After Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, including his betrayer Judas Iscariot, he put his robe on and returned to the table, and he said to them,
“Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord — and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them…whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me (John 13:12-17, 20).”
Footwashing was an important ritual in first century Palestine. However, throughout his ministry, Jesus constantly challenged status by reversing roles, by eating with notorious sinners, by touching lepers and those who were ritually “unclean.”
Jesus does this again on the eve of his execution. A beloved teacher would never be expected to wash his disciples’ feet. To prostrate oneself like that would be shocking to the others. This made them feel uncomfortable and possibly even shamed that Jesus would debase himself like this.
Yet Jesus knelt in an inferior position, and undertook to wash their feet — which would have been smelly and dirty, as there were no sewers back then and the streets were filthy. Then he explained his actions — he set an example of service even unto debasement, even when what we do turns the social order onto its head.
Sometimes I wonder if we shouldn’t find a newer ritual, something contemporary that people would immediately understand. We perform this ritual on Maundy Thursday in many Christian traditions, even though to some it may seem archaic or even strange. But it’s the context of Jesus’ day that still resonates with us. Footwashing, in whatever modern form it takes now, remains the sign of service and care, of compassion and comforting others. That is what Christ calls us to do — not once a year on Maundy Thursday, but every day.
The term “Maundy” derives from the Latin, mandare, a mandate, or order. Jesus mandated that we love and serve one another, even those who do us harm, like Judas did to Jesus.
Tomorrow on Good Friday, we see Jesus’ ultimate service by dying for humanity on the scandalous Roman cross of treason, though he was blameless. We cannot get to Easter without “going through the cross.”
But for today, let us rest at the feet of those in need, and reflect on what our agency is and what our action will be to help and serve others until the next Maundy Thursday.
Blessings on your journey of service.+
