Washing Their Feet: Why?
During the time that Jesus was with us, the custom in the Jewish culture was for a servant to wash the feet of guests. This was “mark of respect to the guest, and a token of humble and affectionate attention on the part of the entertainer.*” Typically the job of the lowest servant in the household. Why?
Because their feet got nasty as they walked along the road. They did not have roads like we have, smooth and paved. Their roads were dirt roads and typically had gutters along the side carrying sewage away from the city.
So, when Jesus began washing the feet of His disciples, I believe, mouths dropped open in disbelief because this was unheard of. Their Master and Lord was bending down to wash their nasty, dirty, smelly feet.
Jesus wanted to make a point and was using the “shock and awe” approach. But what point was Jesus making both to His disciples and ultimately to us?
Jesus’ actions were His way of trying to make two important points very clear. The first has to do with the importance of humility/selflessness.
“The whole life of Christ had been a life of unselfish service. ‘did not come to be served, but to serve‘ (Matt. 20:28) had been the lesson of His every act. But the disciples had not yet learned the lesson. At this last Passover supper, Jesus repeated His teaching by an illustration that impressed it forever on their minds and hearts” (Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 642).
Jesus knew that He only had a few more hours with them. This was His last chance to drive home the point that it is not about us, it is about serving others. By going completely counter to cultural norms, He was able to get the disciples attention and make His point that much stronger.
The second lesson has to do with the amazing love that Jesus had for His disciples. He had spent the last three years with this group of teenagers. They shared every minute of life together. Needless to say, it was a very tight group of men.
John M. Staples writes this in the article “The Significance of the Foot-Washing Service”:
…what follows is an unfolding in the form of a parabolic act, a dramatization of what love is. Here were circumstances for which words would have been totally inadequate, since they would soon be forgotten, but not so with actions…It was His last act of dedication to these men whom He had known for three and a half years and upon whose shoulders the responsibility of the preaching of the gospel would now rest. How better could He demonstrate His love for and confidence in them at this point than to take the place of a servant and wash their feet?
This act of washing their feet was not necessarily about good hygiene, but more about how His followers, then and now, should live their lives.
Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him – John 13:14-16
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* John McClintock and James Strong, “Foot-washing,” Encyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, Vol. III, p. 615.