GETTING THE MESSAGE/The amazing grace in Christ

In John 13, we have the story of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples. The Lord Jesus knew the time had arrived for Him to offer up Himself as an atoning sacrifice for sin. It is the time of the Passover, and He is the Passover Lamb of God. His public ministry over, the Lord gives His disciples a memorable lesson of how great a salvation He provides for His people.

There are prophecies in the Old Testament prophets of the necessity of being cleansed from sin. One of those is in Zechariah 13: “There will be poured out in the house of David a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy when they look on me whom they have pierced…On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.” This fountain of cleansing we desperately need. There is but one who can do it.

Jesus washes the feet of His disciples to give a powerful illustration of the cleansing only He can do. In those days, it was common for the one who hosted a supper to provide water or a servant to wash the feet of his guests. People would get cleaned up to attend the feast, but their feet would get dirty on the walk to the event.

In Luke 7, Jesus rebuked the Pharisee who had invited Him to a meal for not being courteous enough to provide water to wash His feet. But teachers or rabbis were not the ones who washed the feet of others, so the disciples are stunned to see Jesus, the Lord, washing their feet.

John describes the Lord’s actions in detail. He “rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him” (verses 4-5).

Jesus is doing the work of a humble servant, pointing to the glory of God in the salvation of men. In John 12, we see the glory of Jesus is hidden from the people, “though he had done so many signs before them” (John 12: 37). John then quotes the prophet Isaiah twice with respect to the blindness of sinful man to the glory of God.

One of the quotes comes from Isaiah chapter 6. In that chapter Isaiah has a vision of the Lord, “high and lifted up.” Angels are singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.” Isaiah is instantly convicted of the incongruence of man’s disregard for God’s glory and how glorious and holy God actually is. So Isaiah says, “Woe is me! For I am lost…” The earth may be full of the Lord’s glory, but man does not glorify God. That is the misery sin causes in us all.

The second quote comes from Isaiah 52: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” This verse refers to the promised Messiah, who in Isaiah 53 we learn is to be stricken, smitten, and afflicted, a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” The reason for his affliction was “the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

The humble, afflicted person in Isaiah 53 is the same person who is high and lifted up in Isaiah 6! When Jesus took off His outer garment to wash the disciples’ feet, He illustrated leaving His glory above to take the form of a servant in order to cleanse us from our sin. He poured water into the basin, symbolizing the words of Isaiah 53:12, “He poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors.” The Lord is glorified in His majesty (Isaiah 6) and His meekness (Isaiah 53).

You can never understand how great a salvation God gives until you see how great a Savior Jesus is. Hebrews 1 says about Jesus, “After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of majesty on high.” It also says of Christ, “He upholds the universe by the word of his power.”

If God Almighty, the glorious and holy God, washes your feet, it must be a great thing. If He takes your nature in order to serve you by suffering and dying as a sacrifice for the judgment you deserved, the only conclusion you can make is that it is amazing grace. If you ignore so great a salvation, you will deservedly perish. But if you submit to being cleansed by Christ, you will know life with God, and see the glory and blessedness of God. Has Christ made you clean? That is the great question to you.

The Rev. Chris Shelton is pastor of Union’s First Presbyterian Church.