John 13:1–15
Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside His outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around His waist. Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”
Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not 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, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” For He knew who was to betray Him; that was why He said, “Not all of you are clean.”
When He had washed their feet and put on His outer garments and resumed His place, He said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” (ESV)
Prayer
Dear heavenly Father, grant us humility to repent of our sins and to know our own need of saving, so that we may run with eager hearts and worthily receive the Sacrament of Jesus’ body and blood, where we receive forgiveness and strength to live a life of humble service. Amen.
The Savior Serves
I. What Does This Mean?
II. The Blessings He Brings.
Dear Fellow Redeemed,
In high school we played against a Seventh-Day Adventist school in basketball. Before one of our games, I got into a discussion with their principal who was also their coach. We were discussing the beliefs of their church. He told me that they took Scripture seriously. As an example, he said they follow Jesus’ command to wash one another’s feet before receiving communion, which to them, is a symbolic meal. He must have noticed my concerned and slightly shocked face at the idea that they wash each other’s feet, so he continued, “To be a Christian, you must wash people’s feet!” I thanked him for the conversation and went back to warm-ups. But the conversation got me thinking, “Why did Jesus wash the disciples’ feet and why does he tell us to wash one another’s feet?” Like a good Lutheran, we should ask, “What does this mean?”
Today is Maundy Thursday. “Maundy” comes from the Latin word, “mandatum,” which means command. It’s where we get the English word mandate. The first commandment we think of when it comes to Maundy Thursday is when Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper for the forgiveness of sins and said, “This do in remembrance of me.” Yet, during supper, he washed the disciples’ feet. Here, Jesus was not instituting a sacrament of foot-washing. The foot-washing was purely symbolic. He used this to teach his disciples and us about his kingdom, in which, the Savior Serves.
Jesus and his disciples were celebrating the Passover feast together. He had instructed his disciples to have a room prepared so they might eat the Passover meal. During the supper, Jesus does something that would have been out of the ordinary. He took off his outer garment, wrapped his waist with a towel, and then began to wash the disciples’ feet. Usually, the task of washing the feet of guests who had dirtied them by walking on dusty roads was done by a servant or slave. Why then was Jesus washing the disciples’ feet? As usual, Peter was the first to voice his concern.
“Lord, do You wash my feet?” Peter had taken offense. Jesus was his Teacher and Lord. Why did he humble himself before Peter as a common servant? Washing dirt of people’s bodies is not a prestigious job. Peter couldn’t bear seeing his Lord humiliate himself. But Jesus did humble himself, he washed his disciples’ feet. Peter objects. Jesus insists. “If I do not wash you, you have no share with Me.” Horrified at the thought of losing Jesus, Peter asks him to wash his whole body. But Jesus explains he must only wash that which is dirty. Peter did not understand, but he would.
It’s a truly amazing scene. God of God, very God of very God, stooping down from heaven’s throne to perform the lowest service of a slave! He pours water into a basin, gets on his knees, removes the dust from human feet, and dries the feet with a towel. This washing was symbolic of what Jesus had said earlier to his disciples, “Whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
Jesus teaches us humility. Jesus is God. He is the Lord of heaven and earth, but he humbled himself to serve us. We couldn’t climb up the ladder to heaven, so Christ became man to serve and save us. The kingdom of God is backwards to our human way of thinking. We are used to the people serving the king, not the other way around. It’s hard for us to understand. On this night, Jesus served his disciples, but tomorrow, he would provide a service for all people—for those who love him and even those who ignore or hate him. He offered up his life on the cross to pay for the sins of the world.
None of us deserve this service or treatment. We are sinful from birth, daily sin much, and deserve nothing but punishment. And no matter our efforts, we can’t make ourselves good enough for God. The only way that we can be saved, that we can be clean, is if Jesus serves and washes us.
Jesus said, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” With these words, Jesus didn’t institute a sacrament of foot washing, although some have practiced it. The custom of servants washing the feet of their guests disappeared when people stopped wearing sandals on dusty roads. But the mandate of Maundy Thursday remains until the end of time. We are to serve one another. The washing of feet was a picture of Jesus’ command at the end this chapter where he says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Walking on dusty roads wearing sandals makes the feet dirty. It’s unavoidable. You don’t set out to get your feet dirty. You just do. That’s a good picture of our own Christian life. We don’t set out to sin. But we do. We dirty ourselves by what we do, by where we walk, by how we walk, and we’re not the only ones who can see our dirt.
None of the disciples wanted to lower themselves to the point of acting like a servant and washing the feet of others. But Jesus did. The mandate of Maundy Thursday is to wash off the dirt of our brothers and sisters. Don’t look at sin. Cover it up. By nature, we try to cover our own sin and expose the sins of others. Jesus teaches us to do the very opposite. Cover up your neighbor’s sin. Wash his feet. Christ stooped down from heaven to serve us. Christian love stoops down to serve. As Christ bore the sin of us all, Christian love bears the sins, faults, errors, and weaknesses of others.
But they wronged me! What about my honor and integrity? Jesus teaches us to forgive even those who insult, defame, and mistreat us. To cover up someone’s sin doesn’t mean to defend it as if it isn’t sin. Christ never did that. But we cover up our neighbor’s sin by humbling ourselves to see him as charitably as the truth permits. We explain his actions kindly. We forgive him. This is how we wash his feet. We don’t hold grudges and we don’t give way to hatred. Instead, as Peter later wrote, “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins’” (I Peter 4:8).
By teaching us about humility and Christian love, Jesus is preparing us for the Lord’s Supper. We don’t come to receive the Supper because we are so great, so pious, so devout. We’ve sinned and we’ve been sinned against. We don’t come holding grudges, we come needing help. We come because we are sinners; we are covered by dirt. We have sinned against God and our neighbor. We need to be forgiven and washed.
John writes, “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” It’s out of this love, that Jesus instituted the Holy Sacrament of his body and blood where there is pure forgiveness guaranteed by his body and blood. It’s here that we find peace with God. “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28). The words are spoken by the minister, but in this meal, the Savior serves you. He forgives you. He loves you.
Tomorrow, we observe Good Friday, but every time we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. We preach a gospel sermon without saying a word. We are proclaiming the life, death, and service of our Lord Jesus for us.
May our Lord’s example teach us to humble ourselves. The servant is not greater than his master. The greatest service we can render to our neighbor is by imitating the humble service of Jesus by forgiving those who sin against us. Wash their feet. Cover their sins. Confess your own sins and run to the Supper where your Savior serves you. He washes your feet—forgiving your sins and strengthening you in the faith to live a life of humble service. Amen.