Back
when I was in university I had the distinct privilege of going to a Church of
the Brethren love feast. When the
Brethren celebrate Communion they do things different than we do. It’s a big occasion so it doesn’t happen on
Sunday morning, but in the evening when they can take the time to share it
during a meal. It’s a feast. It’s as much a remembrance of Jesus last meal
with disciples as it is the coming “Marriage Supper of the Lamb” that we look
forward to when Jesus returns. They have
a big meal, like roast beef or chicken, a meal common to the area. It culminates with communion. Its very early church-like. But, the interesting thing about the Church
of the Brethren Love Feast is that you don’t eat until you’ve washed feet.
Though
it was thirty years ago, I remember this meal, my one and only experience of
foot washing. The men and women were separated. We paired up and got a basin of water and a
towel. I was in my early 20’s. My partner was in his 70’s. I was styling in cotton socks and docksiders. He wore those cushiony black shoes and black
polyester socks. His ankles and feet
were a bit swollen and sweaty. With me
being a newbie, he washed my feet first to show me how it was done. I set my feet in the basin. He splashed water on them and then dried them
off. He sat in a chair in front of me,
grunting as he had to bend to pick-up my feet.
Then he set his feet in the basin and I splashed them a bit and dried
then off and that was that.
For
me in my 20’s that was probably my first experience of human contact of that
manner. It is a bonding experience. It is intimate and personal and, in a mild
way, it is humiliating. It requires
humility and a sense of maturity. You
don’t go about it displaying non-verbal’s of repulsion. You don’t joke about the experience and or
fain gratitude there was no fungi involved. It is a sacred act.
In
real life foot washing can be a very profound and indeed life-saving act. Just ask a nurse. I’ve heard nurses share stories having to
help bathe homeless, mentally ill people who’ve had the same socks and shoes on
for months. The socks have to be cut and
peeled off because hair and nails have grown through them and they have fused
with the skin due to fungus growth. It’s
painful.
In
Catholicism, on Maundy Thursday the Pope has to wash the feet of twelve
homeless people. I don’t agree with that
practice. I think it humiliates already
humiliated people for a matter of religious “ceremony”.
Looking
at John’s Gospel, the origin of this practice of foot washing, John tells that Jesus
washed the feet of his disciples before they shared what was to be their last
meal together. This meal was thus Jesus’
last opportunity to teach his disciples and closest friends. So, we must clue in that what Jesus said and did
at this last supper was of utmost importance; like a summary of everything he
had taught them.
John
is adamant to note that Jesus did this foot washing fully knowing that what was
soon to happen. In just a few hours he
would be arrested, tried and convicted wrongfully, tortured, and executed. Judas would betray him leading to his
arrest. While on trial, Peter, his most
adamantly loyal disciple, would deny him three times before daybreak. Then, the other ten, fearing for their lives
would desert him. Despite knowing their
soon to happen lack of fidelity, Jesus still washed their feet. Most people would not have done that.
An
obvious question to ask here is why. Most
interpreters will mention that the other Gospels tell us that during this meal
a dispute broke out among the disciples as to who was the greatest of
them. So then, stating the obvious, they
say that Jesus humbled, humiliated himself in this way to put a final end to
their delusion of grandeur that they would rule with him when he established
his kingdom, which they expected to happen in the next day or two as they were expecting. That interpretive move may be historically accurate,
but if we stay true to John’s Gospel, the obvious answer to why Jesus does this
humiliating act is to demonstrate his own nature and the nature of his rule in
his kingdom and to prepare them live accordingly.
Verse
1 reads, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the
end.” Then, John fills out the meaning
of that verse. He notes that Jesus knew
what will happen later that evening and regardless, he stripped down to his
undergarments, tied a towel around his waist, poured water in a basin, washed
his disciples feet, and dried them with a towel. That’s what love looks like. Humbly serving one another is the “end” of
love.
John
saying in verse 1 that Jesus “loved them to the end” unbeknownst to us English
speakers is very rich in meaning in the Greek language. We read it rather literally as Jesus never
stopped loving his disciples despite the betrayal, the denial, and their total
desertion. The Greek word there is
“telos” and it is much richer in meaning than that. Let me try to fill this out.
In
Pagan worship services the “telos” is the culmination of the worship service,
which is the sacrifice. In this sense,
Jesus washing his disciples is a profound act of worship. It should also shine light on Jesus’ death as
being a profound act of worship in resembling the scapegoat on the Day of
Atonement. Like on the Day of Atonement
it is here that Jesus cleanses his disciples of “iniquity” and takes their sin upon
himself to bear it away in death.
In
the world of ethics, “telos” or end means the culmination of a process of
actions. We like to say, “the end
justifies the means” or its opposite that “the end does not justify the
means”. In this case, Jesus’ act of love
in washing his disciples’ feet is the culmination, the end of the educational
process of discipleship he had led them through for three years. So also, in Jesus’ Kingdom the way of rule is
most markedly demonstrated by love shown in humble service. Thus, the end and the means are one and the
same throughout. The nature of power in
his kingdom is best demonstrated by washing one another’s feet – and I might
add especially the feet of those who have and will hurt us, the feet of friends
who prove themselves disloyal, friends who betray us as do enemies.
Another
meaning for “telos” has to do with purpose –the end for which something is made
is its purpose. The love that Jesus
demonstrated to his disciples by washing his disciples’ feet is the end, the
purpose for which he came into the world.
His purpose is fulfilled when that love is cherished, embodied, and
enacted in the midst of human community.
That is what eternal life looks and will look like. That is what salvation looks and will look
like. It is the healing of
humanity.
One
last thing, Jesus’ washing his disciples feet was the final thing that he
needed to do to equip his disciples for the ministry of heralding in and
enacting his kingdom until he returns.
Isaiah 52:7 reads: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the
herald, who proclaims peace, who brings news of good things, who proclaims
salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!”
Jesus made their feet beautiful so that they could be the heralds of his
kingdom. He further equipped them for this on the evening Easter Sunday when
risen from the dead he appeared to his disciples and said, “Peace to You! As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”
Then he breathed the Holy Spirit onto them.
Having
beautiful feet looks like loving one another as Jesus has loved us. Jesus' one commandment is so important. People will know we are his disciples by how
we love one another. So also, people
will know that our God reigns by the way we love one another. But wait a minute; let’s not be on a power
trip with delusions of an almighty God who smites all those wicked people who
have committed the grave sin of simply being different us. Our God reigns in the power of self-emptying
love. My friends, our God washes feet –
even the feet of those who hurt him most – that’s me and you and us together as
we daily betray him, deny him, and walk out on him in fear. Our God does not make us wash our feet to come
into his presence. In fact, the
commandment is that we take our shoes off before coming into his presence.
When
Jesus finished washing his disciples’ feet he asked them, “Do you know what I
have done to you?” Do you fully perceive
and understand the significance of what I have done to you. That’s a huge one. Do we understand that our Lord is a foot
washer and that we should be and do like wise?
Do we get that? Seriously, there
is only one thing we need to understand about God and humanity’s and each of
ours relationship with God – He washes our feet. He washes everybody’s feet –
everybody’s! Amen.
