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.