WHY DID YESHUA
WASH THE FEET OF HIS DISCIPLES?
3 Yeshua knowing that the
Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and
went to God;
4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded
himself.
5 After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples'
feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
6 Then cometh he to Shimon Kepha (Peter): and Kepha (Peter) saith unto him,
Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
7 Yeshua answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou
shalt know hereafter.
8 Kepha (Peter) saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Yeshua answered
him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
9 Shimon Kepha (Peter) saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my
hands and my head.
10 Yeshua saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet,
but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. (John 13:3-10)
8 thou hast no part with me - in Israel all tribes (except the tribe of
Levi) received their part in Eretz Israel:
1 The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part
(chelek) nor inheritance (nachalah) with Israel: they shall eat the offerings
of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance.
2 Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the LORD is
their inheritance, as he hath said unto them. (Deut. 18:1-2)
- About spiritual part:
13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my
holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and
shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor
speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride
upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy
father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. (Isaiah 58:13-14)
In Revelation we read:
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the
second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and
shall reign with him a thousand years. (Rev. 20:6)
Here is Greek "meros" (part) as well as in John 13:8.
Why did Yeshua wash the feet of his disciples? Why did Kepha say:
"Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head"? What did we
know about washing of the feet and hands from Torah?
- A ritual purification of the sons of Aaron before serving:
19 For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat:
20 When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with
water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to
burn offering made by fire unto the LORD:
21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it
shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout
their generations. (Exodus 30:19-21)
Washing of hands and feet wasn't a washing only but it was a consecration of
the hands and feet.
And just as the
priests had to be consecrated for the service in the temple, as the disciples
of Yeshua had to be consecrated for the ministry of the Gospel.
- A purification of the heart:
29 If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;
31 Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.
(Job 9:29-31)
6 I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD:
(Psalms 26:6)
13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.
(Psalms 73:13)
12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed
from their filthiness. (Prov. 30:12)
16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine
eyes; cease to do evil; (Isaiah 1:16)
- God's washing:
4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and
shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit
of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. (Isaiah 4:4)
9 Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from
thee, and I anointed thee with oil. (Ezek. 16:9)
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all
your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you:
and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an
heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes,
and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. (Ezek. 36:25-27)
- a symbol of politeness (Abraham met with angels):
1 And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent
door in the heat of the day;
2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when
he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward
the ground,
3 And said, My LORD, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I
pray thee, from thy servant:
4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest
yourselves under the tree: (Gen. 18:1-4)
- a humility:
40 And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake
unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife.
41 And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold,
let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
(1Sam. 25:40-41)
In the Gospel we read Messiah Himself washed the feet of His disciples.
It was the greatest example of humility!
It was important too
because of there was a strife between disciples who of them should be accounted
the greatest:
24 And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted
the greatest.
25 And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over
them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.
26 But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the
younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. (Luke 22:24-26)
12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set
down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?
13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to
wash one another's feet.
15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord;
neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. (John 13:12-17)
Semitisms
(drawing from Hebrew)
7 Yeshua answered and said unto him... (John 13:7) - in Torah we read:
27 And Abraham answered and said... (Gen. 18:27) (in Hebrew: vayaan Avraham
vayomar...)
1 And Moses answered and said... (Exod. 4:1) (in Hebrew: vayaan Moshe
vayomer...)
8 And all the people
answered together, and said... (Exod. 19:8) (in Hebrew: vayaanu kol ha-am
yahdav vayomru...) etc. (More about semitisms: Elena Fedotova. On the
interpretation of the passage John 13:1-20 ("A washing of
feet")//Proceedings of the 16 th Annual International Conference on Jewish
Studies, Moscow, 3-5 February 2009 (in Russian) http://www.sefer.ru/upload/Conf_Iudaika_6_2.pdf)