The Problem of Dirty Feet
Scripture Reading: John 13:1-17
Text: John 13:14
They arrived in groups of twos and threes,
talking loudly,
laughing boisterously. . .
They were Galileans, all of them but one,
and they were men of the sea,
men of the soil,
and—a couple—men of the sword.
They were all disciples of the Teacher and miracle worker called Jesus, Y’shua;
and they entered, several at a time,
into the upper room of the house in Jerusalem
where they’d met before.
Jesus entered in the midst of them,
and in the space of just a few minutes,
all had assembled
in the rectangular room with the low ceiling.
Suddenly, however, something changed.
Facial features which, moments ago,
had been animated—
smiling, laughing, talking—
now reflected uncertainty and discomfort.
Though no one spoke of it,
everyone in the room faced the same dilemma,
everyone felt the same awkward apprehension.
You see,
the roads and alleys that these men had traveled on their way to this “upper room”
were not paved roads.
In fact, in most cities of that time and place, paved roads were unheard of.
The streets that these men trod
were more like winding dirt trails,
all covered with a thick layer of dust.
Therefore, it was the custom for the host of a home to station a slave at the door to wash the feet of the dinner guests as they arrived.
The servant knelt with a pitcher of water,
a pan,
and a towel,
and washed the dirt or mud off the feet of each guest as he or she prepared to enter the home. Shoes and sandals were left at the door.
If a home could not afford a slave, then it was customary for one of the early arriving guests to graciously take upon himself the role of the servant and wash the feet of those who arrived after him.
To enter a banquet hall such as the upper room
with unwashed feet
was to them
like entering a restaurant in our underwear
might be to us.
So, though no one spoke of it,
everyone faced the same dilemma:
someone really should wash their feet.
In the midst of the stilted conversation that revealed their discomfort,
Jesus—their Teacher, their rabbi—
strode quietly to the low table
that occupied the center of the room.
The table was surrounded
by cushioned couches,
the head of each couch placed against the table
like thirteen spokes in a wheel. . .
Jesus took his place at the table,
reclining on one elbow,
in such a position where he could survey all twelve of the men he had chosen to follow him.
And all twelve
slowly
as casually as they could manage,
chose their places
on the couches around the table. . .
leaving
the servant’s pitcher, pan, and towel
to sit undisturbed by the door.
The table was spread with plates and cups,
and the fragrance of the roast lamb
and the herbs
and the bread
mingled with the odor of the unwashed feet
that hung over the ends of the couches.
A few awkward moments passed after the last man took the only remaining couch.
Jesus, without saying a word,
slipped away from the table,
silently pulled off his outer tunic,
and with the towel, pitcher and pan in hand,
knelt at the feet of the disciple nearest him.
What little hushed conversation there had been
ceased.
Jesus moved quietly from man to man
while every eye in the room
followed him.
The disciples were speechless while he
quickly and efficiently
performed his servant’s task,
first pouring water from the pitcher over each pair of feet,
allowing the basin on the floor beneath to catch the water and dirt that flowed down,
then wiping his men’s feet dry with the towel
he had wrapped around his waist as an apron.
Having tenderly wiped the feet of Andrew,
Jesus moved to the next couch,
the one occupied by Peter.
Peter, visibly disturbed,
drew his feet up onto the couch;
“Lord,” he said,
“are you going to wash my feet?"
Reaching out a hand, Jesus gripped one of Peter’s feet and pulled it back to the edge of the couch.
“You do not realize now what I am doing,” Jesus said, “but later you will understand.”
And Peter once again drew his feet away
from Jesus and said, half pleading,
half insisting,
“No... you shall never wash my feet.”
Then Jesus, seeing Peter’s pride disguised as humility, peered into the fisherman’s eyes and said,
“Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
Suddenly silenced by the severity of the Lord’s words, Peter locked gazes with Jesus for a long moment while his mind whirred.
“Then, Lord,” he said finally, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
Jesus dropped his gaze and tenderly took Peter’s heel in his hand. Resuming his task of washing, he referred to the custom of those days of bathing before going to a banquet so that, upon arrival, only the guests’ feet, dusty from the journey, needed to be washed.
“A person who has had a bath,” he answered, matter-of-factly, without looking up from his chore, “needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean...”
and, quickly finishing his work at Peter’s feet, he added,
“And you are clean...though not every one of you,”
referring, of course, to Judas, to whom he would come in a few moments.
Jesus continued then, washing the feet of his sheepish, embarrassed disciples, and then returned
the pitcher, towel,
and basin with the dirty water,
to their place by the door.
Then, while every pair of eyes in the room watched,
the Lord walked back to the couch he’d left empty a few moments ago and, looking round the company of the Twelve, he spoke.
“Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked....
And then, before anyone could answer, he continued:
“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.
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.”
And as Jesus spoke those words,
each man recalled shamefully those moments when he had first entered the room,
when each was too proud to take
the basin and towel in hand
and do what their Lord and Master had just done.
That, as I can best reconstruct it,
is the essence of what happened
just before Jesus predicted his betrayal
at his last supper.
And if you would allow me just a few more moments, I would like to direct you to the text,
the Gospel of John, chapter 13,
where I want to mention three important points in applying this portion of Scripture
to God’s people today,
on this fifth Sunday in Lent.
John, chapter 13,
and the events I just described are recorded
in verses 1 through 17. . .
First, I would like to point you to what I will call...
I The Manifest Meaning of What Jesus Did
. . . in other words, the clear, plain, obvious, meaning to those first disciples of Jesus.
Look at verse 14. Jesus said,
Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
Do you see that?
. . . you also should wash one another’s feet.
Jesus told his men, clearly and matter-of-factly,
“Next time this happens. . . wash one another’s feet.”
I believe he meant it literally.
I believe his intention was, when (according to Acts 2:1), these same men (with the exception of Judas) gathered together for the feast of Pentecost, that they should do for each other exactly what Jesus had just finished doing.
Now, the Bible doesn’t tell us explicitly whether they did that or not, but I suspect that they did; I imagine that that night in the upper room was so vivid in their memories that they rushed to the servant’s task of washing feet at the next feast after Passover.
I also believe that because a number of years later, Peter himself—
who at first had tried to refuse Jesus’ servant ministry to him—
wrote a letter to the church throughout Asia Minor and told them, in a pointed reference to Jesus’ act wrapping the apron of humility around himself before washing Peter’s feet,
“Clothe yourselves with humility
toward one another.”
I think it’s as simple as that.
The “manifest meaning” of Jesus words is that he intended, literally, for them to wash each other’s feet the next time they were in such a situation...
and the time after that, and the time after that.
But that’s not all. I believe that his deed and words also carry another meaning, which I will call...
II The Metaphorical Meaning of What Jesus Did
When Jesus spoke the words of verses 14 & 15, he did not mean only that his followers should literally wash each other’s feet; he also meant it figuratively. His words had a much broader meaning.
He was simply taking another opportunity to vividly reinforce a lesson he’d tried many times before to get into their thick skulls, and it was this:
In the words of Mark 9:35,
If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.
Men and women, if Jesus, our Lord and Teacher,
washed his disciples’ feet,
we also should serve each other,
there should be no task, no role, no effort
that we will not do for each other.
An 18-year-old boy from a wealthy Chinese family came to the China Inland Misison for training in medicine. Elegant and educated, Hsu Chu was a model of Chinese nobility.
A few days after he had begun training, the superintendent was called to deal with him. He had been asked to clean some shoes, and indignantly refused, saying he was a gentleman and a scholar and wouldn’t do such menial work.
The wise superintendent took the shoes and cleaned them herself, while Hsu Chu looked on. Then, leading the young man to her office, she asked him to read for her from John’s Gospel, the portion that is our text today.
Upon reading those verses of Scripture, his face flushed, and his eyes filled with tears. He laid the book down and said, “May Jesus forgive me.”
From that day, no one scrubbed floors,
cleaned shoes,
or performed any other humble task
more joyfully than that young man.
. . . Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
And by the way,
I believe it’s not enough to say,
“Oh, sure, I would scrub floors for my brother,”
or
“I wouldn’t hesitate to serve my sister”. . .
Jesus didn’t say,
I have set you an example that you should be willing to do as I have done for you,
he said,
I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”
Whether you’re willing or not,
if you are not humbly serving your brothers and sisters,
you are not following Christ.
But even that does not exhaust the meaning of what Jesus did and said that night in the upper room. Let me mention just one more meaning, which I will call...
III The Mystical Meaning of What Jesus Did
Let me point you again to our text,
in John 13,
to a detail that is so often and easily missed.
Look at verse 12, if you would,
and see if you can find the answer to this question for me:
Who washed Jesus’ feet?
(Repeat) Who washed Jesus’ feet?
Verse 12 says,
When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place.
Twelve men got their feet washed that day. . .
But there were thirteen men in that room.
From all appearances,
Jesus returned to the table with unwashed feet.
Why do I mention that?
Do you remember when Jesus spoke
of feeding the hungry
and clothing the poor
and visiting those who are sick and in prison?
Do you remember that he said,
whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.
and
whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me?
Let me suggest something
that may sound a little weird,
a little freaky,
but I believe it to be true:
I believe that Jesus went back to that table
with dirty feet because—
in some mystical but real way—
when his followers do not serve each other,
Jesus himself pays the price of their pride.
When you and I do not serve each other—
because we’re unwilling to forgive,
because we won’t swallow our pride,
because the task is somehow beneath us,
because it’s easier to let someone else do it,
whatever the reason,
in some mystical way, Jesus’ feet go unwashed.
Notice that Jesus did not say,
whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, it is as if you did for me,
he said,
whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.
When you wash the feet of another,
when you humbly serve a brother or sister,
when you give and expect nothing in return,
when you cook a meal,
shovel a sidewalk,
offer a ride,
mop a floor,
empty a bedpan,
pay a compliment,
surrender the spotlight,
deflect the credit,
shoulder the blame,
share the burden,
you are blessing not only that person,
you are blessing the very heart of Jesus.
<= <= <= <=
Jesus says, not only to the Twelve, but to you,
. . . do as I have done. . .
. . . wash one another’s feet. . .
. . . serve one another in love. . .
Would you please bow your heads and close your eyes. . .
In the closing moments of this service, I want to lead us in a time of prayer and response. . .
And as we pray together, sometimes silently, sometimes audibly,
I want you to feel total freedom to respond to God from your heart, whether his Spirit prompts you to get up from your seat and come forward alone or with a friend to stand or kneel in prayer here at the front of the sanctuary as a physical, visible indication of your response to him,
or whether he prompts you to pray aloud as others pray silently,
or whether he prompts you to seek out someone else in this sanctuary and unite with that brother or sister in reconciliation and fellowship,
I want you to be uninhibited in responding to God’s still, small voice in your heart and mind this morning as I lead us in a time of guided prayer. . . .
Let’s pray together:
Lord Jesus, I pray that you will bend our wills,
and break down our stubborn pride,
and make us servants, Lord, in our hearts
and in our deeds.
In these next few moments,
as we pray, some silently, some aloud,
hear us as we confess to you
our neglect, our reluctance, our sinful omission
of service to you and to those around us. . . .
<= <= <= <=
Lord, I pray next
that you would move in our hearts
to change us, even now, right now,
and bring to mind, Lord, the concrete, specific ways that we might serve our brothers and sisters in Christ, even the very people in this room.
Bring those names and faces to our minds, Lord, and help us to hear you clearly as you suggest ways for us to obey your Word in these next few moments of silence . . . .
<= <= <= <=
And, finally, Lord,
please produce in us a new awareness,
a new and supernatural ability
to serve those outside these walls.
Help us, Lord, to spread abroad the fragrance of the knowledge of your love and grace (2Cor. 2:14) by the way our service touches those
who do not yet know you.
Hear us, Lord, as we pray,
silently and aloud,
for our own ability to serve those around us . . . .
<= <= <= <=
And now, Lord, as we continue in worship,
open the eyes of our hearts
and pour into us
and draw out of us
the desire and deeds of a servant,
in Jesus’ name and according to his will I pray,
Amen.
