Washing Feet

John 13:12-17 “When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

Good Friday.  

I always found this the strangest name for a holy day.  One of the last things Jesus did before going out to die is to wash his friends’ feet, an act reserved for slaves in those days.  Remember that everyone wore sandals then, and it was not only dust he washed off.  Animals of all kinds walked those streets as well.  Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Creator of the Universe, God Incarnate, got down on his hands and knees and washed the dirt and shit off his friends’ feet.  Even Judas who would betray him in a few minutes, which Jesus well knew.  Peter and the others were scarcely better, deserting him, denying they even knew him.  Then they sang a hymn, walked across the valley, prayed a prayer to let this cup pass from his lips, but not his will, but the Father’s be done, and then he let them arrest him, beat him to a pulp, insult him, nail him to a tree and suffocate him to death over a period of about six hours of pure physical torment.  Worse for him, I believe, was the spiritual torment of experiencing the weight of the sin of the world and being separated from his Father. So that I could be forgiven for my sins.  

This commandment to wash one another's feet comes right before he gives the New Covenant, breaking his body, the bread, and pouring out his blood, the wine, in forgiveness of sins. In my experience, when I have had a broken relationship, I own far more of the responsibility for the problem than I am comfortable admitting.

I have never washed anyone’s feet.  In today’s age of comfortable shoes, socks, paved streets and indoor plumbing, washing feet would be purely symbolic anyway, and a symbol that has lost its meaning.  

I prefer to think that a mindset of humility is needed.  No job is beneath me.  No person is beneath me.  That I should do for the least of these and not ask myself if they are worthy or will appreciate my efforts.  Nor should I ask whether the other person deserves my forgiveness, as Romans 5:10 reminds: "For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!"

Thank you Lord Jesus for your example, for your life, for your sacrifice and your forgiveness.