John 13:8

8. Peter saith It were wise for Peter, at least now, to be silent and submissive. He has a chance to exercise that profound humility which trusts in God amid the mysteries of life, saying, we know not now but shall know

hereafter. Never wash my feet Peter at last, in his presumptuous humility, is utterly disobedient. He is imperative upon his Lord and Master. He imposes a never, a prohibition to last for ever. Hence now the stern rebuke of Jesus, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. If the reality which requires this symbol be not performed, as thy disobedience will secure that it shall not, thou and I are separate forever. The same pride which in self-deception repels this washing service of thy Lord, rejects the washing of his atonement. Thou wilt not be washed with water in body, and thou canst not be washed with blood in soul; and thy impure nature can have no part with me.