Outside God's House—the Brazen Altar and the Laver
When the children of Israel saw their foes dead on the other side of the Red Sea they burst into song, acknowledging that their salvation was all of God and not of them. In this song they said "He is my God and I will prepare for Him an habitation" Ex. 15:22The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him. (Exodus 15:2). Now this "habitation" was the tabernacle in the wilderness, where God Himself could come to them and mark His presence with the pillar of the cloud. God had never done this before. He had come to Adam in the garden but when man sinned he was driven out from the presence of the Lord. What made it possible for God to come to man was the shedding of the Passover Lamb's blood in Egypt beautiful type of the death of Christ. Still, the Apostle Paul in Heb. 9 tells us it was a limited access until the death of Christ. Then God rent the veil and there is now no distance between us and our Father.
This new position is the scene pictured in John 12 where we have a figure of the central truth of Christianity "for where two or three are gathered together unto My name, there am I in the midst of them" Matt. 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20). John describes the Lord coming to Bethany six days before the Passover i.e. the cross was before Him but not yet accomplished. It is mentioned because it is the only way in which man, who is a sinner, can have access to God's presence. Now John never teaches Church truth, for that is Paul's ministry. But he gives us pictures of things that apply to the Church period, and assumes we have read Paul and understand what they mean.
This distinction is important to help us rightly divide the Word of Truth. John takes up the Lord's Table as expressing the heart of God and the revelation of His desire i.e. that He might dwell with man. Hence his view of things is both abstract and dispensational. By abstract we mean that John takes God's view of His people apart from their failures "for from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him" Num. 23:99For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. (Numbers 23:9). "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverseness in Israel" Num. 23:2121He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. (Numbers 23:21). Yet in the 25th chapter they are committing fornication with the daughters of Moab! Again, John's view of the table is dispensational in that he writes about it now in the time of rejection and in the future the time when the whole world will throng to it. The Christian must read the whole Word of God to understand these distinctions. For example, John, for the reasons just stated, never gives us failure at the table, but Paul does. Paul tells us of the practical difficulties we encounter he writes about putting away the wicked man at Corinth, the seeds of party spirit there whose later germination has so divided the church of God since. But John only takes up the perfection of things attached to believers as accepted in the Beloved One. He gives us God's view of us a view that will become a reality at the rapture. The judgment seat of Christ will follow this. Then all believers who have in any way contributed to the ruin of the church by works of the flesh will see that portion of their works burned up. They will add their Amen to the Lord's pronouncements and all believers alike will see the unity in glory which was ever before God's eye in John's writings and which must surely come to pass.
John then gives us the Lord's Table with Lazarus sitting at it. "There" they made Him a supper that is, the language suggests that the Lord's Supper is eaten at the Lord's Table. Then we have a picture of the moral state God expects in His saints. They are shown to be worshippers (Mary) or servants (Martha). Thus, we have the two or three gathered to the Lord's name with the Lord coming to them and absolutely no thought of failure because they are looked at as in Christ.
Now in the case of both Israel and the Church God has desired to dwell with man a desire that even He Himself could not realize until the blood of Christ was shed. But it is equally important to see that Satan has in every way opposed this desire. The story of the two or three and Satan's counterfeit of them runs through the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
God's Two or Three and Satan's
The thought of God dwelling with man and Satan's opposition to it begins with Eden. There we find the two or three Adam, Eve, and the Lord God. Satan sought to replace God as the center and because man listened to him he was driven out from God's presence. Wicked Cain aligned himself with Satan, but righteous Seth with God "then began men to call on the name of the Lord" Gen. 4:2626And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. (Genesis 4:26). This division of men into those who are of God and those who are of Satan persists to the end. The devil has two ways of controlling man through the world system he invented to prevent man realizing he is lost and needs a Savior. These two ways are politics and worldly religion. The story of Moses before Pharaoh shows his political power and how he tried to use it to prevent Israel worshipping the True God in the desert. When this failed he tried to corrupt what God established with a religion suited to the flesh. Satan's two, or three, then, are himself, Nadab and Abihu. The sin of Nadab and Abihu "offering strange fire before the Lord" means fire not taken from the brazen altar. It means that Satan has raised up a religious system in the world to counterfeit Christianity. I recall visiting one of the largest cities in the world and viewing the church steeple of "the citadel of modernism." Its steeple should not have pointed heavenward but downward for the Nadab's and Abihu's who "preach" in it are not only going to hell themselves but pointing out the way to others. But thank God for Eleazar and Ithamar God's two or three who preach Christ and Him crucified. "The holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons' after him" Ex. 29:2929And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons' after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them. (Exodus 29:29). Then at the cross we again have the two or three Christ in the midst one thief believing in Him the other siding with Satan and eternally lost. At the end of time God gives us a contrast between His two or three and Satan's. Satan's two or three himself, the beast and the false prophet will be in the lake of fire. Then God's two or three will be displayed as God purposed the man (the Lord Jesus Christ the last Adam), the woman (the Church, the Bride of Christ) and the Lord God. And in the day of God the thought is God dwelling with man the race rather than with the Church or Israel. This is the eternal state. John sees the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and he hears a great voice out of heaven saying "behold the tabernacle of God is with men and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God" Rev. 21:33And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Revelation 21:3).
With this overall sketch of God's desire to dwell with man and its ultimate fulfillment we can better understand the foreshadowing of God's dwelling with man in Christianity as given us in John 12 and the relation of this to God's coming to His ancient people in the tabernacle. It is clear that the death of Christ alone has made both possible.
The opposite ends of the tabernacle display the same thought the unity of His person the Ark, and His work the brazen altar. It is a truth better expressed in the Lord's own words "I came forth from the Father and am come into the world; again I leave the world and go unto the Father." These words of the Lord give us the full circuit of His coming forth from the Father, His life, and His death.
Bethany—the Inside Place With God—the Outside Place With Man
The moment we see the moral glory of the One who visits Bethany we see why men must either worship Him like those in Matt. 2, or bow to Him in judgment like those in Phil. 2:10,1110That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10‑11). But because Christ is rejected now, Bethany is an outside place. The outside place with man is the inside place with God, and the inside place with man is the outside place with God. That is why the Jews wanted to kill Lazarus. The grave of Lazarus answers to the Red Sea, for a similar deliverance from death and judgment took place there. Then Bethany, where Lazarus sat at table, was outside Jerusalem cut off from it spiritually just as much as the tabernacle was cut off from Egypt by the Red Sea. So the word "Bethany" has a double meaning "house of affliction" and "house of response." It represents the true character of Christianity in the world. Paul wrote to "the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father" 1 Thess. 1:1 That is, resting in the Father's bosom. Yet in the sixth verse of the same chapter he notes that they had "received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost.”
The thought behind "house of affliction" is that the world is against you because you belong to Christ. This must be so for the servant is not greater than his master. It was at Bethany, when the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume that the flesh objected in the person of Judas Iscariot "why wasn't this perfume sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" The flesh would always deny Christ anything. It is the story of Michal, Saul's daughter, all over again. She despised David for dancing before the Ark 2 Sam. 6:1414And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. (2 Samuel 6:14)—23. As a result she died childless. The flesh is always barren because it rejects Christ. So the Christian who walks in the flesh will continue to be "David's wife" the relationship is not broken but he will not bear fruit for God. To do that he must walk in the Spirit, denying the flesh. This is what makes the perfume "very costly." We are to buy the truth and sell it not. "Buying" the truth means exchanging something we had or hoped to get in this world some worldly goods, prospects, etc. trading that for Christ. The truth, once bought, is never to be let go. And do you think the world will love you for this stand? If you do, consider Lazarus. He completes the picture of "the house of affliction." Having been raised from among the dead in the previous chapter he is seated at the Lord's Table in this chapter. Thus he is a picture of a believer at the Lord's Table i.e. seated there as a dead and risen man. But the world does not want a dead and risen man seated at the Lord's Table this is a testimony against them. So the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus to death.
If Lazarus illustrates the "house of affliction" the sufferings of God's people because of the hatred of the world for Christ Martha and Mary illustrate the "house of response" the response of believers to the One who is present and who loves them. Martha symbolizes service, Mary worship. These two women are figures of the two ways in which eternal life displays itself in living ways service, the rivers of John 7:3838He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:38); worship, the fountain of John 4:1414But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:14). This was before the Lord in the tenth chapter. There He ended His work for the sinner and led out His own sheep. These are to go in and out and find pasture. They go in (Mary) for communion, out (Martha) for service. Lazarus sits at the table with Him. In Scripture this is the position of a son servants (the angels for example) usually stand. It is the enjoyment of an established relationship. The two women show the way in which that relationship is expressed Mary, sitting at Jesus' feet hearing His Word is a figure of worship; Martha, who stands and serves, is a figure of service see Luke 10:39,4039And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. 40But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. (Luke 10:39‑40). I think the reason the chief priests wanted to kill Lazarus was related to this distinction. The world knows nothing of worship of Christ or service to Him, but it does sense a relationship to Him in the believer which it resents.
What Has God Wrought? a Review of God's Salvation for Man
Bringing us into the family of God is the Lord's work. He comes in at each stage where failure has taken place, not only restoring the ravages of sin and Satan but raising us to peaks of glory transcending the state before the original ruin. He finds man impotent (Chapter 5) He gives him power; blind (Chapter 9) He gives him sight; thirsting for this world's pleasures (Chapter 4) He gives the satisfying springing well; sinning against God (Chapter 8) He forgives the sinner saying "Go and sin no more"; at the point of death (Chapter 4) He says "your son lives"; dead (Chapter 11) He raises from among the dead. Now note the range of His works. The salvation of the soul is the beginning (Chapter 4) "wilt thou be made whole" and the salvation of the body the end (Chapter 11) raising Lazarus from among the dead. In between we have the Spirit of God given (Chapter 4), that we might worship the Father and the Son. "The Spirit Itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God" Rom. 8:1616The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (Romans 8:16). If we tie these things in together we see that just as man's fall was body, soul and spirit, so God's salvation is body, soul and spirit.
But there is more. Not only are we saved body, soul and spirit but we are brought to the Lord's Table. This is the great thought in Chapter 12. It is outside Jerusalem, the great religious center, and at Bethany, where the Lord was at home. He was surrounded by those who loved Him. The Lord's Supper and the Lord's Table are found in John 12:22There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. (John 12:2). The Lord presides at His Table as the Head of a new family no longer the family of man but the family of God. In the family of God, Christ has the preeminent place there they made Him a supper. So too John's first Epistle begins with Christ just as his gospel did.
When we are in Christ the ruin that stamped us as belonging to the family of man has passed away. The family of God is just the opposite of the family of man. Death and judgment is behind the man for he is dead and risen. The women are no longer sinning, but worshipping and serving Him.
Looking Back at God's Ways
A backward glance at God's ways is refreshing. We know it was the Word of God and the energy of His Spirit that turned the waste world of Gen. 1:22And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:2) into a home for man. The Lord had this in mind when He said "My Father worketh hitherto and I work" John 5:1717But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. (John 5:17). Then the Lord's voice was heard once more at the pools of Bethesda and Siloam. And His sheep, those whom He was seeking, heard His voice. The result was the new birth.
The Lord is our Shepherd. He feeds His sheep, as David once fed his father's sheep at Bethlehem the house of bread. This He did as the True David in the sixth chapter with the five barley loaves and two small fishes, just as He had led them beside the still waters of the pool of Bethesda in the fifth chapter. The tenth chapter shows that if David feared not the paw of the lion or the bear for love of the sheep, so the True David would lay down His life for the sheep. This marks the end of the Lord's work for the sinner in John's gospel. From then on they are no more sinners but sheep. Finally Jewish sheep were not enough; there must be one flock, one Shepherd John 10:1616And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. (John 10:16).
So far then we have seen what characterized us in the family of man sin, ruin, and death, and what characterizes us in the family of God Christ our new head power for service and worship we ourselves dead and risen men seated at the Lord's Table and abundant food for all in the family of God.
Dispensational Views of Man at the Lord's Table
These varying views of man at the Lord's Table highlight the different character of things depending on the dispensation. They compare the present with the past and the future.
The contrast between the past and the present: Here we will look at Mephibosheth and Lazarus opposite types of man at the Lord's Table. Mephibosheth represents man under law. That is why he is lame on both his feet. Therefore his feet, being under the table, were hidden from view. This means that God would have no part of the walk of lame Israel, but still the responsible man himself was in sight at the table. But in Lazarus we find a dead and risen man at the Lord's Table. That is to say Lazarus, the man in the flesh, had died and been buried, and so had been put out of sight. When the Lord raised him he is now seated at the table as a dead and risen man completely out of sight as a man in Adam and seen only as a man in Christ. This completes the picture of Bethany. Here we find separation from the world, the setting aside of the flesh, and appreciation for Christ.
The contrast between the future and the present: John gives us a glimpse of the Lord's Table in the coming millennial day of glory. The change in dispensation is indicated by the expression on the next day and Jesus was coming to Jerusalem John 12:1212On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, (John 12:12). Then the Lord's words to His own will be fulfilled "that ye may eat and drink at My Table in My Kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" Luke 22:3030That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Luke 22:30). Then will He come to Jerusalem whose name Jehovah Shammah means "the Lord is there." The Lord's Table will no longer be the place of rejection it will be the public place. That is why all closes morally here by the world going after Him the Greeks coming up to worship at the feast and saying "we would see Jesus" John 12:2121The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. (John 12:21). In the millennial day all the nations of the earth will come up to His holy temple at Jerusalem. Thus does the Spirit usher us into the next day v 12. It is the day when Satan is bound for a thousand years and instead of Christ being rejected Satan is rejected. The false Herods who denied the rightful King will be gone and all will cry "Hosanna, blessed is the King of Israel." The false religious element too will pass away, acknowledging like the Pharisees "behold the world is gone after Him" v. 19. All nations shall come up to worship Him at Jerusalem in that day when there shall be on the bells of the horses "holiness unto the Lord" Zech. 14:2020In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. (Zechariah 14:20).
This future public power contrasts with today's position of reproach. We meet the Lord in an outside place and He comes to us. This is a position we should greatly value, as He does, for in it we become sharers of His public rejection. That is why those who worship Him now are 'wise men' who have made a choice. At Bethany there is not only the wise men with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, but those who have made a choice like Mary Luke 10:4242But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. (Luke 10:42). Mary had kept her gift treasured it up against the day of the Lord's burying. Those feet that the world were to pierce so cruelly were wiped with her crowning glory. Everything of value in nature, everything that gave luster to her in the old creation, she set aside for Christ. This cost Mary much in man's eyes, but being close to Jesus she devoted all that she had to Him. Her choicest should enter His tomb, and pass away in His death. This is entire devotedness to Christ, exceeding the wisdom of wise men. It is choosing Christ and rejecting a world which rejected Him. When through grace we have made this choice, the house will be filled once more with the fragrance of the perfume.
The Next Step—From the Brazen Altar to the Laver
The brazen altar and the laver go together. These two articles of furniture were outside. The brazen altar is in measured relationship to the Ark and the Mercy Seat inside, because the cross has satisfied all the righteous requirements of God's throne. The laver is unmeasured and stands alone, as though God would tell us that its service is unceasing while we are in the flesh. The brazen altar and laver are positioned before God's house, telling us that we cannot enter it until we have passed them.
We now pass from the brazen altar in the twelfth chapter to the laver in the thirteenth. For this is what feet washing is about reconciling our standing as justified before God and typified by the altar, with our state as passing through this world and still having the flesh.
The Feet Washing in John's Gospel
When the Lord came to wash Peter's feet, Peter mistakenly questioned the Lord's ways "Thou shalt never wash my feet." Then he made the opposite error of wanting his hands and head washed also. But as so often in Scripture, error is first refuted "if I wash you not, you have no part with Me" and the truth revealed "he who is washed (bathed) needs not save to wash his feet, but is wholly clean, and ye are clean, but not all." The washing or bathing of the body to which the Lord refers in the verse just quoted is the washing of regeneration also mentioned in Matt. 19:2828And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Matthew 19:28) and Titus 3:55Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; (Titus 3:5). This occurs at the new birth when we are born of water and of the Spirit. It is passing from a ruined state into a new one in which we are "wholly clean." That is why the Lord said "and ye are clean but not all that is, all the disciples were clean, their bodies washed with pure water, except Judas Iscariot. "My own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate My bread, has lifted up his heel against Me" Psa. 41:99Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. (Psalm 41:9). It is in this chapter that he takes the sop and Satan enters into him. "He then having received the sop went immediately out, and it was night" John 13:3030He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night. (John 13:30). It was to be their hour and the power of darkness. Inside all was light. The Lord, now about to leave the world and go to His Father, opens up His heart to them. They are to have a new position before the Father, completely different from that of Israel in the world, and He wanted them to know it.
In Ex. 12:22This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. (Exodus 12:2)2 The blood had been in the basin in this chapter the water is in the basin. The Passover Lamb was before them and the type was soon to yield to reality in His Person. "This is He who came by water and blood even Jesus (the Christ) not by water only but by water and blood" 1 John 5:66This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. (1 John 5:6). The blood expiates the water cleanses. The value of the blood is to make us clean all over. Thus positionally we have part with Him "How shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Rom. 8:3232He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32). But if we are to be in the good of that glory to which He has gone and here He is returning to His Father we must have "part with Him" in a practical sense. His gracious act assures us that He does not give us up when our feet get dirty at the same time that it guards us against careless walk. This brings us to the real purpose of feet washing.
The woman in Luke 7 washed His feet with tears and anointed them with ointment. Simon gave Him no water for His feet an act of discourtesy which the Lord noticed. Still John does not speak of the Lord's feet being washed with water. His walk of which the feet speak was utterly clean and perfect. So the purpose of feet washing is that our feet should be clean like Christ's. But this is not possible unless they are continually washed. The laver is the only vessel in the Tabernacle, whose measurements are not given. God would not restrict the amount of water used. This thought too is in line with the Lord's own words "If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet" John 13:1414If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. (John 13:14). But it is one thing for the Lord to wash our feet and quite a different thing to wash the feet of others. For one thing we must be Christ like to do it, for natural resentment is the same today as when Peter said "You shall never wash my feet." Three things must be clearly understood first, how our feet got dirty, second that the water which cleanses them is the Word of God, thirdly that we can't wash other people's dirty feet unless we are ourselves in communion with the Lord, and so have the mind of the One who first washed men's feet.
Our feet get dirty because in this world we are in mixed condition that is, we have eternal life but we also have the old fallen Adam nature. This old nature is at home in this wicked world and will respond to its evil if we let it. Now this world is full of corruption, violence, deceit and lies. It is impossible not to pick up such dirt if you walk down the streets of this world as necessity forces us to do.
One day I entered a restaurant and sat down facing a mural depicting a dancing girl performing before a Roman Emperor. That was corruption. Another day I sat down in a barber's shop before a copper engraving of two gladiators battling to the death in an arena. That was violence. Both these sinful scenes were defiling. But here the Lord washes the feet of His saints by bringing a suited Scripture before them "neither be partaker of other men's sins, keep yourself pure" 1 Tim. 5:2222Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure. (1 Timothy 5:22). This is a service the washing of water by the Word which the Lord performs for us constantly as we contract defilement without wishing to do so, and unknown to anybody but the Lord and ourselves. "Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word" Eph. 5:25, 2625Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (Ephesians 5:25‑26). It is important to see that this is a present service. The Lord girded Himself with a linen towel. Linen speaks of priesthood. It was the same linen towel with which He wiped the disciples' feet. The importance of this is that the Lord was not a priest on earth see Heb. 8:44For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: (Hebrews 8:4) so that the figure indicates that He carries this work on now for us in Glory. Finally we must apply this to ourselves. Are we "able to admonish one another?" Rom. 15:1414And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. (Romans 15:14). Only if we use the towel with which Christ was girded can we wash another's feet. Feet washing is individual. The one who washes feet must learn to grapple with souls. You cannot do it unless you have a linen towel unless you are so walking with the Lord that nothing stands in the way of you really being a priest. All believers are priests Rev. 1:66And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:6) but some believers do not exercise their priesthood because of their low state of soul. In Israel there were three classes the Priest, the Levite, and the common people. But in Christianity we may be all three at different times depending on our state of soul. A spiritual man is one who walks before the Lord in self judgment. If we fail to do this we will become common persons without power to wash another's feet the work of the priest only. That is why Paul writes "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault you who are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness considering yourself lest you also are tempted" Gal. 6:11Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. (Galatians 6:1). I am only spiritual if I am nothing in my own eyes and Christ is everything.
Now that we have considered feet washing as outlined in Scripture a word on the beauty of clean feet may be in order. In the previous chapter we had Lazarus at the Lord's Table enjoying the position of a son. How, may we ask, could this be unless his feet were clean? Is the Lord's presence compatible with defilement? Martha was there too the figure of service. So Scripture says "how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things" Rom. 10:1515And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (Romans 10:15). But beautiful feet are not dirty, and preaching has no power if there is inconsistency. The Lord Jesus preached righteousness in the great congregation (Israel) but note the order "all that Jesus began both to do and teach" Acts 1:11The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, (Acts 1:1). Mary, who prefigures worship, completes the picture. Could any believer enter God's presence "be ye holy for I am the Lord your God" Lev. 20:77Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 20:7) unless his feet were clean? Worship is the overflowing of the heart to our Savior God and this cannot be if we have un-cleansed defilement on us for which provision has been made.
Look at the beauty of holiness as evident in the Lord's prayer to His Father in John 17. In each succeeding chapter from John 13 onward He looks on to His departure to be with His Father until it really takes place. From man's viewpoint He was still very much in the world in all these chapters, but as a Divine Person He could view the cross, God's great purpose for man's blessing, as already past. From this chapter until the 17th chapter which is really inside the veil we have His departure to the Father viewed in different ways in relation to His own who will be left behind. The Lord followed the pathway of the brazen altar, the laver, the Holy Place and the Holiest of all His Father's presence in each case doing something for others justifying us, washing our feet, interceding for us, etc. We retrace this path at each point receiving one of these specific blessings. All ends in this world in the presence of God as it will one day in the glory.
The Unity Between the Laver, the Water Scenes in John's Gospel and the Crystal Sea
Before closing off these meditations we will review some of the ways water is taken up in John's writings. First we saw it confined in two pools motionless and inert in the earth. By itself the Word of God, of which the water is the symbol, cannot give life although failure to heed it brings death see Rev. 19:2121And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. (Revelation 19:21). We are born of water and the Spirit. The two pools are hinted at in the Lord's words to Nicodemus in John 3. The man who cannot enter v 4 is the impotent man at the Pool of Bethesda the man who cannot see, the blind man at the Pool of Siloam. But let the Spirit of God come in and the blind man's pool is energized to produce the springing well of John 4 he worshipped Jesus as the Son of God and the impotent man's pool is energized to produce the rivers of John 7:3838He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:38). Eternal life in the energy of God's Spirit is displayed in worship Mary and service Martha. Worship has one object the Father and the Son and the fitting symbol chosen is a fountain or springing well which, while it originates in the earth, gushes up heavenwards. Service, on the other hand, takes many forms. Martha was worried about many things and so the figure is rivers. These flow over the earth relieving it of its barrenness giving it life.
Solomon tells us that "all the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full" Eccl. 1:77All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. (Ecclesiastes 1:7). In the glory the sea will be full "before the throne there was a sea of glass like crystal" Rev. 4:66And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. (Revelation 4:6). Crystal is transparent but solidified. No more rivers will flow into that sea for service of an earthly character is forever ended. And so "they cast their crowns before the throne" v 10. Crowns are the reward for faithful service to Christ in this world i.e. service that has not been burned up at the judgment seat of Christ but receives the commendation of the Lord. But we cast them before the throne as an admission that all we did that was worthy was of Himself. What abides then? Worship. That is what preceded that act "the elders fall down before Him who sat on the throne and worship Him who lives for ever and ever.”
The relation of all this to feet washing should now be evident, tracing it through God's ways in law and grace and ending in the glory. Under law Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet from it see Ex. 30:1919For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: (Exodus 30:19). Since the hands speak of work and the feet of walk, and man was responsible because still under law, both hands and feet had to be washed. Under grace we do not work for our salvation so that only our feet have to be washed. At this juncture let us emphasize what we said previously that is that the point in feet washing is to make our feet like Christ's while we are still here. When we are in the glory around the crystal sea our feet never require washing. Why? Because no dirt can be picked up on our feet then nothing that defiles can enter the Holy City. But there is something more "the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass" Rev 12:21. The street is where men walk, and in this world pick up defilement on their feet. But this street is pure gold that is unalloyed divine righteousness. All the saints walk the same way for the city has only one street. There will be no division of opinion as to how we should walk and no need to wash our feet when around the crystal sea. The walk of every saint on the street of the Holy City will be characterized by divine righteousness.