John 13:14-15
Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
On the night Jesus was betrayed, He did some peculiar things. Many of His actions could be considered "out of character," especially for someone who knew they were about to die (John 13:1). One of the unusual things Jesus did is wash the disciple's feet. This story only appears in the 13th chapter of John's gospel, yet it is considered important in many churches. The day in which churches remember this story is known as Maundy Thursday, and according to Dictionary.com Maundy comes from the Latin word "mandātum, which means 'mandate or command.'" So, what is the command Jesus demonstrated by washing His disciples' feet, and how should a Christian respond to this command?
The story of Jesus washing His disciples' feet goes as follows: While the disciples and Jesus were eating their last Passover meal together, Jesus got up from the table, "took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist," (John 13:2-4). Jesus then set up a basin full of water, washed His disciples' feet with it, and then dried them off with His towel (John 13:5). When it was Peter's turn to have his feet washed, he told Jesus, "You shall never wash my feet," and Jesus responds, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me," (John 13:8). Peter then requested Jesus wash his whole body, to which Jesus replies, "Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you," (John 13:10). After Jesus did this, He took His place back at the table and said, "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you," (John 13:11-15).
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| The Lord says, "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols," (Ezekiel 36:25). |
Now, it's one thing to read a story, but it's another thing to know what it means. So, what is the meaning of Jesus washing His disciples' feet?
First, Jesus' actions show Him taking the place of a servant. In the time when Jesus walked the earth, people often wore sandals, and as such their feet got dirty. It was a common custom for a servant to wash the household's feet as well as those of any guests. When Jesus washed His disciples' feet, He took the role of the servant. Jesus' act of servanthood perfectly illustrates His self-described mission, for He says He "did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many," (Mark 10:45). Jesus is not a God who is "served by human hands, as if He needed anything," but rather He is a servant who continually "gives everyone life and breath and everything else," (Acts 17:25).
Second, Jesus' persistence to wash Peter's feet, but not his whole body, shows Jesus did this to demonstrate something spiritual. He told Peter and the other disciples they already had a bath (John 13:10). The bath Jesus is implying is baptism. The act of water baptism, when someone is immersed in water and then lifted up again, is a symbolic representation of spiritual baptism. This baptism is when a believer is buried with Jesus "into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life," (Romans 6:4). The apostle Paul says everyone who is a disciple of Jesus has taken part in this washing through baptism (1 Corinthians 6:11). Peter later wrote about this cleansing, stating this washing is "not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ," (1 Peter 3:21).
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| "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water," (Hebrews 10:22). |
Third, Jesus' washing of His disciples' feet concerns a similar spiritual washing. Jesus alludes to this earlier, when He tells His disciples, "If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet," or rather wash your feet of their dirt (Matthew 10:14). Jesus says the people who reject His disciples' and their gospel will be under an unbearable judgment (Matthew 10:15), so Jesus is telling His disciples' to not be contaminated by the world's wickedness and share in its judgment. Only those with clean spiritual clothes can enter into heaven (Revelation 22:14), which is why Jesus' disciples must keep their feet clean. The good news is that when Jesus' followers do get some dirt on them, such as when they sin or fail to love their neighbor, then Jesus can "wash their feet." The disciple John writes, "If anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ," (1 John 2:1) and further says, " If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness," (1 John 1:9).
Lastly, this spiritual washing of feet is not only an example but also a command. Those who follow Christ can forgive and cleanse one another as Jesus cleanses them. This is one reason why Jesus tells His disciples, "If you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you," (Matthew 6:15). When Jesus' followers forgive one another they show comfort, so the one in need of forgiveness "will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow," (2 Corinthians 2:7). Furthermore, Jesus' followers can also wash one another "by the washing with water through the word," (Ephesians 5:26), for Paul says the word, meaning Scripture, helps make Jesus' followers more righteous and pure (2 Timothy 3:16). Jesus followers' can even keep each other's feet from getting dirty by instructing one another. Paul writes that believers "full of goodness, filled with knowledge" are "competent to instruct one another," (Romans 15:14). In doing these things and more all of Jesus' disciples work together to "present everyone fully mature in Christ," (Colossians 2:22).
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| When one of Jesus' disciples washes another one's feet they reflect Jesus' servanthood, affirm His baptism, proclaim the forgiveness of sins, and show others how to do the same. |
With all that Jesus is illustrating through washing His disciples' feet (including everything not addressed in this post), it is understandable why many people would not understand the meaning of this story. Sometimes, those who do not understand can prematurely give their own teaching about Jesus' feet washing. Oftentimes their uninformed teachings can lead others to confusion or worse.
On a personal note: this blog post was originally going to be published closer to Easter time, however this has been adjusted due to a recent advertisement released during the LVIII Super Bowl. The advertisement is part of a campaign known as He Gets Us, and their ad. shows several still images of various people washing other people's feet (though one image is just two guys sharing a foot bath). It concludes with the text, "Jesus didn't teach hate. He washed feet," implying Jesus' act of washing His disciples' feet shows how Jesus opposed hatred.
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| These still images, along with others, appeared in the "Foot Washing" advertisement created by the He Gets Us campaign. |
However, according to the example Jesus demonstrated in John chapter 13, this ad. is misguided in nearly all of its claims. The ad. seems to show people of all kinds washing everyone and anyone's feet. Jesus, though, says His command to wash one another's feet only applies to His disciples, for this is what He means when He says, "you also should wash one another’s feet," (John 13:14). The ad. also shows people only washing each other's feet in the physical sense and never the spiritual one, but Jesus washed His disciples' feet physically to demonstrate a greater spiritual action. If Jesus' feet washing only concerned the physical act of taking the place of a servant and promoting proper hygiene, then Jesus would have been a bit dense to ask His disciples "Do you understand what I have done for you?" (John 13:12). Even more than these errors, the closing text claiming "Jesus didn't teach hate," is directly contradicted by this story. After Jesus washed His disciples' feet He says, "you are clean, though not every one of you," and John elaborates, "For He knew who was going to betray Him, and that was why He said not everyone was clean," (John 13:10-11). Now, Jesus saying someone is spiritually filthy when they likely thought they were clean may or may not be considered hateful, but it is arguably less debatably hateful for Jesus to refer to this same filthy person as a devil (John 6:70-71). It is written of Jesus He "hated wickedness," (Hebrews 1:8-9) and His disciples' learned from His example to "hate what is evil," (Romans 12:9).
In the description for their advertisement, He Gets Us asks, "How would our contentious world change if people, especially those with opposing ideologies, took off their shoes and washed each other’s feet?" The answer is the world would not change a whole lot. At best, people everywhere would have much more pleasant smelling feet. The proof of this is when Jesus washed Judas' feet, and then says this foot washing did nothing to make Judas spiritually clean or any less wicked (John 13:11). If Jesus disciples' want to offer true washing to cleanse the wicked of this world, then they must lead people to "repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins," (Acts 2:38). Only after someone has had a bath will Jesus' disciples then be able to wash their feet.
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| Jesus' disciples, like Him, walk in the world's dirt but do not belong to it, because they have been cleansed by God's word and His truth, (John 17:16-17). Those who belong to the world's dirt need to be washed "with the Holy Spirit and fire," (Matthew 3:11). |
Sources
- The Bible (New International Version)
- John MacArthur Study Bible (consulted research)
- Dictionary: Maundy Thursday
- Bible Study Tools: Baptism
- He Gets Us: Foot Washing Advertisement