God the Creator knelt down and washed sinful man’s
feet
Koot van Wyk (DLitt et Phil; Thd)
Visiting Professor, Department of Liberal Education, Kyungpook National
University, Sangju Campus, South Korea, Conjoint lecturer of Avondale College,
Australia
But
before the festival of the Passover (see the δὲ contrastive in the phrase Πρὸ δὲ
τῆς ἑορτῆς τοῦ πάσχα) Jesus knew (εἰδὼς) that His hour (ἡ ὥρα) has come. The
eternal God and Creator of the World and Human Race had an hour. That hour
came. A number of things happened that hour. Jesus knew about it. John is going
to tell us about it. He will return (μεταβῇ) out of this world to the Father, Who
godly-loved (ἀγαπήσας) the own in the world, unto the end (εἰς τέλος) He
godly-loved them. What end? The End of Time, the end of His program of
salvation which is His great business and involvement with this earth. Well why
does God not come into the open today that we can see Him? He appeared
sporadically in the Old Testament times to writers who could tell of His
program and plans. He cannot reveal Himself in this world for the evil is not
yet destroyed and Satan roams on this earth. We have to participate in a drama
for the unfallen angels of heaven to see. That is why. If people believe by “awe
and overpowerment of mind (due to His great glory) then it is not considered by
the opposition (Satan and angels) fair. He will keep godly love people until
the end which is the Second Coming of Christ. Satan at that hour of knowledge
of Christ has already given over unto the heart of Judas Iscariot, one of the
notorious disciples, to hand Him over (ἵνα παραδοῖ αὐτὸν). He also knew about
victory, namely that the Father in heaven has given all things to Him (εἰδὼς ὅτι
πάντα ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ πατὴρ). When Christ takes it from the hand of the Father
then it does not mean that He did not have it before 31 CE. He had it from
Creation time and basically all the time, but when He became flesh and human,
Someone had to hold it. That was the Father. That is now in this hour given
back to Him. He had to die as God. Heaven risked itself by handing all to the
frail Christ shortly before the festival of the Passover started. He knew very
well that He came from the Father and that He is going back there (13:3 καὶ ὅτι
ἀπὸ θεοῦ ἐξῆλθεν καὶ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ὑπάγει). They were busy eating but not the
Passover meal since the event happen before the Passover festival (13:1 Πρὸ).
This was just an evening meal that everyone eats every night. The evening meal
was in progress (13:2 καὶ δείπνου γινομένου). When He finished His meal,
He got up from the sitting position, with no chairs of course, and took off His
over-clothing (13:4). He took a towel and wrapped Himself (λαβὼν λέντιον
διέζωσεν ἑαυτόν). The actions are not complete since “after that or εἶτα” He
threw water into a basin (νιπτῆρα) and started to wash the feet of the
disciples (καὶ ἤρξατο νίπτειν τοὺς πόδας τῶν μαθητῶν). This is a very unusual
action. There is not a king in the history of mankind that will do this. Here
is the Creator God of the Universe kneeling down to wash sinful human’s feet. It
is the ultimate of self-sacrifice. He just received from the Hand of His
Father, Who has taken over as Trust from Him His rulership at Incarnation or
becoming flesh, and now received it back, not only as God, that He did not give
up, but as full ruler. Heaven risked itself giving Christ everything in the
face of the suffering, persecution, trial and punishment that awaited Him from
this moment on. This is the Jesus that knelt at the feet of sinful selfish
disciples to wash their feet. It is an awesome drama. In verse 6 the drama took
on a twist of flow of events. Everything went smoothly, until. . . . Yes,
Peter. Can you remember washing your children when they were small? Girls may
be different but when mother washes the boys they always cry and protested.
They do not want to be washed. Well, here Peter is protesting. He said with a
double pronoun (one independent and one built into the end of the Greek verb as
it is usually) for emphasis: Lord, are YÓÚ going to wash my feet? (Κύριε, σύ μου
νίπτεις τοὺς πόδας;). Jesus answer to Peter is equally strong with a double
pronoun for Peter and a double pronoun for Himself: “What Í do yóú will not now
understand, but you will know afterwards”. (Ὃ ἐγὼ ποιῶ σὺ οὐκ οἶδας ἄρτι, γνώσῃ
δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα). Christ evaluated Peter in such a way that He could see the
future of Himself but also that of Peter. What good news. That even if he did
not understand at the moment, the security is provided that he will understand
later. Should one wash only the feet of the one who knows? No. The feet of
anyone who wants to wash feet is welcome in the ceremony of washing, Jesus
proclaims here. Even if the person is unacquainted fully as to what is at
stake. It is an open invitation from Christ. But, Peter’s faith is little and
shallow, or not at all even. So he was not convinced still by Jesus insistence
to wash his feet. It only reveals Peter’s inability to understand Jesus fully.
Peter still thinks that the Lord cannot wash his feet. It is unthinkable for
him that his teacher washes his feet. Peter defiantly said that Jesus is not
going to wash his feet even unto eternity. Never never never. That is Peter’s
reply. Peter is obstinate. (John 13:8 Οὐ μὴ νίψῃς μου τοὺς πόδας εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.).
But it cannot be because as we will learn later, Jesus had in mind to continue
this practice in heaven as well especially “unto eternity.” So Peter’s
objection is unwarranted and out of place. In the plan of God this modesty (as
Peter wants to see it) has no room. Then Jesus informed Peter about the
severity of rejection of this ceremony. Up to this point the washing of his
feet was the same as his mother bathing him. But there is a turning-point here
in the drama by Jesus next words that changed the whole event from an ordinary
event to a deeper symbolic one with lasting effects and essential for humans to
fully understand. Jesus said to Peter that if He cannot wash His feet then
Peter cannot have a part in His salvation (John 13:9 Ἐὰν μὴ νίψω σε, οὐκ ἔχεις μέρος
μετ’ ἐμοῦ). Peter was shocked. This is the last thing he wants. He left his
fishing trade to follow Christ and he was heavenbound. To hear that he cannot
enter heaven to live eternal with Christ if He does not wash His feet is something
that Peter could not accept. Peter made a 180 degrees turn: if that is the case
then to be double, no triply sure that he is saved, Jesus should wash his feet,
his hands and his head. Wash it like my mother use to. Peter does not mind.(John
13:9 Κύριε, μὴ τοὺς πόδας μου μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τὴν κεφαλήν). The
human being is full of drama and heaven watching this occasion smiled with
gratitude and pleasure at Peter’s answers. Honesty shined forth from Peter’s
simple heart and probably the whole of heaven loved him for that. We will only
know in future how many heavenly CNN’s were on this event watching the real-TV
in unfallen worlds out there in the universe. It is the same with us and if we
do not know it, perhaps it is time to know it. Jesus now answered one of the
most difficult answers for Greek scholars to explain. The famous Greek scholar
J.A.T. Robinson said at this verse John 13:10: that if only the “feet” part was
left out of the sentence, it would have made more sense but still not
completely. Robinson was not a Seventh-day Adventist and so were many scholars
like him and thus their inability to understand the situation fully. Scholars
tried to allocate the words to the Lord’s Supper or Eucharist as they call it
but both J.A.T. Robinson and R. Bultmann (the liberal scholar) guessed that it
may refer to the Christian baptism. Adventists do not guess, they know: it
refers to the baptism by immersion. Jesus said: The one who is washed have no
need but to wash his feet since he is wholly (John 13:10 ἀλλ’ ἔστιν καθαρὸς ὅλος)
clean. Why is the person totally clean? Because he/she was baptized and came
out of the waters with a clean heart and clean mind and severed past behavior.
Wholly clean. Totally clean. But the feet need to be washed! What a paradox!
Clean but should be washed. No dirt is on the feet, it is not unclean, but it
needs to be washed by Jesus. Suddenly, the whole event takes on a meaning
beyond a simple footwashing that was the custom in those days. Jesus did not do
them just a favor. The drama takes on a level of importance that supersedes the
ordinary and spiritual dimensions enter the picture. If clean feet needs to be
washed, since the person is totally clean by immersion baptism, then
churchgoers need to be at the edge of their seats here. What is going on here,
they should inquire. If baptism is just by sprinkling, one already sits with
the problem that five drops on the hair cannot be called “washing” and cannot
be called “totally clean”. It has to be an immersion baptism to qualify. “You
are clean but not all”. Of course all were baptized by immersion so they are
all clean but one of the persons chose to be weed and not the seed of God. He rejected
in his heart the Spirit’s promptings. That is the one not clean. Even if the
person is baptized but continues in sin, the person is not clean. The disciples
were not perfect yet but their persistent push to “grab His garment” like the
woman did in the crowd” qualified them for salvation and be called clean. One
was not, for he behind the scenes took money from the purse, organized militia
activities and was sold out to politics. He was not clean. Jesus knew in future
who the one is that will give him over to the authorities in the garden of
Gethsemane (John 13:11 ᾔδει γὰρ τὸν παραδιδόντα αὐτόν). After Jesus finished
the actions of washing their feet and drying it with the towel He took his “overcoat”
(τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ) and sat down (ἀνέπεσεν) again with them. He looked at them
since all were silent and said: “Do you know what I did to you?” (John 13:12 Γινώσκετε
τί πεποίηκα ὑμῖν;). Jesus is asking a penetrating question. He wants to know if
they can see through the mere washing event a deeper sense that is of vital
importance for salvation and eternal life. The God Creator and Yahweh of the
Old Testament bent down and washed sinful man’s feet. A greater act of
self-emptying there cannot be. Heaven gave everything to humanity to save
humanity from sin and the Devil’s demeanors. Jesus decides to fill them in what
is at stake here: “You call me teacher and Lord.” They call him Rabbi and
Yahweh. (John 13:13 ὑμεῖς φωνεῖτέ με Ὁ διδάσκαλος καὶ Ὁ κύριος, καὶ καλῶς λέγετε,
εἰμὶ γάρ). Jesus answered that to call Him Rabbi or Yahweh is good (καὶ καλῶς λέγετε
= and you say good). Then follows an
astounding admission by Christ that He is Yahweh: “because I am” (John 13:13 εἰμὶ
γάρ). I am what I am He said to Moses. People went to John the Baptist to ask
him “Are you Him?” He answered “I am not, the Christ” (John 1:20). But here
Christ said “I am”. He is the Great I AM of the Old Testament. Judaism missed
this great fulfillment of the promises in the Old Testament and still do. They
denied the Trinity passages of the Old Testament and still do. God is one but
with three functions independent of each other. Complex to properly understand
but the texts of the Old and New Testament unveiled it, we have to believe it
and accept it. Jesus then drive the nail deeper into the understanding: If I am
Rabbi and Yahweh of the Old Testament, and I have washed your feet, you need to
do the same to one another (καὶ ὑμεῖς ὀφείλετε ἀλλήλων νίπτειν τοὺς πόδας).
This is not a command to freely suggest to a friend or visitor or older person “come,
there is a tap outside, I will wash your feet for you”, or “you are old and
cannot bend properly, let me wash your feet”. This is not local footwashing that
Jesus upholds here. What Jesus did was not local custom even though it was
local custom. What Jesus did is a symbolic action of God giving His life for
mankind by becoming nothing from being everything. The Creator bend down from
heaven a great distance and humanity need only a small bending of less than
half a meter! True humility cannot be given a great example. Said Jesus: “I
have given you an example that you should also follow” (John 13:15 ὑπόδειγμα γὰρ
ἔδωκα ὑμῖν ἵνα καθὼς ἐγὼ ἐποίησα ὑμῖν καὶ ὑμεῖς ποιῆτε). “I have shown you an
example (ὑπόδειγμα) that what I did to you, also you may do” (καὶ ὑμεῖς ποιῆτε).
Are we? Are we doing what He did? Are we following His example? People say, it
is only Christ Who did it to His disciples. We do not need to do it today. Some,
even in Biblical Commentaries of their churches say that it was only a local
custom. Jesus said to His disciples: “Verily I say unto you that a slave is not
greater than his master nor an apostle greater than the one who sent him” (John
13:16 . ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν,
οὐκ ἔστιν δοῦλος μείζων τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ ἀπόστολος μείζων τοῦ πέμψαντος αὐτόν).
The dynamic of this event is tied to the Lord Supper context only. It is not a
general activity to be carried out in a bathroom between spouses, although such
actions are not unwelcomed. Now comes the part that if the reader has come thus
far in the reading of this blog, the point is made by Christ: “If you know
these things, blessed are you if you do it (αὐτά)”. Do what? Participate in the
Footwashing part that is connected to the Lord’s Supper. It is singular and
refers back to the context of the event just carried out by Christ here (John
13:17 εἰ ταῦτα οἴδατε, μακάριοί ἐστε ἐὰν ποιῆτε αὐτά). If your church does not
practice Footwashing before the Lord Supper and after you explained it to them
refuse to, you need to find another church denomination. If you were baptized by
sprinkling as is common by Catholics and some Protestant churches, you need to
go and search for the church denomination that has this full package following
Jesus’ words exactly.
Dear God Also our hands
and head needs to be washed by immersion if we are not baptized properly and
also we want to participate in the Footwashing ceremony that precedes the Lord’s
Supper in our churches. Save us and bless us also when we do it. Amen.