Thursday’s Passion: Following a Servant with Dirty Feet (Jn. 13:1-38)

Take a look at the man in this photo.  Can you tell me who this is?  His name is Steve Jobs.  Can you tell me who he works for?  He works for Apple.  Jobs is the CEO of Apple, Inc.  Apple is one those companies that has a widely recognized figurehead.  In a book called Branding Faith author Phil Cooke writes about these kinds of organizations.  Cooke calls them “personality driven.” That’s not a criticism.  It is merely a description of groups whose existence and health are directly tied to a person, to a personality.  Cooke writes that being a personality driven group is good and bad.  For example, the direct link between Apple, Inc. and Steve Jobs is good.  Jobs gives the company a personal face.  He gives the company an appealing image.  But, when Jobs’ health recently started failing, so did stock in Apple.  The fate of Apple Inc. is wrapped up in this one man.

 

In that sense Christianity is also “personality driven.”  The existence and health of Christianity and of Christian churches are tied directly to a person, to a personality—Jesus the Christ.  And that’s good.  Who could have a better founder, a better spokesperson, a better figurehead than Jesus the Christ?  But being personality driven has a challenge: Without Jesus the Christ, Christianity and Christian churches would suffer. 

 

That is the challenge facing us in Jn. 13.  John tells us this: 1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father…3 Jesus knew…that he had come from God and was returning to God.  (Jn. 13:1,3 TNIV).  Jesus then puts it this way: 33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.  (Jn. 13:33 TNIV).  Jesus is preparing to leave.  He started this tiny movement with twelve apprentices and other followers.  But now, he’s preparing to leave.  The hour has come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.  Tomorrow, Friday, he’ll be crucified.  On Sunday he’ll rise from the dead.  Then, he will ascend into heaven.  Jesus will no longer be physically present with his organization.  He will be present by means of the Holy Spirit.  He explains this later in Jn. 14.  But he will no longer be physically present.  Jesus, the founder and figurehead of Christianity is leaving. 

 

And that presents a challenge.  It especially presents a challenge in terms of our mission as Christians.  This text is part of a much larger speech Jesus gives the disciples to prepare them for his departure.  The speech runs from John 13 through John 17.  The speech climaxes in Jn. 17:21, where Jesus talks about his hope that the world may believe in him.  Jesus wants this tiny group to become so successful that the world comes to believe in Jesus through it.  But how is that mission going to be possible when the founder is no longer physically present?  Christianity is “personality driven”—its existence, health, and mission are tied to one person.  And Jesus’ physical departure creates a crisis in mission.

 

Don’t you feel that crisis?  Just think how much easier our mission would be if Jesus was still physically present.  If we wanted to lead a neighbor to faith in Jesus, we could just invite the neighbor to hear Jesus first hand.  We could bring them to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and just let Jesus’ amazing teaching do all the work.  If we wanted a coworker to realize that Jesus could help her, we could bring Jesus to that coworker.  Jesus could heal the coworker’s cancer and immediately that coworker would become a believer.  But Jesus is not physically present.  And that makes our mission more challenging. 

 

Thus, to address this challenge, Jesus does something in Jn. 13.  Watch this video:

 

Jesus is about to physically leave.  So the first thing he does to prepare them is to wash their feet.  It seems a strange thing to do.

 

Even stranger, Jesus tells them to wash each other’s feet: 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you…17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.   (John 13:14-15, 17 TNIV).  In light of his impending departure, Jesus washes feet and commands that they wash each other’s feet.  To address the crisis in mission caused by his departure Jesus practices and commands foot washing. 

 

This is very odd.  How is the fact that Jesus washed the feet of twelve men thousands of years ago going to help us thrive when our figurehead is not physically present?  How is our washing of each other’s feet going to draw people to Jesus when our founder has physically departed? 

 

To answer those questions we need to understand that there’s much more going on here than foot washing.  Jesus and John make clear that the foot washing is symbolic of something greater.  And it’s that something greater which Jesus wants us to hear.  The foot washing symbolizes some things which, if we will practice, will make our churches thrive and will draw many to faith despite the physical absence of Jesus.  Specifically, the foot washing symbolized two things. 

 

First, the practice of foot washing symbolized that the Christian community was a community of sinners.  Jesus makes it clear that he is not simply washing away dirt.  He is washing away sin: 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”  7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”  8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”  Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”  9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”  10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.   (Jn. 13:6-11 TNIV)  This scene is reminiscent of the cleansing of priests in the Old Testament.[1]  When a priest was consecrated, he was bathed with water (Ex. 29:4).  This rite of being bathed happened only once.  The priest was never bathed in this way again.  That one act consecrated him.  It made him clean.  But, because in the course of daily life the priest could become defiled, he still had to regularly wash his feet, as well as his hands (Ex. 30:18-21).  He didn’t need to be consecrated again.  But he did need a way of cleansing his daily defilement.  So, he would wash his feet and his hands.  In a similar way, Jesus uses the foot washing to symbolize that the disciples also need a continual cleansing of their sins.  They had already been made clean.  Like the priest they had already been consecrated (everyone except for Judas).  But that did not mean they would never sin again.  These were imperfect men.  They still needed daily cleansing.  And the foot washing was symbolic of that.[2]  Peter misunderstands this.  Seeing that the foot washing is intended to bring spiritual cleansing, Peter asks Jesus to wash him all over.  But Peter does not need this.  He’s already “clean.”  He’s already been consecrated.  But, as his own denial of Jesus will reveal later, Peter’s still imperfect.  He does regular cleansing. 

 

And by commanding that they wash each other’s feet, Jesus is trying to ensure that they never forget this fact.  The foot washing will become a symbol of the fact that this is a community of imperfect people.  Jesus wants to leave behind a community of people who acknowledge that they need ongoing cleansing.  In the words of Jesus, we Christians have already had our bath.  We’ve been baptized.  We do not have to repeat that event.  But, like the priest, we still regularly defile ourselves.  Like Peter we still end up sinning.  And so we are in constant need of forgiveness. 

 

Jesus commands this practice because foot washing would remind us that we are a community of sinners.  We are a community of people who need ongoing spiritual cleansing.  We are not perfect.  The foot washing would become the way we would acknowledge our imperfection.

 

And a community that readily confesses its imperfection is a community that will thrive.  No one wants to be part of a group of people who claim they are perfect.  No one wants to be part of a group who claims to have it all together—especially when it’s clear they don’t.  But a group of people who are honest about their failings can be very appealing and very effective—even if their founder is not physically present.  Here’s an example of that.  In his book Blue Like Jazz Donald Miller writes about Reed College in Portland, Oregon.[3]  Reed is a liberal college.  Many students and faculty are hostile toward Christianity.  And the question is this: how can Christianity exist and thrive and lead people at Reed to believe in Jesus in that kind of environment—especially when Jesus isn’t physically present?  Donald tells about a festival at Reed each year called Ren Fayre.  The campus is shut down and the students have a giant party.  Friday is mostly about getting drunk.  Saturday is mostly about getting high.  As the time approached for Ren Fayre one year, Donald’s friend Tony suggested they do something during Ren Fayre to reach out to these hostile non Christians.  Tony suggested they build a confession booth on campus during Ren Fayre.  But instead of the party goers confessing their sins, Tony said the Christians would confess their sins:  We are going to confess to them.  We are going to confess that, as followers of Jesus, we have not been very loving; we have been bitter, and for that we are sorry.  We will apologize for the Crusades, we will apologize for televangelists, we will apologize for neglecting the poor and the lonely, we will ask them to forgive us, and we will tell them that in our selfishness, we have misrepresented Jesus on this campus.”  On Saturday morning, they did just that.  They built a large shed with a slanted roof and two sections inside, one for the Christian and one for the other person.  Outside they painted the words “Confession Booth.”  That evening as students were smoking drugs, Donald took up a spot in the confession booth.  A student named Jake came in.  Jake was not a Christian.  And Donald confessed his sins to Jake: Jesus said to feed the poor and to heal the sick.  I have never done very much about that.  Jesus said to love those who persecute me.  I tend to lash out, especially if I feel threatened, you know, if my ego gets threatened.  Jesus did not mix his spirituality with politics.  I grew up doing that.  It got in the way of the central message of Christ.  I know that was wrong, and I know that a lot of people will not listen to the words of Christ because people like me, who know Him, carry our own agendas into the conversation rather than just relaying the message Christ wanted to get across.”  And as Jake heard Donald confess his sin, he was touched.  Jake wanted to know more about Christianity.  They talked for a long time.

 

Something like that is what Jesus has in mind.  Jesus wanted his followers to wash each other’s feet because it would remind them that they were still sinners and that they still need forgiveness.  Why would Jesus want that?  Because that kind of community is appealing.  What if instead of being known as hypocrites, people who talk the right talk but then fail and won’t admit it, we Christians were simply known as recovering sinners—people who don’t always do the right thing but are trying hard and honestly admit when we fail?  That kind of community has a real chance in this world.  That kind of community can get a hearing in this world. 

 

But the foot washing symbolized something else.  It also symbolized Jesus’ desire to leave behind a community of servants.  Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.  2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him…12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you…34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (Jn. 13:1b-5, 12-17, 34). 

 

We hear three characteristics of the servants Jesus wants his community to be comprised of.  First, we hear the call for loving servants.  We are told that Jesus loved his own and decided to love them to the end by washing their feet.  Similarly the disciples were given a “new command” to love.  And this “new command” is that they love each other in the way Jesus loved—by washing each other’s feet.  Jesus wanted a community that served each other in love.  By the way, that phrase “new command” is where we get the phrase “Maundy Thursday.”  The day in this text is Thursday.  It is often called Maundy Thursday.   The Latin translation of the words “new command” is Mandatum novum.  Thus, this day is celebrated as Maundy Thursday. 

 

Second, we hear call for limitless service—it was to be given to all, including those undeserving.  Jesus washes the feet of Judas and Peter, both of whom would betray or deny Jesus.  They are undeserving.  Yet Jesus serves them.  And he demands that his followers mirror that example.  This act of service is limitless—to be done even to undeserving people. 

 

Third, we hear the call for lowly service.  How did Jesus serve?  Above all he served in a lowly way.   We are told that the Father has put all things under Jesus’ power.  Jesus now has enormous authority and position.  So, what does Jesus do?  He gets up from where he is reclining, he takes off his outer robe, and he wraps a towel around his waist.  He now is dressed the way a common slave would dress. [4]  The Father has put all things under Jesus’ power, but Jesus dresses like a slave and picks up a towel.[5]  Then he washes their feet.  It was an act most commonly done by servants.[6]  Jesus serves in a lowly fashion.  And he demands his followers serve each other in this lowly fashion.  The foot washing symbolized that this was a community of servants—loving, limitless, and lowly servants.

 

And a community filled with such servants will be immensely successful—even without the physical presence of Jesus.  Jesus says in vs. 35, By this everyone will know that you are my disciples.  Jesus believes that this kind of service will prove to non believers that this community belongs to Jesus.  A community filled with this kind of loving, limitless, and lowly service would have great appeal and would earn a great hearing.

 

In The Hidden Value of a Man co-author John Trent writes about a time when he was working with young teenagers.  John invited a non Christian teenager named Mark to attend a summer camp.  One of the men in charge of the camp that week was a Christian named “Mitch.”  Mitch had a hand in everything, including the meals.  Thus Mitch often talked with the cook.  She was a hardworking cook and always looked tired.  Whenever Mitch would come in and talk to her, he would bring her a chair and urge her to sit down and rest while they talked about the meal.  It was a simple act of kindness that no one saw—except the young non Christian teenager Mark.  Mark silently watched the way Mitch served this cook.  And what he saw impacted him.  In fact one night he said to John Trent, “If that’s what it means to be a Christian, I want to be one.”

 

Several days ago long-time Highland member Gordon Stalcup died.  Last Sunday in my Sunday School class Jim Adkins shared a story about Gordon.  It was a cold and rainy Sunday morning.  Jim was meeting Gordon at an assisted living facility where Gordon, every Sunday morning, would lead worship services for the aged and infirmed.  Gordon and his wife Ellen pulled up in their car with Gordon’s wheelchair strapped on the back.  In the cold rain, they got the chair off and Gordon got into it.  He was dressed in a full suit and tie.  By this point he was soaking wet.  But he wheeled himself through the rain into the center.  Gordon was not far from the end of his life.  Yet here he was in a wheelchair, soaking wet, suit, tie, and Bible, rolling himself into a center to lead worship for a very small group of Christians whom most others had long-ago forgotten.  Jim Adkins, who witnessed this scene, said to my Sunday School class, “I don’t remember what Gordon said that morning.  But I’ll never forget what he did.”  Jesus knew that service has that kind of impact.  The world around us may at times forget what we tell them about Jesus.  But when we live as loving, limitless, and lowly servants, they’ll never forget what we do.  That kind of community will have great appeal and will earn a great hearing.