FOOTWASHING - Initiates the N. T.
We have been given very helpful information concerning the Old Testament and the New Testament in the book of Hebrews.
Heb 7:12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
Heb 7:22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.
Heb 7:18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Heb 8:9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
Heb 7:14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
Heb 7:16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
Heb 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Heb 9:11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
Heb 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
We know that the law that required "the blood of goats and calves" was done away. But were there other aspects of the covenant that became old and done away with? Yes, there were. One of them is spoken of in the paper "Being Puffed Up" that reveals how the days of unleavened bread of the Old Testament were given a spiritual meaning in the New Testament. But there is another aspect that provides the perfect beginning for the fullness of the substance of the New Testament.
Mathew, Mark and Luke all give full accounts of the last passover meal that they shared but none of them recount the washing of the disciples' feet. Luke does give us the time of the institution of the "Lords supper" (the bread and the wine).
Luk 22:19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luk 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
John leaves the details of the "last supper" out. Jesus began the delivery of the substance of the New Testament with this astounding act. The creator of the creation did the work of the lowest servant.
Joh 13:1 Now before the feast of the passover, 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.
Joh 13:2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;
Joh 13:3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;
Joh 13:4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
Joh 13:5 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.
Joh 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
Joh 13:15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
It is difficult to know whether the foot washing came before the Lords supper or after, but we are given a clue. In John 13:4 Jesus is shown that right after "supper" (being the Passover supper) he began to prepare to wash the disciples feet. It is my thought that it came before - in that this awesome act of humility provides the perfect example for all that followed that night.
In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul reveals the term that he used for the service of the bread and wine.
Jesus ate the last passover meal with his disciples and then instituted a meal of his own with the bread and the wine. That meal provides for one to be lead to truth, salvation, eternal peace and joy.
Co 11:17 Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.
1Co 11:20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.
What then follows, after the Lords supper is instituted, are four chapters of the words that have given the world a way that would give everlasting peace and harmony if they were to follow them. Here are some of those words.
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
Joh 14:31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence. (John 14 was spoken in the upper room
John 15, 16 and 17 is given as they made their way to the Mount of Olives)
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Joh 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Joh 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Joh 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.