Joel M Bradshaw

10Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” 11For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”–John 13

Jesus was washing the disciples’ feet and decided to make the conversation theological. This verse has a variant and the two readings affected how it was applied in church history. One has ‘except for his feet’ not in the text and one has it in the text. Usually history favors the shorter readings, but in this case the ancient manuscript evidence actually favors the longer reading. So what do we do with the phrase? I can think of two options and you must choose 1.

1. YOU NEED MORE WASHINGS. This view depends upon Jesus for salvation but actually makes it more of a series of steps. Thus certain activities or sacraments to be repeated as part of your salvation experience. It’s as if Christ left the work unfinished except for critical steps that maintain things. Thus Jesus meant that they were lacking until they also washed their feet.
2. YOU DON’T NEED MORE WASHINGS. This view sees the saving work of Christ as once for all. Any further washing simply looks back at the work of Christ. Thus every time a Christian takes communion, that communion doesn’t add anything to his account, but simply looks back and depends upon the salvation they had already received in Jesus. It’s meaningful not because it adds anything new, but because it rests upon the foundation of the old. Jesus thus meant that they were already cleaned and the washing of the feet reminded them of that.

You are either going to view the Christian life as things you need to do for your salvation or things you do because you have experienced salvation. Jesus either needs you to build upon what we has done or what he has done is enough. It gets tempting to make the Christian life a lists of things to check off or maintain as if Jesus is depending in any way upon me and my efforts. It’s also tempting to see your story as so broken or messy that Jesus must have to spend the rest of your life cleaning you and forcing you to submit to a series of cleansings. Neither are biblically true. A Christian can follow certain practices or ordinances like baptism and the Lord’s supper in obedience and have them look back at the work of Jesus. If I am accomplishing anything in my own power, I am not depending upon Jesus alone for my salvation,–JMB