This last section of the Gospel of John, this time between Jesus' resurrection and his ascension, this time in which we have one of the most personal conversations between our Lord and one of his disciples, is one of the most intensely eye-opening in all of scripture. Jesus has gotten personal with his disciples before, but usually he is in the process of giving a greater lesson to a larger group. This is one of the only places, along with his conversation with Nicodemus in John 3 and the woman at the well in John 4, where Christ is engaged in a one-on-one with another. We have spiritual one-on-ones with Paul, but in this scene in John 21, we have two men--one of them God himself--walking alone with others not around. John, the author of the gospel, is walking behind them, perhaps in ear-shot, or perhaps Peter told him about the conversation later. Here is Jesus talking to Peter, and he's not just speaking to him about universal truths, like Nicodemus. He's not telling him great doctrines like, "for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever should believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life." He's telling him all about himself, much in the same way he spoke to the woman at the well. Except, with that woman, he revealed to her face her sins. Here, he is not telling Peter his sin. He has already revealed that to Peter with a look after Peter denied him. No, here he is telling Peter something personal and intimate. He is telling about how the apostle is going to die:
Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go. (John 21:18)
And that death would glorify God. We know from history that Peter was crucified. Jesus commands Peter to follow him and accept the death that he has planned for him to glorify God. No one knows of this death, only Jesus and Peter (and maybe John). The men who are going to tie him to his own cross don't even know they are going to be doing it. The one who condemns him to death, Nero, did not know about his death at that time, either. Only the Lord knows, and now Peter. Listen to what Peter tells fellow Christians in his second letter:
I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind. (2 Peter 1:12-15)
Peter is constantly preaching and sharing the gospel of truth with his fellow believers--not just unbelievers in order to convert them--but his fellow believers. He keeps reminding them of the gospel, even though they already know the gospel, because we should always be reminded of the gospel day by day. The world is constantly growing lecherous and painful vines to ensnare us about our ankles to bring us down. The world and its wiles make us forget and become more worldly. Peter knows this, so he reminds his fellow believers of the gospel, even though they have a firm foundation in the truth. We can always lay more brick upon the foundation to strengthen it. Here is the most important point Peter makes: he keeps reminding them because he knows his death is imminent. Because he knows how he is going to die, Christ's words have given him energy and perseverance to preach the gospel and preach it boldly! He will continue to share the gospel again and again to fellow believers until he dies, so that they will be better able to recall the full gospel. This is why he leaves letters behind, although he was not a learned man. The gospel is that important. Likewise, we continually share the gospel with each other, because, even though we do not know our own deaths, we know that they will happen, and the love we show to fellow believers by keeping them in the truth reflects the love that God has bestowed upon us by giving us the faith to believe. Sharing the gospel glorifies God.
Peter asks Jesus what will happen to John. Jesus tells him, essentially, that it is none of his business. Each of us has our own path in life, and the only other person who needs know is Christ himself. John is going to share the gospel with others in his own way. Peter becomes a great open-air preacher who converted thousands with the spoken word, wrote a couple letters, and shared his direct experience of Christ with Mark the gospel-writer. John wrote a unique and personal gospel, three letters--the first of which is essential for the believer--and a revelation of things to come, an intensely symbolic narrative of the times we live in and how the end of things are to come about. John was never martyred but lived in exile on the isle of Patmos. This was Christ's earthly destiny for him. Both are with Jesus now. Both have given the gospel to thousands in person and millions in print. Knowing their earthly ends spurred them onward, and knowing that our lives will be filled with persecution, exile, maybe even torture and death, should spur us on, too, to a life and death that both glorify God.
Saturday, April 28, 2018
Saturday, April 21, 2018
The Last Proclamation
Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. (Luke 24:27)
On the road to Emmaus, the two disciples get more than a handful of education from the risen Christ. Jesus took them through the entire scriptures, which at that time was the Old Testament, and pointed to himself in its pages. One commentary I read said that from the proto-evangelion to Malachi 4, Jesus is proclaimed throughout. We all know the proto-evangelion:
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel. (Genesis 3:15)
Jesus is the seed of the woman, and he will destroy Satan on the cross. That is what has been proclaimed from the first. But what about Malachi 4? What about the Last Proclamation?
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord of hosts.
“Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.
“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.” (Malachi 4)
Once again, we have the gospel relayed to us in just a few short words. The first verse is about the last day, when all who have rejected God will be destroyed and left without foundation to grab hold of to save themselves.
The second verse is for those who fear the Lord's name--the faithful. The sun of righteousness, the light of the world, Jesus Christ will come forth and heal all wounds of believers. We will be filled with such joy that we will resemble calves that have been cooped up all winter and are now released into the fields to frolic. It is a beautiful sight.
The third verse states that all that will be left of the unfaithful will be ashes that would dirty the feet of the faithful on the last day.
The fourth verse exhorts all believers to keep in mind the Law as a benchmark to living in the faith as we progress through the Lord's sanctification process. Knowing the ten commandments reminds us that only the Holy Spirit can keep us in Christ's righteousness and not we ourselves.
The fifth verse tells us that God will be sending Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord. Indeed, God sent John the Baptist to proclaim repentance before Jesus came. We, as the Church, are to proclaim repentance for the forgiveness of sins to the world before Jesus comes again.
Finally, the sixth verse tells us this proclamation will turn the hearts of children to their fathers and vice versa. The brotherhood of believers does reconcile earthly relationships, but the gospel of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ turns the hearts of all of God's children toward their heavenly father, and Jesus' death on the cross satisfied the wrath of God and turned his heart toward all those who have faith in Christ's blood. This is the gospel, found everywhere in the Old Testament and expounded in the New. Take up and read and believe.
On the road to Emmaus, the two disciples get more than a handful of education from the risen Christ. Jesus took them through the entire scriptures, which at that time was the Old Testament, and pointed to himself in its pages. One commentary I read said that from the proto-evangelion to Malachi 4, Jesus is proclaimed throughout. We all know the proto-evangelion:
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel. (Genesis 3:15)
Jesus is the seed of the woman, and he will destroy Satan on the cross. That is what has been proclaimed from the first. But what about Malachi 4? What about the Last Proclamation?
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord of hosts.
“Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.
“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.” (Malachi 4)
Once again, we have the gospel relayed to us in just a few short words. The first verse is about the last day, when all who have rejected God will be destroyed and left without foundation to grab hold of to save themselves.
The second verse is for those who fear the Lord's name--the faithful. The sun of righteousness, the light of the world, Jesus Christ will come forth and heal all wounds of believers. We will be filled with such joy that we will resemble calves that have been cooped up all winter and are now released into the fields to frolic. It is a beautiful sight.
The third verse states that all that will be left of the unfaithful will be ashes that would dirty the feet of the faithful on the last day.
The fourth verse exhorts all believers to keep in mind the Law as a benchmark to living in the faith as we progress through the Lord's sanctification process. Knowing the ten commandments reminds us that only the Holy Spirit can keep us in Christ's righteousness and not we ourselves.
The fifth verse tells us that God will be sending Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord. Indeed, God sent John the Baptist to proclaim repentance before Jesus came. We, as the Church, are to proclaim repentance for the forgiveness of sins to the world before Jesus comes again.
Finally, the sixth verse tells us this proclamation will turn the hearts of children to their fathers and vice versa. The brotherhood of believers does reconcile earthly relationships, but the gospel of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ turns the hearts of all of God's children toward their heavenly father, and Jesus' death on the cross satisfied the wrath of God and turned his heart toward all those who have faith in Christ's blood. This is the gospel, found everywhere in the Old Testament and expounded in the New. Take up and read and believe.
Saturday, April 14, 2018
Doubting
I've been through the Gospel of John at least three times with people, once in Greek, and each time I find something new. Each time I see that the words of the gospel change the hearts of all who hear it. I have tried even to go through the Gospel of John with people online, taking one verse at a time, in the hopes that the words of our Lord will melt the hearts and open the minds of the ones hearing or reading. One time, I had a lengthy discussion with a close friend about the first few verses of John, until I realized that he just didn't believe God existed. His was the argument from evil: the world was a bad place and so how can there be a good God who created such a bad place? I tried different arguments of reasoning, but they all fell on deaf ears. I decided the take a different approach and leap right to the end of the Gospel of John: to where Thomas doubts. That, I surmised, was the place where my friend was, and so maybe if we tackled that section first, we may make some headway. We didn't get far. Not only did my friend not believe in God but he didn't even believe that the Bible had any meaning. It was nonsense to him, and so we couldn't even use the text to continue.
Looking at the text itself, we can see how important the Word of God is for those who believe and will come to believe. We cannot argue one into the kingdom of God with well-spoken logic. Instead, we open the text before the one in question, and the Holy Spirit illuminates the truth for him, opens the eyes of his heart, and breathes life into his dead soul. The passage of text in question (John 20:24-end) says that Thomas, one of the twelve, one of the Apostles, someone who has followed Jesus from the beginning of his ministry, was not there to witness the risen Christ. None of us who live today were there, either, to witness the risen Christ, and so we are very much in the same boat. I wasn't there, nor was my friend. Thomas wasn't there (the first time), and when the other disciples said to him that they had seen the risen Lord, he doubted and told that he would not believe in Jesus until he had physically touched him, including putting his fingers in the wounds. He was quite confident that his doubts were justified.
Eight days later, Jesus showed up again, appearing suddenly in a shut room among them, offering peace. Christ did not wait for someone to tell him that Thomas is here! and he wasn't here the week before, and guess what, Jesus! Thomas won't believe in you until he, etc. etc. Jesus does not wait for someone to tell him what he already knows, he goes to Thomas directly and tells him to put his fingers in his wounds. "Do not be unbelieving but believing," he tells him. Thomas now believes and says, "My Lord and my God!" what an amazing and emotional scene. Jesus then gives us a message directly: "Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." That's us, believers who never got to put their fingers into his wounds, and yet we believe whole-heartedly. And yet...
And yet there are they who have not seen and still do not believe. We know about them, we see them every day, and we know that their minds and hearts are closed to the gospel. We pray for God to open their eyes, so they can finally be seeing the truth that we all see. And then, worse, are those who do see Jesus, who can actually see the work of Jesus Christ in their lives. As their creator and sustainer they owe their very lives to him, and yet, they do not believe. Miracles have happened to them. Evidence for God has come pouring down upon their heads. And still they do not believe. The Bible has been opened to them, the words have been read to them, and still their hearts are dead lumps of coal. These are the ones whom we need to pray for. How do we get through to them, when they have seen and heard, and yet their hearts refuse to see or hear?
John answers this question right afterward. He writes that many miracles and signs Jesus performed are not written in his gospel, but what is written here has been written "so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name." These verses are not at the very end of the book but at the end of the penultimate chapter, because they are supposed to be attached to the Thomas narrative. Many need proof to believe, but many do not believe even with proof. Finally, many believe without proof, and these are the true believers, because the Holy Spirit opened the eyes of their hearts. We live in a fallen world, where the proof of God's existence exudes from every pore of nature, and yet the eyes of most of the world is veiled. No amount of persuasion can soften the hearts of stone, but anything is possible with God, and if we believers--by faith--pray for the unbelieving world and work to get the Word of God into their hands, we can watch God work his wonders firsthand.
Looking at the text itself, we can see how important the Word of God is for those who believe and will come to believe. We cannot argue one into the kingdom of God with well-spoken logic. Instead, we open the text before the one in question, and the Holy Spirit illuminates the truth for him, opens the eyes of his heart, and breathes life into his dead soul. The passage of text in question (John 20:24-end) says that Thomas, one of the twelve, one of the Apostles, someone who has followed Jesus from the beginning of his ministry, was not there to witness the risen Christ. None of us who live today were there, either, to witness the risen Christ, and so we are very much in the same boat. I wasn't there, nor was my friend. Thomas wasn't there (the first time), and when the other disciples said to him that they had seen the risen Lord, he doubted and told that he would not believe in Jesus until he had physically touched him, including putting his fingers in the wounds. He was quite confident that his doubts were justified.
Eight days later, Jesus showed up again, appearing suddenly in a shut room among them, offering peace. Christ did not wait for someone to tell him that Thomas is here! and he wasn't here the week before, and guess what, Jesus! Thomas won't believe in you until he, etc. etc. Jesus does not wait for someone to tell him what he already knows, he goes to Thomas directly and tells him to put his fingers in his wounds. "Do not be unbelieving but believing," he tells him. Thomas now believes and says, "My Lord and my God!" what an amazing and emotional scene. Jesus then gives us a message directly: "Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." That's us, believers who never got to put their fingers into his wounds, and yet we believe whole-heartedly. And yet...
And yet there are they who have not seen and still do not believe. We know about them, we see them every day, and we know that their minds and hearts are closed to the gospel. We pray for God to open their eyes, so they can finally be seeing the truth that we all see. And then, worse, are those who do see Jesus, who can actually see the work of Jesus Christ in their lives. As their creator and sustainer they owe their very lives to him, and yet, they do not believe. Miracles have happened to them. Evidence for God has come pouring down upon their heads. And still they do not believe. The Bible has been opened to them, the words have been read to them, and still their hearts are dead lumps of coal. These are the ones whom we need to pray for. How do we get through to them, when they have seen and heard, and yet their hearts refuse to see or hear?
John answers this question right afterward. He writes that many miracles and signs Jesus performed are not written in his gospel, but what is written here has been written "so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name." These verses are not at the very end of the book but at the end of the penultimate chapter, because they are supposed to be attached to the Thomas narrative. Many need proof to believe, but many do not believe even with proof. Finally, many believe without proof, and these are the true believers, because the Holy Spirit opened the eyes of their hearts. We live in a fallen world, where the proof of God's existence exudes from every pore of nature, and yet the eyes of most of the world is veiled. No amount of persuasion can soften the hearts of stone, but anything is possible with God, and if we believers--by faith--pray for the unbelieving world and work to get the Word of God into their hands, we can watch God work his wonders firsthand.
Saturday, April 7, 2018
Washing in the Word
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.” (John 13:10)
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the narrative of a passage in the bible, in the social underpinnings of the text, on what it means to be a doer of the word, on how to be socially aware of the world around us, what it means to be a Christian, how to interact with the believer, the unbeliever, the stranger, that we miss the spiritual aspect of what God is trying to tell us. Many times, yes, we will over-spiritualize a practical passage of scripture, but there are also other times in which we will over-practicalize a spiritual aspect of the Word, knowing that the practical applications are there, and are apparent, and are easily discerned, sometimes so overtly obvious that we forget there being a spiritual aspect at all, and then, with careful reading, and deep meditation, we discover the spiritual aspect, shocked that we missed it in the first place, and wondering why we hadn't seen it right off from the first.
Such is the 13th chapter of John's gospel, where Jesus washes the disciples' feet. The chapter begins by telling us that Jesus knew that his hour had come and that this last discourse, private for his apostles, was going to have deep spiritual significance, and that he was going to speak very plainly to them, the parables having gone, and although the plain speak may not be clear, and he would have to clarify on the fly, and repeat many things, he was going to speak in that direct language that the apostles could understand, because he needed them to know what to do after he was gone. He would also speak to them plainly in the forty days after his resurrection and before his ascension, but now the time has begun, and his speech was becoming plain for them. He knows that he is ready to begin the last journey to the cross and beyond, and that he would end up at the right hand of the father, and he knows his own, who are in this hostile world, and so the instruction needed to begin, in how to handle themselves against said hostile world, with the love that he was bestowing upon them. He saw the danger was great toward them from the world, and he was going to, over the next few chapters on this gospel, take them gently through all the truths, plainly.
Supper was over, and the text says that at that moment, the devil had put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray Christ, and so Jesus began his discourse with a demonstration. We think there are two sections to this, that the demonstration is distinct and separate from the multi-chapter discourse that follows, but the teaching has already begun with the example. Yes, the devil was about to use one of his own to betray him, but all things were his, given to him by his father, and he was in control of all reality and truth. It was time to begin the discourse. Of course, when he begins to wash the disciples' feet, they do not understand what he is doing. Peter outright refuses, but then Jesus tells him that he will have no part in him if he refuses--a spiritual truth, of course, because Christ is talking about the washing away of sin, and this is what the demonstration is spiritually about--and so Peter immediately reverses his stance on the washing and demands Jesus drench him from head to toe!
Here is the crucial verse that begins everything in the upper room: he that is washed needs not a full-body cleansing, and we should know that Jesus is speaking spiritually here, because his disciples haven't physically washed. He is only physically washing their feet, a symbol of the continual washing in the word of God that they will need to undertake day-in and day-out of their lives. Jesus tells them later (15:3) that he has washed them in his word, and that they, too are to wash each other in the word, and the wash outsiders in the word. Jesus tells them that they are clean--the first to be washed from sins by his atonement, which is to come, but the spiritual truth is there, as he tells them that they are clean--except for their feet. Walking through the world, even the saintliest Christian is going to get dirty from the world itself. The most faithful Christian stumbles, the most faithful Christian sins, and he must continually repent while living in this world, for he has not been glorified yet by the Lord. So, as he walks, his feet get dirty, and so we must wash his spiritual feet, by repenting, by washing his neighbor's feet, his brother's feet, encouraging them spiritually, and pressing them to repent of their day-to-day sins.
But then there are those like Judas, who falls into a special category, one in which he is a pretender, not like the unbelieving world, but more like the false church, who pretends that he is one of the apostles--and he was never an apostle in truth--and who reveals himself to not have the slightest inkling of faith in his Lord. He is not an apostle who was and then was not. As Jesus says a chapter earlier, he was a thief who was stealing from the till. He was never one of them, as John tells us again in his first letter to the church. This is one, like an unbeliever, who has not the Spirit of God in him, who does not believe, and so is not clean in his entirety. He not only has dirty feet, but he has dirty hands and head, as Peter so aptly describes. Those who reject the God who made them are also those who betray Christ, as we all once were, but Jesus takes us and washes us in his blood, the blood that was spilled by his death on the cross, Others are not washed. We may have our dirty feet that need to be continually washed in the water of the word and repentance, but theirs are souls that are completely lost to the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
Our feet are dirty. We must be "continually purged of our corrupt affections and worldly cares which remain daily in us." Jesus taught us this with symbolic examples and he spoke to us plainly. Then he went to the cross to actually execute this purging in reality. And, as we celebrated last week, he rose from the dead to reveal God's glory. In that same discourse, the one where Jesus tells them that they are clean, he tells them that he is now glorified. Even though he had not suffered on the cross yet, he pronounced them clean. Even though he had not risen from the grave, he pronounced himself glorified. The Word of God cleanses us, as the Holy Spirit cleanses us, and keeps us walking in this world safely, until our glorification in the next world. Put your faith in Christ, in the words that he spoke, in the words revealed in the scriptures, and be made clean.
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the narrative of a passage in the bible, in the social underpinnings of the text, on what it means to be a doer of the word, on how to be socially aware of the world around us, what it means to be a Christian, how to interact with the believer, the unbeliever, the stranger, that we miss the spiritual aspect of what God is trying to tell us. Many times, yes, we will over-spiritualize a practical passage of scripture, but there are also other times in which we will over-practicalize a spiritual aspect of the Word, knowing that the practical applications are there, and are apparent, and are easily discerned, sometimes so overtly obvious that we forget there being a spiritual aspect at all, and then, with careful reading, and deep meditation, we discover the spiritual aspect, shocked that we missed it in the first place, and wondering why we hadn't seen it right off from the first.
Such is the 13th chapter of John's gospel, where Jesus washes the disciples' feet. The chapter begins by telling us that Jesus knew that his hour had come and that this last discourse, private for his apostles, was going to have deep spiritual significance, and that he was going to speak very plainly to them, the parables having gone, and although the plain speak may not be clear, and he would have to clarify on the fly, and repeat many things, he was going to speak in that direct language that the apostles could understand, because he needed them to know what to do after he was gone. He would also speak to them plainly in the forty days after his resurrection and before his ascension, but now the time has begun, and his speech was becoming plain for them. He knows that he is ready to begin the last journey to the cross and beyond, and that he would end up at the right hand of the father, and he knows his own, who are in this hostile world, and so the instruction needed to begin, in how to handle themselves against said hostile world, with the love that he was bestowing upon them. He saw the danger was great toward them from the world, and he was going to, over the next few chapters on this gospel, take them gently through all the truths, plainly.
Supper was over, and the text says that at that moment, the devil had put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray Christ, and so Jesus began his discourse with a demonstration. We think there are two sections to this, that the demonstration is distinct and separate from the multi-chapter discourse that follows, but the teaching has already begun with the example. Yes, the devil was about to use one of his own to betray him, but all things were his, given to him by his father, and he was in control of all reality and truth. It was time to begin the discourse. Of course, when he begins to wash the disciples' feet, they do not understand what he is doing. Peter outright refuses, but then Jesus tells him that he will have no part in him if he refuses--a spiritual truth, of course, because Christ is talking about the washing away of sin, and this is what the demonstration is spiritually about--and so Peter immediately reverses his stance on the washing and demands Jesus drench him from head to toe!
Here is the crucial verse that begins everything in the upper room: he that is washed needs not a full-body cleansing, and we should know that Jesus is speaking spiritually here, because his disciples haven't physically washed. He is only physically washing their feet, a symbol of the continual washing in the word of God that they will need to undertake day-in and day-out of their lives. Jesus tells them later (15:3) that he has washed them in his word, and that they, too are to wash each other in the word, and the wash outsiders in the word. Jesus tells them that they are clean--the first to be washed from sins by his atonement, which is to come, but the spiritual truth is there, as he tells them that they are clean--except for their feet. Walking through the world, even the saintliest Christian is going to get dirty from the world itself. The most faithful Christian stumbles, the most faithful Christian sins, and he must continually repent while living in this world, for he has not been glorified yet by the Lord. So, as he walks, his feet get dirty, and so we must wash his spiritual feet, by repenting, by washing his neighbor's feet, his brother's feet, encouraging them spiritually, and pressing them to repent of their day-to-day sins.
But then there are those like Judas, who falls into a special category, one in which he is a pretender, not like the unbelieving world, but more like the false church, who pretends that he is one of the apostles--and he was never an apostle in truth--and who reveals himself to not have the slightest inkling of faith in his Lord. He is not an apostle who was and then was not. As Jesus says a chapter earlier, he was a thief who was stealing from the till. He was never one of them, as John tells us again in his first letter to the church. This is one, like an unbeliever, who has not the Spirit of God in him, who does not believe, and so is not clean in his entirety. He not only has dirty feet, but he has dirty hands and head, as Peter so aptly describes. Those who reject the God who made them are also those who betray Christ, as we all once were, but Jesus takes us and washes us in his blood, the blood that was spilled by his death on the cross, Others are not washed. We may have our dirty feet that need to be continually washed in the water of the word and repentance, but theirs are souls that are completely lost to the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
Our feet are dirty. We must be "continually purged of our corrupt affections and worldly cares which remain daily in us." Jesus taught us this with symbolic examples and he spoke to us plainly. Then he went to the cross to actually execute this purging in reality. And, as we celebrated last week, he rose from the dead to reveal God's glory. In that same discourse, the one where Jesus tells them that they are clean, he tells them that he is now glorified. Even though he had not suffered on the cross yet, he pronounced them clean. Even though he had not risen from the grave, he pronounced himself glorified. The Word of God cleanses us, as the Holy Spirit cleanses us, and keeps us walking in this world safely, until our glorification in the next world. Put your faith in Christ, in the words that he spoke, in the words revealed in the scriptures, and be made clean.
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