Scripture Reading: John 13:1-14
The Gospel of John shows us clearly that water signifies life. John 4 tells us how, after we have received life, it will become a spring in us welling up into eternal life. Chapter seven, in addition, shows us how this water will be like rivers of living water flowing out of man's innermost being. In chapter thirteen water has another function. Water is not just a spring welling up from within us to satisfy us; it does not just add strength to us to flow into others as rivers of living waters; it can also give us refreshment, new feeling, and new help. According to man's mind there seems to be no need for chapter thirteen. Chapters four and seven seem to be sufficient. There are springs within and rivers without. What else do we need? It seems that there is no other need. But let us stop and think for a moment. We have been born again, but do we sometimes still feel as if we were not born again? In theory we know that the water the Lord gives us will become in us a spring welling up into eternal life, but have we not felt that this spring of living water is not welling up constantly? Are we saying with our mouth that we are satisfied and have no more need, yet at times feeling dissatisfied within? Have we not felt some lack, some need, and some dissatisfaction within, and nothing seemed to be welling up or flowing into others? Brothers and sisters, because our spiritual condition inevitably becomes dry and depressed at times, there is need for the water of chapter thirteen.
John 13:1 says, "Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the uttermost." Verse 5 then says that the Lord washed the disciples' feet with water. It is clear that the motivation of the Lord Jesus' washing the disciples' feet was not because of their sin but because He loved His own, and this love was not an initial love but a consummate love. "Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the uttermost." Eventually, with the addition of washing, this love was made perfect. Therefore, foot-washing is necessary. If we want to have a proper walk before the Lord, we must know how to receive foot-washing from others and how to wash others' feet. Foot-washing is the expression of the Lord's consummate love and the work of the Lord's lasting love; it is related to the consummation of our Christian life. In other words, we must have the experience of receiving foot-washing from others as well as the experience of washing others' feet.
The Lord said to Peter, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me." Does this mean that if the Lord had not washed Peter's feet that day, He would have had nothing to do with Peter at all? No. Peter had taken his bath already; the Lord already had something to do with Peter. For eternity the Lord will have something to do with Peter. But if the Lord had not washed Peter's feet, Peter would have had no part with Him in His fellowship and would have been detached from Him. We should remember that the foot-washing in John 13 has nothing to do with sin but with life and power; it is a question of freshness of life. In Asia Minor, people rarely wore socks; they wore sandals. Whenever they walked, they would inevitably collect some dust on their feet. After they finished their work and went home to rest, they would go and wash their feet. Their feet became dirty not because of sin but because they had touched the ground; it was inevitable that their feet would be defiled by the dust. The Lord Jesus did not rebuke the disciples for having defiled their feet. On the contrary, He washed their feet because He loved them to the uttermost. The defiling of their feet was not a question of sin. If it had been a question of sin, the Lord Jesus would not have dealt with them this way. He cannot deal with sin so loosely. Those who know God know that Christians should not sin. Yet they also admit that it is impossible for Christians not to defile their feet while walking on this earth. Until we can walk on the golden street in the New Jerusalem, our feet will always be defiled by the dust no matter how carefully we walk or how hard we try to remain undefiled. When our feet are defiled, our spiritual condition becomes dim and not so fresh. Therefore, our feet need to be washed in order for our spiritual condition to be restored. The Lord's washing of the disciples' feet was just to deal with their dimness and lack of freshness; it was not to deal with the problem of sin. In order to deal with sin, it takes the washing by the blood. We must have the blood before we can have the boldness to go before God. But the blood alone is not enough. Although we are under the cleansing of the blood, we do not necessarily have the spiritual freshness; we still need the cleansing of the water. After we are washed with water, we feel refreshed and pleasant, and spontaneously our being is restored. The washing of the blood enables us to stand before God, but the washing of the water refreshes us and makes us feel pleasant and energized.
Satan's power is based on sin and death. Hebrews 2 shows us that Satan's power is with death. Satan attacks God's children by causing them either to sin or feel deadened. Therefore, we must not only be kept clean but must also be full of life. This does not mean that the life we received at regeneration will die and that we need another one. It means that the life in us may become deadened, as if it were not there. One of our common but serious mistakes is to think that keeping ourselves from sin on the negative side is sufficient. Little do we realize that we fall far short if we have not manifested life on the positive side. Satan's work is either to make us sin or to make us gloomy. He will make us feel as if nothing is meaningful, as if we are cold, far from God, and have a separating veil between us and God. Sometimes we may feel that we have not committed any specific sin, yet inwardly we feel cold, stale, and debilitated. This is death. Many Christians lack spiritual vitality. They do not have any particular weakness or sin, but they always feel apathetic, cold, and debilitated. We need to remember that no gloomy Christian can fight against Satan. Not only will sin disable us from the battle, but gloom will also disable us. Therefore, we need to keep ourselves not only from sin but also from gloom. We can mention some concrete examples of this gloom. How many times do we come to the meetings with life, and how many times are we void of spiritual vitality? In other words, how many times do we come in an active way, and how many times do we come in a passive way? Anything that is not active is death. In the meetings, the listeners as well as the speakers need life. Many people come to the meetings in a gloomy, tired, and weary mood; they have no spiritual vitality at all. If too many people are this way in the meetings, the burden of the meeting will become heavy, and no one will be able to bear it. Hence, whenever there is a meeting, everyone who comes to the meeting should supply the church with life, not just the speaking ones. We cannot be passive for one day. Whenever we are passive in the meeting, we burden the church. Satan's special tool in the church is death. His purpose is just to consume our life and to infect us with death. But the Lord will preserve us and keep us from death.
Once our spiritual condition becomes sullen, we need to be washed with water. Therefore, the Lord Jesus not only wants us bathed, but He also wants our feet washed again and again. The one-time "bath" enables us to have life. The foot-washing recovers the freshness of life. Once a man is bathed, he has life. Hallelujah! We have all been bathed. If we have not been bathed, we are not Christians yet. One day, the Lord washed me not only with the blood but also with water. I received God's life, I touched God, and I touched the Lord. At that time, a spiritual world opened to me, and I touched spiritual reality. I felt that the Lord's death was not something that happened two thousand years ago; it was something for today. I felt that the Lord's death did not take place only at Golgotha but right where I was. The limitations of time and space were broken, and spiritual reality was present. This is what it means to be bathed. But how many Christians have a continual sense of the freshness of this bathing? Many people say that they will be content as long as they can keep their first love. Many people aspire to return to the condition of their initial salvation. This means that they are not as fresh as when they were first bathed. This is the reason there is the need of foot-washing. Foot-washing brings us back to the condition of being bathed. Foot-washing brings us the freshness of life; it brings us new feelings, new strength, and spiritual revival. These are the things foot-washing brings us. Foot-washing not only cleanses a person but also refreshes him. After a man has his feet washed, he is refreshed and revived. Foot-washing recovers our spiritual freshness and causes us to be full of life. Brothers and sisters, foot-washing is a crucial thing. It is crucial to be recovered in life and in spiritual vitality.
After the Lord Jesus washed His disciples' feet, He also commanded them, "You also ought to wash one another's feet." This shows us that the church needs to continue the work of foot-washing. We have to wash each others' feet.
Let me ask if you have had the following kind of experience. On a certain day you felt that your spiritual vitality was completely sapped and you were depressed. You checked with yourself and did not discover any particular weakness or sin within. The only thing you felt was tiredness and a lack of energy. You went to a brother's home. He was a good teacher, and he gave you a good message. But the more he spoke, the colder you became. You left and went to another brother's house. You prayed with him and nothing seemed to have changed. After you left his house, you met another brother who did not preach to you or pray with you; he merely chatted with you a little. However, that little, unintentional time of talking and listening gave you strength and energy. After those few words, you could sing again. When you met him, you were grim. But after you talked with him, you began to say hallelujah. Before you met him, you could talk, but only reluctantly. After you talked with him, the whole situation changed, and you touched life. That brother supplied you with life. He washed your feet. Foot-washing is to supply other members in the church with life.
After a day's work in a factory or in a school, you often feel very tired and spiritually debilitated. There is not much desire for reading the Bible or for prayer. While you are in this condition, you may meet a brother in a meeting or at your home who knows the Lord. The minute you touch him, energy comes and you feel that you have touched God. He has supplied you with life and has washed your feet. Once you touch life, your spiritual energy is recovered, and you brighten up once more. This is washing one another's feet.
Among all the things that Christians can do to help one another, there is nothing more precious than washing one another's feet, and nothing is more important than to supply life to another member of the Body. If a Christian with spiritual weariness and weakness comes to a meeting and leaves as tired as he was before, the meeting is a failure. Every time we come to a meeting, we must bring life to it; otherwise, we will increase the burden of the meeting. Everyone should come to the meeting with life so that other brothers and sisters may touch life. As soon as they touch life, their spiritual gloom will be over. They will be shining, and they will be fresh.
A brother once attended a preaching meeting. When he came in, he felt very dejected. He checked with himself and asked if there was any particular sin in himself. He could not find any. Were there any particularly bothersome matters? No. Yet he could not lift up his spirit. He began to pray, "Lord, I need the supply of life!" Later, another brother prayed, and his prayer supplied the dejected brother, who then brightened up. This is washing one another's feet.
If anyone comes to the meeting in a passive way and does not care for anything but simply sits there without expecting anything to happen or helping anyone, he is not washing others' feet. To wash one another's feet means that we want to help others when we come to a meeting and that we want others to receive benefit. We do not need to consciously try to do anything; all we need is a heart to help the brothers. Most importantly, we must not burden the meeting. Sometimes we really feel we are short of strength, and our spirit can hardly be lifted up. At these times, we can open ourselves to the brothers and sisters to wash our feet, cause us to touch God, and render us spiritual help. But we must be careful not to always bring a burden to the meeting. If four hundred out of five hundred brothers bring their burdens to the meeting, this is too heavy for the meeting to bear. Whether or not a meeting is worthwhile before the Lord and whether or not one touches life depends on whether there is more life or more burden. This responsibility rests on every brother and sister. If many spirits are open, the meeting will have no problem at all, and many will spontaneously be revitalized spiritually. But if too many people sit back in a cold way, the meeting will become too hard to bear. Passivity is the heaviest burden to a church. No one can come to the meeting without praying or preparing for it. Everyone should pray and spend time before the Lord. Everyone should render help to the meeting with life. In the church meetings we should help one another, and then we will all be helped. To help one another is to wash one another's feet.
The Lord said, "If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet." We must remember that the work of foot-washing has been committed to the church. This does not mean that one cannot obtain freshness by coming to the Lord, but it means that the Lord has commanded that we wash one another's feet. If we want to wash others' feet, we ourselves must be fresh first. If the Lord constantly does a new work in us, we always will have a new supply for others. It is a pity if others contact us and find us to be the same as we were five years ago, without anything new to offer. It is a pity if others have to wait a few years or even a few months before they can find something new in us. We need to be aggressive and active before the Lord and not stay still.
A certain sister, who had received special dealings from the Lord, bore a particular characteristic. Every time others touched her, they could sense God's new work in her and touch the newness of life in her. When others were out of touch with the presence of the Lord and felt spiritually tired, all they had to do was go to her and sit in front of her for a few minutes, and the tiredness would disappear. Something would come out from her, and one would sense the supply of life.
Brothers and sisters, you need to aspire to be ministers of life to others. Do not ever be disappointed that you are not as eloquent as others, or that you do not have as much Bible knowledge as others. As long as you live in life, you will be able to supply life to other members. Some people begin to pray in the prayer meeting right after they are saved. Their prayers may be very awkward, but when others touch them, they receive light and supply. Yet after these ones have been Christians for a period of time, the life supply in them becomes less and less. Having lived the Christian life for a few years, they pick up much knowledge and many doctrines, yet there is a lack of the supply of life. The supply of life is not a matter of knowledge but a matter of freshness. It is better to have less knowledge and less doctrine than it is to lose the supply of life. We should ask the Lord to deliver us from our inability to supply life and should pray that we live before Him in a genuine way. If we live before the Lord and are in touch with life, we will supply others with life and wash their feet every time we contact them. They will receive the freshness of life and be recovered spiritually.
We must also remember that foot-washing is a mutual matter. We should learn before the Lord to supply others, and we should also learn to receive the supply from others. The reason we need to be humble is so that we can receive help from others. We need to wash others' dark spots, and we should be willing to let others wash our dark spots. Through this mutual foot-washing, mutual serving, and mutual supplying we can be built up, helped along, and run the race before us.
Acts 18:5 is a very precious word, "And when both Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was constrained by the word." This shows us that Silas and Timothy supplied life to Paul. Silas and Timothy did not preach to Paul. Their coming was sufficient to cause Paul to be constrained by the word. Paul had been preaching and reasoning in the synagogue and laboring for the work, but upon the arrival of Silas and Timothy, Paul began to be constrained by the word. He was energized because he had received new supply from the two. Indeed, when we contact some people, the mere touch will bring life to us.
Brothers and sisters, before God we should pursue being used by Him as a minister of life to others. The basic requirement of one who always ministers life to others is to be one who always receives the dealing of the cross. Our natural life must be broken by the Lord. If we do not have the inner working of the cross, we can only minister knowledge or eloquence to others; we cannot minister the Spirit or the life of Christ to them. If our knowledge and eloquence are greater than our spirit, the impression we give to others will be of our knowledge and eloquence rather than of our spirit. We must continually live before the Lord, contacting Him and fellowshipping with Him, before we can minister life to others. We must remember that the supply of life is spontaneous rather than artificial. It is true that we need to wash with water, but this water is not pumped up by human efforts; rather, it flows from the source of life. If we live in life, we will spontaneously have the supply of life and will automatically wash others' feet with life. Others will touch the Lord just by one contact with us; they will feel the Lord's presence and will become more intimate with Him. We need to pray that the Lord grants us grace to reach this goal.
Note: This chapter is on the spiritual significance of foot-washing. There is, of course, the literal application of foot-washing as an act as mentioned in Genesis 18:4, 19:2, and 1 Timothy 5:10. The latter is an expression of love and humility.
