Jesus washing the disciples’ feet… that’s a familiar story to any of us who have spent much time in church or in Christian circles. And if you haven’t heard that story and you think its gross, don’t worry, we do to. To be honest I come at this story out of  with an unconscious roll of the eyes and a “yeah I have heard this one a million times” attitude. But, largely because of our Tuesday morning discussion in our Men of the Word group, the Spirit of God urged me not to jump over observation with my preconceptions of what I think I already know… He reminded me I know very little.

After asking the Holy Spirit to remove my preconceptions and open my heart to His teaching, I came to realize this is such a deep text. Too deep, in fact, to write about all the implications. But I felt like sharing a few nuggets…

Peter… First off, I just love this guy. He may be the most sympathetic character in all of scripture. For a “hero of the bible” he ends up with egg on his face all the time. In this particular instance, as I read through verses 6-11, his dialog with Jesus convicted me profoundly:

⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

Jesus’ statement to Peter sounds so parental, so because-I-said-so-esque. On the receiving end it can feel so condescending. Essentially, this is Jesus, not unlike I do with my own children, suggesting that Peter lay aside what he thinks he knows, what he thinks is best for him, relinquish control, don’t worry about how this looks like or the fact that it’s uncomfortable and unfamiliar to him… “just trust me”. Peter’s response is classic:

⁸“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” 

“I don’t think so Jesus. You aren’t doing that… that’s not the way things are done and it’s a good thing I am here to make sure you don’t do anything crazy or foolish. Whew, you are thanking God for me now or this could have been very embarrassing for you. Jesus, I am going to save you from yourself on this one.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

Jesus comes back with a strong statement. He basically says “Peter, your relationship with me hinges on this… if you don’t trust me on this and lay down control of the situation, we are done.” If you apply this more broadly, what Jesus is saying to you and me, not just to Peter, is that if you trust yourself more than Jesus and if you are the one controlling your life, than you have NO PART with him. 2 things that strike me here:

1) He must wash us. If you try to wash yourself, or let someone other than Jesus wash you, you are still dirty. This is another statement of exclusivity from Jesus. He is telling the disciples, and us, that nobody else can make us clean. We all find ourselves muddied by sin and by the world, and we are all in need of washing. No matter what we do, we can’t cleanse ourselves. The psalmist says that even all of our righteous deeds are like filthy rags.

In other words, if you rely on your own work, your own righteousness, you are bathing in muddy water. No amount of soap will clean you if you use dirty water. If you rely on or trust in yourself or in anything other than Jesus, then you have no part with him… your salvation and righteousness before God, if rooted in anything other than Jesus, is an illusion.

2) Interestingly, and perhaps even frighteningly, Jesus doesn’t give himself proportionally to us. And he asks the same thing of us. In our relationships with each other we mostly have confined areas of life for friendship. In other words, I have my buddies that I watch football or play video games with (hypothetically of course), my church friends, my work friends, and the parents of my kids’ friends, etc. Most of us have multiple subsets of friends and, as a general rule, these friends are kept separate. Naturally, we tend to approach Jesus this way. Jesus is welcomed and trusted with certain aspects of life but we keep him separate from other parts. You say “No, I trust Jesus with all my life… He is my savior and I asked him into my heart”. Similarly, I suspect right before this, had Jesus asked Peter, “do you trust me?” Peter would have responded without hesitation, “Absolutely Jesus… with anything and everything.”

Like the parable of the rich young ruler, though, Jesus doesn’t ask questions to see if you can articulate the right answers. Instead, he asks questions and then examines to see if your life aligns with the answers you give.

There is an implicit appeal here that Jesus is making to Peter… “After 3 years of walking together, Peter, all that you have seen, witnessed and experienced with me, have you ever seen me do the wrong thing? Have I ever done anything that wasn’t for your good? If after all this time you can’t trust that I am acting here for your good than you have misunderstood me and we don’t really have the relationship you think we have.”

That thought has weighed on me today. How many times do I freak out about silly, small things worrying that it won’t work out, that things will fall apart. Finances, relationships, my children, career/work, heck, my daily schedule… I have anxiety and insecurities about them all because I fear that what God is doing won’t be for my highest good. Maybe for the good of someone else, but what if while seeking their good, God sticks it to me.

I hear Jesus reminding me today that his track record is better than mine. He can be and should be trusted more than me. So like Peter, I say fine, if it has to be this way then wash all of me not just my feet.

⁹“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

¹⁰Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”

Speaking figuratively, Jesus seems to indicate that those whose faith and trust is in him have been bathed. He clearly says that “not every one of you” is washed, a veiled reference at the time to Judas. But the other disciples have been washed through faith in Jesus and the cleansing work he is about to accomplish. However, the indication is that there is still an on-going need for cleansing of sins symbolized by the washing of feet here.

So, true salvation is through faith in Jesus and based on his righteousness and not my own. But I must continually depend on that same work of Christ’s on my behalf in order to be cleansed daily from my sin, however petty they may seem. The reality is that Satan, my flesh and the world kick up dirt and dust every where I go and my feet need washing.

Jesus goes on:

¹²When 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.

Truthfully, if I was a disciple here the very quick answer is “not even a little.” Thankfully, Jesus gives some explanation.

¹³"You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

It’s not altogether unfashionable, even in these days, to call Jesus a good teacher or name his as Lord. So many of us easily identify who Jesus is, but so few of us are identifiable as belonging to Jesus. This was never the intent.

Jesus doesn’t say, “now that I have washed your feet, try to keep them clean.” Nor does he say, “Now that I have washed your feet, go tell other people about the fact that I washed your feet.” Rather, he says “Now that I have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” He set an example for us to follow not gave us fodder for discussion.

Jesus set this example on his last evening with his closest friends… it must have been important. Then, so we don’t miss it, he plainly says YOU NEED TO DO THIS. Because Jesus said it must be, Footwashing has to be a value for anyone who names the name of Christ. Footwashing is to be normative in the context of Christian community. What on earth does this look like in real life? How do we at Generations wash each other’s feet, and by way of extension, the feet of those in our community?

The characteristic underlying this command to wash each other’s feet is humility. Humility is the foundational virtue of the Scriptures. It is the basis of our confession of our need for salvation in Christ. It is the basis of our worship as we see God’s great worth. It is the basis of our service as we see others as more important than ourselves.

First, “one another” is talking about other Christians. That is where we start.

The hardest but most important place to do this is in your home and with your family. Washing the feet of your family might mean folding laundry, washing dishes instead of feet, vacuuming, cooking, mowing the lawn, praying for each other, speaking words of encouragement and blessing. If you can’t wash the feet of your spouse, children, parents or siblings, then you haven’t started trusting Jesus with the whole of your life.

In the church context, we can wash one another’s feet by hosting, leading or participating in a home group, opening your home to others for a meal, providing child care for a single mom, changing diapers in the nursery, teaching a sunday school class, mentoring a high school student, making a meal for someone, offering your time and talent on the worship team/tech team, setting up and taking down for our gathering, writing notes of encouragement to individuals and other things as well.

Outside the needs of our church body are many opportunities to serve our neighbors. We can visit assisted living facilities, mentor young students, get involved the in the neighborhood schools, pray for your government officials, mow lawns for widows and elderly, open your home to neighbors, cleaning up trash, and so many other practical acts of service.

The bottom line is the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and he is the one we follow. We are called to be a people, not a person, but a people defined by humility which is expressed by selfless service for the good of others and glory of God.

How are we doing?