Washing Feet

Once again I find that we are entering an area where many people seem to miss the point. I have heard debates about this passage and about foot washing. Some denominations practice foot washing and some do not. I have heard both pastors and theologians argue about whether or not we should wash each others feet based on the idea that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples.

I want to tell you that if you are engaging in this debate you have probably missed the point of the passage. I don’t think Jesus cares if we wash feet or don’t wash feet. I don’t think that the point of this passage has anything to do with washing feet. Let’s read it together and I will try to show you what I mean.

John 13:1–17 NASB95

Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.” So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

So here they are sitting down to dinner and we are given a new piece of information. We find out that someone is going to betray Jesus. We even find out who it is, but that is not the point of the whole foot washing thing, in fact it has nothing to do with foot washing.

We know that the disciples did not understand what Jesus was doing, Jesus himself said

John 13:7 NASB95

Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.”

We know that Peter and Jesus argued about foot washing. Jesus was going to wash Peter’s feet and Peter would not let him. Jesus told Peter that if Jesus didn’t wash his feet then Peter had no part with Jesus. Then Peter overacted again. If that’s what it takes Jesus then wash my whole body. No Jesus said

John 13:10 NASB95

Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”

Then Jesus began to teach, he began with a question and then an explanation of his actions and his question. I bet you thought I made up that asking and question and then explaining the question and the answer didn’t you, nope, I got right from the bible.

John 13:12–17 NASB95

So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

I gave you an example he said. Many have said that the example Jesus gave was washing feet and therefore we should be washing feet. Washing feet was something a servant did, it was a humble act and they say that washing feet shows our humility and makes us more Christlike. I think they miss the point.

The example Jesus gave was not foot washing, it was service. In that day people wore open toed sandals and walked long distances on dirt roads. Their feet and ankles got dirty. Not only that but they ate their meals on a rug on the ground or on a a low table basically a table top siting on the ground. That means that they did not sit up in a chair with their dirty feet tucked neatly under the table. They reclined, they lay down on their sides on and ate all around the food. that means that when you ate your feet were not that far from where someone else was eating and someone else’s feet were close to where you were eating. That’s a lot of dirt to be that close to your food.

It was considered polite for someone to wash the feet of the guests before they began to eat so that their dirty feet were not in each others fact during the meal. This was not a pleasant job and so it was usually given to a servant, not a senior servant but a lowly servant. The fact that Jesus took this task on himself does show great humility and concern for the disciples. Jesus came the first time to serve others. He did not come for himself he came to serve God the father and to serve us his brothers and sisters. It is true that if Jesus does not serve us then we have no part in him. If we refuse to allow Jesus to serve us then we refuse to be saved by his sacrifice, we refuse to accept his gift. Jesus was telling Peter that he had come to serve and save mankind and if Peter did not accept that service then Peter would be lost.

Jesus came with a plan and with a method that he would use to serve and save us. When Jesus died on the cross it was sufficient to meet all that we needed. Jesus knew exactly what we needed and he did exactly what needed to be done. Jesus did it perfectly, no more and no less than what was needed. When Peter said he wanted Jesus to wash his whole body he was going beyond what Jesus had planned and because it was beyond the plans of Jesus it was too much. Going beyond the plans of God does not make something better it makes it worse. The plans that God has made and Jesus carried out are perfect, nothing can be added to them or taken away from them without making them less than perfect. We cannot add to or take away from the service, the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. We cannot add to or take away from our salvation, nothing can be added to to taken away from the perfectly planned and perfectly executed actions of Jesus on our behalf.

After trying to make the disciples understand this Jesus told them something else.

John 13:16 NASB95

“Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.

If you are going to be a servant of Jesus Christ you cannot consider yourself to be above behaving like Jesus behaved. You cannot consider yourself too good or too busy or too important to do the kind of things Jesus did and then honestly say that you are following him, that he is your role model. You cannot honestly say Jesus is the Lord of your life and then refuse to do what he tells you to do. That is a lie, it is dishonest. Of course we are all guilty of this at one time or another. We have all been untrue and dishonest. We have all made promises we didn’t keep and commitments that we didn’t live up to. Sometimes we honestly wanted to keep our promises we just couldn’t do it. Then again, if you are like me, there have been times when you made a commitment that you never really intended to keep, probably right here in church. You have probably said I will pray for you and never actually done it. You have probably promised to read your bible through in a year and not quite made it. We all fall short.

This lesson however is about something else. Jesus picked something that was a need, something that no one else had done. He noticed that their feet had not been washed and it needed doing. So he did it. Not only did Jesus wash their feet but he made it into a life lesson for them, and for us. Jesus in effect said here is a service that needed to be done and I done it myself to show you that I came to serve. If you want to be my disciples, if you want to follow me, if you would call me master then you must do what I have done. You too must serve. Jesus basically told them that if they did not serve then they were acting as if they were superior to Jesus himself. Unless they thought that they were too good to do what Jesus had done then they would serve also. He taught this lesson to his disciples and he was also teaching it to us.

Lets look at what Jesus did. No one asked Jesus to wash their feet. In fact they were shocked that someone of his stature, someone of his reputation would do this lowly work. In fact Peter was so shocked that he argued with Jesus about it. But Jesus persisted. Jesus had noticed a need and he took it on himself to take care of it. He noticed someone who needed something and he decided on his own to take care of them. He took up the towel and the water and he began to wash feet like a humble servant, because that was what he was, and what he wants us to be.

Now today we don’t really need our feet washed, they are in socks and shoes and we drive to get around. Our feet are under a table when we eat and not in our families face so I am not sure that foot washing is the same service that it was in Peter’s day. But we do have other needs. Maybe our car needs to be washed instead of our feet. Maybe we need our brake shoes changed instead of our sandals removed. Maybe instead of clean feet we need help walking. Maybe there is some chore around the house, something that you notice needs doing that you can help with. Maybe it is something that needs fixing that you can repair or a home cooked meal or any one of a thousand others services we can provide for one another. The point is that if we are not serving each other then we are not following the example of Jesus. We are not following the instructions of Jesus.

You have to pay attention, there are literally thousands of ways to serve. You can probably find something that you can do and get a good bit of satisfaction from if you only look around. Of course you have to look outside of yourself, you have to pay attention to others and think about them, about what they need and about how you can help.

My wife and I just yesterday went to a disaster relief training where we trained to be better able to help those who have had their lives disrupted by hurricanes, tornado’s or other disasters. We love it. We have made some great friends and I met a pastor who may turn out to be a wonderful friend. We also got to reconnect with some other good friends. We almost didn’t go. We were both tired and a lot had happened in the last month. My sermon was not ready and I really wanted to sleep in. But we went. I am so glad we did. It reminded me of some of the people we have served in the past, some of the salvations that we have seen and been a part of. Truth be told we are some of the youngest in disaster relief, most are over retirement age and I know one 80 year old that makes me strive to keep up.

Find a place that you can serve, find a neighbor or a church member, go on a mission trip, even help a family member. Find a new way to serve someone, especially if you have never done it before. Find a way to be like Jesus, Jesus served you. you serve someone else. It’s the right thing to do, it’s what Jesus did, It’s what Jesus told us to do, if you do it right, it can be one of the greatest experiences of your life. Serve someone today.