John 13. 1-20

John 13. 1-20

So it's passover time again. The familiar annual meal of lamb bitter herbs and unyeasted bread, remembering the escape from Egypt and the passover lamb; each of them had done this every year of their lives. The upper room is all ready and this year the group are coming together for their passover meal.  They hesitate at the door.  Where's the water; is there a slave? Who's to wash the feet? The trouble is, nobody has brought a slave.  So there they all are, with dirty feet.  It's just not done to sit down and eat like that – and especially not a celebratory meal like the passover....    The settle down on couches and cushions.  Some of the older ones thinking “John ought to do it – he's the youngest!”  John's thinking “Matthew ought to do it – after all eh was a tax-collector.”  And Matthew's thinking “It ought to be one by one of these labouring types – a fisherman maybe: they're used to the smell of fish so the smell of feet shouldn’t' hurt them....”  Washing feet was such a  low job that a Jewish slave couldn't be compelled to do it, and none of the twelve wanted to do it. So, even though it was a bit unpleasant, a bit uncomfortable, with the dust and smells of the street still clinging to their feet, they settle down for the meal.

And then, Jesus gets up, strips to the waist, takes a towel and a basin of water,.  and starts washing feet.   This was the lowest thing.  It was dirty, unhygienic, smelly.  Jesus with a towel wrapped around his waist is looking and acting like a slave.  He's doing that job that you couldn't force a Jewish slave to do.   They're all a wee bit uncomfortable with this, really. But Peter, as usual, speaks out what they're all thinking.  “No, no, Jesus.  No you don't.  You're not washing my feet.  Keep a sense of proportion here, Jesus.  It's all right, Jesus, I’d rather have dirty feet.  You're not out-humbling me!” 

And Jesus' strong hands grasp Peter’s ankles and push them into the basin...   “Yes I do,Peter.  If I don’t' wash you, you have no part with me.”   So Peter says “All right, Jesus, wash me – not just my feet: wash my hands and face too.”  and Jesus answers, “You've had a bath. You are clean already. It's just the dirt of the road you need to get rid of.”  Through that exchange, it dawns on everyone – Jesus isn't just interested in clean feet. Jesus is talking about inner cleansing.  By washing the disciples' feet, Jesus is demonstration the total transformation in peoples lives that he gives. "Having a part in Jesus," new birth, forgiveness, entering the kingdom, receiving the Spirit, being clean, having everlasting life.  In John's Gospel, these are not separate things.   They are one thing, but looked at in different ways; they are streams that flow together into one massive Amazon of a river.   

For this – to make us clean, to bring us to new birth, to enable us to enter the kingdom, to give us the Holy Spirit – Jesus came, lived, died and rose again. 

He says to Peter, “You don't understand this now, but you will later on.”  And later on, when John writes the story,  understanding it all, he begins by saying Jesus knew where he had come from; he knew that the time was coming to go back to his father; he had loved his disciples and would love them to the end –to the uttermost, to the full.   (not just a time reference but really meaning he would show them how much he loved them.) 

This was the extent of his love. As he entered the upper room to share this passover with his friends, he knew that he was the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  He knew that now was the time. He knew that one of the twelve was set to betray him.  He knew that the Cross lay before him.  It wasn't just the clean feet that were an acted parable. So were the stripping to the waist, the towel, the basin.    In order to make us really clean, he had to empty himself, take the form of a servant, become obedient to death, death on the cross. Philippians 2 is Paul's way of reflecting on this incident.  Both knew what happened.  John sat down and wrote the story; Paul sat down and wrote a song.

This totality of what Jesus does is the result of the totality of who he is.   It is effected by his incarnation, life, death, and resurrection. 

But because of that love and that sacrifice – we have a part with Jesus;  are clean.  Isn't that amazing. Isn't that something to celebrate? 

You don't “feel clean” - but if you belong to Jesus you are clean. You don't feel like a new person; but if you have encountered Jesus you are.  You don't feel like a son of God, but if you belong to Jesus you are God's child. 

Like the twelve, waiting for someone to start washing feet, you're status-conscious, prejudiced. Like Peter you shoot your mouth off.  Like Peter, you think you're a bit better than the rest; like Peter you are proud and push people away.  Like Peter would do in a day’s time, you bottle out of standing up for what is right.  Like Judas, you're motivated by profit and are capable of stabbing someone in the back.... Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  It doesn't matter what you have done in life, God forgives all you sins... because Jesus died on the Cross.

Maybe there's someone here, and you've always pushed away the idea of God doing something for you.  You think, “I'll do my best for God. Surely He will be happy with that.”  you think, “Maybe he won't notice; maybe he just isn't bothered.”  Don't push Jesus away.  Unless you let him deal with your rubbish, you have no part with him.

Maybe there's someone here and you know you pick up the dirt and filth of the road.  You may even think “How can I get another chance.  I keep messing up?”  For some of us, Jesus. says “It's OK. You are clean.  You just need to wash you feet.”  Even after denying the he ever knew Jesus, Peter was able to get his feet washed.  He was able to come back into fellowship with Jesus.  

And so...
And Jesus finishes off with this: “Do you see what I have done for you? I, the Boss, have washed your feet. So you must wash each other's feet.”

We all need to be like a servant for one another.  We need to consider others better than ourselves.  Each of us is a Son of God.  But each one of us has come from being an outsider and slave.  None of us can stand on our dignity and say “He (or she) ought to do the serving.”

We need to be humble with one another. No standing on ceremony. No pecking order. Not the slightest hint that one is better, stronger, more importunate than another. 

We all need to help one another deal with the rubbish that binds us and holds us down.  Guys (especially!), we so often want to say, like Peter “You're not washing me” … We don’t want to admit weakness.  And we don't want to do the touchy-feely stuff.  We get embarrassed about praying for someone else.  Or if someone does open up to us, we can pigeon-hole them for the rest of their lives.  Lord have mercy upon us.  We are all struggling with something – denial, cowardice, pride, arrogance, addictions, habits, lusts and tempers.  We need to walk together,  not wallowing in sin our guilt but supporting one another in the journey to freedom.

Who wants to receive a gift: new life, to become a new person; to be cleaned up and a welcome back?  Who wants to be a servant like Jesus, with your brothers and with the broken in your world?  Who thinks they're already sorted?  Who can't be bothered?

© Gilmour Lilly March  2012