(John 13:3-11) – “3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, 4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash (Gk: niptó) the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing (niptó) my feet?”
7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” 8 Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash (niptó) my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash (niptó) you, you have no part with Me.” 9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”
10 Jesus said to him, “He who is washed (Gk: louó) needs only to wash (niptó) his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For He knew who would betray Him; therefore, He said, “You are not all clean.”
These two above truths both meaning “to wash” point to the standing of a believer in Christ and his experience.
Someone has stated: “Union with Jesus is so strong that nothing can break it. Communion with Jesus is so fragile that the slightest sin can break it.”
Meaning:
Spiritual Lesson:
Every believer has been cleansed (washed/ bathed) completely from his sins in the precious blood of Jesus once and for all at Calvary. This is his standing before God – justified, guiltless & righteous. This position has been wrought through the finished work and is permanent and cannot be changed.
If sin comes into a believer’s life, it does not affect this “righteous standing” before the Lord, that we already have, because this standing is in Jesus Christ, who is accepted by God and we in Him.
Thus, if a believer sins, he does not need to go back to Calvary to be saved all over again any more than the Romans needed to go back to the public bath for a fresh bath all over again, just because his feet became dirty on the way home.
Feet stand for a person’s walk through this life, his experience. As we are on our way home to heaven, sin sometimes enters our lives. No saint wants to sin. It is his nature to hate sin. But when sin does enter (dirty feet), then our walk is defiled and needs to be cleansed.
Thus, Jesus said to Peter; If I wash (nipto) thee not, thou hast no part with me. That is, if we are not cleansed from sin in our daily walk (experience), we have no fellowship with our Lord. Known sin in the life that is held to, and cherished, breaks our fellowship with Him.
The only way to regain that blessed privilege of fellowship is to confess our sins (1 John 1:9), and God will cleanse us and restore us to that communion with our Lord which we enjoyed before.
The word “confess” (Gk: homologeó) – speak the same thing as God speaks about our sin, then that is confession. Our experience (walk) is then cleansed from all defilement and we are restored to fellowship with God.
(John 13:12-17) –12 “So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”
By washing the disciples’ feet Jesus concluded two things:
(1) We are to do the same – by washing one another’s feet in the body of Christ, forgiveness being the key.
(2) He backed up the doctrine of Eternal Security – Once Saved, Always Saved (OSAS) – through the Finished Work. Once we have received salvation by believing in Christ, by putting all our trust in Him, then we are saved from our sins and we become children of God [See John 3:16; 1:12].
It is He who saves us by grace through faith the moment we believed (Ephesians 2:8-9). We do not save ourselves in the first place and neither can we un-save ourselves. We are justified by faith in Christ and His atonement. All that is needed after this is to maintain a holy walk before Him. If and when we do get our feet soiled (through sin), then we are to get our feet washed (nipto) again through confession – which is made directly to God as only He has the power to forgive us; “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Astronomers and those who study the stars will tell you that stars are constantly moving. Because the earth rotates from West to East, all stars appear to be moving from East to West in contrast. This is similar to how trees appear to move backward when you are traveling in a car forward. One may conclude therefore, that the stars do not actually move, and that this appearance of movement is only due to the rotation- of-the-earth-effect. But the truth is that the stars do move, but their movement is usually from East to West and difficult to detect with the naked eye as the distance between us and them is very, very great.
However, when we come to the Star of Bethlehem, we see another strange occurrence. This star was also moving, but not in the regular pattern used by all stars. It moved from East to South, a completely different direction. It was this different movement that no doubt caught the attention of the Astronomers or wise men. [Some bible students refer to these wise men (or Magi) as astrologers; Young’s Analytical Concordance refers to them as astronomers]. These wise men researched this star and found in the Prophets (as Daniel had taught them), that there was going to be a special star that would reveal the birth of the Messiah.
Numbers 24:17 states that: “A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel.” This prophecy was referring to the Messiah who would come forth from the tribe of Judah, who was the son of Jacob. However, more than just a physical star, it was saying that a Mighty King would come forth as the Messiah-Saviour of the world. The star was only an indicator, that something huge and powerful was happening in the galaxies above.
Why did it move from East to South? Because Jerusalem firstly is 800 miles approximately (Southward) from Persia / Babylon where the wise men lived. And Bethlehem was another six miles (Southward) from Jerusalem. Yet, this irregular path of movement could have caused a clash and a crash with other stars in orbit that were moving in their designated positions.
Johannes Kepler (A Christian astronomer) seems to indicate that at the time of Jesus’ birth, there was an unusual conjunction of stars. Clearly God was getting heaven and earth ready for the birth of His Son. As most bible teachers believe, this Star of Bethlehem was most likely to be the Shekinah glory of God, that appeared in mid-air as a star. It would be similar in essence but different in manifestation to what led the children of Israel through the wilderness (See Exodus 40:36-38).
God was not about to use just a star He created to announce the birth of His Son. Oh No! His intention was to reach the Gentiles with this announcement. So, He was going to announce his Son’s arrival by permitting His own luminous glory in the form of a star, His glory being much brighter that any star. One that would cut a pathway across all boundaries set for mere celestial beings, so that the message of the gospel would be made known to all the Gentiles. Praise His Name!
(Matthew 2:1-2) – “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His Star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
A couple of thoughts on the above two lines:
Firstly, we know that when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, there was an announcement made to the shepherds through the angels in Luke 2:12. An angel of the Lord stood before the shepherds and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were afraid. But angel reassures them and says – For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:11-12).
Secondly, far away in the East, there was a group of wise men (magi), who were astronomers and spent their time studying the stars. Youngs analytical concordance refers to them as Persian astronomers. They saw a special star suddenly come out of nowhere, which caught their interest and then began to research it. Interesting that they received a sign or call from God while they were busy in their normal pursuits.
Through their inquiry and search in the prophets, they came to realize that this star was a sign about something special about to happen (Numbers 24:17 – Out of Jacob, will come a star…).
Jerusalem: They followed the star and reached Jerusalem and Bethlehem where it stood still over the place where Jesus was born. These Magi were Gentiles, remember.
Gentiles: It is interesting that the message of the Saviour’s birth was sent to the shepherds (Jews) and the Magi (Gentiles). This clearly indicates that He Jesus was born into our world for all mankind who were just two groups at that time – Jews and Gentiles. A beautiful picture of the love of God sent to cover all.
Arrival: When they arrived at the place where the star stood still, they found the Saviour – Jesus the King of the Jews.
Three things we can learn:
First, they sought the King. We are clearly told, that if we seek, we will find, when we search for Him with all our hearts. (Matthew 7:7; Jer 29:13). One of the main reasons why they are called “wise men” is because they sought the Lord, not because they studied the stars. The whole earth reflects the glory of the Lord, and even if you are studying the stars, it will point to the glory of the Lord. They sought and found the One who created the stars. Besides the embodiment of all Truth and Wisdom is founded in Christ alone. “God looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God” (Psalm 53:2) NRSV
When they found Him, they worshipped Him! 11 “And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him (Mt 2:11a).
Second, they followed the signs God gave them till they found Him. And when they found Him, they worshipped Him, for they had found the King. What a joy to know that their study of the stars and their long journey had not been in vain. What a joy to know that God can lead us through anything, if we set our hearts to find him.
Thirdly, after they worshipped Him: – “And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Mt 2:11b).
Interesting to note that the word for “gifts” is “dóron” – which means gifts or offerings. The Greek word “dóron” primarily refers to a gift or offering – it is used to denote something given freely and generously, without expectation of return. In the New Testament, “dóron” is frequently associated with offerings given to God as an act of worship.
We see here three steps involved in the search of these wise men:
Note: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Mt 6:21). Their hearts were filled with devotion and love for their great find – The Lord Jesus Christ! We bring an offering from our hearts as our act of worship!
Such communion with the Lord through His Word does eight things as shown in the following eight verses taken from Psalm 119:129-136:
Life from Death (GGF-26.06.2022), is the working of the Cross in a Christian’s life to produce death to the self-life. (2 Cor 4:6-12) explains how the light of the glory of Christ is a mighty treasure within the earthen vessels of our lives. This needs to be broken so that this light can shine through unhindered.
By Ian D’Souza
The entire globe is stricken with the current Covid-19 pandemic which has overturned our regular way of life. It has shut down the economy of every nation, and plunged the entire globe into a devastating health crisis. At the time of this writing around 3.15 million people globally have died from this pandemic (29th April, 2021). We have survived the first wave by God’s grace only to find that a second wave (more aggressive than the first) is upon us. There is even mention of a third-wave-possibility due to mutations of this virus.
Continue readingBy Ian D’Souza
(Discourse with the Samaritan woman at the well)
(John 4:21-24) – “Jesus said to her, “Believe Me, woman, that a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. But a time is coming, and even now has arrived, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
This is a very powerful and revelatory text. It teaches us what is true worship and at the same time exposes what is false worship. Jesus is having a conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. The topic is worship. She seems blind and unaware of what true worship is all about. She thinks that true worship must be done in some special place – either on a mountain top or in the holy city of Jerusalem. But she was only revealing her ignorance in all this. Jesus exposed her ignorance completely so that it could be removed from her mind and replaced with the truth. He showed in effect, that she didn’t know WHO to worship, WHERE to worship nor HOW to worship. All spiritually blinded people fall into this category and hence worship wrongly. But let’s start at the beginning. Continue reading
The Beacon 