Maundy Thursday: The Washing of Feet

Scripture              John 13: 1-17, 31-35

 

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already decided that Judas son of Simon Iscariot would betray Jesus. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from supper, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

 

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had reclined again, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, slaves are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

 

Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

 

Sermon

I was a Director of Christian Education for five years before I went to seminary. One church I served had very recently welcomed a new pastor. In those days, the conventional wisdom about being a new pastor was: You have about 18 months to make changes. After that, you’ve missed the window. The new pastor took that idea to heart.

 

One of the changes she made was to have the first ever ceremony of foot washing on Maundy Thursday. Because I was part of the pastoral staff, I was one of the foot washers.

 

The first thing I want to say is, you’ve never seen such exquisitely clean and well-groomed feet. Our parishioners went above and beyond in terms of footcare, which, maybe, was something they always did. Their feet looked great and not in need of washing at all.  

 

The second thing I want to say is, you’ve never felt so much anxiety in a room. I remember the weak smiles, the crinkled foreheads and raised eyebrows, the flushed cheeks, the whispered instructions (as in, I’m really ticklish, or, Please avoid my left big toe. The pastor had devised a way of washing the feet that involved no direct contact with the washers’ hands. The people placed their feet in a bowl of water, and we scooped up water with a pitcher and poured it over their feet (which made avoiding that big toe kind of tricky). After that, we held out our hands with a towel draped across them, and people lowered their feet into the towel, so that we could gently dry them off.

 

Honestly, I think the people who allowed us to wash their feet were very brave. That’s because I actually think Peter’s reaction to Jesus’ attempt to wash his feet is a completely natural response, even in the Year of our Lord 2023. This may be the most relatable passage of scripture we have. Maybe I’m only speaking for myself here, but I’m not so interested in people even looking at my feet, let alone washing them. Except maybe for a pedicure situation. Your mileage may vary.

 

We are reading from the gospel of John this evening. All four gospels tell us about a supper Jesus has with his closest friends and companions. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke it is Passover meal. But in John’s gospel, it’s not yet Passover; it’s just a regular meal. Passover begins the next day—the day we call Good Friday. On that day, John tells us that Jesus is crucified at the same hour when the lambs are being slaughtered for the Passover dinner.

 

This passage begins with a statement that Jesus knows his hour has come—that is to say, all events now are moving quickly to the cross. And then, the narrator says, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”

 

Then, Jesus shows his friends, his disciples, what love looks like. He takes off his outer garment, and wraps a towel around his waist. He then proceeds to do something that makes that room thick with anxiety.

 

Notice that Jesus washes the feet of some (maybe all) of the other disciples before he gets to Peter. And in all that time, no one speaks up to object. That doesn’t mean they’re fine with it. Peter has status in this group—he’s part of Jesus’ inner circle. He would be the one who could challenge Jesus about something, even when all the others were afraid to do so. No one objects, until Jesus is kneeling before Peter.

 

I’ve always believed that the big issue here was the fact that Jesus is taking on the role of a servant, or even a slave—someone with no social standing whatsoever. That is partially true. But this week I learned that the washing of feet was not just the work of a slave; it was the work of a female slave. It was considered women’s work, beneath the dignity of a male, and especially beneath the dignity of a rabbi. This is why Peter comes back with “then wash my hands and my head.” This is another thing I learned this week: Peter is asking Jesus to wash him in the way a male religious leader would. He’s saying, essentially, baptize me. Ritual washing was part of life for Jews in that era, and it still is in ours. Peter was straining to find a way to make this acceptable, and not a moment of pure humiliation for everyone in the room.

 

Jesus insists on washing Peter’s feet, and at last, Peter relents. When Jesus is finished, he puts his robe back on and goes back to the table, where the meal continues. Jesus has given his people a demonstration of what love looks like. Did they get it?

 

Love looks like water, and a towel, and everyone washed clean.

 

Love looks like not assuming you are above some kinds of work.

 

Love looks like offering tender care to someone, whether or not you have the correct gender or social standing.

 

Love looks like humility—which, as the poem I read on Sunday said, is a circle, in which the first is last, and the last is first.

 

Love looks like humility, in which every person is a treasured child of God—even the one who betrays you, and runs from the room.

 

Love looks like your Lord and Teacher washing your feet.

 

Love looks like us washing one another’s feet.

 

I wonder, what is the modern-day equivalent to washing one another’s feet? Culturally speaking, we are not sandal-wearers in a village or city with primarily sandy, unpaved roads. What does loving one another look like in 2023?

 

Our reading skips from verse 17 to verse 35. In the verses we did not read, the betrayer, Judas, is found out, and leaves the dinner quickly to find the soldiers and bring them back to do their job. Judas does not hear the very last words of our passage.

 

Love one another, Jesus says. As I have loved you, so you also much love one another. This is how people will know you are my followers—that you are with me—if you love one another. This is Jesus’ new commandment, which is entirely in keeping with the ancient commandments given by God to Moses.

 

Love one another, Jesus says. He has loved his people to the end, and beyond the end to the glorious new beginning.

 

And now we turn our attention to the other way Jesus showed love at that last meal he shared with his friends. We turn our attention to his table, around which we gather, on this most sacred of nights.

 

Love one another. Love one another.

 

Thanks be to God. Amen.