NOTES for Joh 13:1-15

Only one word comes to mind when the washing of feet comes up, when you remember and imagine someone washing your feet: "piercing." And it is piercing when a brother or sister does this, and the thought does not even arise that your Lord could have done it... How disarmed, how defenseless you become, gathering trust with difficulty so as to accept this amazing gift meekly and humbly. The exposed heart grows still, almost stops, from the depth of the sensations and feelings.

But when you yourself wash feet, the heart beats with the desire to express, through this whole action, the love that increases with the decision to wash someone's feet. The heart beats, commanding you to touch the feet of a brother or sister gently, understanding that the trust shown to you borders on pain. And the Lord, who calls us to do this, is present nearby, blessing openness and multiplying love.

Yet His instruction to wash one another's feet concerns not only this action; it must permeate all our fellowship. But the state of spirit that gives you the possibility of being the one who "washes" or the one who is "washed" is possible only with the presence of Jesus in your heart. For it is He who can take in our hearts the places occupied by pride, fear of trusting, and unwillingness to serve our neighbor.

In our day, the washing of feet in some churches and communities often turns into something like a mystery play symbolizing humility and service. Yet in Gospel times there was nothing mysterious or unusual about it. In Palestine, people then wore open footwear on bare feet, and at table they did not sit but reclined on a special kind of couch; in that case washing one's feet was as necessary as washing one's hands. Most often a slave assigned to this task washed the guests' feet, and if there was no such slave, the guests did it themselves: in the courtyard, by the entrance, vessels of water intended for this purpose usually stood there. Sometimes, as a sign of special respect for an honored guest, the host of the house himself might help such a guest wash his feet. This work was considered one of the least honorable, though it was absolutely necessary.

And now, during the Last Supper, or more precisely before it began, Jesus Himself takes it upon Himself. Such behavior was at the very least unusual: of all people, Jesus was not supposed to wash the guests' feet. But He does it, giving an example to His disciples. The point here is not some special self-abasement: He only wants to make clear to the apostles what true service is, when one does what needs to be done for God and for one's neighbors without thinking about or caring for one's own status and prestige.

It is no accident that Jesus decisively stops Peter's attempt to turn ordinary footwashing into a kind of ritual washing: when the apostle asks his Teacher to wash not only his feet but also his hands and head, He refuses, saying that there is no need for such washing. The apostles have to accept that their Teacher takes upon Himself the work of a slave, dirty and unprestigious work. Meanwhile, the Teacher gives them an example of true love and true humility.

In some Christian churches the custom of washing feet has become a tradition. After all, Jesus says directly that we Christians should do this for one another, and if His words are understood literally, then the custom or even rite of foot washing can appear entirely appropriate - if not for one "but": Jesus Himself insists categorically that this is no rite and no ritual. The ritual washing customary during the Passover seder (and the Last Supper was precisely a Passover seder, a ritual Jewish meal performed during the feast of Passover) had already been completed by that moment. Now they had to recline at the table (in those days people did not sit at table but reclined), and before that everyone needed to have their feet washed, because one usually climbed onto the couch with one's feet.

As a rule, this work was assigned to a household slave, and so when Jesus Himself does it, it causes real shock: such a task is not for the Teacher. Peter protests, but Jesus is unyielding: if you refuse, you will not sit at the Passover table with Me. Then Peter tries to turn everything precisely into a rite, into a ritual washing.

If Jesus had also washed his hands and head, and those of the other disciples, then this really would have resembled a ritual cleansing washing; but Jesus does not want that. He is not going to turn ordinary foot washing into a ritual. On the contrary, He wants to show His disciples that the Kingdom is not a ritual, but ordinary life, the life people live, and live simply, not for the sake of observing some endless mysterious rites. Only in this life there are no tasks that are, on the one hand, "high" and "spiritual," and on the other, "low": any work is filled with spiritual meaning if it is done according to God's will and with love.

And a person's position in the Kingdom, his so-called status as an inhabitant of this Kingdom (to the extent that it is appropriate to speak of any status here at all), is not affected by any ministries or tasks: what matters here is the person's inner state, the spiritual quality of his life, not what he is occupied with. This is the simple truth Jesus wants to bring to His disciples by His own example. And if, instead of understanding and accepting this truth, we again and again turn it into a ritual, then the problem is in us, not in the truth.

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.

Peter and the other apostles were naturally embarrassed. No wonder: the King of Israel was washing their feet, doing a slave's work! Many of us would surely dislike it if the person dearest to us began doing something humiliating and improper. But this washing of feet is a decisive moment in the history of Jesus' relationship with His disciples; anyone who dislikes it is free to leave.

Why is it so important? Apparently it is impossible to understand the Lord and follow Him without learning through experience this lesson in which the Master serves those beneath Him and the Teacher serves His disciples. As Scripture says, this is an example—but not an example on a board or in a picture. Peter and all of us must pass through this shock so that we will never again be shocked by the thought that we too must serve those who are lesser and weaker than we are.