More Than Foot Washing

John 13:1-11; 1 John 1:6-10; 2:6

In John 13 Jesus removes his outer garment and wrapped a towel around His waste as an act of humility and service. These latter two attributes are what we focus on when we read this passage. In fact, when I get to John 13 in my reading I immediately write it off as Jesus’ example of servant leadership and skim through it. The problem this time was I couldn’t get Mary’s anointing of Jesus’ feet with the expensive perfume in the previous chapter out of my head. There had to be a connection! Then I began to think about John the writer of both the Gospel that bares his name and his first epistle to see if I can find an answer to this whole foot-washing thing. Time and space won’t allow me to unpack this, but in first John the author talks about walking in the light as Jesus is in the light. Here is the gist…Jesus was sinless which means He always walked in the light, in Him was no darkness at all. When Mary poured the perfume on Jesus’ feet she was anointing Him not washing Him. When Jesus girds the towel, He was symbolically communicating the importance of having “clean feet” so the disciples can walk in the light as He did. It was as if He (Jesus) was cleansing them (Disciples) so that He could work in and through them to the world. “The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” 1 John 2:6 (NASB). So the foot washing example carried more weight to what would take place as in the future “walking” of all disciples of Christ, than a mere lesson in humility and servant hood. That is why Jesus makes the comment, “not all of you are clean”, even though they had physically bathed, they needed their “life walk” (feet) washed by water and later by His blood, which Judas would have no part of. We today are able to walk with Christ in a manner worthy of our calling as His disciples because they continued the example of spiritual “foot washing” so that our walks would too be clean. Again, this is not a literal foot washing exercise, but a figurative example of constantly walking like Jesus, constantly being cleansed through confession and repentance resulting in forgiveness and fellowship with the Holy Three and each other. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 (NIV).

1.      What is the condition of your feet (Life)? Dirty, clean or in need of a Spiritual pedicure?

2.      What does “foot washing” mean to you? What do you do to keep your walk clean?