Beginning today and carrying us through the end of September, we will look at the second half of John’s gospel. You see, what we have looked at over the past nine months or so is commonly referred to as the Book of Signs, chapters 1-12 of John’s gospel. This title is primarily due to the numerous signs and miracles performed by Jesus during his ministry as proof of who he truly is. The second half of John’s gospel, chapters 13-25, is commonly known as the Book of Glory. This “book” contains Jesus’ farewell discourse and John’s account of the passion narrative. It’s commonly said that the first half of John’s gospel points to Christ’s work and the purpose for it, while the second half shows the glory of his work. Regardless of this or any other perceived division in John’s gospel, we come today to a text that is familiar to most all of us. Those of us who gathered here for our Maundy Thursday service only a few weeks ago may recall that we briefly looked at this passage before partaking of the Lord’s Supper, a sacrament in which we will celebrate again here today.
This text is also, however, the source of some controversy as well. In our Reformed tradition, there are only two things that are considered sacraments: the aforementioned Lord’s Supper and baptism. That being said, there are some groups out there that consider foot washing to be a sacrament and they point to this text as a primary supporter of such practices and beliefs. Now, what I hope to do this morning is to quickly look at this text and see three things. First, is this a sacrament or not? Second, if not, then what is it? And thirdly, what does it mean for us as we sit here today? So with our task laid out before us, let’s begin our look at the text that we have today.
First, should foot washing be considered a sacrament? Well, first we have to know what a sacrament is, and I can think of no better place to turn that our Westminster Confession of Faith. There we find that a sacrament is a sign and seal of the covenant of grace. It is something that is instituted by God and that confirms our position with Christ. Sacraments demonstrate the difference or distinction between those who belong to the Church and those who do not. Well, working from this definition, this action doesn’t really fit the description of a sacrament. Foot washing was a common practice of the day and it was performed on a regular basis as a sign of respect and cleansing. Even this instance of foot washing was not something that was strictly and specifically commanded by God. Yes, Jesus does tell the disciples to was others feet just as he has washed their feet. However, it isn’t commanded that we repeat such action on a regular basis like it is for communion or baptism. There is no command to continue such actions until Christ comes again.
So, if foot washing is not a sacrament, then what is it? Well, as we’ve already said, foot washing was an act of both respect and cleansing. I’m a flip-flops and sandals kind of guy. If I had my preference, that’s my go-to footwear. If I wouldn’t get made fun of about it would probably have some on right now. I’ve also walked many a dirt road wearing such types of shoes, and do you know what my feet look like when I take my shoes off. The outline of my sandals is still there on my feet. You see, during Jesus’ day such shoes were the common footwear and all the roads were dirt. No matter how clean a person was, the chances were quite great that a person’s feet were going to be in need of cleaning; a person’s feet were almost always dirty. The problem was that feet were seen as the most unclean part of a person. It was outside the realm of common decency for you to ask someone to clean your feet. Thus it was almost always a completely voluntary chore. Most of the time, it was done just as we saw Mary do earlier or Jesus do in this text; it was done in a manner that was initiated by the person doing the washing.
Nearly fifteen years ago I was in Jamaica on a mission trip. Our group spent two weeks there building houses, leading Bible studies, and helping the local community. Each night there was a group session in which someone spoke about being thankful and humble at the sights and events that we had experienced. On our last night there together, the leader of our group brought in these huge bowls and wash clothes and I had no idea what was going on. He spoke on this passage and he talked about how in the eyes of the world that we were probably all seen as being greater than the ones that we were helping, but that that shouldn’t matter. He spoke of how Christ was so much great than his disciples, yet it was Christ who washed their feet. We see in our text that Peter is a little confused and thinks that he should be the one washing the feet of Jesus. After all, he is the servant of Christ, the disciple. The Greek word that we translate as disciple means disciple, student, or servant. After Jesus tells Peter that if he doesn’t wash his feet, then Peter has no share with Christ, we see Peter say, “Lord, don’t stop with my feet but wash my hands, my head, and anything else you want to wash.”
So the leader of this group that I’m in Jamaica with brings in these bowls and rags and begins to fill the bowls up with water. By now we’re all looking around asking “He’s not about to ask us to do what we think he is, is he?” Mind you, we’ve all been working for two weeks in a foreign country, putting in 12 hour days in nearly 100⁰ weather, we’ve had our feet crammed in work boots during these long days, and there was no hot water to be found in the camp. None of us were looking forward to washing our own feet, much less someone else’s. The leader finishes filling up the bowls, brings in the families that we have been helping the past few weeks and says, “You have done God’s work in helping these families rebuild their lives, now show that you are will to serve God completely and place yourself as being no greater than any other.” What proceeded to come was a washing of nearly 100 people’s feet in total. It truly was a moving experience and something that I will likely never forget as long as I live.
And this brings us to the final question about this text and foot washing, what does it mean for us today and what place does it have in our modern setting? Well, seeing that it isn’t a sacrament, it isn’t a regular practice to be observed during worship. However, I don’t see anything wrong with the practice in and of itself. In fact, I know of several sister congregations of ours within the EPC who take part in a foot washing service at some point during the year. But that’s not what I’m wanting to get at today. What I’m wanting us to see is the “so what” of this passage. I’m wanting us to find out what this passage means for us today. Ultimately, I think it teaches us two things. I think that it teaches us about humility. As I mentioned before, the foot washing that I took part in many years ago was done in order to teach us about being humble and us seeing ourselves as no greater than those whom we are called to serve. Jesus himself was teaching the disciples and us about humility with this example here. We know that from the words that he gives to the disciples after he has washed their feet. But I also think that there is something else that is to be found behind this particular instance of foot washing. If we were to look back at verse 10 we find Jesus saying in response to Peter’s desire to be completely washed by Christ, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean.” Here Jesus is speaking of another water cleansing, of baptism. He’s speaking of the washing away of sins that is represented with the sacrament of baptism. He’s speaking of a washing away of sins that he is about to accomplish once and for all. This is a foreshadowing of what Jesus is about to do. This is a foretelling of the events that we just celebrated in which Jesus conquers death and sin and shows us that he has the power over life and death and resurrection.
As we see Jesus humble himself and wash the feet of his disciples, we need to remind ourselves that this isn’t the extent of his humility. Jesus’ humbling and humiliation began in Bethlehem. It began when he took the form of man. The words of Paul in Philippians 2 ring ever true here today, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Friends, God himself, the Christ, out of nothing but His love for us came and took the form of man and laid down his own life. His life wasn’t taken from him, but he gave it voluntarily for you and for me.
So we’re left asking the question of how this account of Jesus washing the disciples feet should affect us. Well, it should teach us that we are to serve. It should teach us that there is not one of us who is any great than another. It should teach us that all that we say we have and all that we are comes from Christ. It is because of the redeeming work of our Savior that we are blessed with all that we have. Friends, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and Ruler of All Nations humbled himself and cleansed the feet of his disciples, his students. It is a slap in the face for us to think that we are above serving God and above serving a fellow man simply because of our place in this world. I don’t know what God is calling each of us to do with our lives. That is a matter between yourself and God. What I do know, however, is that not one of us has any reason whatsoever to not serve Him. Yes, sometimes it isn’t convenient. Sometimes God calls us to do things when we already have a lot on our plates. Sometimes he calls us to go to places or do things that we really don’t want to. But if we are to truly see the humility in which God calls each of us to live our lives, then we will quickly realize that we have no right to say no when God calls us. Our response should not be just, “Lord I will serve”, but “Lord, I will serve however you need me.” When we truly humble ourselves before God and submit ourselves completely to His will, then we truly understand what it means to be called a servant of God. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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