John 13:8

Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. PETER SAITH UNTO HIM, THOU SHALT NEVER WASH (MORE EMPHATICALLY, 'NEVER SHALT THOU WASH') MY FEET: - q.d., 'That is an incongruity to which I can never submit. How like the man! JESUS ANSWERED HIM, IF I WASH THEE NOT, THOU HAST NO PART WITH ME. What Peter could not submit to was, that the Master should serve His servant. But the whole saving work of Christ was one continued series of such services, only ending with and consummated by the most self-sacrificing and transcendent of all services: "THE SON OF MAN CAME not to be ministered unto, but TO MINISTER, AND TO GIVE HIS LIFE A RANSOM FOR MANY." (See the note at .) If Peter, then, could not submit to let his Master go down so low as to wash his feet, h...

8._Thou shalt never wash my feet. _Hitherto Peter’s modesty was excusable, though it was not free from blame; but now he errs more grievously, when he has been corrected, and yet does not yield. (42) And, indeed, it is a common fault, that ignorance is closely followed by obstinacy. It is a plausible excuse, no doubt, that the refusal springs from reverence for Christ; but since he does not absolutely obey the injunction, the very desire of showing his respect for Christ loses all its gracefulness. The true wisdom of faith, therefore, is to approve and embrace with reverence whatever proceeds from God, as done with propriety and in good order; nor is there any other way, indeed, in which his name can be sanctified by us; for if we do not believe that whatever he does is done for a very good reason: our flesh, being naturally stubborn, will continually murmur, and will not render to God t...

1-17 Our Lord Jesus has a people in the world that are his own; he has purchased them, and paid dear for them, and he has set them apart for himself; they devote themselves to him as a peculiar people. Those whom Christ loves, he loves to the end. Nothing can separate a true believer from the love of Christ. We know not when our hour will come, therefore what we have to do in constant preparation for it, ought never to be undone. What way of access the devil has to men's hearts we cannot tell. But some sins are so exceedingly sinful, and there is so little temptation to them from the world and the flesh, that it is plain they are directly from Satan. Jesus washed his disciples' feet, that he might teach us to think nothing below us, wherein we may promote God's glory, and the good of our brethren. We must address ourselves to duty, and must lay aside every thing that would hinder us in...

Verse John 13:8. _IF I WASH THEE NOT, THOU HAST NO PART WITH ME._] Thou canst not be my disciple unless I wash thee. It is certain Christ did not mean to exclude him from the apostolic office, if he should persist, through the deepest reverence for his Master, to refuse to let him wash his _feet_: this act of his was emblematical of something spiritual; of something that concerned the salvation of Peter; and without which washing he could neither be an apostle or be finally saved; therefore our Lord said, _If I wash thee not,_ _thou hast no part with me_. There is a mystical washing by the blood of Christ, 1 John 1:7; and by his Spirit, 1 Corinthians 6:11;...

THOU SHALT NEVER WASH MY FEET - This was a decided and firm expression of his reverence for his Master, and yet it was improper. Jesus had just declared that it had a meaning, and that he ought to submit to it. We should yield to all the plain and positive requirements of God, even if we cannot now see how obedience would promote his glory. IF I WASH THEE NOT - This had immediate reference to the act of washing his feet; and it denotes that if Peter had not so much confidence in him as to believe that an act which he performed was proper, though he could not see its propriety - if he was not willing to submit his will to that of Christ and implicitly obey him, he had no evidence of piety. As Christ, however, was accustomed to pass from temporal and sensible objects to those which were spiritual, and to draw instruction from whatever was before him, some have supposed that he here took oc...

EXPOSITION IV. THE FINAL MANIFESTATIONS IN WORD AND ACTION OF THE LOGOS INCARNATE, EXPRESSING ITSELF ABSOLUTELY AND TO THE UTTERMOST AS LOVE. (Jn 13-21.) In two divisions— A._ The inner glorification of the Christ in the presence of those who received and believed on him_. *** The Loges incarnate as life, light, love, and sacrifice, lavishing all his grace upon his own (Jn 13-17.). B._ The outer glorification of the Christ in his Passion and resurrection_. *** The fully manifested love laying down life that he might take it again, and lift

PETER SAITH UNTO HIM, THOU SHALL NEVER WASH MY FEET,.... Before he had behaved with modesty, but now with obstinacy and perverseness; and though these expressions might arise from great reverence to Christ, yet they were wrong and rashly spoken. Peter ought to have been satisfied with Christ's reply, and have submitted, since though he then did not know the reason of such surprising conduct, he should hereafter. In order therefore to bring him to a compliance, JESUS ANSWERED HIM, IF I WASH THEE NOT, THOU HAST NO PART WITH ME; he does not say, if I wash not thy feet, but thee, meaning not with water, but with his blood, and by his Spirit; for Christ uses the word wash here, not literally, but in a mystical and figurative sense, and takes an occasion, as he sometimes does, from things natural, to discourse of things spiritual: moreover, he does not say, thou hast no part "in" me, but thou...

John 13:1. _Now before the feast of the passover,_ Or, just as it was about to begin, John 13:1. _When Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end._ That is a very beautiful description of Christ's death: «His hour was that he should depart out of this world unto the Father,» just as though he was merely going on a journey, leaving one land for another; and if this be a fair description of such a stormy passage as that of our Lord Jesus, who died for our sins upon Calvary's cross, it must with equal truth describe the death of any of the children of God. There is also an appointed time for us to depart, and to be with Christ which is far better than remaining h

CHAPTER 13 _ 1. The Washing of the Disciples' Feet. (John 13:1 .)_ 2. Instructions given; to Wash One Another's Feet. (John 13:12 .) 3. The Betrayal Foretold. (John 13:18 .) 4. His Own Departure and the New Commandment. (John 13:31 .) 5. The Denial of Peter Foretold. (John 13:36 .) We reach with this chapter the most precious portion of this Gospel. The multitudes are left behind. Israel has completely rejected Him and now He gathered His own beloved disciples around Himself and gave them the sweet and blessed words of in

JOHN 13. THE REVELATION TO THE DISCIPLES. John 13:1. The Agape and the Foot Washing. According to Jn. the events of the Passion are the voluntary sacrifice of Love. He loved His own to the end. At the meal which took place _before_ the Passover, an intentional (?) correction of the earlier accounts, He gave them proof of the completeness of His love. Where the others record facts about the Eucharist, our author dwells on the origin of the Agape. Christ's love is contrasted with the treachery to which Satan had already persuaded Judas. To wash the feet was regarded as the typical work of slaves (_cf._ 1 Samuel 25:41). Peter's first remonstrance is met by the promise that the future will make all plain, his second by words which convince him that the act is symbolical. The sudden change is true