The foot-washing sacrament is a promise of the Lord that lasts for life. We turn to the gospel of John. John 13:1-3;

1 ‘Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him,
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, ‘

Here gives us the background for foot-washing. V1-3 is related to v4;

‘rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. ‘

Jesus did this because He was about to wash His disciples’ feet. Why did v1-3 have to do with v4? Because in Greek, it’s in one sentence. V1-3 is linked to Jesus act of foot-washing in v4. Why did Jesus wash the feet of His disciples? Because in v1 he said He knew the hour has come. The hour is to die for our sins; to depart from the world, then resurrect from the dead and return to the Father. This is the background of foot-washing. He washed the feet of the disciples because He knew it’s time to say goodbye.

We say actions speak louder than words; how did He say goodbye? By washing their feet. What was the message? V1 says;

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

He knew He was going to say goodbye, so here says, “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”

For God so loved the world, He gave His only Son to die for the world, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Whoever believes in Him, meaning the entire world. But those who believes in Him is only a small group. Only a small group believes and this small group of people belongs to Christ. The speaker doesn’t know if at THIS MOMENT, any part of TJC in the world is having baptism but here in Singapore, 15 new people are now people Jesus calls His own and Jesus loves you till the end; because you’ve accepted His love and baptism. Now, you’re going to have your feet washed by a minister of Jesus Christ. When the minister washes your feet in the name of Jesus, it is Jesus washing your feet. That was how He said goodbye to His disciples at that time; and Peter didn’t understand this. It’s sad when you say goodbye but someone whom you love to the end doesn’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing. When Jesus came to Peter in v6;

‘Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?”’

Jesus knew that he didn’t understand and in v7 Jesus says;

‘Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”’

How many things our parents did for us and we fully understood? Including feeding you bitter medicine? Including nagging at you asking you to sleep early? How many things has God done which we don’t understand, but He still does it for us? It’s because He does it out of love.

Jesus says, “Although you don’t understand but I will do it, because I love you till the end.” Jesus didn’t say these exact words, but this was what He meant. Because He wants to love His people till the end.

Then Simon Peter says, “You shall never wash my feet!”

Many of us don’t understand the love of God but we must begin to understand now. When you receive the foot-washing of Jesus, what should we say in our hearts? We should say, “What Peter didn’t understand, Lord, I’m beginning to understand.”

Then Peter misunderstood again because Jesus says in v8;

‘Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”’

Then Peter asks Jesus to wash His head and entire body. Then Jesus says in v10;

‘Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” ‘

Brothers and sisters, all of us baptised in the Lord Jesus Christ have taken a bath. Every part of us is clean, but Jesus still wants to wash our feet. Why? Because He wants us to remain clean to the end. So He tells His disciples that they’re all clean but not every one of them; Judas. How many of us have become clean and still go on to sin? Jesus still wants to forgive us and that’s the significance of foot-washing, “I want to love you to the end. I want to forgive you to the end.”

In the Old Testament when the high priest goes into the Holy of holies, he will bring the blood of the sacrificial offering and sprinkle it on the mercy seat. Then, all mercy will be given unto Israel.

Today, Jesus is our high priest. In His death, the holy of holies is open. That’s when Jesus gave His life for us. We turn to Hebrews 10:20-22;

20 ‘by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,
21 and having a High Priest over the house of God,
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ‘

Jesus and went into the holy of holies not with the blood of animals but with His own blood. Today those of us baptised in Jesus Christ have followed Him into the holy of Holies. When we go inside, He says our bodies are washed with water but our hearts are sprinkled clean with the blood of Jesus Christ. When the 15 newly baptised went into the water of Jesus Christ, the blood of Christ is sprinkled into the hearts and are completely clean.

The high priest also brings in incense. We turn to Hebrews 7:25;

‘Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.’

He also brings in the incense of intercessory prayer. Jesus is able to save us to the uttermost because He never dies. After His resurrection He begins to intercede for us; because we continue to sin out of our weaknesses. But the Bible tells us that as long as we confess our sins, He will forgive us. If we continue to live a life of repentance, the Bible says the blood of Jesus washes our sins. The blood that is sprinkled once and for all in all of us has a continual effect throughout our lives, because Jesus continues to make intercession for us. This is the meaning of Jesus loving us till the end, and that’s why He gives us the sacrament of foot-washing. What Peter didn’t understand still has an effect on Him because the love of God is insistent. When your feet are washed, tell the Lord Jesus, “What Peter didn’t understand, I want to understand. I’m beginning to understand. Let me understand more and more because I know you love me.”

We will now proceed with the foot-washing sacrament.

295: Foot Washing Sacrament

Let us look at a few reminders from the Bible.

We turn to Acts 15. This is a very important chapter to do with our identity. At that time, the Jews didn’t know they were but a channel for God’s salvation to the whole world. All of us seated here don’t have the Jewish blood but we’re all chosen by Jesus, and He’ll love us to the end.

At that time, people believed that if you’re not a circumcised Jew, you cannot be a person of God. But an apostle of Jesus differs; now people who are not Jews can continue to keep the Ten Commandments and it’s for them to create a relationship between God and men and all the other things apart from the Ten Commandments like circumcision, they don’t have to do anymore.

For those of us who are not Jews, the Bible has these following reminders for you. As gentiles, these are the 3 things the Bible tells us we have to be careful to observe. They’re so important that apart from giving the Ten Commandments, the Jerusalem church puts them down to obey. We read Acts 15:28-29;

28 ‘For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:
29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.’

V21;

‘For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”’

While we continue to obey God’s law, the Ten Commandments, we have to take care of 3 important things. These 3 things are related and linked to one very important concept, which is the concept of being pro-life:

Abstain from things offered to idols.

This is decided by Jesus, the apostles and Holy Spirit.

Life is sacred and therefore we have to respect the life that is given by God. When we abstain from food offered to idols, it is because we worship the true and living God. There is only ONE GOD that is true and living. Here says to abstain from things offered to idols because idols have NO LIFE. What you put before idols will just be dead meat, and there’s no way we can create a relationship with idols because they’re dead and cannot produce life.

Brothers and sisters, when we are united with the true and living God, He gives us everlasting life and His Holy Spirit that results in abundant and everlasting life. That’s the difference between the TRUE AND LIVING GOD and IDOLS.

Later when we partake of the Holy Communion, Jesus says He is the bread of life. What is on the Lord’s table is different from what is on the table on idols. Not dead meat, but the bread of life and blood which is life. Jesus gave up His life and resurrected. An idol has no life to give.

Abstain from blood and strangled animals

It’s difficult now and almost impossible to buy blood from the market to cook and eat it. But sometimes in restaurants, certain animals are killed by strangling, so the blood is not let out. Such things are not to be eaten. Why does the Bible want Christians to abstain from blood and things strangled? We turn to the first time God gave this command in Genesis 9:1-7;

1 ‘So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand.
3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.
4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.
6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.
7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it.”’

V1-7 is one whole unit. God starts off in v1 by saying be fruitful and multiply. This is to bring life into earth. God wants human life to pro-create because human life is sacred to God. Between these two verses, God says two things:

Firstly, to not eat strangled animals (v4) so you cannot eat blood that is inside animals. You have to let the blood out because the bible says blood is life. This is not a scientific statement because every where is life; your cells and your nerves and every thing. This is a religious statement. God says, “Blood is life.”

But why? Why do we do so because blood is life? The next verse explains that we are to respect human life; do not kill and this is the second thing to not do. That’s what God means. He wants us to abstain from animal blood to show that we respect human life. Next time when people ask, “Why are TJC people so funny? You don’t eat blood?” Don’t just say that the Bible says so, but say that it’s because the Bible wants us to respect human life.

V1-7 is a very pro-life passage in the Bible; to be fruitful and multiply and to abstain from killing and that is through not eating animal blood.

Abstain from sexual immorality

Pro-creation happens because of a union between a man and his wife. Life is sacred and therefore our sexual activity is sacred. We are baptised into the Lord Jesus Christ and are in union with Him. Our body is His temple. The Bible tells us that if we commit sexual immorality, we are profaning His temple. Human’s sexuality is a reflection of Christ’s union with the church.

We turn to 1 Corinthians 6:13-19;

13 ‘Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
14 And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!
16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.”
17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ‘

The two shall become one flesh - that is between a man and a woman and what’s joined to God is one spirit, that is Christ and a Christian. Here says the body is for the Lord and the Lord for a body. Very much like in a marriage; me for you and you for me.

Our body is a temple of God and the Holy Spirit dwells in us. The body is dead without the spirit but God gives us life and the Holy Spirit. This is the union between Christ and the church. Our church is alive because it has the Holy Spirit. Individually, our bodies are also God’s temple and hence we have to abstain from sexual immorality.

We will now partake of the Holy Communion.

Holy Communion 圣餐

We know that the sacrament of the Holy Communion is commanded by Jesus. After God chose Paul, He also revealed to Paul things concerning the Holy Communion. The most important significance of the Holy Communion is that we remember the Lord’s death.

This baptism is possible because of our Lord’s sacrifice. We need to remember that the Holy Communion also has to do with our lives. Earlier, Pr Shee mentioned the things we should abstain from are related to life.

The Holy Communion is connected to resurrection.

We read Romans 6:3-5;

3 ‘Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.’
5 ‘For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, ‘

When we emerge from the water, we are like a new man with the newness of life. Through baptism, our lives are connected with the Lord Jesus and we’re connected through resurrection. Our lives are now linked to the Lord. Because it has a relationship with the life of the Lord, one of the teachings of the Holy Communion is that we’re partaking of the Lord’s life and blood.

We should not eat any blood but when we partake of the Holy Communion and bless the cup, it’s the Lord’s blood because we’re eating the life of the Lord. This is what’s written in John 6:53-54;

53 ‘Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ‘

We see the Lord Jesus saying these things to the multitude then; unless you eat and drink of the flesh and blood of the Lord, you have no life in you. When we partake of the Holy Communion, we have His life in us. Jesus says, “I will raise Him up on the last day.” The Holy Communion is connected to the resurrection.

The Holy Communion is also connected to life.

Through the life we’ve partaken, our lives are connected to the Lord Jesus. After baptism, our outer appearance isn’t any different from others but we must remember that we have the life of Jesus in us. On the last day, the Lord Jesus will resurrect and give us eternal life.

The Holy Communion is connected to holiness.

We turn to 1 Corinthians 5:7-8;

7 ‘Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.’

Paul tells us that the lamb in the Old Testament prefigures the coming of Jesus. When the Israelites were to leave Egypt, the Lord commanded them to kill a lamb and smear its blood on the door’s outpost. Today we don’t make such sacrifices anymore because Jesus has made a sacrifice for us once and for all.

Because there were people unclean in the Corinthian church, Paul reminded them that they cannot have leaven, which is evil and sinful. When we partake of the Holy Communion, why do we remind those who committed sin unto death to not partake of the Holy Communion? Because this new lump is holy and we have to be connected to the Lord Jesus in terms of holiness. This is the third way we’re connected.

We know that these three sacraments are related to the love and life of Jesus. When we remember the Lord’s death, we are motivated and encouraged by the love of God; we’re reminded that He once sacrificed for us. We are thankful for His love and from then on we live. Most importantly, we look forward to His coming.

We see that people of this world will also love us to the end but their lives are limited. Our parents may love us as well, but they cannot give us life. No matter how much a couple may love each other, when their lives end, the relationship ends as well. No matter how much our children may love us, when we die, this love ends. You can remember, but you cannot give a person life.

The Lord Jesus died for us and has given us life so we can have life. We must in the Holy Communion remember these 3 ways in which we’re connected to His life, resurrection and holiness. After we bless the bread and the cup, we partake as one body and enjoy the grace Jesus has given us. We have a part in His life and most importantly we are united as one body.

To our newly baptised brethren, this is a new beginning. You need to proactively come for services and have fellowship because we’re all connected to this Life. As we remember that we’re connected to the life of Jesus, let us not forget that we’re also connected to the life of Jesus.