John 13:1-15 (Maundy Thursday) is part of the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.
· I note the contextual shift as the passage marks a transition in John’s Gospel from Jesus’ public ministry to his private farewell and passion narrative.
· I explain the act of foot washing as a practical and symbolic gesture in ancient culture, signifying hospitality and humility.
· I offer a reflection on the symbolism and theology of the text, emphasizing Jesus’ humility, the totality of his love, and the cleansing of his disciples, including Judas.
· I explore theological questions about Judas’ free will and role in God’s plan, referencing scholarly debates.
· I present the action of Jesus as an ethical model for Christian service and humility.
· I trace the history of foot washing as a sacramental practice in Christian communities, noting its decline and resurgence.
· I cite Adele Reinhartz’s framework of interpreting John as historical, cosmological, and ecclesiological “tales.”
· I conclude with a prayer reflecting the themes of servanthood and humility.
Introduction
It marks a shift in the gospel from the public ministry of Jesus to the farewell discourses to the disciples and the passion narrative. It is part of a tendency to place dominical sayings (verses 12-15) in a distinct setting (verses 4-5), where the saying generates the setting.[1]
The washing of the feet of guests by the servants in a home has little significance for us modern readers. If anything, it seems like a strange and even disgusting custom. However, in the ancient world, it served its purpose. People walked on dusty, dirty, and smelly roads. If nothing else, washing the feet of guests helped the odor of the home. It was also an act of hospitality. The guest is welcome in this home.
Yet, even for us modern Christian readers, the visualization of Jesus stooping down at the feet of these disciples, one of whom would betray him, all of whom would desert him, with a towel and basin to wash their feet, is a powerful image. With the spirit of Peter, we might have the temptation to ask Jesus, “What are you doing, stooping before me? I need to stoop before you.” What makes the image so powerful?
I suspect the point of the story is not that every culture and every age should repeat this act, although communities can do this and receive great meaning. The point is the humility and service Jesus exhibited to those who ought to have served him.
Discussion of the text
The symbolism of the sacrificial death of Jesus coinciding with the Passover is one the reader ought not to miss.Jesus knew humanity well enough that (in contrast to 7:30 and 8:20 where his hour had not come) Jesus was fully aware that the way events around him were unfolding would lead to his sacrificial death. Yet, this knowledge did not dissuade him from his mission that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father, even as he had come from the Father. Having loved (ἠγάπησεν) his own, a group larger than the disciples, who were in the world, he loved them to the end (τέλος). The Greek word here is normally a temporal reference, referring to the end of an action. However, it could also refer to the goal or purpose of an action. In that case, the translation in the New English Bible as “the full extent of his love” becomes possible. For the first time, the life and death of Jesus are the expression of love. That love is total. 2 The devil (διαβόλου) had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. One challenge many readers, scholarly as well as laity, is a theological one. Simply stated, if Jesus foresees his betrayal by Judas (John 6:70-71; 13:26-27), then did Judas have free will in his betrayal? If the crucifixion was necessary for the salvation of humanity, was the betrayal by Judas betrayal a part of the plan of God? Is not Judas a participant in God’s plan of salvation? When one ponders Judas, one wrestles with weighty theological topics. Furthermore, Judas manifests a practical challenge before all readers of John’s gospel. David Bartlett has preached on this practical challenge of Judas’ character. According to Bartlett, Judas is a far more threatening figure than is Pilate or the Jewish leaders. As believers, we watch Judas go into the night. What should terrify us is that one of his chosen followers preferred darkness to light. He was physically close to Jesus. He basked in the light, and yet, he preferred darkness.[2] Judas shares the same unclean feet as do the disciples. Judas simply embodies the uncleanness of all the disciples. The disciples embody obstinate Israel and therefore the obstinate world. When Jesus announced that one of them would betray him, all said, “Is it I?” The special cleansing mentioned in verse 18 is a condition of fellowship with Jesus. To understand this, we need to go back to verse 1, which stresses the love that embraced them as disciples. Jesus also knew the authority he had from the Father. At that moment, his loving disposition toward them led him to an action that was in response to the satanic indwelling of Judas. In this critical moment, Jesus washes the feet of the disciples.[3]
And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that he tied around him. Jesus combines the roles of host and servant. Such washing and wiping were a sign of hospitality in the ancient world and was usually the role of the servant of the house. The humility of Christ is what stuns us. The King of Kings chose the servant’s role as an object lesson. Remember that in those days, foot washing was no more a symbolic ceremony than was breaking the bread and pouring the wine. It was practical. Dusty, muddy, and manure-strewn roads made sandaled feet a mealtime killer. The first-century household slave would always get the foot-washing task as it was one of the most demeaning and filthy tasks in their culture. The reversal of roles here is a nice touch, suggesting the Messianic banquet. In that kingdom, the disciples will sit and feast while the master serves them — an image that the disciples surely had to find hard to believe. However, as incredible as it must have seemed to them, Jesus initiated the fulfillment of this promise when he celebrated the Passover with his disciples. The symbolic prophetic action is connected to the saying in Lk 12:37: Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. He becomes the example of a love that stooped to serve. No earthly master would act like this, but Jesus has done so.[4] The story presents Jesus as the paradigm of serving by his waiting at table.[5]
Since Jesus and the disciples held the meeting in secret, there was no slave to do the work. To further the irony of the Messiah washing feet, our minds lay onto this story Luke tells us that the Upper Room discourse included the favorite spat of the apostles — “Which of us is the greatest?” (Luke 22:24). The feet are the part of us that stay in contact with the earth. Jesus cleanses us by purifying us from that part of our humanity that the world taints. Granted, sin does not destroy the imago dei in each person; sin has marred that image in its expression within and to the world. Jesus cleanses the part of us that will continue to remain in contact with a soiled world, and that cleansing is enough for us to remain standing in the world, without corrupting the whole of us.
In verses 6-8 is private teaching that corresponds to Mk 14:18-21, 26-31. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord (Κύριε), are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later, referring to the post-resurrection insight from the Holy Spirit, you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” This request reflects the practice of ritual washing in Judaism. 10 Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed (λελουμένος) does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, affirming the security of his disciples in the hands of God,[6] though not all of you.” The story has two main thoughts, Jesus offering an example of his serving love and the cleansing offered by Jesus. Multiple layers of thought are typical of this gospel. They are intricately linked here, cleansing having its expression in ministering, serving love connected with the example Jesus offers. We find this connection in Mk 10:42-45, but in reverse order, the story of foot washing being an illustration of the saying. This suggests a reference to Christian baptism. Cleansing needs to repetition, since one is entirely clean, but the baptized express this cleansing in a life of service.[7] 11 For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” The traitor Judas presented a problem to the early tradition, and one explanation was that Jesus knew from the beginning, an explanation we find in Mt 26:25 as well.[8]
Verses 12-15 contain a dominical saying. It offers an ethical interpretation of the example of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples.[9] 12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord (Ὁ διδάσκαλος καὶ Ὁ κύριος)—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 Therefore, if I, your Lord and Teacher, it being possible that students refer to their rabbi as lord,[10] have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example (ὑπόδειγμα, sign or image of something, a copy or example, a prototype), that you also should do as I have done to you.Jesus is calling us to leave higher safety for a lower, broken, dark, death-like world, asking us to enter the sorrow that is the incarnation of Maundy Thursday.
Theological reflection
The whole passage is about incarnating into a world of pain and brokenness on behalf of those in need. Into a world of darkness and death, followers of Jesus are to offer light and life. Jesus was commissioning the disciples to do this based on the command to imitate him (v. 15). He invited them to serve, but in ways that were unexpected by the person served.
This passage is the biblical basis for the sacramental practice of foot washing. Jesus washed the feet of the disciples as a sign of cleansing and of servanthood. Apparently, in the churches of Asia Minor, present—day Turkey, the practice continued as a sacrament. Some churches through the centuries washed the feet of persons who had just received baptism. However, it was most common in the monasteries, where the head of the monastery would wash the feet of the newly admitted monks. Normally, they did this on Maundy Thursday as part of the Lenten observance. No less of a theologian than Bernard of Clairvaux (1091—1153) urged the acceptance of this practice as a sacrament. It became part of the practice of royalty, who would invite the poor to a banquet, and then the king would bow before them and wash their feet. Through some of this kind of practice, there would often be great public display of the action. This misuse caused Martin Luther to reject the practice, and most Protestant churches have followed him. However, the Church of Brethren has continued the practice as a sign of cleansing and servanthood. The practice is seeing a comeback in Protestant churches as part of the Maundy Thursday service.
Johannine scholar Adele Reinhartz interprets the gospel of John as three intertwining “tales.” The “historical tale” is the plain reading of the gospel, as an account of Jesus of Nazareth in his time, place, and circumstances. In this tale, Judas is a real person, a close friend of Jesus, who betrays him into the hands of their political rulers, the Romans. The “cosmological tale” is more subtle and extends beyond the historical setting of the gospel to the entire cosmos and an eternal time frame. The hero of this tale is the Word who enters the world, defeats the cosmic ruler of this world (the devil), and returns home to the Father. In this tale, Judas is the agent of the “devil” (6:70) or “Satan” (13:27). The “ecclesiological tale” is even more subtle: It tells the story of the Johannine community at the time of the gospel’s composition. Scholars interpret the first-century community of John’s gospel as one in conflict with the synagogue of its day. Judas represents those Jews who have rejected the message of Jesus.
One challenge many readers, scholarly as well as laity, is a theological one. Simply stated, if Jesus foresees his betrayal by Judas (John 6:70-71; 13:26-27), then did Judas have free will in his betrayal? If the crucifixion was necessary for the salvation of humanity, was the betrayal by Judas betrayal a part of the plan of God? Is not Judas a participant in God’s plan of salvation? When one ponders Judas, one wrestles with weighty theological topics.
Furthermore, Judas manifests a practical challenge before all readers of John’s gospel. David Bartlett has preached on this practical challenge of Judas’ character. According to Bartlett, Judas is a far more threatening figure than is Pilate or the Jewish leaders. As believers, we watch Judas go into the night. What should terrify us is that one of his chosen followers preferred darkness to light. He was physically close to Jesus. He basked in the light, and yet, he preferred darkness.[11] Judas shares the same unclean feet as do the disciples. Judas simply embodies the uncleanness of all the disciples. The disciples embody obstinate Israel and therefore the obstinate world. When Jesus announced that one of them would betray him, all said, “Is it I?” The special cleansing mentioned in verse 18 is a condition of fellowship with Jesus. To understand this, we need to go back to verse 1, which stresses the love that embraced them as disciples. Jesus also knew the authority he had from the Father. At that moment, his loving disposition toward them led him to an action that was in response to the satanic indwelling of Judas. In this critical moment, Jesus washes the feet of the disciples.[12]
Prayer of Commitment
Servant Lord, in Scripture, you teach us how to love and serve, not just through words, but also through your life of servanthood. In the lives of other servants, you show us how to stand in a servant’s posture and live with love as our call. Thank you for all who live out your instruction, and in their actions show your teaching.
Lord and Teacher, may we also follow your example, serving you and others by sharing your love. Show us how to wear a servant’s towel. Use us to meet the deep needs of those near and far. Help us not to be afraid of getting messy, but to risk our own time and energy for the sake of following your call. When others serve us, may we accept their gifts with grace.
We commit ourselves to your service and ask all these things in your name. Amen.
[1]
[2] “Judas is a far more threatening figure than Pilate or the Jewish leaders to those of us Christians who read John’s gospel. ... What frightens us as we watch Judas go out into the night, what should terrify us had the story not grown so familiar, is that one of Jesus’ own circle, one whom he had chosen, preferred the darkness. What frightens us is this portrayal of one who was so close to Jesus as flesh to bone. He not only understood something clearly at last; he basked in the light, and still he chose the darkness.”
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[4]
[5]
[6]
[7] Oepke, TDNT, IV, 305-6.
[8]
[9] Hauck, TDNT IV, 947; Oepke, TDNT IV, 305.
[10] Foerster, TDNT III, 1093.
[11] “Judas is a far more threatening figure than Pilate or the Jewish leaders to those of us Christians who read John’s gospel. ... What frightens us as we watch Judas go out into the night, what should terrify us had the story not grown so familiar, is that one of Jesus’ own circle, one whom he had chosen, preferred the darkness. What frightens us is this portrayal of one who was so close to Jesus as flesh to bone. He not only understood something clearly at last; he basked in the light, and still he chose the darkness.”
[12] Barth, Church Dogmatics II.2 [35.4] 472-3
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