Dust

In John 13, Jesus washes the feet of the disciples. Peter, believing it’s too servile a task for Jesus to be doing, exclaims, “You will never wash my feet!”  Jesus responds with, “If you don’t let me wash your feet, you will have no part with me.”  So Peter responds with, “Then wash my head and hands, too!” Jesus says, “He who is bathed, needs only his feet washed—not his whole body.”

I believe Jesus uses this as a metaphor for what happens to us as we walk through the world. When we accept God’s gift of salvation, our “whole body” is cleansed. We’re saved for all of eternity!  We are His and He will never leave us. But then our “feet” get dirty from walking in this world which is dominated by sin. Our spirit is saved and made new…but we still walk in the flesh. We still sin. And we need God’s forgiveness—and the forgiveness of others. That’s why Jesus told his disciples that they must wash one another’s feet. Forgive one another.  

Dust is so interesting. Genesis 2:7 says man was made from dust.  The Hebrew word is āpār which means dry earth, dust, ashes, mortar. So man’s flesh, his body, was made or built from dust. Man also creates dust when he sins (flesh).  Genesis 3:14 says that because the serpent (Satan) caused man to sin, he was cursed. He would now eat dust for the rest of his days.  Some scholars believe that through the years, the serpent has eaten so much dust that he has grown exponentially and has become the dragon in Revelation 12:9.  

Let’s not give the serpent dust to eat. Let’s keep our hearts pure and forgive one another quickly. Let’s wash one another’s feet.