Several months ago on a Sunday night we had strong winds. Sunday night is also the night when my neighborhood puts out our recycling bins. As I had heard it would be very blustery, I decided to wait until Monday morning to avoid risking having our recyclables blow all over ours and everyone else’s lawns. All night the winds blew, and I was glad that our trash was safely inside the garage. The next morning, the winds had died down, and as I brought out our big recycling bin to the curb, I noticed that our neighbor didn’t get the high wind alert and had put out their bin the night before. As a result, their bin was overturned, blown around, and they had paper, plastic, and cans all over in their yard, our yard, and other yards, as well. Admittedly, I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to pick up their orange juice containers, their soda cans, and their cardboard breakfast waffle boxes. I didn’t want to hunt through their garden beds, the sides of the houses, venture onto other driveways, and along the street. I really wanted to go back inside my house and take care of my own business.
As we look at the Gospel reading for tonight, we find Jesus doing the unexpected. Why would Jesus want to wash his disciples’ feet? It is a fair question. If you have ever paid close attention to our lectionary (which is our Bible readings for the three church years), you will notice that we do not often hear readings from the Gospel of John, and when we do, it doesn’t seem to come sequentially so as to give us a good, complete reading of John. John reads differently from the other Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And it is helpful to understand the uniqueness of John to better understand this passage of scripture that we just heard tonight.
In this Gospel, Jesus very clearly knows that he is divine; Jesus and God are one. Jesus came from God and is God. So in the narrative of the foot washing, we can read this with the lens that Jesus, fully God, is washing the disciples’ feet.
The Gospel of John is a sensory-rich Gospel, where, often the Biblical characters come to “know” Jesus by his voice. An example of this is the man born blind. Without hearing Jesus, he would not have known him (or come to believe in Jesus).. Smelling: think of the sweet aroma of the perfume (a pound of it!)… Pure nard filling the room with fragrance when Mary anointed Jesus’ feet. Note the similarity of Mary’s humble act with Jesus’ humbly washing and wiping the disciples’ feet. Seeing: Picture the look on the disciples’ faces as they see him removing his garments and taking on the lowly role of a servant, washing their feet! Here in the narration of the foot washing, the disciples’ feet and ankles were being touched by Jesus, and the water from his basin was splashing over their skin, and Jesus no doubt gently wiped their feet with his towel.
We also find that the first meaning that is understood is not always the intended meaning. Peter doesn’t seem to recognize what Jesus is saying and thinks that Jesus is just trying to clean up Peter’s dirty feet; Peter doesn’t understand the true message that Jesus is sending, that the disciples need to be humble, loving servants. As for Judas, Jesus’ betrayer (who isn’t clean) he, unfortunately, does not believe.
Also helpful to understand is that it is very difficult to read John, linearly, from beginning to end – and then stop. We almost need to read the Gospel of John in a circle, or spirally, to fully grasp the meaning. In other words, we need to read and re-read John to have it fully make sense. For example, Jesus wants the disciples to love each other as Jesus has loved them. For this to be most impactful, we can remember that Jesus told us in John 3:16 (ten chapters prior) that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. Jesus loved the world. The world is everyone, everywhere, and that includes Judas. And then we read about this love again a few chapters later when Jesus says “I am the true vine.” And “This is my new commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12). Jesus invites us to have this kind of love. To continue with the idea that John is best read in a circle, we read that Jesus’ first words in the Gospel of John are, “What (or Who) are you looking for?” And Jesus’ last words are, “Follow me.” We are to follow Jesus and his example.
Jesus wants the disciples to be servants, humble servants, to show the love. By this, being a humble servant, they can demonstrate what it fully means to be a disciple once Jesus is no longer with them. The disciples will have a new identity- as servants. And at its core, it comes down to discipleship.
Jesus is in the unexpected. Jesus came to us and showed his power and his love on the cross. It is interesting that when you look closely at the Gospel reading, the writer of John gave us significant details in verses 4 and 5 of Chapter 13. The writer didn’t have to. The writer could have said, Jesus washed their feet. But these details were included for a reason. Why is this? Perhaps to put us in the moment so that we can really feel like we are right there experiencing it? Maybe because this is such a significant expression of Jesus’ love….? Or perhaps because it is so unbelievable that Jesus would do this that the writer felt that it must certainly be recorded?
So, when I had the opportunity to “wash my neighbor’s feet” by picking up the trash, did I? Yes, I did. Jesus invites me to have such love. We are called to be humble, loving servants. May we all find ways to wash others’ feet because God loves each of us and so loved the world. Amen.