John 13:4 [Jesus] Rose from supper and laid aside His outer garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself; (5) 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. (12) Then when He had washed their feet and taken His outer garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, Do you know what I have done to you?
Do you know the time when the Jews washed their feet? They especially washed their feet when they came to a feast. A feast is a center for fellowship. At that time the Jews wore sandals, and since their roads were dusty, their feet easily became dirty. Furthermore, they did not sit at the table like we do; rather, they reclined on the floor with their legs outstretched without any chairs or benches. If their feet were dirty, the bad odor would have been awful. In our spirit the Lord has brought God into us and us into God, in our spirit we are one with God, and in our spirit we are in the heavenlies because we are in God. But in our body we are still on earth.... Through the earthly touch we are often dirty. This is inevitable, for we cannot avoid the earthly touch. We constantly touch the earth, and this makes us dirty. [For example, we may get offended or offend others even without knowing, or some advertisements could get "dirt" on us] . This earth we touch makes us dirty and hinders the fellowship with the Lord and with one another. Therefore, foot washing means that while we are still on this earth, the Lord as the lifegiving Spirit washes our feet, that is, the Lord always keeps our walk clean from every kind of dirt due to the earthly touch. Today we must realize that the Lord is eager to wash and keep us clean from the dirt that we gather from our contact with the earth.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-Study of John, pp. 330-332. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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