What it means to be initiated into the secret of the mystery. Part 2. Phi 4:12; Joh 13

GRACE BIBLE CHURCH
Robert R. McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary.
From the week ending 01/16/05
What it means to be initiated into the secret of the mystery. Part 2.

JOH 13:1-3 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world face to face with the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, {the son} of Simon, to betray Him, {Jesus,} knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God [first advent], and was going back to God [ascension],

The first three verses are simply the background for one of the two prophecies concerning the Church-age. In verse 4, the disciples had come into the room, as was the custom in the ancient world, barefooted. They took off their sandals at the door and although there's a pool of water there for them to go through, they came in with dirty feet and they are now sitting at the table.

JOH 13:4, the Lord rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about.

The pres-pass-ind of the verb egeiro, means to be aroused, to rise up, to take a stand, it means to stand up for that which is true.

Remember that Satan loves to cause divisions and he had succeeded here with the disciples arguing about who was the greatest. Luk 22:24, And there arose also a dispute among them {as to} which one of them was regarded to be greatest. This is why we are to resist the devil, flee from him and not give him a forum.

JOH 13:3, {Jesus,} knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God [first advent], and was going back to God [ascension], rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about.

The laying aside of the garments is analogous to our Lord laying aside His deity and becoming true humanity. The verb for aside is tithemi; it is a dramatic present tense because this is a dramatic moment when Christ is about to become their servant. Becoming the servant of all is a picture of going to the cross. So he laid aside his garments, this is his mantle, his outer garments, the Greek word himation is simply His outer garment, His robe, or His mantle. This is analogous to the true doctrine of kenosis which means that during the incarnation, our Lord voluntarily restricted the independent use of His divine attributes (PHI 2:5-11). He did this in compliance with the Father's plan for the strategic victory of the angelic conflict. For the plan for the incarnation not only called for the judgment of our sins, the provision of eternal salvation for all members of the human race, but simultaneously for the strategic victory of the angelic conflict. The Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily took on Himself true humanity in order to redeem mankind from sin, in order to propitiate God the Father, and to reconcile mankind to God.

As Jesus laid aside His outer garments to take the place of a servant, He surrendered the independent use of His divine attributes to fulfill the Father's plan. He depended on the power of the Spirit, rather than His attributes of deity. This principle speaks of Christ, the servant of all became our servant at the cross, and now He's the greatest of all, seated at the right hand of the Father (PHI 2:11).

JOH 13:4-5 the Lord rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about or He tied it around Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

The Greek word for towel is a very special word; the noun lention is equivalent to a beach towel. It is an article belonging to a servant in which he uses one end of the towel to wash the feet and the other end of the towel to dry them. He strings it around his neck and that's why the Lord didn't wear anything because He would get dirty in the process.

The water is analogous to the word of God, EPH 5:26, PSA 119:9. It's very important to notice the word for wash, nipto which means to wash the hands or the feet as a ceremonial function. Later, the verb that means to wash the whole body will be used.

So, washing of the body = salvation, washing of the feet = rebound.

Rebound is necessary for service and notice their feet must be cleaned. There's only one person who is there that needs more than his feet washed and that's Judas Iscariot.

Beginning with verse 6, we have the apostle Peter who, often seems to see things from human viewpoint. MAT 16:22-23, after the Lord said that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things that Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You." But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's."

Back to JOH 13:6-7 where the Lord has already washed some of the apostles feet and now it's Peter's turn, And so He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, "Lord, do You wash my feet?" Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do you do not realize now, but you shall understand hereafter."

Unfortunately, many believers still do not realize what He did, so let's note some principles regarding this:

1. The disciples had bathed before coming to the last supper, all of them had taken a bath as was the custom of the Passover meal.

2. The taking of a bath is analogous to salvation and therefore you can anticipate, one bath but many washings. TIT 3:5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

The restoring of your strength is the filling of the Holy Spirit, 1JO 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

There is one bath (the cross), but many foot washings (referring to the rebound technique).

3. From walking through the streets, the disciples have accumulated filth on their feet which is analogous to the believer being out of fellowship. The streets represent the world or the cosmic system which we inevitably all fall into from time to time.

4. The custom of foot-washing is analogous to rebound. If you come with dirty feet you must rebound before you sit down to dine with the Lord as REV 3:20 says "I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me."

5. Before you eat the Lord's food, which is Bible doctrine, you wash your feet, rebound.

6. This dinner was fellowship with the Lord in which food was involved. Our greatest fellowship with the Lord is when we meet to dine upon Bible doctrine. The believer cannot take in Bible doctrine with dirt on his feet.

7. The feet also represent service, it's impossible to serve the Lord with dirty feet. Jesus did not have to have his feet washed because of impeccability, He's perfect. The disciples needed their feet washed because of defilement.

8. In JOH 12:3, the feet of Jesus had been anointed with oil, while at the beginning of this chapter, the feet of the disciples are washed. Jesus washed their feet, a picture of Christ providing rebound. The fact that Jesus washed their feet is the relationship between 1JO 1:7 and 1JO 1:9. In 1JO 1:7 the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. He was judged for sins, we name a sin, or confess a sin that has been judged at the cross, and he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1JO 1:7 but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

1JO 1:9 If we acknowledge [name and cite] our sins, He is faithful and righteous, with the result that He forgives us our sins [known sins] and purifies us from all unrighteousness [unknown sins].

9. Oil on the feet of the Savior indicates the sustaining ministry of the Holy Spirit while water on the feet of the disciples indicates the cleansing of the rebound technique.

10. TLJC will wash their feet which is a picture of Christ providing the basis of rebound on the cross. ISA 52:7 quoted in Rom 10:15, How beautiful are the feet of those who communicate glad tidings of good things!

This means that all communicators of doctrine have to keep their feet clean or be cleansed to communicate and that is done the exact same way as you, rebound!

Again, JOH 13:6-8, And so He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, "Lord, do You wash my feet?" Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do you do not realize now [you're ignorant of], but you shall understand or learn about hereafter." Peter said to Him, "Never shall You wash my feet!" [He absolutely refuses, you will never ever wash my feet] Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you [maybe I will, maybe I will not], you have no part with Me."

The doctrinal significance has eluded Peter. It is interesting that it is Peter who will be the first to apply this doctrine (rebound). He will deny the Lord 3 times and he will have to use the rebound technique. Peter's statement is a statement of sincerity, but like many sincere people, he was sincerely wrong. Sincerity is not a part of the Christian way of life because there is no virtue in sincerity. Bible doctrine produces something far greater than the hypocrisy of sincerity.

The principle being emphasized is that rebound precedes the correct function of perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine. Before the Lord can make the first prophecy concerning the Church-age and the dispensation of no prophecy, He must teach the disciples to rebound from the filth of competing and comparing so that they can recover and learn doctrine.

So far then we have JOH 13:1-8 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world face to face with the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, {the son} of Simon, to betray Him, {Jesus,} knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God [first advent], and was going back to God [ascension], rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. And so He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, "Lord, do You wash my feet?" Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do you do not realize now [you're ignorant of], but you shall understand or learn about hereafter." Peter said to Him, "Never shall You wash my feet!"

Peter has no doctrine resident in his soul to associate with this ritual of foot-washing and so it is meaningless without the doctrine. When you have a ritual, as this was, and you are not yet into the new dispensation of the Church-age, then you must have the doctrinal understanding that the ritual teaches because all ritual was designed to teach doctrine.

The ritual here is foot washing and the doctrine is rebound, and the trouble with Peter is he doesn't understand rebound at this time but he will later on, especially when he needs rebound! Concerning the doctrinal analogy, Peter draws a blank, but TLJC says something very prophetic and very wonderful to him, he says, JOH 13:7 "What I do you do not realize now, but you shall understand hereafter." The phrase You shall understand is the future tense of the verb ginosko which means that Peter will learn doctrine including the rebound technique. The middle voice means, Peter will be benefited by learning it (within a few days), the indicative mood is the reality of Peter's future understanding. First, Peter is shocked and ignorant and then Peter gets emotional, JOH 13:8, Never shall You wash my feet! Then he gets carried away with the wrong application, JOH 13:9, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head."

So, JOH 13:8, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." TLJC recognizes that Peter has a right to his own decision even if it's a wrong one. Jesus could not force Peter, for that would eliminate the concept of free will.

JOH 13:9, Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head." Peter figures if it's good to wash the feet then maybe I should get triple blessing, wash me all over!

JOH 13:10, Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean;

The phrase has bathed is a perf-pass-part, leloumenos which means to be washed all over or to take a bath. The perfect tense; once saved always saved, and the passive voice; the believer receives this washing or receives salvation. The issue here is one bath but many foot-washings or saved once and rebound many times, but Peter wants to take a bath again.

JOH 13:10, Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, The phrase wash his feet is the Greek word nipsasthai meaning to wash or to cleanse. The constantive aorist tense gathers together all the times rebound is necessary. The middle voice benefits the subject and indicates that every believer-priest must rebound for himself but ultimately God does the cleansing. The analogy is that you cannot eat with the Lord and have dirty feet, that's why we have silent prayer before Bible class to give you the option of rebound if it's necessary.

At this point, Peter indicates certain characteristics by which he is going to end up denying the Lord: Too much sincerity, human viewpoint, human personality, dynamics, and enthusiasm; but none of these things are useful.

JOH 13:10  Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean"

The phrase completely clean means, once again (repetition), once saved always saved, you are completely clean in the eyes of God. The phrase you are clean is este which means you keep on being clean and that's eternal salvation. The one exception of course is Judas Iscariot. In other words, the Lord is saying that this message is not for him. There's nothing pertinent to Judas Iscariot in the upper room. He's an unbeliever and, in effect, in the analogy, Judas came without a bath.

JOH 13:11, For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, "Not all of you are clean."

The word for knew is edei which indicates that Jesus always knew that Judas Iscariot would remain an unbeliever. This is in the pluperfect tense, indicative of past time and it represents an action as complete and the results of the action in existence at some point in the past. This means that TLJC has known for some time that Judas had been betraying Him. TLJC also knew that Judas Iscariot would remain an unbeliever billions and billions and billions of years ago in His deity. But He also knew it in His humanity because He knew the Scriptures; He knew doctrine. JOH 13:18 "I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but {it is} that the Scripture may be fulfilled, He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me."

The Lord knew perfectly that Judas was going to betray Him both from His deity and His humanity, JOH 13:11, For He knew the one who was betraying Him; The phrase betraying is paradidonta meaning to betray, to deliver up, to hand over, and in the futuristic present tense it means that He always knew who would do the betraying. The active voice tells us that Judas betrayed the Lord from his own free will. Judas has already rejected the Gospel many many times.

JOH 13:12, And so when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments, and reclined {at the table} again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you?

Jesus Christ stripped off His clothes to do this washing and that is a reference to Him being stripped at the cross (MAT 27:28) and "when He had washed their feet" is a reference to the cross where the Lord Jesus Christ washed us from our sins (REV 1:5; TIT 3:5). So the washing refers to our Lord's saving work on the cross cleansing us from sin and all unrighteousness.

The phrase reclining at the table is a reference to our Lord's session, being seated at the right hand of God the Father after His work was finished, the doctrine of the session. His work, washing the disciples' feet, was finished. Now He sits back down pointing to the doctrine of the session. Seated at the right hand of God the Father, God the Father is now able to do something that He has not been able to do in all of human history; open the flood-gates of Heaven with Bible doctrine that had been held in secret from the beginning of the human race, such as the doctrine of the Church-age or the mystery doctrines. These doctrines are now available to us because He was seated at the right hand of the Father or, if you will, after He reclined at the table.

In this foot-washing, He is actually depicting Himself in resurrection, ascension, and session, and only after that, when Christ is glorified, does God the Father provide from Heaven the mystery doctrines pertaining to the Church-age. Historically, the Church-age began ten days after Jesus Christ was seated at the right hand of the Father. When we get to verses 13-15 we will see exactly what He was saying, JOH 13:13-15, "You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for {so} I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you."

These eleven are going to be the first to wash other people's feet because they are going to be the first communicators of doctrine in the Church-age, doctrine that great men in the past would have looked forward to teaching. (Moses longed for this day.) Great communicators in the Old Testament like Jeremiah, Isaiah, Hosea, and many others would have loved to communicate doctrine in the Church-age but, it was hidden from them because Christ had not yet gone to the cross, He had not yet risen and been seated at the right hand of the Father. But once He is, a whole new dispensation opened up, for the first time, every believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

The doctrine that is to be taught in the Church-age demands God the Holy Spirit resident in every believer-priest. Only in this way can the detailed, very unusual doctrines, of the Church-age become a part of our soul and that is the objective, doctrine in your soul, spiritual food and by the way, what Satan wants to distract us from.

The true manna from heaven that God did not turn loose until Jesus Christ was seated at the right hand of the Father was given through the apostles or those closely associated with an apostle, then formed in writing in the New Testament Canon in the Epistles and then it is passed down to the pastor-teachers of the Church-age sent forth to wash your feet. All you are to do is fulfill REV 22:14, and become a winner believer through PVTD, "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city." The ones who wash their robes (rebound) will become winners while losers will be serving them in the Millennium.

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