An Intimate, Awkward, Essential Preparation
Welcome to Maundy Thursday and the powerful story of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. I’m feeling particularly drawn to the significance of foot washing as an invitation to remember our baptism into faith and anointing for ministry. To help us go deeper into this passage I invite you to sit and gaze for a few moments at the painting below entitled Jesus Washing Peter’s Feet by Ford Madox Brown, and consider the passage and reflection questions that follow.
John 13:1–17
“Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world
and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth,
and now he loved them to the very end. It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.
Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything
and that he had come from God and would return to God.
So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist,
and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet,
drying them with the towel he had around him.
“When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus replied, ’You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.’
’No,’ Peter protested, ‘you will never ever wash my feet!’
Jesus replied, ’Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.’
Simon Peter exclaimed, ‘Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!’
Jesus replied, ‘A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.’ For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’
“After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, ’Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.’”
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How do you regard foot washing? For me—it is something that I am most likely to not rely on others to do for me. We know however that it was customary when people came as guests for dinner for a servant or slave to wash the dirt and dust from the feet of the guests entering the house. With no servant or slave in their midst, perhaps the disciples took turns with foot-washing responsibilities. But…not so on this night. Given the drama of arriving into Jerusalem, Jesus’s proclamation that he would suffer, and the rivalry amongst the disciples over preeminence, imagine them arriving at the upper room in a mood. They probably didn’t notice the basin, pitcher, and towel positioned there, and they began the meal with dirty feet.
So, Jesus got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist,
and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet,
drying them with the towel he had around him.
How awkwardly shocking this must have been—Jesus stepping into this lowly, servant role. Notice the resolute intention of Jesus depicted in the painting as the disciples watch. I love the low and direct angle this picture gives us—as if to be on the floor with Jesus. Looking at their faces, can you sense the feelings of awkwardness, embarrassment, and even shame? Yet no one says anything until Jesus comes to Peter, who objects in the most emphatic way—can you hear his fierce opposition?
….You, Jesus, will never ever, (meaning never, ever, in a million years….over my dead body) wash my feet…Nope, nada, never!
And then the words of Jesus:
“Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.”
Jesus is not merely stepping in here to do a customary and hospitable cleansing of dirty feet. Rather, there is huge spiritual significance in this cleansing Jesus performs on these disciples. This spiritual “washing” by Jesus will make them totally clean once and for all, and they only need to be washed once in this way. What is common and obligatory suddenly in the hands of Jesus becomes an act of purification, where he imparts his holiness and anoints his disciples, setting them apart so they can serve his Church when he leaves this world to go back to the Father. He’s modeling how they will minister to each other and to all people.
He’s showing them how to multiply an army of foot washers.
But first things first.
Jesus is insistent.
They must let him wash their feet, or else they can’t really have a relationship with him.
The disciples cannot understand it.
From their context, the confusion—
the cognitive dissonance must have been mind-blowing.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
What aspects of your context might get in the way, obscuring your understanding of what Jesus truly wants to invite you into?
Why do you think Peter reacted so strongly? What was behind the intensity of his objections? Embarrassment? Arrogance? And what about the other disciples? As you place yourself in the story, consider what your reaction would be, and the reason behind it.
Reflect for a moment on your own spiritual call, cleansing, and baptism. How do you feel about Jesus’s statement of insistence to wash you? “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.”
What does multiplying foot washers look like to you?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In addition to serving on the Novo Lead Team focusing on Resource Development, integration and various special projects, Chris Somogyi is Mom to two grown kids, Nona to grandson Hugo, and Dog Mom to two lovable Golden Retrievers, Gus and Gabe. She lives in SoCal where she loves hosting Novo staff who don’t mind puppy kisses or dog hair.
