Lev 1:4-9 LITV (4) And he shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it is accepted for him to make atonement for him. (5) And he shall kill the son of the herd before the face of Jehovah. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall bring near the blood and sprinkle the blood on the altar all around at the opening of the tabernacle of the congregation. (6) And he shall skin the burnt offering, and shall cut it into pieces. (7) And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. (8) And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall arrange the pieces, with the head and the fat, on the wood on the fire, which is on the altar. (9) And he shall wash its inward parts, and its legs, with water. And the priest shall burn as incense the whole of it on the altar for a burnt offering, a fire offering of soothing fragrance to Jehovah.
This is an incredible passage. It immediately raises questions, most of which begin with 'why'.
Why did he lay his hand on the head of the sacrifice? In the Old Testament, the priest transferred the sin of himself or the people upon the sacrifice by laying his hand upon his head. If you do a search on this throughout the Old Testament, you'll notice it was NEVER good when God's hand was upon a person or a people. "...and God's hand was heavy upon Pharaoh."
In the New Testament, when the priest laid hands upon someone, life was transferred. Healing. What (who) was the difference? Jesus. It was truly a divine reversal. To that point, the Law stated separation from lepers. Grace stated healing for lepers. Again... Jesus!
Next... WHY! Why cut a sacrifice into pieces, take the legs and take out some of the inner organs... wash them... and throw them on the fire? Because any sacrifice to God must be clean on the outside AND on the inside. No dirt! No sin! Again... lets shift to the time of Jesus.
Joh 13:6-10 LITV
(6) He then came to Simon Peter. And that one said to Him, Lord, do You wash my feet?
(7) Jesus answered and said to him, What I am doing, you do not yet know. But you will know after these things.
(8) Peter said to Him, You may in no way wash my feet to the age. Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.
(9) Simon Peter said to Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also the hands and the head.
(10) Jesus said to him, The one having been bathed has no need other than to wash the feet, but is wholly clean. And you are clean, but not all.
Do you see it? It's the same picture. We are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God. Peter was such. But Peter had need to be washed - by the Priest. Peter was already clean on the inside - as only Jesus can make us. So Peter says, "If you must, then, Lord wash all of me!" And what did Jesus say? "Peter... I don't NEED to wash all of you. Only that which has been in contact with the world." The feet!
Don't miss the point, though. It wasn't really about Peter's gnarly feet. It was a demonstration to Peter that once made clean by Jesus, we are truly clean. However we can all get pretty dirty in our worldly dealings. The trials of life hammer us... get us down... make us... tired. They drive wedges between us and God that keep us from drawing near to Him. You might call them 'virtual wedges', because nothing truly separates us from God once we are His. It's a perception that the enemy uses. The cure? To get our feet washed. We do this for our brethren because Jesus did it for us. We are... priests.
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