Sayings of Jesus: Wash One Another’s Feet

In John chapter 13:3–17, we come across an event in Jesus’ life that is unique to John’s Gospel. I will reproduce it below; scroll past, if you’re already familiar. A couple of things to be aware of: (a) this is NASB, because I wanted a more literal “word-for-word” version; (b) italics in the NASB indicates that the word is not in the Greek (it’s been added by the translators to better reflect modern English); and (c) an *asterisk means the original verb was in the present tense, rather than the NASB’s past tense—the present tense would make it sound more dramatic to hearers.  

During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had handed all things over to Him, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, *got up from supper and *laid His outer garments aside; and He took a towel and tied it around Himself.

Then He *poured water into the basin, and began washing the disciples’ feet and wiping them with the towel which He had tied around Himself. So He *came to Simon Peter. He *said to Him, “Lord, You are washing my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not realize right now, but you will understand later.” Peter *said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no place with Me.” Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus *said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet; otherwise he is completely clean. And you are clean—but not all of you.” For He knew the one who was betraying Him; it was for this reason that He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

Then, when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’; and you are correct, for so I am. So if I, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example, so that you also would do just as I did for you.” 

There is evidence that foot washing was practiced by some communities in the early church (and especially, we may assume, by the Johannine community), but it rarely features in church liturgies today. This despite Jesus’ clear command, “You also ought to wash one another’s feet . . . I gave you an example, so that you also would do just as I did for you.”

The contrast with church practice concerning the eucharist/communion, about which Jesus similarly said “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19), is striking; if anything, the foot washing command is stated in stronger terms. Interestingly, in John’s Gospel, the institution of foot washing (which takes place at what we call “the Last Supper”) substitutes for the institution of the eucharist/communion (that we call “the Lord’s Supper”) which is in the Synoptic Gospels. Despite the absence of any reference to the eucharist/communion, for some reason the NASB adds a sub-title of “The Lord’s Supper” at the beginning of John 13.

When reading the Bible, it’s always good to keep in mind that there were no sub-titles in the original; what we see in our English Bibles reflects the publishers’ views on what the subsequent passage is about (which may be as much or more to do with ideology as linguistics—a good example of which is Reformed perspectives on Paul’s writings).                

Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet did not come out of nowhere as an idea. Although in John 13 it takes on sacramental significance, being situated during supper, the washing of the feet of arriving house guests was a sign of welcome in that culture. We first see this in Genesis 18, when Abraham welcomes visitors. In Luke 7, Jesus chastens Simon the Pharisee (who had invited him to dinner), “I entered your house;  you gave me no water for my feet.” In a religious context, washing feet was required of priests entering the sanctuary, per Exodus 30.       

As suggested in this passage (verse 16), washing the feet of guests was performed by the lowliest household slave. The Greek word is doulos, which Bible translators often choose to soften to “servant.” The reason they do so is understandable from a twenty-first century perspective, not least because, in the light of what we know of the appalling abuses in slavery—and if you don’t, you need to do some research—it is astonishing for us to hear Jesus say things like, “Whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all” (Mark 10:44). It may well be that the author of John’s Gospel was aware of this Markan saying of Jesus, since it clearly resonates with John 13.

This is not to say that Jesus likening being a disciple to being a slave would not have been shocking at the time. It’s common for Jesus to use such a literary device (the “shock factor”) to get people’s attention. Challenging his listeners not so much to apply it literally—especially where to do so would contract other teachings—as to think through a related underlying value that Jesus has in mind which they should be putting into practice.

What behavioural values for Jesus’ disciples today might this (now anachronistic) passage be pointing to, metaphorically? I think we can see several. As he so often does, John introduces events he’s narrating with some theological commentary or background explanation (here, in verse 1): “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” What follows is being framed as an expression of that love. It takes place in a context of hospitality, which disciples of Jesus should generously practice towards others. And Jesus completely reverses the world’s notions of hierarchy, power, and personal importance and challenges them to do the same. I suspect that Jesus would have declined an invitation to the Green Room were there such a thing at the time (he’d probably be seen chatting to ordinary people in the cheap seats in the auditorium). The story speaks of real, genuine humility, as a Kingdom value, put into practice in tangible ways.

So why might the sacrament of foot washing have fallen out of favour in church liturgy, and especially when compared to the eucharist/communion? Probably some combination of (a) its social awkwardness in modern culture, (b) its impracticality (not all Christians wear open sandals without socks these days, though, to be “biblical,” perhaps they should), and (c) its messiness. Handing out tiny wafers that look and taste like cardboard—washed down with a plastic thimbleful of the foulest-tasting “grape juice” that money can buy—avoids all of those issues. Another reason may be because it’s not clear what meaning should be attributed to Jesus’ actions (John 13 is silent on that—it simply describes what he did and instructs that the disciples should do the same), whereas, with the eucharist/communion, Scripture offers us the theological reasoning, as well.      

One way of looking at the passage is to see it as picturing the incarnation. Jesus “leaves” his place at supper (his place in heaven), “lays aside” his outer garments (his divinity), “takes up” a towel as a humble servant (his humanity), and “washes their feet” (symbolizing his saving work of “washing away” sin—cf. Psalm 51:2; Acts 22:16; John 9). This is how what happened in the incarnation is explained theologically in Philippians 2:5-8.