Thoughts for the Day

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ Peter said to him, ‘You will never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered, ‘Unless I 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, ‘One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

On our travel with Jesus through Lent, we now come close to the climax, and we expect the be reminded of the Last Supper our Lord had with his disciples and the words we hear at our service of Holy Communion (Lord's Supper, Mass, or Eucharist), but John doesn't follow the example of the other Gospel writers. Instead he says: 'Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father,' and he 'began to wash the disciples' feet'. So starts four chapters of his "Farewell Discourse" that is the important things he wants the community to remember when he is gone. He doesn't refer to the bread and wine as his 'body and blood' but we should remember that he has dedicated almost all of Chapter 6 to the subject of bread and its meaning for them (John 6).

So John presents an episode that the other evangelists ignore, that is the washing of the disciples' feet. Jesus the Son of God strips off his outer garments to act as a servant (or a slave) to his disciples. It is a sign of his total giving of himself to them; a sign of all he willingly will give up to rescue them those who follow after them. Peter doesn't understand the meaning behind the act - that if you do not let Jesus wash you, you cannot be a part of him. It is the sacrificial love of Jesus by choosing to die for them that will cleanse the disciples and us from our sin. His love is what will free us from all our dirt! But that is not enough, we don't get a 'free pass out of jail' for Jesus continues "So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you."

For me, and I have mentioned this before, it brings back vivid memories of the Bishops of Hereford and Worcester washing the feet of hundreds of pilgrims in Hereford cathedral, who when the dry towels ran out used the cassocks they were wearing to dry people's feet. We cannot all actually wash another's feet, but we can carry out self-sacrificing acts for other people in remembrance of what Jesus has done for us.

Lord Jesus Christ,
as you willingly accepted the role of a servant
to Your disciples by washing their feet,
and chose the path of suffering and death
that they might be free of the consequences of sin,
so may we offer self-sacrificing love to others
in remembrance that You also suffered for us,
who repent of our sin, and hope for eternal life.
Amen.