Section 11
since their roads were dusty, their feet easily be came dirty. If, when they came to a feast, they sat at the table with dirty, out-stretched feet, the dirt and smell would have frustrated the fellow ship. Therefore, for a pleasant feast, they needed foot-washing. When the guests were invited to a feast where they fellowshipped with one an other, they had to wash their feet before the fellowship. Without the washing, the fellowship would have been hindered. Before they could come together to feast and fellowship at the table, they had to be washed. Otherwise, they simply could not have had pleasant fellowship. Further more, they did not sit at the table like we do; rather, they reclined on the floor with their legs outstretched without any chairs or benches. If their feet were dirty, the bad odor would have been awful. Sometimes they journeyed a long distance on a muddy road. As a result, their feet became very dirty and the smell was offensive. If they had come together and stretched out their feet, the fellowship would not have been very pleasant.
Since the Gospel of John is a book of signs, what is recorded here concerning foot-washing must also be considered as a sign having a spir itual significance. We should not take foot- washing merely in a physical sense, but rather