When I think about Jesus washing the disciples’ feet I think that washing someone’s feet has got to be among the more disgusting things a person could do. Feet stink. Period. And they seem to collect dirt and lint, even if you always wear shoes and socks when you’re outside. Of course feet often don’t look very pretty either.
Indeed in Jesus’ time foot washing was not something you’d do for someone else. I understand that standard hospitality for guests was to offer them water and a towel to wash their feet when they arrived. It makes sense. Roads were dusty. And roads were muddy. And, given that the primary horsepower for transportation was,… well,… horses, you also have lots of other dynamics present in the roads as well. So, when you’d get home or to someone’s house you’d wash your feet!
You’d usually wash your own feet. Or I understand that in some cases a very rich person would have a very low-ranking servant wash people’s feet. Whatever the case, a wealthy person, or a person of status like a rabbi would not wash other people’s feet!
Jesus washing the feet of the disciples was an act of love and an expression of humility. He, their rabbi, their leader, was voluntarily washing their feet.
We don’t have this regular foot washing in our culture today, but I wonder what it’s like for those who give pedicures? I’ve never had one so I don’t really know anything about it. I know men sometimes get them but I think it’s primarily women. I can imagine any number of women who when going for a pedicure will make sure their feet are clean, and whether they wear socks or not, they may even have rarely worn shoes that look good and haven’t accumulated a smell. All of that so as not to offend the person giving the pedicure.
I suppose that’s a sign of respect, and that’s good. But I think about the way some workers in nursing homes care for the people they look after. Or perhaps those who do pedicure-like work for elderly people in general.
I remember Knute Halvorson talking about how good his feet felt after he’d go to the podiatrist and someone would work on his toes and nails. He said he couldn’t believe how good his feet felt – as if every step was a joy to take! If you knew Knute you know he was not one to throw away compliments! The last years of Knute’s life he had many back, leg, and foot pains. Watching him walk was watching him wince in pain with every step. So someone who could actually make his feet feel good was giving him a great gift indeed!
Jesus’ disciples certainly felt weird about Jesus washing their feet. Peter’s response to him saying, “You will never wash my feet,” is proof of that. And yet it was a wonderful act of love. It was individual, personal touch and attention from their rabbi.
There are lots of things going on in our gospel reading. I want to make sure we recognize two of them. The first one is quick and easy. It is Judas.
Despite Jesus knowing full well what Judas is about to do, Jesus still washes Judas’ feet. Judas is loved. He is not criticized. He is not thrown out.
Later in the chapter Judas does leave. Again, he is not thrown out. You can still hear the love in Jesus’ voice when he says to Judas, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” There’s no anger or rejection there. It is still a statement of care.
Then Judas leaves.
The gospel writer John throws in very important detail when Judas leaves. “And it was night.”
Thus far through the gospel we’ve heard about light and darkness. The beginning of John’s gospel includes these familiar words, “What has come into being in [Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
Yet here Judas himself makes the conscious decision to leave the light and head out into the darkness.
There’s a whole sermon right there! And we’re going to get at it by looking at the second thing. That second thing is a disciple who stayed.
In John 13:23 says an interesting thing about one of the disciples. Hear that verse again, “One of the disciples – the one whom Jesus loved – was reclining next to him…” Historians and scholars have wondered for centuries who this beloved disciple was.
It wasn’t Judas! He’s about to leave.
It wasn’t Peter either. The very next verse refers to Peter as being someone else. Otherwise there’d be a good case for Peter because the other gospels present Peter as the sort of leader of the disciples.
Many have concluded that the beloved disciple is the disciple John. And that John then actually wrote the gospel. The next-to-the-last verse of John’s gospel: Chapter 21, verse 24 reads, “This is the disciple who is testifying these things and has written them…”
I’m not going to get into it here, because the logic is intricate, but a close reading of John’s gospel shows that the beloved disciple is definitely not John, nor his brother James either.
While over the ages many have incorrectly said the beloved disciple is John, it is also true that across the ages many have said the same person who most scholars today agree is the beloved disciple.
The beloved disciple is you.
In Luke’s gospel, you the reader is called, “Most Excellent Lover of God.” In John’s gospel, you the reader is called, “the beloved disciple.” And don’t be so quick to dismiss this as just a cute literary device created by the author. It’s not. The author is serious. He means it.
He has written the gospel so that you, the disciple Jesus loves, has been given a first hand look at everything that happens – everything from the call of the first disciples to the miracle of turning water into wine, and all the way to the resurrection.
In John’s gospel who is the first person to enter the tomb of Jesus and discover that it is empty? According to the author who is the very first witness of the resurrection? You are.
That may not sit well with our understanding of historic reality, but it gets at the key thing the author is trying to get at.
From your perspective does it really matter who sees the empty tomb first? No. It doesn’t matter. But what does truly matter is that you are given first hand direct access to the nature of God as revealed in Jesus.
Where is the beloved disciple during the Last Supper? A literal translation of John 13:23 reads, “One of his disciples the one whom Jesus loved- was reclining in Jesus’ bosom.”
The author wants you to imagine Jesus kneeling down and washing your feet. The author wants you to be touching Jesus, literally leaning against him, throughout the last supper. One of the most used words in John’s gospel is the word abide. It is about Jesus’ presence abiding in you.
When you read the gospel of John you are meant to feel cherished by God and immediately and fully in God’s presence.
It is as if the author knows we are going to feel distant from God. It is as if the author knows we’re going to have doubts. It is as if the author knows we’re going to wonder where God is, what God is up to, and what we are supposed to do with our lives. In answer to all of that he says you are loved.
Maybe that doesn’t sound like an answer at all. But let’s conclude with a look back at Judas. Judas has left. He has rejected abiding in Jesus. He has chosen to go out into the darkness.
We are to stay in the light. So when you don’t feel God, or you don’t know what to do, or when you have doubts, go back to the core of Chapter 13. You are loved. You are beloved. Let that guide your thoughts and actions.
I don’t think God is into giving us rules and expectations, as if life were a puzzle to figure out. God says, “I abide with you. Let that guide you. Let that be your light.” And it will guide you well. Easy, it will not be. But blessed it will be. Rejoice at being chosen and loved by God.
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