Jesus is still washing feet
By Koesmanto Bong

I have attended or participated in a few foot washing ceremonies since becoming a Christian. While those who organized them attempted to follow Jesus' example, I realized that Jesus might have had something deeper in mind when He washed the disciples' feet.

While reading the passages where Jesus is washing his disciples' feet (John 13:12-16, Matt. 20:25-28, and Matt. 23:8-12), I noticed that Peter had a hard time letting Jesus wash his feet.

"He came to Simon Peter, who said to Him, 'Lord, are you going to wash my feet?' Jesus replied, 'You do not realize what I am doing, but later you will understand.' 'No,' said Peter, 'you shall never wash my feet.' Jesus answered, 'Unless I wash you, you have no part with me'" (John 13:6-8, NIV). Why would Jesus tell Peter that he didn't understand what He was doing, when he was obviously washing their feet?

Why would Jesus tell Peter that he couldn't have any part in Him unless He washed him?

The disciples at that time did not realize they would actually become a part of the body of Christ. This is a mystery they would not understand until after the Holy Spirit came upon them at the Day of Pentecost. They were then joined to Him through the Holy Spirit, and became the feet of the corporate body of Christ.

After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, God would once again walk the earth-through Christ's disciples.

In the natural, feet in Jesus' day could easily get very dirty by the end of the day. Most people walked barefoot or wore open sandals. The streets were made of dirt and there was no indoor plumbing to flush away human waste. Thus feet needed to be washed at the end of every day.

Let's take that to a higher level. Let's say that "feet" represent our walk, our activities on earth. We live in a filthy world. The average American is bombarded with commercials every day on billboards, TV, radio and in magazines. Most of them are coupled with sex, and are designed to bypass our conscious mind and go right to certain triggers in our subconscious.

Yes, God's 'feet,'-us, His body in the earth-get awfully filthy simply from walking through life.

Perhaps there are far more seductive enticements for the flesh here in America than all the ancient cities that symbolize corrupt living like Sodom and Babylon.

Our minds are poisoned by the promotion of ungodly ideas and lifestyles in such heavy doses that it is impossible for us to shut them out or avoid their influence.

What Jesus said to Peter and what He is still saying to His body on this earth today is this: "I have left you in a dirty world to be my feet, to spread the Good News, to be its light and its salt. As you live your life in this world, which is overflowing with filth, you will get dirty. Your mind will absorb some of the thoughts, the ideas and the enticements of the political, religious, cultural and economic systems.

"Come to Me every day in prayer. Ask Me to cleanse your mind of the daily dirt you will automatically pick up simply because you are living in a filthy culture. The amount of filth your mind will pick up will be impossible for you to try to filter out. Come to Me at the end of each day. Humble yourself before Me, and I will cleanse you.

"You see, child, you are My feet in this earth. I must clean you if you are to remain in Me. If you do not let Me cleanse you, it will harden your heart and communication between us will break down. You will be cut off from the flow of My Spirit. You will quench My Spirit; you will lose the power in My grace for you."

We do not need to feel condemned by the ungodly values and ideas that we pick up along the way any more than a person living in Jesus' day needed to feel condemned for walking in the streets and getting dirt and dust on their feet. We simply need to let Jesus clean us, His feet on this earth, daily.

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