Why Isn't Foot-Washing A Sacrament?
November 2, 2023
John 13:2-17 | Ephesians 5:1-2
This is one of those gospel scenes you really need to place yourself in. Like, imagine yourself sitting there, Jesus - in his underwear - comes to you to wash your feet. It’s powerful. And conflicting. Peter represents us all well, perhaps most explicitly in that every single thing he says is wrong.
But there’s Jesus, serving, loving, getting down and dirty the very night things would get real. His point is certain and explicit: in the moments of God’s greatest work, Jesus will show that true purpose, actual power, and pure humanity is demonstrated through sacrifice and service, not dominion and violence. You just can’t miss it.
His words regarding washing one another’s feet seem rather explicit: Do this. Yet, it is so rarely practiced in the Christian Church. Why?
John 13:2-17
Jesus and his disciples were sharing the evening meal. The devil had already provoked Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew the Father had given everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning to God. So he got up from the table and took off his robes. Picking up a linen towel, he tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he was wearing. When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You don’t understand what I’m doing now, but you will understand later.”
“No!” Peter said. “You will never wash my feet!”
Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t have a place with me.”
Simon Peter said, “Lord, not only my feet but also my hands and my head!”
Jesus responded, “Those who have bathed need only to have their feet washed, because they are completely clean. You disciples are clean, but not every one of you.” He knew who would betray him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you is clean.”
After he washed the disciples’ feet, he put on his robes and returned to his place at the table. He said to them, “Do you know what I’ve done for you? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you speak correctly, because I am. If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example: Just as I have done, you also must do. I assure you, servants aren’t greater than their master, nor are those who are sent greater than the one who sent them. Since you know these things, you will be happy if you do them.
Ephesians 5:1-2
Therefore, imitate God like dearly loved children. Live your life with love, following the example of Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. He was a sacrificial offering that smelled sweet to God.
Prayer
God,
Give me better understanding of Jesus’ sacrificial nature. I don’t mean that I don’t get it. His actions are clear: washing feet, loving the unloved, healing the untouchable, friendship with the lawbreakers, taking the cross.
I guess I’m asking to understand it better in ways that I would practice it better. I have so much to protect even if I leave myself out of it - a spouse, children, parents, brothers & sisters in Christ, neighbors…It seems like sometimes defense needs to be pre-emptive offense.
But I just don’t see it in Christ.
So help me, God.
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.