John 13:1-17 - Receive the Lord's Supper in a Worthy Way - April 6, 2023

I doubt whether it would have crossed our minds had we been in Jesus’ position that night. Just consider the situation: John tells us that Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father – he was fully aware than in just hours he would be nailed to a cross to hang until he was dead. Inside that Upper Room, Judas was just minutes from crossing the point of no return, and outside of it, the Jewish leaders were gathering their mob to arrest him. And yet, in this moment, Jesus takes the time to make sure that the formal tradition of foot washing was carried out before the Passover Meal. Would that seem important to you? I suppose it’s kind of like taking pains to sterilize the needle used for the lethal injection of a capital criminal – why worry about contamination or infection when the whole point of the procedure is to end the person’s life? From our perspective, it just doesn’t seem that important that the disciples had clean feet before they ate this final meal with their Lord. But we are not Jesus and Jesus was not just any dinner host. Even though the weight of the world’s sins was already resting on his shoulders, he took care at this meal to give his disciples lasting evidence of his love for them – as well as an example for them to follow. And in this simple act, Jesus teaches us a profound Maundy Thursday truth: he shows us what it means to receive the Lord’s Supper in a worthy way.

Clearly, the task was not pointless ritual. In ancient Israel where sandals were the standard footwear and walking was the primary mode of transportation, dirty feet were unavoidable. Normally, if a servant was not present, the lowest ranking person at the gathering would carry out the necessary foot washing before the evening meal. But this night, there was no servant, and the disciples were too busy arguing about which one of them was the greatest to do this dirty task (Luke 22:24-30); so Jesus stood up from the meal to handle the job himself.

He took off his outer garments, wrapped a towel around his waist, grabbed a pail of water and began to work his way around the room. (Incidentally, the text doesn’t indicate that he came to Peter first. Regardless of the order of the washing, Jesus washed Judas’ – his betrayer’s – feet. How’s that for self-sacrificial, loving service?) But then he came to Peter. Now, Peter had no problem elevating himself above the other disciples – but he still regarded Jesus as his Teacher and Lord. But Peter was confused, and his confusion revealed itself in this curious combination of humility and pride. Humility in the sense that he did not want his Lord to lower himself to washing feet; pride in that he presumed to tell Jesus – his Teacher and Lord – what he should or should not be doing. Jesus cut right through Peter’s confusion to get to the point: if I do not wash you, you have no part with me. It wasn’t really Peter’s filthy feet that were the problem, it was his filthy soul. Covered in sin as he was, he could not eat with, drink with, or even be in the presence of his Lord and Savior. Peter needed to understand that in order for him to have fellowship with the one, true God, the Son of God had to wash the sin from his soul.

Confusion about Jesus’ role in life can be a problem for us too. It happens through false humility, when we think that we couldn’t possibly bother Jesus with our small problems; that the Son of God has no interest in our day to day lives; or that he is incapable or unwilling to help us through any situation in life – even our aching necks, backs or feet. At the same time, pride can get the best of us when we try to dictate when and where and how Jesus ought to work in our lives. How often hasn’t the thought crossed our minds if not our lips: if Jesus really loved me, he would… Or if Jesus is God, why doesn’t he just do this or that… But thoughts like those are a confusion of Jesus’ involvement in our lives. Because just like that foot washing, Jesus’ role in our lives doesn’t depend on what we want him to do or not do, but rather it depends completely on what we need him to do for us. Listen again to Jesus’ words; hear his invitation to you: if I do not wash you, you have no part with me. Because we are natural born sinners and enemies of God, we too need the Son of God to wash us – we too desperately need the forgiveness he offers in his body and blood.

After hearing this rebuke, the first glimmer of understanding had flashed into Peter’s mind – that Jesus was talking about more than just washing the dust from his feet – but, as had happened so often in his life, his impulsiveness led him from one extreme to the other. First, he absolutely refused to allow Jesus to wash his feet; then, he wanted Jesus to give him a bath. Jesus points out the obvious: a person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet. The physical truth is obvious, but it’s the spiritual metaphor that is really important. When the Holy Spirit came into your heart and converted you from unbelief to faith – whether through the water of Baptism or the spoken Word – you were connected to Jesus (Romans 6:1-4). From that moment on, you were justified before God; declared not guilty; completely clean from all sin. But as we go through life, the dirt of sin coats our feet, dirt that needs to be regularly washed off. In other words, living this life is like trying to walk through a freshly plowed field after a heavy rain – there is no way you can do it without getting some mud on your feet, and, if you don’t stop regularly to kick the mud off, you risk becoming bogged down and even stuck – which is what we call impenitence. The point is that we need Jesus to wash our feet regularly and he accomplishes this through our daily repentance, through public confession and Absolution, and through his body and blood in communion. Don’t leave Jesus hanging – waiting with basin in hand to wash away your sins – accept his loving invitation, commit yourself to daily repentance and tonight come to his table in a worthy way: that is, wanting him to wash your sins away.

Having shown his love, Jesus sat down to review this important lesson with his disciples. After Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer garment, he reclined at the table again. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me Teacher and Lord. You are right, because I am. Now if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. Yes, I have given you an example so that you also would do just as I have done for you. With these words, Jesus holds out the central theme he wanted to get across to his disciples at this point on that Maundy Thursday evening: the theme of humble, selfless, loving service. Jesus was not done serving his disciples – in just hours he would complete his ultimate service by dying on the cross for their sins and for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2). Jesus wanted his disciples to understand that, after he had served them by giving his life for theirs, they were to imitate his example by serving one another.

In theological terms, Jesus had shifted from justification to sanctification. When we leave the Lord’s Table, we leave perfectly clean and forgiven through Jesus’ body and blood. As a result, we owe a debt of love to Jesus; a debt we can never repay, but one that will lead us to love and serve one another (Romans 13:8). In the 2000 years since Jesus’ first washed his disciples’ feet in that Upper Room, some have taken Jesus’ example literally and have turned foot washing into a ritual ceremony. In fact, just today, the Pope,  and various Roman Catholic cardinals and bishops and priests washed other people’s feet. [1] Do you think that’s what Jesus had in mind? Maybe a better question is: do you think any of those people really benefitted from having their feet washed? Don’t you think that today with the prevalence of shoes and sidewalks and cars, foot washing is rather unnecessary? When Jesus washed his disciples’ feet he was performing an actual service on actual feet that actually needed washing. When Jesus urges us to follow his example, he’s not creating another ritual or ordinance – and definitely not another sacrament, rather, he was teaching us an attitude of humble service that looks for real people with real needs that we can really help.

Tomorrow, we will commemorate Jesus’ perfect example of this kind of selfless service. As he said: no one has greater love than this: that someone lays down his life for his friends (John 15:13). Of course, Jesus was referring to his laying down his life to take away the sins of his disciples. The question is: how do we follow his example? We can’t take away sins, can we? In fact, yes we can – not by paying for sins, but by employing the Keys he has given us. We pray every time we gather here: forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. If we could just stay here at the Lord’s Table, all clothed in Christ’s purity, at peace with God and each other – we wouldn’t have to pray those words or ask for forgiveness. But that’s not the way life goes. We will leave here. The muck of sin will coat us once again, we will get angry and frustrated, we will say some careless things, we will put our selfish desires before the needs of others. Just as Jesus has washed our sins away, we need to wash and be washed by one another.

This kind of foot-washing will take place most often with the people we most often sin against – our own families and friends. It’s sometimes said in a humorous way that a happy marriage is based on the phrase “Honey, I’m sorry.” But we can never forget that the response is just as – if not more important – “I forgive you.” The best way to imitate Christ, the greatest way to reflect his love to others, especially our own families, is to get down on our knees to fully and freely forgive one another.

We could discuss for hours the other ways in which we can wash each other’s feet, but allow me to quote Martin Luther, who summarized this lesson of love according to our God-given roles in life: The [parents] of a family wash the feet of their children…if they treat them kindly and attentively, and if they bring them up in the fear of God and ready to do his will. Husband and wife wash each other’s feet if they exercise a patient spirit towards each other, avoiding anger and inconsiderate words. Employees wash the feet of their employers if they are honest, diligent, and obedient, and if they receive even reprimands in a spirit of meekness, knowing that in the end they are benefited thereby. [2] In the end, the point is not leaving the Lord’s table tonight merely knowing that you should be washed and then wash others. The point is imitating Christ by putting that love into action. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them, he says. We can have all the love in the world in our hearts for others, but if it’s just an emotion or a sentiment it doesn’t do anyone any good. True love, Christian love as Jesus has defined and demonstrated is always active and he promises that active, loving service will always bring blessing into our lives – in ways we probably never would have imagined.

On the first Maundy Thursday, Jesus loved his disciples to the end by washing their feet as he prepared to suffer and die for them. Tonight, we will receive the blessed benefits of our Lord’s Sacrifice – his own body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. Receive the Lord’s Supper in a worthy way: Come wanting your feet washed and then go eager and willing to wash the feet of others. Amen.

[1] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254010/pope-francis-to-wash-juvenile-prisoners-feet-this-holy-thursday

[2] https://www.godwithuslc.org/luther-sermon-for-maundy-thursday/