Monday, April 14—Day 41

Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.”  Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.” So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

But whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
John 13: 5—17 & Mark 10:44-45
 

Washing Judas’ Feet

Traditionally, we focus on two characters in this scene: Peter and Jesus. We often talk about the foot-washing act as showing Jesus’ humility. He humbled himself, he knelt, and he took on the role of a servant. He becomes a model for us to follow as we serve others in our community. As anyone who has taken part in this act can attest, having the passive role (getting your feet washed by another) is also humbling. You are not only uncomfortable at the intrusion into such a personal space, you are perhaps also embarrassed and feeling vulnerable, and rightly so. To allow another to serve you (especially someone in a position of spiritual authority or power over you) also requires a humble spirit. Peter takes a bit of convincing before he understands the significance of Jesus’ act, but ultimately he too is humbled. Ford Madox Brown chooses to paint this scene after Peter’s argument with Christ. His face is sober, his hands clasped in prayer; Peter appears to have realigned his understanding of the situation by the time we enter the scene.

In this painting, however, a third important character is introduced to the narrative. Judas, “the one who was about to betray him,” sits on the far left and is indicated by the small money pouch in front of him on the table. Notice how he bends down to untie his sandals, as if to say “I’m next!”

Now, Judas had a problem the last time Jesus was involved in some unexpected foot washing. When Mary (Lazarus and Martha’s sister) anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume and wiped them clean with her scandalously unbraided hair, Judas raised some objections; not on the inappropriateness of Mary’s intimate actions as one might suppose, but on how much money she was wasting by pouring out the perfume. Jesus’ reaction in that passage was to point out the unseen value and symbolism of Mary’s actions. Judas had the wrong outlook. Strangely enough, in this passage in John, Judas is a silent onlooker. Where we might expect him to again start up with some indignant comment about this being neither the time nor place for feet to be washed, he stays quiet. He does not object to Jesus humbling himself, getting on his knees, and washing his feet like a common servant.

Take a look at the composition of the painting. The perspective is low and cramped, as if we as viewers are joining the disciples in reclining at the table. We ourselves are onlookers. We are not just a viewer, we are a participant in this event. Do the expressions on our faces mirror those of the disciples? Are we feeling sadness? Shock? Surprise? Would we humble ourselves and allow Jesus to clean us? Or are we perhaps treating Jesus’ sacrifice too flippantly, as Judas did?

What strikes me the most about this passage, and what Ford Madox Brown really emphasizes in his painting, is this: Jesus washed the feet, not only of his friends, but of his enemy. He spent his last few hours alive forgiving and cleansing and serving the man who was about to betray him. Our call to humility is twofold then: humble ourselves as Peter did, understanding our need for Jesus’ cleansing sacrifice; and humble ourselves as Jesus did, serving even those who may not deserve it.

Megan E. Clarke,
Alumni, Biola University

Prayer

“…And here he shows the full extent of love
To us whose love is always incomplete,
In vain we search the heavens high above,
The God of love is kneeling at our feet.
Though we betray him, though it is the night
He meets us here and loves us into light.”

Malcolm Guite, from Sounding the Seasons, pp 36