John 13:4 “He riseth from supper, and 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.”
Our Lord and Master humbly and willingly performed the duty of a “bondservant”, a duty that must not be imposed upon any Israelite servant (Leviticus 25:39); thus, He assumed the lowest of the low servile positions when He “began to wash the disciples’ feet”. Peter understanding this, couldn’t bear to see His Master in such a servile position. “Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?” (John 13:6); that is, it just doesn’t seem right for my Lord and Master to wash my feet, You are too exalted, too magnificent, and too superior to us all! But, in great tenderness and patience, “Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.” (John 13:7). This and many other things they would clearly understand “after that the Holy Ghost” was “come upon” them (Acts 1:8), which occurred in Acts Chapter Two. Then speaking boldly, from his heart, “Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet.” (John 13:8). Peter was not being rebellious or disrespectful of our Lord, neither was he stating any opposition to washing someone’s feet himself, he simply felt that such a thing was beneath our Lord. But, “Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.” (John 13:8); that is, “no part with me” in this present life, in the Church-Kingdom. In this warning, the Lord was illustrating to Peter and to us, just how vital this lesson and exercise in humility is to our life in the Church of Jesus Christ. This warning so shocked Peter that he responded, “not my feet only, but also my hands and my head” (John 13:9). The Lord then explained that it wasn’t necessary to wash the rest of his body, for “it is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all” (John 13:10). The Lord extrapolates his answer to Spiritual Cleanliness, explaining that they were all Spiritually Clean except Judas Iscariot (John 13:10) who was going to betray Him to the Jewish authorities. These Apostles were men’s men, they were by nature strong men; but, our Lord was teaching them and us that sincere and deep loving humility and kindness is an absolute requisite to being a part of the Lord’s Church-Kingdom in this present world!