Toweling off

As we continue John 13 at the Last Supper, it says,"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."

So He took off His clothes, took up the towel, and now, finally, He did the work. He was girded with the towel. I looked up girded...it was to encircle with a belt or band. Also it was to hold something on with a belt or band, like a sword. It therefore means also "to arm" oneself, like for a battle. Thus the admonition by Paul to "gird up your loins." So He had tied the towel around His waist, so this was no short face or hand towel, but a long piece that would allow for not only the tying, but for the drying. He was encompassed by the role of servant He had taken on. There was no getting out of it until the work was over. He was in the servant role for the long haul. That was 22 feet that needed washing. He was armed with the towel, the washing being followed by the drying. He was armed as a servant. He was armed with the truth of His mission. And He was armed with humility, without which we will not see God. It said He girded Himself. He dressed Himself. He didn't ask anyone's help getting dressed this way, as was the habit of kings. There were no servants to this servant. He did all of this on His own. He didn't ask anyone else to take the role and then do it because they all refused Him. He saw the need and met it. And He did it all without comment. He answered questions, but did not ask them if they wanted to be washed. He just started washing. He knew they were dirty, and they did, too. Even then Peter tried to dissuade Him from doing the job. When Jesus wouldn't back down from the task, Peter denied Him. I can see him pulling his feet up where Jesus couldn't get to them. Now Peter had watched him wash some of the others, and use the towel to dry them. They were made clean, but Peter decided that he was apparently more righteous than they were and wouldn't be caught dead letting Jesus take on this servant role in HIS life. It wasn't ok that the others let Jesus wash them, but Peter was the first to protest out loud when it was His turn. Not that he didn't need to be washed. He knew the custom. It just wasn't supposed to be Jesus doing it. He didn't offer to take up the towel, but he refused to let Jesus serve him. And really, he was right. Jesus shouldn't have been doing this as He was their teacher and Rabbi. But Jesus was demonstrating that He would be the One that made them completely clean, and He was not about to let Peter think that he was above the others or too humble to let Jesus work in his life. He told him the truth...Peter was being PRIDEFUL, not humble. And if Jesus couldn't clean him, he wasn't going to be a part of Him. And it worked. Peter realized that Jesus meant business. This was not just his feet being washed, but his soul as well. And only Jesus could do that in the lives of the disciples and in the lives of those to follow Him later.
So the towel was used...the washing ended and the drying began. They were clean, but the towel was then employed to finish the act. When the towel absorbed the dirty water, Jesus removed the dirt from them. He absorbed their filth to Himself, just as He would the next day, when all of their sin would fall upon Him.
After all of those feet were cleaned, that towel...can you imagine the dirt? The smell? The basin poured the water, but the towel took on the results of the washing. It was rolled up and was then laid aside (Hebrews 1: 11-12), removed from their presence. They were ready to get on with the dinner. And after He took all their sin on Calvary, it was removed from them and forever put away so they would one day eat at the marriage feast of the Lamb.
The towel, the symbol of the servant, took the filth away and put it on Jesus.  He had all of their dirt on Himself. That was just the dirt of 12 men...can you imagine taking on the dirt of all of humanity from all of history? No wonder God had to turn away from Him when He bore it all on the cross. The filth, the stench, the muck and mire of all sin from the Adam to the last day that earth rotates on its axis would have been immeasurable in human terms. But it was removed from them because Jesus washed it off and took it upon Himself. They could now put their sandals and shoes back on and get to work. That is Calvary...where the dirt was removed, accumulated from washing one person after another. As long as they submitted to the washing, they were clean. And if not, they would have NO PART with Him.
And that cleaning was enough. Peter begged to be washed even more, and Jesus reminded him that He cleaned what needed to be cleaned. The head and hands were clean, but the feet were not. The towel was not needed for those parts on that day. The removal of sin was enough. The feet alone needed attention, and He made them completely clean through only washing them. This is hard for us to understand...we know that we are totally unclean, head to toe, but He had already begun His cleansing work in their lives even though they didn't see it at the time. He had cleansed their minds and set them on Him, and their hands by their work for Him done in His name and by His authority. Their tendency to wander off on their own paths with their own plans...that was the thing that needed their attention and cleaning. Even lying there, Peter was getting off the path of Christ's plan and purpose with His ideas of what God needed to do in his life.
Do we submit to Jesus's washing, letting the towel of His sacrifice for removal of our sins do what we can never do? Do we think in our pride that we aren't going to let Him serve us, or ask Him to do more for us than is necessary? We need to let the towel take away those things that make us unacceptable to eat at the eternal dinner, the supper that demonstrates to us the work of Christ in our redemption. Get washed by the Son, let Him towel you off, and then let the dinner begin. Let's eat!