May I wash your feet?

I am not big on tradition for tradition sake or ritual activity. I understand that traditions help us carry a sense of unity with the why and the past. But often they get in the road of the why and become in and of themselves the purpose. When that happens the connection to the past and the why of the moment become what the Bible refers to as the "traditions of men" (Col. 2:8).

But there are some traditions that when experienced, especially the first time, hold such deep meaning, real connection to those who have gone before, and to the Savior also, that they leave a deep imprint on the heart. The act of the ritual itself can serve to provoke action in a manner that fulfills the intent of the instruction laid out in scripture.

One such tradition for me was that of foot washing. I know of no church that practices the ceremony of foot washing anymore. I don't object to not having a regular, every 6 week foot washing. But I do wish it happened a little more often. Only because of what it meant to me.

I was 11 years old and visiting a Seventh Day Adventist Church with a friend's family the first time I experienced it. All the men were excused to a room on the left side of the church and all the women went through the door on the right. I followed my friend into this little room where the woman were pulling off shoes and stockings. I had no idea what they were doing or why, but followed as invited. Seated barefoot in the little circle of woman and girls from probably 6 or 7 years old to woman in their 70's and 80's, there was a sense that something important was going on and that God was involved here.

The basin and the towel were brought out and the first woman knelt in front of the chair to her left. She gently lifted the woman's foot and washed it, dried it, and placed it with care back on the rug. Then she did the same with other foot. I can remember thinking,"they aren't doing that to me!" But the scripture being read as they moved from one to other gave me a feeling that I could refuse, but to do so was to miss something deeper than my young heart could grasp. And so when my friend's mom knelt down in front of me I allowed her to wash my feet. Then I took the basin and knelt in front of my friend to wash her feet in the same manner. I remember crying and not understanding the emotion at all.

Years later as a youth group leader, I felt the Holy Spirit directing us to do this with the youth. I thought "Lord, I will never get a bunch of giddy teens to take this seriously!" But what so often he speaks softly into my spirit came, "Trust me."

And so we introduced the idea to them on the week before Resurrection Sunday. The reaction was the expected. But by the time we finished there were tears in most of their eyes. The Spirit had touched us in a deep personal way.


There is a humility in allowing someone to touch and care for your feet. Now I am not talking about going to a salon and paying someone to do a pedicure. Having a friend bend over your feet, pour water, rub them, and dry them is an intimate thing that can be more than slightly uncomfortable. Being the one who does the washing is just as humbling. Yet the experience of this takes both the one willing to wash and the one willing to be washed and in that combined humility the perfect humble obedience of the One who offered it first is seen. I think that's why this simple everyday type action, simply washing feet becomes a deeply spiritual experience. It is a picture of our Beloved.

However, to take part in ritual washings was certainly not His point, and to reduce this example of servanthood to a ceremony would miss the truly spiritual part of the picture. John 13 begins with the washing of feet and moves into the prediction of betrayal and then Jesus gives us His "new command". "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."(italics added) First, He gave the example of what loving one another means, servanthood; then he gave the command. That's how the Bible works consistently, give the picture, then the meaning or fullness of that word.

When Jesus took off His robe and wrapped Himself in the towel like the lowest of servants it shocked the disciples. Peter, in true Peter exuberance, states "no, you shall never wash my feet!" For Peter, the thought that the One who raised a man from the dead, walked on water and bid him to join in, who healed the blind and the lame, who the very voice of heaven had spoken over, for this One to wash his feet was an impossible thought. After all, Peter got it. "You are Messiah!" he had proclaimed just days before. Now, Messiah was acting as a slave, a door slave! But Jesus would not be put off, for this moment represented the impact of the command that would follow.

When we "wash" one another's feet, what are we doing? Loving one another. Revealing ourselves to be disciples of the true and living Messiah. In chapter 17 Jesus prays that our unity will be so evident that the world will recognize who He is by our love. But what does all that mean in practical terms? Simple. It means taking care of one another like you take care of family. Serving one another better than you would like for someone to serve you. Doing one step more than anticipated for the other. And doing it without expecting in return. Doing it as if the one you are serving is Jesus, because when others see us truly doing this for one another, they recognize the difference between what the world does and what true Christian love is. . . and they take a deeper look at our Savior. And I don't know about you, but that's what I want my life to be about, others seeing Jesus in me. So wash me Lord and send those whom I may also wash their feet.