Sharpened Together - Week 7

Key Scripture: 
Proverbs 27:17
Iron sharpens iron and one man sharpens another.
 John 13:5-15
Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”
Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

Have you ever wondered whether this verse is technically accurate? Iron doesn't actually sharpen iron - stone sharpens iron.

But a sharpening steel? That's different. A steel doesn't create a new edge. It straightens one that has been rolled over from use, returning the blade to its correct angle so it can cut again.

That distinction matters, because I believe it's exactly what this proverb is describing. The edge is made by Christ alone Jesus modelled it for us — He regularly withdrew to spend time with the Father. That intimacy was the source of everything He did. It is the same for us. Time in God's word and in prayer is what gives us our edge. It is not something another person can create in us.

But a sharp blade that goes to work will dull. Life in the world rolls the edge over. We don't lose our salvation - we lose our sharpness.

In John 13, Jesus washes the disciples' feet. When Peter objects - "Not just my feet, Lord, but my whole body!" — Jesus tells him something important: you are already clean. You do not need to be washed again.

But your feet still need washing from the dust of the road. When we gather together, we are not starting over, making a new edge. We are being restored — our edge straightened, our angle corrected, ready to cut again.

REFLECT THIS WEEK
• Where are you spending time with the Father to build your edge?
• Is there someone in your life who regularly straightens you - and do you let them?

Community won't give you an edge that only Christ can form.
But it will return you to it.
If you are feeling dull from the things of the world remember to sharpen.