what I'm saying as we're dealing with this matter of sin, it's only those who have been cleansed from sin and are being cleansed from sin that can rightfully in the power of the Holy Spirit be the instruments that Jesus Christ wants to use in one another's lives in bringing about this cleansing. That's the ultimate point of what he's getting to with this matter of washing one another's feet. Now I want us to turn back briefly to Luke chapter 22. In the narrative in the Gospel of Luke, in this same scene, Luke does not record this foot-washing incident, but I believe it's made reference to. In Luke chapter 22 and verses 24 through 27, we see this context where the disciples are arguing and disputing with one another about who's the greatest. So we read verse 24, And then he says, verse 27, for who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves. Now, synthesizing that with John's record of the foot washing incident in chapter 13 of the Gospel of John, it's likely that Jesus said these very words in the midst of washing his disciples' feet. Gentlemen, I am among you as one who serves. And again, the picture is not simply that of a servant washing somebody else's feet. Yes, he did that, but the significance is the meaning of that as it relates to his greater condescending work to become a human being, to take on human flesh, and to suffer and die in bearing the wrath of God as the only means by which sin could be cleansed from their lives. And so when he says back in chapter 13 that if I have washed your feet, you are to wash one another's feet, he's ultimately enforcing the principle that his disciples, not only these 12, but all of his disciples of all time are to be his instruments in carrying on his cleansing work in one another's lives. Now, think this through. If it is the Word of God that the Spirit of God uses in bringing about cleansing in the lives of His people, then the exhortation and the commandment for His people to be washing one another's feet means that in the power of the Holy Spirit, we are to be ministering the Word of God to one another in a way that promotes cleansing. And that is a profoundly humble work. That is a profoundly humble work. I mentioned last week the title of a book by a man by the name of Paul Tripp, and the book is called Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands. The subtitle is People in Need of Change, Helping People in Need of Change. If we understand this illustration that Jesus is doing with his disciples and then prevailing upon his disciples to be washing one another's feet, that's the ultimate lesson, that's the ultimate commandment, that's the ultimate obligation that he is placing upon us. That we are not to be those who are fighting and bickering and trying to one-up one another whether it's in our hearts or whether it's in our actions, but rather we're to be so disposed towards one another just as God himself was when he humbled himself and became a man. that rather than looking away from other people's sins, rather than ignoring it, rather than criticizing, rather than gossiping, rather than separating ourselves from those who are brothers and sisters, we are to engage them and be involved in their lives. And brother and sister, there is nothing more humbling than that. Because in the same way that we must be willing to kneel before others to wash their feet in terms of entering into their lives and perhaps addressing issues of sin, in the same way that we are to kneel before one another in that regard, we recognize that we must also be willing to yield when another brother or sister so kneels before us. to confront us and to address issues of sin in our own lives. And so this is what Jesus is enforcing. This is what Jesus is pressing. Now I mentioned last week, we need to address this issue of whether or not Jesus here is instituting an ordinance. Most of you know that our church is a part of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, an association of autonomous, independent churches. It's a voluntary association. We partner with one another, and one of the aspects of that is this matter of washing one another's feet. Historically, this has been a practice among Grace Brethren people. And it's not only among Grace Brethren people. There are other Christian groups that practice this and do this. But the question is outstanding, and many of you have asked this question, is what Jesus is doing here in chapter 13, and particularly with what he says in verses 14 and 15, is he instituting an ordinance or a sacrament that he intends not only the meaning of what he is doing to be perpetuated, that's clear, we understand that, but is he also intending that this matter of physically washing one another's feet is to be perpetuated as an ordinance? And we need to address that question. In other words, is Jesus commanding what he does in verse 14 and 15 in a literal way, instituting the ordinance or sacrament of foot washing? Or is he introducing it in a figurative way, seeing foot washing as an example of ministering to one another in the word of God and for the purpose of cleansing? Or is it possible that he's instituting both? In other words, both obviously the meaning of what he's doing, but the practice of what he is doing himself. That's what I want to spend a little bit of time interacting about and discussing. But I want to preface what I'm going to say with a few comments, OK? I mentioned at the end of the message last week that in my heart, my mind, as much as I value, appreciate, regard, respect every aspect of what the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches historically has embraced and believed and understood related to this matter of foot washing being an ordinance, I am not persuaded that it's an ordinance. I don't believe that is the primary focus of what Jesus is teaching and instructing here. Now, I want to lay out my reasons for my conviction and my understanding with regard to that, but again, let me say by way of preface, and this is where I think all of us need to fully embrace the fullness of what Jesus is revealing, declaring, commanding, and exemplifying here. I have a high, high, high regard and appreciation for the understanding and the practice of foot washing within the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches and other groups that may hold to that as well. And the way that plays out among us when we share in the remembrance of the bread and cup, those elements that Jesus clearly instituted when he said, this is to be done in remembrance of me. When we share in those, we also share a time of a love feast together, a meal together in anticipation of that future meal that Revelation chapter 19 tells us all believers will share with the risen Lord. And we also share in a time of washing one another's feet. I appreciate that. I recognize that it has great meaning. But again, I'm not persuaded it is an ordinance in the manner of the bread and the cup. And yet, having said that, I greatly admire, I respect, and I value the desire of those who simply want to be obedient. And those who have that conviction, I would in no way speak out against, but rather want to just be faithful in my own conscience before the Lord as to what I believe is taking place here. And wherever you may fall on that issue, whether you believe this is an ordinance that Jesus is instituting, whether you believe it is not an ordinance that he is instituting, Far be it from any of us to violate the very meaning and significance of what Jesus is ultimately intending to impress and teach and exhort among his disciples for this to become any kind of an issue of divisiveness. That would be kind of violating the entire point of chapter 13, right? Let me give you some of the reasons that I must in good conscience say that I do not believe, I'm not persuaded that this is an ordinance, a sacrament that Jesus is instituting here. And I just want to give you a number of reasons to this effect and then draw these things up by way of conclusion. And in giving these reasons, I want to start with the immediate context of chapter 13 and then sort of broaden out from there to the surrounding context and ultimately to the whole of the New Testament, to the broader context of the New Testament. So here's my reasons for my thinking in this regard. I'll go through these and then we'll draw these things up by way of conclusion. First of all, When Jesus speaks of bathing and the need for feet to be washed in verse 10 of chapter 13, He's clearly speaking figuratively and He's referring to spiritual cleansing. And again, that's very explicit in verses 10 and 11. In other words, the physical act of foot washing is an object lesson of this spiritual truth of cleansing. And this spiritual meaning of terms, in my mind, must therefore govern what he subsequently says in verses 12 through 17. In other words, if he's assigned a spiritual meaning to it, and that's stated in verses 10 and 11, then that governs how foot washing in verses 12 through 17 is to be understood. So when he says of foot washing in verse 14 that the disciples are to wash one another's feet, I don't believe he's commanding a repetition of the literal act of foot washing, but of the spiritual meaning of what the foot washing exemplified, namely the humble, sacrificial love of Christ for his own in cleansing from sin. And another aspect of that related to that and within that first point is when he says in verse 14, you also ought to wash one another's feet, it's in a present tense, which means it's an ongoing, continual, constant activity. And again, I believe that reinforces the spiritual significance of that as it relates to our obligation to one another and to participate with one another in this matter of sanctification. A second reason is that if verse 14 is therefore to be understood figuratively, therefore reinforcing the statement that Jesus makes about, or if it's to be understood figuratively, then the reinforcing statement that Jesus makes in verse 15 must also be understood as a reference to the figurative significance of what he did in washing the disciples' feet. Are you tracking with me? In other words, he says in verse 14, And then he reinforces this in verse 15, drawing upon his own example. In other words, Jesus' act of washing the disciples' feet was an example of his humble, sacrificial, cleansing love for them. And the disciples are to imitate this example of Christ, I believe, not in a literal way, by way of literally washing feet in terms of an ordinance, but in a figurative way, humbly, sacrificially ministering to one another for the purpose of shared sanctification. Another reason as we again kind of move out a little bit from the immediate context of verses 14 and 15, in the broader context of the entire chapter of John chapter 13, We find that verses 14 and 15 with this specific command are sandwiched in between the clear and explicit statements of verse 1 at the beginning of the chapter and verses 34 and 35 at the end of the chapter. And what does this focus bring about? Well look at chapter 13 verse 1. We're told by way of introduction into this whole upper room discourse that before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, that he would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. This introduces the entire, really the entire remainder of the gospel, but particularly everything that's going to transpire here in these chapters in the upper room. This has to do with what Jesus, the Son of God, the eternal Son of God, is doing in loving his own to the uttermost or loving them perfectly, loving them to the very end. So immediately following that introductory statement concerning his love and his perfect love, his uttermost love, is this event of washing the disciples feet. That statement in verse one, governs, it frames what's happening in the events that follow. It's an example of his transcendent love for his own. And then towards the end of chapter 13, after Judas has now left the twelve, Jesus again turns his attention to what is beginning to unfold, and this is ushering in a lengthy section of discourse with his disciples at the end of chapter 13, leading into chapter 14, 15, and 16. And in chapter 13, verse 31, we read that, Therefore, when He, Judas, had gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself and will glorify Him immediately. He says, little children, I'm with you a little while longer. You will seek me. And as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you where I'm going, you cannot come. And then here it is, verse 34 and 35. A new commandment I give to you that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. What I believe is taking place is in the absence of Judas, in the absence of the betrayer, Jesus is now explicitly stating what he has implicitly illustrated with the foot washing. And so he's just giving fuller explicit commentary to what he has done in washing the disciples' feet. In other words, washing one another's feet is synonymous with this matter of loving one another. And I believe that's the example that Jesus is illustrating for them. And this becomes even more strongly emphasized if we go over to chapter 15. Again, Jesus in chapter 15 in the early verses, verses 1 through 11, is using this metaphor of the vine and the branches. And then he comes back to this theme of loving one another in verses 12 through 17. He's driving this point home. This is the whole focus of these matters. He says, verse 12, this is my commandment that you love one another just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this that one lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. And he's implicitly acknowledging that he's about to lay down his life for them, for their cleansing. He goes on to say, verse 15, See how he's just driving this over and over and over again. And again, it's my conviction, my opinion, that when he is commanding the disciples to wash one another's feet, he's commanding them in an illustrative way to love one another. It becomes more explicit at the end of chapter 13 and again with these statements in chapter 15. These are the explicit obligations that the foot washing figuratively exemplifies. Now, again, and I've already commented to this, the figurative meaning of washing one another's feet, I believe, is also reinforced by the statement that Jesus makes in chapter 15, verse 3, related to the disciples already being cleansed. And in this passage, He's again clearly speaking of spiritual cleansing. He adds the additional statement that this cleansing has occurred because of the word which He has spoken. Thus it is the word of God, received by faith, which is the instrument of cleansing. And again, connecting this with the statement in chapter 13, verse 14, we're to wash one another's feet by loving and serving them and humbly bringing the Word of God to bear on their lives. And remember, this is what Paul speaks of, not with regard to foot washing, but with regard to genuine spiritual ministry to one another. In Galatians chapter 6, don't turn there. But in Galatians 6, verses 1 and 2, he says, It's the practical outworking of washing one another's feet, going to one another when there are issues of sin and bearing one another's burdens in that regard because we so love in the love of Christ others that we want their spiritual well-being, we want their blessing, we want their peace, we want their joy. We're willing to go humbly and gently to address these matters of sin. And we're willing to receive that from one another as well. while continuing to expand out from chapter 13 to the broader context, even now to the broader context of the Gospel of John as a whole. that Jesus often spoke and acted in a figurative fashion is prominent in all of the Gospels. In other words, that His speaking and His acting was often figuratively oriented. And I believe this is particularly pronounced and distinct in the Gospel of John. There are many, many references throughout the entire Gospel that are clearly figurative. And this is a distinct emphasis in John's Gospel. And I'll just mention these all the way back to chapter 1. Don't necessarily try to follow all of these because I'm going to fly through these really quick. But in chapter 1, in verses 5 and following, he draws on this metaphor of light. In the prologue to the gospel, John says the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. And there came a man sent from God whose name was John, referring to John the Baptist. He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. And that's a metaphor, that's a figurative term that's referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. In chapter 1, verses 29 and verse 36, Jesus is identified as the Lamb of God, referring to him figuratively in the backdrop of the Old Testament sacrificial system, that Jesus himself was the perfect Lamb of God who was going to be offered for the sins of the world. In chapter 2, verses 19 through 22, when Jesus cleanses the temple, he goes in there and casts out all the money changers and the Jews come to him and they ask him in verse 18, what sign do you show us for your authority for doing these things? And in verse 19, Jesus answers them and says, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. And then we're told that the Jews said to him, it took 46 years to build this temple and will you raise it up in three days? But then we're told in verse 21 that he was speaking of the temple of his body. The point is he's figuratively employing that term, the temple, as referencing his own body. In chapter 4, when he interacts with the woman at the well, he talks about living water and he talks about thirst in a figurative way. He draws upon that metaphor of water and thirst again in chapter 7, verses 37 through 39. Near the end of chapter 4, when the disciples come to him after he's been ministering to this woman, they had gone into town to bring some food for him to eat. And he responds to them and he says, I have food to eat that you don't know about. He's speaking figuratively with respect to the pleasure and the strength that he finds in being obedient to the will of God. In chapter 6, after he performs the miracle of feeding the 5,000, again he performs a real miracle of providing real food for thousands of people. But then he uses that as an object lesson for him being the bread from heaven. Referencing back to the Old Testament when God fed his people with manna when they were in the wilderness. He's saying, I am that bread, I am that provision. And this becomes very graphic and even possibly distasteful with what Jesus says in chapter 6 in verses Oh, we'll pick it up in verse 55 of chapter 6, or verse 54. He says, he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. And he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. Now, is he speaking literally of eating his flesh and drinking his blood? No, he's saying that figuratively in terms of receiving him through faith. The point is that he's speaking figuratively. In chapter 10 he speaks of sheep and the door and him being the good shepherd, again in a figurative fashion. In chapter 11, before he raises Lazarus from the dead, he speaks of day and night and light and stumbling again in figurative ways in verses 9 and 10 of chapter 11. And even as he raises Lazarus from the dead, just before he does that, he says, I am the resurrection and I am the life. In chapter 12 and verse 24, he speaks of a grain of wheat falling to the ground and dying. That's a figurative expression of his own death. And that is a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, and yet there's a principle of life within that seed that when the seed dies in the ground, it emerges forth in fruit. He's speaking figuratively of his own death, which will be the life of all who will trust him, bearing the fruit of salvation for all who will trust him. We've already seen in chapter 15 of John he speaks of the vine and the branches and the fruit and there's other references as well. The point is, is throughout the Gospel of John there's this emphasis on the figurative speech and actions of Jesus. And in light of that, for me, it just reinforces that sense that with what he's commanding in chapter 13, he's speaking figuratively of the importance of this. It's interesting, if you look over in chapter 16 of John, this matter of his figurative speech is at the forefront. In John chapter 16, look at verse, excuse me, look at verse 23. As he's continuing this discourse with his disciples in the upper room, he says in verse 23, in that day, you will not question me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in my name, he will give it to you. Until now, you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive so that your joy may be made full. And then notice what he says in verse 25. These things I have spoken to you in figurative language. An hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father. And in that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf, for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came forth from the Father." In other words, he's clearly speaking of this matter, of speaking to them figuratively, and he's transitioning and saying, now it's becoming clearer, now it's becoming clearer. So again, because of this strong and clear emphasis on the figurative speech and actions of Jesus, it would indicate in my mind that the actions and the teaching of what he's doing in verses 2 through 17 of chapter 13 are to be understood figuratively. Another point in my own mind related to this is that if verses 14 and 15 of chapter 13 are to be understood as the instituting of an ordinance, it seems odd that Jesus never says that foot washing is to be done explicitly in remembrance of him in the same manner that he says that with the observance of the bread and the cup. both in Luke chapter 22, and that's reiterated by Paul again in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. In other words, he's commanding them to wash one another's feet, but he doesn't directly make the reference point of in remembrance of him in the same manner that he does with the bread and the cup. Another persuasion in my own heart and mind is that foot washing as an ordinance is spoken of nowhere else in the New Testament. This is in contrast to the clear and corrective instructions regarding the bread and the cup that are given in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Now, in my mind, it certainly seems likely, given that Paul in 1 Corinthians is writing to Corinthians who are having all kinds of problems, that the church would have also needed corrective instruction regarding foot washing as well, but none is given. Now I understand this is an argument from silence but in my mind the silence suggests that either foot washing was an ordinance and the Corinthians were not violating it in any way so Paul didn't need to address it or it suggests that it was not an ordinance and therefore wasn't even mentioned. And again in my own mind the latter of those options seems most likely. There's only one other reference to foot washing in the New Testament, and that is found in 1 Timothy 5. I'd like to invite you to turn there briefly. I don't believe that this is a reference to the ordinance of foot washing. I believe the context clearly indicates it's speaking of something else. In 1 Timothy chapter 5, Paul is addressing for Timothy what needs to be taking place in the church in Ephesus where Timothy is ministering related to the care of widows. And he's helping Timothy understand who, as a widow, should be and should not be put on the widow's list that was apparently being maintained by the church. And so in verses 9 and 10, he gives the qualifications for a widow who is to appropriately be put on the widow's list in terms of ministry. He says, verse 9, a widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than 60 years old, having been the wife of one man, having a reputation for good works, and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints' feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work. Now, he obviously mentions there her washing the saint's feet. In my mind, again, the context clearly indicates that her washing the saint's feet is one expression of showing hospitality to strangers, and as such, it is one aspect of the good works that she is to be devoted to. In other words, it has no reference point in the context to participating in the communion service, but rather that she's ministering to the saints, and she's showing hospitality to strangers, and she's washed their feet as one example of that. Now again, that's the only other time in the New Testament this matter of foot washing is mentioned. And again, in my mind, it would seem that if it was indeed a specific ordinance to be observed, that it would have reinforcing mention as such in light of all the other reasons that I've already explained. One other point related to that is in Acts chapter two, in Acts chapter two, Let's see, verses 41 and 42, we read a description of what was transpiring in the early church as many people had come to faith in Christ and how they were continuing on following that. And it would seem that if foot washing was to be understood as an ordinance, it would perhaps be mentioned here, but it's not. In verses 41 and 42, we read that, It goes on to speak verse 43. I'll actually just read down to the end of the chapter. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe. Many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles and all those who had believed were together and had all things in common. And they began selling their property and possessions were sharing them with all as anyone might have need day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house. They were taking their meals together with gladness, sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day, those who were being saved. Again, as it describes the dynamic of what the orderly church is participating in and observing. And again, I understand this is an argument from silence, but it would seem in my own mind, if foot washing was to be understood, it might be mentioned there. Now, in light of all of this, and I recognize I've flown through these things, and I hope, hope, hope you understand my heart in these matters. I just have a difficult time seeing this as an obligatory ordinance that Jesus is instituting in John chapter 13. Certainly not at all with the same force of obligation as the bread and the cup in which he clearly says do this in remembrance of me and that being reiterated and reinforced. Now, the question might be asked and might be running through some of your minds, well, if this is so, then why practice it? If it's not in ordinance, why practice it as we practice it among us when we share in the observance of the bread and the cup and the remembrance of the bread and the cup? I believe that if it's rightly understood in a non-obligatory fashion, but sharing in it simply in a sense perhaps as reenacting a parable, we might say, and understanding the meaning and the significance of what Jesus is doing, that it's not simply acting out this parable, but being obedient to the meaning that the parable illustrates, I don't believe there's any harm in that. I don't believe there's anything wrong with that as long as that's rightly understood. And as long as we are careful, as we strive to be when we share in these things and saying this is this is ultimately a matter of conscience. In other words, it doesn't carry the same command and obligation at all as the observance of the bread and the cup do. And as I said earlier, People who strongly believe that this is an ordinance do so because of a conviction of a desire to want to be obedient to the Lord. And all of us in all of these matters, whether we share that conviction that it is an ordinance or whether we don't believe it is an ordinance, we need to be quick to be careful to obey the meaning of what Jesus is ultimately driving at. And that is, again, that as the Lord Jesus Christ is committed to the cleansing of His people, He commands His people to serve one another in His cleansing work. And therefore, when Jesus reinforces what He does in chapter 13 by saying that the slave is not The slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. And then in verse 17, if you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. I don't believe he's at all saying if you know that this is an ordinance, you're blessed if you observe this ordinance. He's saying if you know and understand the meaning and the significance of what I'm doing, not only in the illustration of washing feet, but ultimately in my incarnation and so humbling myself to condescend as a human being to take on the frailties of humanity and to suffer the judgment of God as the only means by which your sin can be forgiven, if I as the incarnate Son of God have done that, You are blessed if you do that same thing in a non-atoning fashion because none of us can ever atone for one another's sin. But how much more should we humble ourselves toward one another and before one another in yielding to Christ and being his instruments in one another's lives as he intends for us to be? It's in that context of doing that that Jesus says we will be blessed. And on that note, let me just close with reading a quote from F.B. Meyer on this matter of humbly washing one another's feet. And we'll close with this. He says this, quote, I have often thought that we do not often enough wash one another's feet. We are conscious of the imperfections which mar the characters of those around us. We're content to note, criticize, and learn them, but we dare not attempt to remove them. He says, this failure arises partly because we do not love with a love like Christ's, a love which will brave resentment, annoyance, rebuke in its quest, and partly because we are not willing to stoop low enough. He says, none of us can remove the splinter of another so long as the beam is left in the eye and the sin unjudged in our lives. None can cleanse the stain who is not willing to take the form of a servant and go down with the bare knees upon the floor. None is able to restore those that are overtaken in a fault who do not count themselves the chief of sinners and the least of saints. He says, we need more of this lowly loving spirit, not so sensitive to wrong and evil as they affect us, as we would be anxious for the stain they leave on the offender. It is of comparatively small consequence how much we suffer. It is of much importance that none of Christ's disciples should be allowed to go on for a moment longer with unconfessed and unjudged wrongs, clouding their peace, hindering their testimony which they might give. Let us therefore watch for each other's souls. Let us watch for each other's souls. I shared last week also a quote from another man that says, we must stoop to serve and our serving must be cleansing. Whatever else we may believe about whether or not this is an ordinance, the ultimate point is, are we so committed to one another out of love for and commitment to Christ? That's what he calls us to. Let's pray together. Dear Lord Jesus, may your word produce its effect in my life, in all of our lives, for as we consider the unimaginable wonder of your humbling yourself to take on human flesh, to become a sacrifice, a substitute for my sin, for our sin. Lord, nothing we ever could do to anybody can ever even remotely compare to that supreme act. And yet that very reality completely dismantles and just takes the legs out of every excuse we often give for not loving one another in a way that is willing to bear one another's sin. and in a way that is eager to want to be your instrument in sharing in the cleansing of one another, both in being willing to kneel, as well as being willing to yield to others who would enter into our lives. Oh God, build us and grow us in this love, the love of Christ, by which the world would take notice that we indeed are your disciples, that you and you alone would be glorified and magnified, Lord, teach us these things, grow us in these ways, and fulfill your purposes in us for your good glory. Thank you for your kindness, in Jesus' name, amen.