By: Juliet Constantine
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.” For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.” (John 13:10-11 NKJV)
The ability to read another’s thoughts is amazing, yet frightening! If you could, you would know everything about other persons. Nothing would surprise you as every thoughts lay naked to your all knowing mind. This is scary! Even though we have the desire to know, with the main aim being to control, it wouldn’t be fun knowing everything. The element of mystery would be removed and everything would become boring. Needless to say, you might even be tempted to use the knowledge to your advantage to take and hurt instead of to give and love. No, we are not blessed with this gift; and in our assumption we are seldom accurate. We cannot read another’s thoughts.
But Jesus could – with precise accuracy. Whenever He spoke of His disciples or the Pharisees’ thoughts, no one bother to deny. This was such a time when Jesus told His disciples that they were not all clean. No one bother to ask: “Am I clean?” They all believed He knew their innermost thoughts; He knew them more than they knew themselves. A similar incident was played out when Jesus was at Pharisee Simon’s house in Bethany for dinner. Mary Magdalene chose to anoint Jesus’ feet out of thankfulness for what He did for her. But Pharisee Simon, a past customer of Mary Magdalene, had evil thoughts about Mary’s true intention and her cleansed life. Jesus knowing all things did not scandalize Simon. Instead, He tactfully asked Simon which debtor would love more: the one who received forgiveness of a larger amount of debt or the one who received a smaller amount? Rightfully Pharisee Simon answered that it was the one who owed more that would love more. Pharisee Simon could not accept that Mary Magdalene was now clean. He could not understand how Jesus could have forgiven this high class prostitute.
You see, like so many of us, Pharisee Simon believed that Jesus’ forgiveness was limited to only himself, and not to others. He himself was a recipient of Jesus’ pardoning grace, yet he thought it too good for another whom he led into sin. But Jesus’ grace is not partial – it is open to whosoever will truly accept it.
Jesus was right when He said to Peter: “You are clean, but not all.” You see even though Judas was one of the twelve disciples, one of those persons closest to Jesus and a member of Jesus’ inner circle, he was not clean. Judas did not allow God’s forgiveness and His words to do the cleansing work in His heart. Judas made himself part of that inner circle for just one reason – to control the money bag.
It’s the same for many who profess belief in Jesus Christ. Many of us hold a mere profession of faith but the power of God isn’t evident in our lives. We allow the dictates of the evil one to control and rule our lives; and for many, their association with God’s people is more out of what they can get physically than, being spiritually changed. To us all, Jesus says; “You are not all clean.” But His invitation of cleansing is still open. We are invited to come and be cleansed that our sins be blotted out. We are not gifted to read minds and judge intentions; but we are all gifted to receive the cleansing freely offered. We can all be clean, and remain clean. I have accepted Jesus’ offer of cleansing. You should too.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ which made us clean. Keep us clean we pray, In Jesus’ name, amen.
Copyrighted by Juliet Constantine 2014 (for “Alone With God – Finding Jesus In The Scriptures” Daily Devotional)
