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December, 1934
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
cifixion, the devil was specially active (v. 2). The better rendering of the phrase, “supper being ended,” is “during supper” (R. V.), or, “supper being prepared,” or “served.” That is, the meal was ready, but not yet eaten. Judas, by his covetous ness, gave the devil opportunity to inject the awful scheme to betray the Lord of glory. The devil will enter wherever pos sible, and will work havoc in any heart he enters. We must give him no place any where in our being (cf. Eph. 4:27; Jas. 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:8, 9). We may discern in this passage the personality, watchfulness, malignity, and raging hatred of Satan. But while the devil knew much, Jesus knew all. Jesus knew His own relationship to God, His responsibility to God, and His return to God (v. 3). He had come to man without leaving God, and He was return ing to God without leaving man. But whatever He was, and however high His place in the glory, He would ex emplify and teach to His disciples a lesson in the greatest of all graces, humility (vs. 4, 5). He therefore laid aside His gar ments, the outer flowing robe, and with a towel girded Himself as a servant must do. Not only would He assume the posi tion of a servant, but He would actually perform the menial task of washing His disciples’ feet. This was a servant’s office, and He had become the Servant. But we must remember that while He actually did perform this service, it was rendered unto God and not to man. He was never the servant of man, but always the Servant of Jehovah. Thus He would have the ser vice from His own to be rendered as unto God through man. The Sovereign was here occupying the place of the Servant (cf. Phil. 2:5-11). II. T h e O bjection to H umility ( J ohn 13:6-11). Because of ignorance, Peter protested against the Lord’s action (vs. 6-8). This protest gave occasion for the Lord to re veal how gently He deals with ignorance on the part of His followers. He toler ated Peter’s objection, and He abstained from any rough exposure of that ignor ance. But Jesus told Peter that while he did not understand the Lord’s action then, he would understand thereafter. This as surance is a wonderfully comforting thought for all tried saints today. We pass through many bitter experiences which are far beyond our feeble power to understand. Some of these trials appear to be so useless that we are tempted to complain about them. But we should re member Romans 8 :28, .and patiently await the day when all the dark things will be made plain and the crooked things will all be made straight (Isa. 42:16). Peter showed the need for humility when he objected to the Lord’s action. He should have accepted the Lord’s program, even though he did not then understand it. He should have been humble enough to allow the Lord to know some things of which he was still ignorant. Our Lord showed that unless Peter sub mitted to the cleansing which He would administer, Peter would have no part with Him ; that is, Peter would be out of fel lowship with the Lord. This possibility of forfeited communion was too much for Peter. Immediately he asked that not only his feet should be washed, but that his hands and head also should be cleansed. But only the soiled feet needed this wash ing. There are two washings mentioned in Scripture, one with blood (1 John 1:7) and one with water (Eph. 5:25, 26). The
water is the Word of God. It corresponds to the laver of the old economy, while the blood stands for the altar of sacrifice. The blood of the Lamb of God was shed once for all, on Calvary. That act need never be repeated, for it is continuous in its effects, giving always a perfect standing before God. But the washing of water by the Word is constantly needed to enable the saint to walk in the light and so have fellowship with the Lord. This washing is for removal of defilement contracted in daily service (cf. Psa. 119:11). To search the Word to get something from it to give to others is good; to search the Word to get something for oneself is better; but to search it in such a way that the Word itself does the searching is the best of all. Of Judas (v. 11), it is enough to say that while he had the Word, he never had been touched by the blood. To cleanse one’s ways without having the heart changed is both useless and dangerous. It may lead one to become the agent of Satan. III. T h e T eaching in H umility ( J ohn 13:12-17). If the Master washed His disciples’ feet, they should be ready to wash one an other’s feet. The exhortation is to be ready always to humbly apply the Word of God to the erring brother so as to pre sent him cleansed from defilement and re stored to fellowship (cf. Gal. 6:1-3). The Lord told His disciples that this exhibition of humility on His part was to be an example for them. Personally, we do not believe the passage means that there shall be the literal washing of one an other’s feet, although many true believers hold this view. But we believe, rather, that the action was symbolical of that spirit of humility which leads the believer to take the lowly place among his fellows, ready even for menial service—for any thing that would benefit the members of the body of Christ. This spirit of lowli ness will be present if we remember that the servant is not greater than his Lord. The Lord ends the teaching with the im plication that the mere knowing of these truths is not sufficient. Knowledge with out practice is useless (cf. Lk. 6:46-49). IV. T h e E xhortation to H umility (1 P et . 5:5). Peter never forgot the lesson in humil ity that the Lord Jesus had taught. Near the close of Peter’s life, he embodied this teaching in his epistle written to those who, like himself, needed the instruction. When we recall that the apostle was moved by the Holy Spirit as he wrote his epistle, his words carry great weight. Peter taught that the elder is set above the younger, and the latter is to submit to the superior knowledge and experience of the former. Certainly this submission is not required when the elder goes contrary to the plain directions of the Word of God. Then the exhortation is to all to be subject one to another in the spirit of humility; and it ends with the direction to be clothed with humility, the garment that, more than any other, befits the saint. Through pride, Satan fell; Adam carried the race into sinfulness through pride; and in the final analysis, the cross upon which Jesus died was erected by pride. Pride is at the bottom of all unbelief, and unbelief is at the bottom of all sin. Little wonder, then, that God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
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