Why Jesus Washed Feet and We Should Too

It’s your first day at a new job, and you’re set to meet the owner of the company. The building is winding and the layout confusing. You head to the restroom to take a moment to gather yourself before meeting your new boss.

While in the restroom you rub shoulders with the janitor, who has just hopped up from scrubbing the toilets. He has a kind face, familiar even, so you decide to ask him for directions to the CEO’s office.

He puts out his hand, “You must be the new guy, welcome.” You’re a little hesitant to shake hands with the dude who was just cleaning the bathroom — but you don’t want to be rude, so you give him a good handshake. This guy really is nice, because he doesn’t just point to the CEO’s office, rather, he says, “I’m headed that way myself. You can just follow me.”

When you get up to the CEO’s office, you’re a bit shocked. The “janitor” sits down in the CEO’s chair. He’s not impersonating. You now realize why his face looks so familiar — the head honcho was the same guy scrubbing toilets. What kind of weird business is this?

That’s a modern-day picture of what Jesus did with washing the disciples’ feet. But actually, it’s even more outlandish.

Why Did Jesus Was His Disciples’ Feet?

The story of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet is found in John 13. It’s right before He is about to die. This is one of the last acts that Jesus will perform with those He has lived with for three years. It’s amazing that washing their smelly feet was one of his last acts. So, why’d he do it?

First, it showed the full extent of His love. That’s what John 13:1 tells us, “Having loved His own … He loved them to the end.” And what blows me away here is that this includes Judas. The way John frames this chapter (and really all of them leading up to Judas’ betrayal) he wants us to see that Jesus loved him to the very end; he didn’t ever fail to love even his betrayer.

But it also applies to those who would stick with Jesus. I guess I should say “stick with Jesus, eventually.” It’s one thing to wash the feet of kings or lovers, it’s quite another to do it for those who will only moments later betray you. There is a haunting line in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem The Meaning of the Look. She writes:

“Did I yesterday
Wash thy feet, my beloved, that they should run
Quick to deny me ‘neath the morning sun?”

Secondly, foot washing foreshadows the cross. His lowering to the floor points to His going to the depths to redeem humanity. The most powerful One walking the planet allowed Himself to be placed into the hands of wicked men. He stooped to redeem us. And this cleansing would prefigure the deeper cleansing that He would accomplish through His death. (See v. 10 “you are clean.”)

Finally, and this is most explicitly how Jesus explains His purpose, foot washing models a new way of leadership. Jesus wasn’t just being kind here, assuming that it would go down in history as something nice for Jesus to do, but not us. He was redefining greatness.

No, I don’t think actual foot washing has to be practiced — though we probably could use a bit more of it. It’s really about the deeper thing behind the symbol. It’s about serving. The greatest one is the one who serves. It flips the script on how the world then (and still our world today) tends to operate. Jesus wanted His disciples to get this from the beginning.

What Does Foot Washing Mean for Us Today?

There are some churches that still practice foot washing. Personally, I’ve only seen it done in church twice in the twenty plus years I’ve been in churches. I wonder sometimes if it’d be good to bring it back, at least on occasion.

Allow me to chase a rabbit for just a second, and ask a question.

Who do you think has a harder time with foot washing?

There is a clue in Peter’s response. When Jesus went to wash his feet, Peter didn’t like the idea. It was beneath the Lord, he thought. Peter should be the one doing the foot washing. He was comfortable with that but not being washed.

The same thing is true today. We’re more comfortable being the one giving the dollar to a person in need; we’re far less comfortable being on the receiving end. There is a pride attached to receiving foot washing. And I think Jesus had to cut through this as well. There is a vulnerability there, and that’s why Peter had to understand what it meant to allow Jesus to wash His feet.

That may explain why we are so hesitant to engage in foot washing in our services today. It’d seem strange for the pastor to request being on the receiving end. And if the pastor is the one on bended knee with a towel, it may very well be a symbol of humility, but it could also be a position of subtle pride. That’s why it’s not as much about the act itself but about what it represents. There is a pattern that Jesus was teaching.

Foot washing is about humbling yourself on purpose. It might mean humbling yourself enough to receive from another. Or it might be humbling yourself enough to do a thankless task. It should, after all, be mentioned that Jesus did this act in a quiet room among friends — it wasn’t on the public square.

To follow the pattern of foot washing is to take the initiative to serve, not to be noticed. It’s doing what no one else will do and loving others without looking for applause. It’s the way of the kingdom. It’s about stooping for even enemies — no, especially enemies.

I know some “foot washers” in our church. They are the people who show up early to set up chairs when nobody knows it needs done. You’ll find them caring for the elderly or the sick without fanfare. They’re laboring over a hot stove to provide a meal for an overworked single mom. It’s the twenty-something who volunteered to clean our toilets. And it’s the counselor doing the emotional “foot washing” of listening, forgiving, and letting others be heard.

This leads to an invitation to honest reflection. Is the church known for foot washing? For serving our enemies? For loving one another? Are you?  

Washed People Wash Others

Jesus made this point in John 13:14, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” His act for us is the foundation for our “washing” of others. The gospel not only cleanses us, it also commissions us.

Jesus’ example is meant to be reproduced in us. But it’s not a way to earn favor or make ourselves more acceptable. Washing the feet of others — whether physically or metaphorically — flows out of what Christ has done for us. Because our identity is secure in Christ, we don’t have to have our name in lights. We can stoop to serve.

And if we flip the script a little, it can also allow us to be served. You realize, don’t you, that when Jesus said, “wash one another’s feet” it was a two-way street. People would have to do the washing and receive the washing. Both are vital. And both require a certain type of humility. We need both in our churches today. The humility to receive and to rest. As well as the humility to go to the lowliest of places and humbly lay down our life.

Power in Humility

In a world obsessed with platforms, Jesus picked up a towel. The thing that carries all the muck and grime and wipes away all the nastiness of being broken people in a broken world. Jesus wrapped that thing around his waist, sat his holy knee to the earth, grabbed a rebellious foot, and started scrubbing.

This is what real greatness looks like.

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