Wash
Humble foot washing
This new commandment like the foot washing is "That ye love one another; as I have loved you".
He repeats this a second time with the words, "that ye also love one another."
Jesus finally repeats this for a third time that you will be known as one of my disciples "if ye have love one to another."
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The washing of the feet of the Apostles as we see in John 13 has set the pattern of humility and service for the appointed ministers of Christ.
Of course, The Israelites were to wash at least their clothes at the foot of mount Sinai.
The Church in the wilderness, who were the called out of Moses, when the people began to be corrupted with the creation of the golden calf. They were to become the government servants of God to the tabernacles or tents of the congregations which represented the households of the families of Israel.
Also John the Baptist was washing people in water while he preached the kingdom of God was at hand. The Baptism of John was different that the Rabbinical Baptism of the Pharisees and of Herod.
A knee of humility
There are those who think there is a hierarchy in the institution of the Church and their is but it is not a hierarchy of men who exercise authority one over the other, nor do they go up by "steps", or even "regulate" the choices of the ministers of the altars of God.
Jesus came as one who serves.
Many have asked the question did Jesus want a two tiered[2] church.
The concept of a separately ordained or appointed ministry is not new to the kingdom. But the "present form" in churches seemed to emerge in the third or fourth centuries after Constantine.
Many argue that the two-class structure that has emerged does not correspond to what Jesus did and taught.
A Church structure as tiers or classes typically produces a hierarchy of authority in the form of a pyramid, with a ruler at the top, with offices like ordained bishops, priests and etc. and then laity at the bottom.
This would be the reverse of what Christ seemed to appoint[3] and certainly the opposite of Abraham blessed by the priest Melchizedek and Moses's Levites.
The present common clergy seems similar to the governments of the world like Nimrod, Pharaoh, Saul, and Caesar. The idea that Christ created tiers of authority of one over the other would be obviously false by Jesus own directive[3] to His disciples.
The acceptance of a tiered hierarchy of authority seems to have had a negative effect on the function intended by Christ.
Christ saw that the Pharisees had instituted a social welfare scheme through the authority of Herod with his membership by a rabbinical baptism in a system of Corban but because it used force upon its members it often made the word of God to none effect as it was based on covetousness.
It was a social safety net we were warned about by Proverbs and the dainties of rulers, David who said it was a welfare that was a trap, and Paul who quoted David referring to those tables as a snare and trap.[4]
Peter tells us that those covetous practices would make masses little more than merchandise as literal human resources of those governments and curse children with an unpayable debt.
- ↑ 1392 δοξάζω doxazo [dox-ad’-zo] from 1391 {opinion, judgment, view); v; TDNT-2:253,178; [{See TDNT 197 }] AV-glorify 54, honour 3, have glory 2, magnify 1, make glorious 1, full of glory 1; 62
- 1) to think, suppose, be of opinion
- 2) to praise, extol, magnify, celebrate
- 3) to honour, do honour to, hold in honour
- 4) to make glorious, adorn with lustre, clothe with splendour
- 4a) to impart glory to something, render it excellent
- 4b) to make renowned, render illustrious
- 4b1) to cause the dignity and worth of some person or thing to become manifest and acknowledged
- ↑ Tiered having or arranged in tiers, rows, or layers. Something that is arranged in a series of levels or layers is tiered. Towering wedding cakes are often tiered, with the smallest layer at the v ery top.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Not exercise authority
- Matthew 20:25 "But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you:..."
- Mark 10:42 "But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you:..."
- Luke 22:25 "And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye [shall] not [be] so:..."
- ↑ Table as a snare
- Psalms 69:22-23 “Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. 23 Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake."”
- Romans 11:9 “And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:”
- Proverbs 23:1 "When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what [is] before thee: 2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. 3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat."
- Exodus 23:32 "Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. 33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee."
- Exodus 34:12 "Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:"
- Deuteronomy 7:16 "And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that [will be] a snare unto thee."
- Judges 2:2 "And ye shall make no league [covenant] with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?"
- Proverbs 1:10 "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not."
- Proverbs 6:2 “Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.” Swear not
- Luke 21:34 "And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth."
- 1 Timothy 6:9 "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and [into] many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
- "Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?" Isaiah 40:21 is about the message of John the Baptist who was "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God" Isaiah 40:3 to avoid the "snare" of the legal charity of the welfare state which which makes the word of God to none effect bringing man back into captivity as human resources.