69: Follow the Foot{washing}steps of Jesus

I was in sixth grade and found myself in the mountains of West Virginia, on the first of what would become many, many mission trips throughout my life. Our church group met up with several other church groups and we spent the week together serving the people of a tiny mountain town, helping with home repairs and yard work, and leading a day camp for the children in the community. We’d reached the last night of the week and gathered together in the gymnasium of the school where we were staying. What happened next caught me totally off-guard.

I don’t remember the name of the person or where they were from or even really what they said, but someone said some words and read a passage from the Bible and all of the sudden, we were being invited to line up and wash each other’s feet. What in the world? I wished I’d been paying better attention. In my 11-year-old brain, this was super bizarre. I not only disliked touching other people’s feet, but I was very self-conscious about my own and didn’t really want any attention on them. Yet, something inside me felt curious and I found myself joining the line with a few of my friends. It turns out, the experience was pretty painless—powerful, even—and I had no idea just how much this repeated practice would come to mean to me over the years.

The passage read that night was one we tend to read at some point during Holy Week which—if you’re listening in real time—we are smack dab in the middle of. But even beyond the boundaries of Holy Week, it’s a powerful passage. What I missed that night many moons ago is that we were invited to wash each other’s feet because Jesus invited us to follow his example. In John 13:1-17 we read:

“13 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table,[a] took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet,[b] but is entirely clean. And you[c] are clean, though not all of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16 Very truly, I tell you, servants[d] are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”

It’s true that in this passage, Jesus invites us to wash each other’s feet. If you’ve never participated in an actual foot-washing—and should the opportunity present itself—it’s only as awkward as you make it, and it can be incredibly moving. It’s an embodied practice that reminds us of the larger invitation, an invitation that is about so much more than literal foot-washing. Jesus invites us to take on the posture of a servant in the midst of a world that demands we seek a seat at the head of the table.

As you might already know, when Jesus walked this earth, the most common mode of transportation was your own two feet. People walked everywhere, most likely wearing sandals, traveling on dirt roads - you get the picture and I’m sure you can do the math. People’s feet were pretty gross. And so, one of the jobs and responsibilities of a servant was to wash the feet of those who entered the home. I imagine it was not a pleasant job, to say the least.

And yet, Jesus—who certainly deserved the role of honored guest or VIP host—took on the role of servant and washed his disciples feet. It was a move that seemed totally backward, upside-down, counter to every cultural expectation. Which is probably part of why Peter pushed back. He didn’t understand the power of the example Jesus was setting, the significance of the invitation Jesus was offering to follow in his footsteps. Jesus told Peter, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” And now, for us today, as we look back, reflect, and remember this humble act of Jesus, we can consider the kind of posture Jesus invites us to assume. The kind of life Jesus invites us to live.

It’s a life that trades in the high horse for the colt of a donkey.

A life that lets go of the grudge.

That chooses communion over competition.

That prays for enemies, remembering that Jesus even washed the feet of the one he knew would betray him.

It’s a life that regards others as better than herself.

That considers the interests of others.

A life that isn’t afraid of sacrifice.

A life committed to taking up her cross.

A life that doesn’t count the cost.

It’s a life caught up and immersed in the Kingdom of God. 

It’s not always easy and I often wonder how Jesus did it. What sustained Jesus in the midst of the downward trajectory he chose to pursue? I think we’re given a clue in the passage from John 13. Verse three tells us that Jesus knew “he had come from God and was going to God.” In his humanity, Jesus was secure in his identity - in his belonging to God. He had come from God and was going to God, so he didn’t have to prove his power, worth, strength, significance or authority to the world. He knew he could freely lay all that down because he was grounded in something far greater. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can follow in his footsteps.

As Philippians 2 reminds us, we can

5 Let the same mind be in [us] that was[a] in Christ Jesus,

6 

who, though he was in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God
    as something to be exploited,

7 

but emptied himself,
    taking the form of a servant,
    being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,

8 

    he humbled himself
    and became obedient to the point of death—
    even death on a cross.

So today, if you find yourself longing for a seat at the head of the table, remember the call to follow the foot{washing}steps of Jesus. May our lives come to embody the love, humility, compassion, and care of Jesus and may we have courage enough to take up our cross and follow him daily.