New Testament Washing

Now, we shall explore the New Testament washing.

Let’s begin in Matt. 6:17~ But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

V18~That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

So here we see that anointing the ‘head and washing the face�?is a sign of secret work with God; of being empowered by a secret work of God. Since we are doing this solely to God and not to receive ‘glory�?from man, we are going into the ‘secret�?place with God and gaining the power to do the works of God on earth.

Remember that when Jesus cast out the demon which caused the boy to have seizers, and the disciples asked him why they could not cast it out, Jesus answered, This kind can come out only by fasting and prayer. So, this secret fasting and praying is this anointing the head and washing the ‘face�? In other words, this is giving us the power of God; which is the anointing of the head and the washing of the face.

So, when you fast, keep it secret; anoint your head; wash your face; all of this is to bring the anointing of God upon your head, or power, and the causing of the ‘face�?to shine. This signifies that one is filled with the glory of God.

I did not find an instance of the head washing in the OT. [There may be; I might not have found it] So, I see at this point that the ‘head or face�?washing signifies the New Testament of Jesus.

Matt. 15:1~Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees which were of Jerusalem, saying,

V2--Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash NOT their hands when they eat bread.

V3~But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

V9~But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

So what I see here is that the disciples were breaking away from the Old Testament. They were being moved on by God to transgress the traditions of those old law keepers and brake away from that old priesthood of Levi. They had to do this in order to be ready for the new priesthood of Jesus. They had a tradition of ‘hand�?washing before eating; for it showed they were the ones doing the work of God sent by the priests.

But it was just as the church world today is a complete sham of the true things of God. It was not the true washing of the hands set up for the priests. Just as the church is not teaching the true doctrine of Jesus today.

So in not washing hands before they ate, the disciples were breaking away from that old system; preparing for the ‘head�?washing which is the anointing of the N.. This real washing came on the Day of Pentecost; this is why Jesus did not wash their hands and head there in the upper room of the Last Supper.

He only washed their feet ~ preparing them for the New Ministry which was coming to them at Pentecost.

Mark 7: 2-9 also covers this same event. Jesus showed them that by their tradition they were rejecting the commandment of God. So it shows that the law keepers were not the ones keeping the commandments of God. They were worshipping God in vain. Jesus said this. So only the true New Testament way of serving God is acceptable to Him. That is what the ‘head�?washing shows.

Now for one of the most important instances of this ‘washing�?in the Word of God.

Luke 7: 36-50 ~ You know the story; a Pharisee had Jesus to eat with him. The Pharisee rejected Jesus as a servant of God, by NOT giving him water for his feet; he did not anoint Jesus�?head, thus rejecting the New Move of God, which Jesus was bringing in. This was an outright INSULT to the Son of God.

Mary, a woman out of whom Jesus had cast seven devils, came in and broke open this precious box of ointment and anointed Jesus�?head with this precious ointment. Thus she was the very first one to do the work of God in this matter of anointing and washing for the purpose of anointing Jesus for the New Testament work of God. In doing this, she was accepting the headship of Jesus as a new priesthood.

Then she washed his feet with her tears and wiped them with the long hair of her head. Thus she was the very first one to perform this ministry of washing the feet of the servant of God to anoint him for the new covenant work of God. Instead of pouring out water from an external source, she used her own water of tears. Instead of wiping his feet with a towel, [an external source] she used her own holy covering, her long hair. Thus she showed the New Testament women how to obey the New Testament commandments of Holy living. This also showed the water of life being a well of water inside us. We fill up and give out this water to others; see it comes from within, an internal source.

The Pharisee showed that he had rejected Jesus as being the Holy One of God in this saying: ~~v39--he said IF this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.

Now there is a lot to teach just in this verse alone. This Pharisee was self-righteous; he felt himself to have no need to touch Jesus; he had no desire to touch Jesus, much less minister to him. He also thought that because this woman was a sinner she had no right to come and touch Jesus. He thought that Jesus did not know what kind of person she was. So he had rejected Jesus as being a prophet.

Now a kiss also represents a form of love and worship; so this Pharisee should have kissed Jesus when he arrived; but see that Jesus told him, v45--You gave me no kiss - thus the Pharisee gave another form of rejection of respecting Jesus.

Jesus said but this woman since I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. See most of the people just kissed the forehead; but this woman loved so much and worshipped so much, she lowered herself to kiss his feet. Thus she was worshipping the New Testament ministry

V46--My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.

See this man had rejected to do the ministry of anointing the HEAD of the New Testament Church with the oil, which represents the Holy Ghost. But this woman anointed his feet -- to be the New Testament Minister.

V47--Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

So her love for Jesus and the New Testament which she saw he was bringing in, is what caused her to perform this great ministry of washing his feet and anointing his head. She performed one of the greatest acts of worship and service to God which has ever been accomplished. She washed and anointed the HEAD of the New Testament for his ministry.

You may think that this was at the close of his ministry ----- but no. His earthly ministry was not the New Testament ministry -- it was closing out the Old Testament ministry of Law. His New Testament Ministry began on the Day of Pentecost. In that you have done it to the least of these my brethren, you have done it to ME.

In Acts 22 Paul is telling of his conversion: In verse 16 he is quoting what Ananias had told him to do--And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and WASH AWAY THY SINS, calling on the name of the Lord.

Now see that this is the ultimate WASHING--- the obedience to the command to be baptized in water in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. All, who reject this New Testament way of Salvation, are doing as Simon the Pharisee did, in rejecting Jesus.

Now for a few more verses on the importance of this WASHING.

1Cor. 6:9--Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

V10-Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the Kingdom of God.

V11-And such were some of BUT ye are WASHED, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Now this covers a lot of sins; showing that those who do these things will not inherit the Kingdom of God; yet most teachers and preachers say you can sin all you want to and still be saved. Where do they get this lie?

V11-shows that the washing in the name of Jesus = Baptism, and the sanctification by the Spirit is what got these people out of their sinful condition and into Jesus.

Eph. 5:2 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

V27-That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

So here is a description of the Bride of Christ; see that she has no sin in her--- she has obeyed the Word and been washed in the water as the Word says to do. She has been sanctified = living Holy as He is Holy. This means fashioning yourself according to Holiness. This means not conforming to the World but being Transformed by the renewing of the mind. All who do not obey this will NOT BE THE BRIDE OF CHRIST.

1Tim. 5:10--[this verse shows that foot washing was certainly to have been continued on into the church; not just that which Jesus did to the apostles; if you doubt this, read this verse] ---Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have WASHED THE SAINTS�?FEET, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.

Now here is more explanation of how to live a holy life. These widows which were to taken care of by the church had to have WASHED THE SAINTS�?FEET --- so if it were not followed up by the church, how could she have done this?

Titus 3:5--Not 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.

Heb. 10:22--Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our BODIES WASHED with pure water.

Now this is saying our BODIES are to be WASHED with PURE WATER--- so this could not mean the spirit coming into our souls --- for it said our BODY. So in order to be washed with pure water--one must obey the Word on all washings involving the service to the BODY. This includes the foot washing which we saints are to perform on each other; it includes the Baptism in water in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins as Commanded by Peter in Acts 10.

You must obey these Scriptures in order to have the washing of your souls in the BLOOD OF JESUS.

I hope you have studied and enjoyed and been enlightened by this series of messages on the foot washing. I know that I sure have. This one is long; but I hope you will take the time to read it; print it out and study this if you desire to be washed and be pure enough to inherit the Kingdom of God and to be in the Bride of Christ. It is clear that only those who obey this will be in.

Jo Smith