"Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own … he now showed them the full extent of his love … He got up from the meal … poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped round him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, 'Lord, are you going to wash my feet?' Jesus replied, 'You do not realise now what I am doing, but later you will understand.' 'No,' said Peter, 'you shall never wash my feet.' Jesus answered, 'Unless I wash [nipsō] you, you have no part with me.'  'Then, Lord,' Simon Peter replied, 'not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!' Jesus answered, 'A person who has had a bath [leloumonos] needs only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.' For he knew who was going to betray him" (John 13:3-11).

Using this passage, the Alpha Course brought a fresh clarification to me about forgiveness and the on-going need for daily cleansing. Part of the Lord's Prayer – which it is intended for us to use every day – contains the words: "Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us." Why do we need daily forgiveness and cleansing? Didn't all that happen when we received Jesus?

The Geek word "nipsō" is consistently used in the NT to indicate the washing of the extremities (hands and feet) whereas "louō" indicates the washing of the whole body (having a bath); "leloumonos" means "having been bathed". The truth is we need daily cleansing because we so easily slip back into living from our old sinful nature rather than continuously putting it to death.

Addressing all his disciples, Jesus said: "You are clean, though not every one of you." Who did Jesus pronounce as already being eternally clean? Peter, who was soon to deny him, Thomas who would adamantly refuse to believe he had risen from the dead, and the entire group, who would abandon him and flee for their lives. He declared them all as having been purified and totally forgiven for all their sins once and for all!  But Jesus made one exception. He stated that Judas remained unclean which must mean he never truly believed in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God; nor did he receive as his own Lord and Saviour. He didn't lose his salvation. He never possessed it.

Jesus said to Peter: 'Unless I wash [nipsō] you, you have no part with me.' He wasn't refereeing to Peter's conversion – the moment he had put his trust in him as Lord and Saviour – but to the need for on-going daily cleansing. Jesus made this a condition of his serving him as his disciple and working alongside him; something we are all called to. The Message captures the meaning with the words: "If I don’t wash you [on an on-going basis], you can’t be part of what I’m doing." Is this what Jesus was referring when he said: "You do not realise now what I am doing, but later you will understand"? I think it may well be the case.

"If we claim to have fellowship with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, [continuously] purifies us from all and every sin" (1 Jn 1:3, 6-7).