Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all [
John 13:10].
Now He says, "He that's washed needeth not to be washed." That doesn't make good sense, does it? The reason it doesn't is that He used two different words and, unfortunately, the translators didn't make the distinction (nor do our more recent translations make the distinction), but they are absolutely two different words. He says, "...He that is louo." Louo means "bathed." Nipto is the word translated "wash." "He that is bathed needeth not except to wash his feet."
In those days they went to the public bath for their bathing. Then a man would put on his sandals to come home. In his home was a basin of water for him to wash his feet because they had gotten dirty walking through the streets of the city. Not only was there dirt, but in those days the garbage was thrown into the streets. So even though he had just come from a bath, he had to wash his feet when he entered the house.
Our Lord is teaching that when we came to the Cross, when we came to Jesus, we were washed all over. That is the bath, louo, regeneration. When we walk through this world, we are defiled and get dirty. We become disobedient, and sin gets into our lives. I do not believe that any believer goes through a day without getting just a little dirty. He says that we cannot have fellowship with Him if we are dirty.
So the washing of the feet, nipto, is the cleansing in order to restore us to fellowship. "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and
the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us [keeps on cleaning us] from all sin" (
1John 1:6-7).
Friend, in order to have our feet washed we must first confess our sin. To confess means to agree with God. It means to say the same thing that God says about our sin.
One of the hardest things in the world is to get a saint to admit he is a sinner. Coldness, indifference, lack of love, all are seen by God as sin.
If we confess, He is faithful and just to forgive. But that is not all. If you are going to have your feet washed, you must put them into the hands of the Savior. That is obedience. We can't just say, "God forgive me, I did wrong," and then go out and do the same thing all over again. That's not getting your feet into the hands of the Savior.
Thru The Bible with J. Vernon McGee.