Saturday – Open Topic

Reading – John 13:1-17

Highlight Verse:

“Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.””
‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

When I brainstormed to come up with a topic today, for some reason, the verse “Cleanliness is next to godliness,” popped into my head.

Mind you, that’s a verse from Poor Richard’s Almanac by Benjamin Franklin, not the Bible.

So I tried to think about when Jesus spoke of cleanliness.

There were a few times, but this one stood out.

In well-to-do families, a servant would have performed the foot washing in those days. Foot washing was a necessary part of life as people wore sandals and there was almost no pavement so feet would get very dirty in a day’s walking.

I am sure that Jesus’ main point in washing the disciples’ feet was to show them a good example of servant leadership. You’ve probably heard that sermon many times.

Good lesson, but I was intrigued by a simple fact. Apparently, the disciples kept clean. Jesus assumed that Peter had already had a recent bath, stating that only his feet were dirty.

If Jesus’ disciples stayed clean, I’d say that it’s a good idea for us too.

So maybe Ben wasn’t that far off with his saying.

What do you think?
How important is servant leadership to you?
How important is physical cleanliness to you?
Why?