It’s More Than A Foot Wash

Leading up to the cross, we see a pivotal moment in the life of Christ with his disciples. The washing of the disciples’ feet is only found in the Gospel of John and not in the synoptic Gospels. (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) The writer of the Gospel of John is believed to be the apostle John, the one whom Jesus loved; those are his words, not mine. (John 13.23) He chose to include this story for us today, and I am so glad that he did because it gives us great insight into the character of Jesus. Not only does it reveal the true nature of God, but it also highlights salvation in a way that is almost always missed when reading and even preaching from this text. 

If you are unfamiliar with the text, I will encourage you to read chapter 13 of John’s Gospel in its entirety. The scene set before us is Jesus with his disciples before the Passover meal. The common practice in the first century was washing your feet when entering a gathering or house. They walked everywhere in sandals, so you could only imagine how much dirt and grime would accumulate on their feet. The position of foot washer was not desirable and was often referred to as a servant’s job; most certainly, it would not be a position that a teacher would take with his disciples. And if we remove ourselves from the story for a second, we would recognize that it definitely would not be a position that one would think God in the flesh would take with his created beings. But this is precisely where we find Jesus, taking the place of a servant to clean the feet of the disciples. 

The standard interpretation of this text is that Jesus took on the role of a servant, and we should follow His example.

John 13.15: “ I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.”

Understanding this text as Jesus pointing to servant leadership is accurate, but if we stop here, we would be missing the deeper understanding of God’s kingdom he is trying to reveal to us through the Gospel of John. 

If we closely meditate on this section of scripture, we will see that Jesus is pointing to the cross and our salvation, which is only found through His blood. 

Jesus was about to head to the cross and lay down his life, and we see in the text that Jesus laid down his robes to take on the servant role. (John 13.4) For John, the image laid down should send us back to the words he stated earlier in his text.

John 10.14-15: “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.

In other translations, it states that he laid down his life. The sacrifice he is speaking about is laying down his life for his sheep. Jesus knows who he lays his life down for and why he is called to sacrifice. It is the disciples who, at this moment, are not sure of the why.

Jesus states this to his disciples.

John 13.7: Jesus replied, “You don't understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”

At that moment, he is pointing them to the cross. They do not understand what he is doing, but when they see the full picture of his completed work here on earth, they will understand. 

Jesus directed them toward His acceptance. 

The disciples could accept the foot-washing or turn it down in the same way we can receive the forgiveness that only comes from Christ. 

Judas is an excellent example of this choice that we have in Christ. Before they even started the process of foot washing, Jesus knew of the betrayal that was to come from Judas.

John 13.2: It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 

Jesus knew full well that Judas was about to betray him, but he still offered him a chance to repent and turn away from his sin and receive forgiveness. Nowhere in the text does it state that Judas did not participate in the foot washing, so it is assumed that he partook in the offering the same way as all of the disciples. Even the acceptance from Jesus did not save Judas, because he had darkness in his heart. He chose to keep the darkness. 

We have the same choice, we can choose the free gift of grace offered through the blood of Jesus, or we can choose our own wisdom and knowledge. Sin enters our hearts when we choose our wisdom and knowledge. (Genesis 3.4-7) We are cast aside with only the darkness left in our hearts. But when we choose Jesus, we are reconciled to God.

 1 John 1.7: But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1.15), and through our acceptance of his sacrifice on the cross, we become God’s reconciled image. When Jesus laid down his robe and took the role of a servant, he pointed the disciples toward the cross. And after a closer meditation on this section of scripture, we see Jesus calling all of us to the cross.

The question is will we accept his invitation to be reconciled to God?  

*All scripture is from the New Living Translation, unless otherwise stated.