The Footwashing (John 13:1-20)

This incident is very well-known. It occurred during the last evening of Jesus’ life, shortly before he would be arrested, and its details are recorded in each of the Gospels. The surprising aspect of John’s account is his lack of reference to the commencement of the Lord’s Supper by Jesus, the detail that is stressed in the other Gospels. And the incident of the footwashing is not mentioned in the other Gospels.

From the point-of-view of most people, the big event taking place in Jerusalem that weekend was the Passover. Thousands of Jews had gathered in the city for the event. The Passover lamb would be slain shortly in the temple. The Jewish day began at sunset, so while we would call it Thursday evening, in the Jewish calendar it was Friday evening. And it was on their Friday evening that the Passover celebrations began when families and friends would gather together for a Passover meal.

Jesus had looked forward to this occasion because he knew that it would be the last Passover he would participate in with his disciples. He loved being with them. This time together in the Upper Room would be a time of intense instruction for them, as Jesus spoke to them about the coming of the Holy Spirit. It would also be a time of surprising warnings about their lack of loyalty, especially concerning Peter. But it would also be an occasion of much symbolic action, especially with the institution of the Lord’s Supper, but also with the washing of the disciples’ feet.

At what stage in the meal did Jesus do this? It was before he identified Judas as the betrayer (John 13:21-30), and the other Gospels indicate that Judas was identified before the Lord’s Supper was instituted and subsequent teachings were given. So the footwashing took place towards the beginning of their evening together.

The example

We know that the moment of doing something can add pathos to the action. A person saying farewell to his family as he is about to emigrate has much more pathos that when he says farewell before a holiday. The moment for Jesus’ action was in a sense like an emigration because he would be leaving them soon to go to another land, to the Father.

John reminds us that love for his disciples was very strong in the heart of Jesus. It is possible to translate ‘he loved them to the end’ as ‘he loved them fully’, with the description of his love not being connected to its length of time, but to its intensity. Probably it is best to combine both possibilities and say that he loved them constantly and completely.

This was in contrast to them, because each of them had failed to engage in a basic activity of love in that culture, which was to wash feet after walking on a dusty road. It is true that in a rich person’s house a slave would wash the feet. But they were not rich men, so one or more of them should have done it. Even if one of them had offered to wash the feet of Jesus, it would have said something.

The time when Jesus did this was important. He knew that Judas was going to betray him, that the devil was active in that group of disciples. Yet he also knew that he was on the road to exaltation, that he had reached the stage in his journey when he would return to God. He knew that he was the Mediator commissioned by the Father to bring about the reality of salvation. In other words, he knew his own dignity and he was aware of the incredibility of the task he had been given. What would we say if a king, about to face a war in which he would encounter great challenges, would take time to wash the feet of his soldiers whom he knew would fail him?

The reason why he washed their feet was not because their feet were dirty. His love went far beyond that. He saw the needs of their souls, and he used this enacted parable to show to them where they were spiritually, and what he would provide for them. In passing, we can remind ourselves that he washed the feet of Judas. How did Judas feel as he watched Jesus and sensed the touch of his hands?

The example of Jesus tells us that it is a sign of true greatness to use your position to serve, that it is a sign of grace to serve the sinful, and that it is a sign that one is on the road to glory when he serves those who fail him.

The explanation

It is obvious that Peter initially found the action of Jesus to be inappropriate. As we have observed, Peter during the three years he had spent with Jesus had come to recognise that Jesus was Lord, and that is how he addresses Jesus here (v. 6). He had not yet worked out how the Lord could die, and Jesus seems to hint at that defect in verse 7. The suggestion that Peter did not understand did not impress him, and he then decided to assert his personal authority by stating to Jesus what he would never be able to do. Of course, it is not part of the role of a disciple to tell his master what to do.

When Jesus told Peter about the necessity of being washed, he assumed that Jesus meant that a literal washing was what was necessary and therefore asked for a bath rather than a mere footwashing. Jesus used the illustration to explain what the difference between having a bath and having a foot wash depicted. It is far easier for us to understand this illustration from our perspective because we live after the death of Jesus has occurred.

The full bath pictures the once-for-all cleansing that a sinner receives when he or she trusts in Jesus for the first time. At the moment of conversion, they are cleansed from the effects of sin by the efficacy of the blood of Christ. They are forgiven and receive membership of God’s family. Those blessings cannot be lost and are not repeated. As Jesus says here, they are completely clean.

The washing of feet illustrates the defilement that Christians experience through their contact with sin. Such contact does not undo their cleansing and require another bath. They should remind themselves that what Jesus did is always effective. Yet they need to have those stains, illustrated by dust and dirt that get attached to one’s feet, removed also by the blood of Jesus. Perhaps the easiest way to explain is to say a prayer: ‘Lord, thank you for giving me the cleansing that is permanent and which allows me to be forgiven, and thank you also for giving me cleansing daily for my faults.’

We should remind ourselves that as far as the evening was concerned, this was the preparation for the Lord’s Supper. In order to participate as they should, they needed to have both aspects of cleansing – they had to be bathed and they had to have their daily defilement cleansed away. They could not have the second without the first, but the proof that they valued the first was that they engaged in the second. If we come to the Lord’s Supper ignoring the second, the need for cleansing from a few sins rather than our need for a bath for all our sins, we will miss out. When we come to the Supper, we need to be both bathed and to have had our feet washed.

The exhortation

No doubt, if Jesus had asked them to wash his feet, they would have volunteered to do it. The problem was that if they washed his feet they would have to wash all the feet. And none of them had the inclination to do so. Yet Jesus exhorts all of them to wash one another’s feet.

What does it meet to wash one another’s feet? Obviously it is an act of practical service that believers should do to one another in obedience to the command of Jesus. Moreover, it is very personal, very hand’s on; it is not something that can be delegated to someone else. At the same time, it is an expression of love because that is what it was for Jesus. And it is often an action that has been omitted by everyone else and engaging in it might make us stand out from others.

In a literal sense, washing of feet was connected to providing refreshment to those who had been walking in the hot sun along dusty roads and as a consequence felt very weary. In a spiritual sense, every Christian should feel weary from walking through this world. There is a great deal here that will dry up our spirits. We can refresh one another by quoting Bible promises or by offering a short prayer.

It has been pointed out that we should be concerned about the temperature of the water when we wash one another’s feet. If we are angry about something, we might use boiling water. Or if we are clinical, we might use freezing water. Neither of them would bring about much good. Similarly, what will our hands be like when they wash the other person? We could be rough, not tender.

Footwashing symbolises an expression of brotherly love in small things. We would not be surprised to know that Jesus wanted to instruct the minds of his disciples or comfort their hearts. We would accept that he would be concerned about the success of their evangelism. It is not difficult to see that he would want to develop the intensity of their prayers. But why should he be concerned about their feet? Because we don’t care for a person truly if we don’t care for them fully. Could we say that Jesus loved them fully if he did not care about their sore feet? This incident tells us that we cannot be selective regarding which areas of obedience we have. As Jesus indicates, it is not enough to say that he is our teacher and master. In addition, we have to show it by how we care.

What can we say that this lifestyle is like? First, it is a sign of humility because it can only be done on our knees. Foot washing by definition is a lowering of oneself. Second, it is a sign of honesty because it realises that the person whose feet are being washed is not perfect, that some kind of sin has affected him. Third, it is sign of hope because the reason it is being done is to make the other person better. It is a statement that says to the one being washed that he does not need to stay where he is. Fourth, it is a sign of honouring Jesus because he has told his people to do it. Fifth, it is a sign of heavenly-mindedness, because when Jesus did it he was thinking about heaven, and we should be thinking about heaven when we engage in it. Sixth, it is a highway to blessing as Jesus indicates in the context.

Imagine yourself in a thousand years’ time. There you are, enjoying the rewards of grace that Jesus gave you because you engaged in an activity for him in his church. Maybe it was doing some little thing, like giving a cup of cold water. But the Lord have you such a reward for doing it. And then you recall what started you on the practice. Another Christian saw you could do it, but were not doing it. And in an act of footwashing, he suggested to you that you should do it. And you did, and the outcome was amazing, not only while you were on earth, but also in eternity. What will you think of the footwashing then?