Sunday
Sunday
The Foot Washing
He [Jesus] got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel round his waist…. He poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
John 13:4–5
During supper Jesus washed his disciples’ feet and told them to follow his example. Some Christians have copied him literally. Popes and patriarchs, kings and queens still do on Maundy Thursday. Some Protestant churches (e.g., the Mennonites) also incorporate a foot washing in their communion service. Others believe that Jesus was not so much instituting a ceremony as referring to a common cultural practice. Transposing it into our culture, Jesus meant that if we love one another, we will serve one another, and no service will be too menial or dirty for us to do.
But the foot washing was more than an example of humble service; it was also a parable of salvation. At first Peter refused to let Jesus wash his feet. In that case, Jesus said, Peter could not be in fellowship with him. Next Peter requested the washing of his hands and head as well. Jesus responded, “He who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but he is clean all over” (John 13:10 RSV).
It is quite clear from this that the washing was a picture of salvation and that it was in two stages, first a bath and then a regular washing of the feet. The social custom behind this distinction was familiar. Before going out to have dinner in a friend’s house, the guest would take a bath. Then, walking barefooted or in sandals, his feet would get dirty again. So on arrival a slave would wash his feet. But he would not need another bath.
Just so, when we first come to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith, we are given a bath. Theologically, it is called “justification” (receiving a new status) or “regeneration” (experiencing a new birth), both of which are dramatized in baptism, which is unrepeatable. Then, because we continue to fall into sin and get spattered with mud in the dirty streets of the world, what we need is not another justification or regeneration or baptism but a daily forgiveness, symbolized in our regular attendance at the Lord’s Supper. So Peter made two opposite mistakes. First, he protested against being washed at all. Then he asked for a bath, whereas all he needed was a washing of his feet. May God enable us to grasp the distinction!
For further reading: John 13:1–15