Main news for 17 December 2025

In the Gospel account of Jesus washing His disciples' feet, we are often inclined to see something significant and mysterious, at times almost mystical. Sometimes in some Christian communities people even try to revive this "sacred ritual," expecting from it either some special grace or abundant spiritual fruits.

Jesus Himself had nothing of the sort in mind. He clearly had in mind nothing mysterious, no special ritual, no sacred washings. Peter wanted to see the situation this way, but Jesus did not allow him to do so. He did not turn an ordinary, though absolutely necessary, task into a ritual. He simply did the work that was usually assigned to a household slave. And He said at the same time: you call Me Teacher and Lord, and you are right; if so, then act as I do.

Does this mean that only occupations once assigned to slaves are suitable for a Christian? Hardly. But there must be readiness to do any work if it is necessary for specific neighbors in a specific situation. Any work at all, even the kind that one would not do under ordinary circumstances.

What disturbed Peter most of all was precisely that his Teacher was doing something completely inappropriate to His position. He tries to smooth over a situation that appears to him humiliating for his Teacher by turning the ordinary washing of feet, absolutely necessary at that time, into a kind of ritual washing that will not humiliate Jesus: that is why he asks Him to wash not only his feet, but also his hands and head, as was usually done during purification washings.

Jesus Himself sees nothing humiliating for Himself in the situation that has arisen. More than that: He speaks of it as the norm for relationships among Christians. Not so that some could shift onto others the tasks they do not want to do themselves, but so that His disciples would understand what the life of the Kingdom is. A life in which what is so important in this world does not matter: status, prestige, imaginary dignity, which often does not allow us to do what our neighbors expect from us; in a word, everything that has no relation to the love of the Kingdom, by which the true followers of Christ were supposed to live and about which they were supposed to bear witness, the followers Jesus wanted the apostles to be.