Symbols of Service - Part 1

It seems that bizarre things happen around the dinner table. Confessions and announcements are made. Fights break out. Insanity ensues. It happens in a lot of movies. What is about the dinner table that causes such bizarre behavior? Apparently we continue the legacy that Jesus began because we see Jesus set the bar high for doing unexpected things at the dinner table. What a strange occurrence. Here, in the middle of this wonderful celebration of Passover, when the Israelites remembered God’s works of salvation, Jesus does something completely unexpected. So what are we to make of this? What is the deal with this whole foot washing episode? Well, I believe that Jesus’ actions in washing the disciples’ feet is a paradigm for how the Kingdom of God works and an example that members of that Kingdom should follow. But before we get there, we first need to figure out just what Jesus was doing.

Foot washing arose from a very specific cultural context. Obviously, we don’t do that anymore. I have never entered anyone’s house to partake in a meal and had my feet washed. My coat was taken. I was offered a drink and a place to sit down. But my feet never entered into the equation unless it was to ask me to take off my shoes to avoid getting the carpet dirty. That is because foot washing is an ancient custom not really practiced anymore.

But in Palestine in Jesus' time, almost all travel was done by walking; there was almost no pavement, and the footwear was sandals. Dirty feet were the inevitable result, but they learned to live with dirty feet just as they learned to live without having a bath or shower every day. So, washing one's feet was not a high priority for common people in the ordinary course of events. But for special occasions, say a Passover meal, one would normally have a complete bath or shower at a fountain before leaving for the house. Since you would be wearing sandals, on the way through the streets your feet would get dirty. On arrival at the meal a good host provided the gracious service of foot washing for guests. It was done by one of the lowest ranking servants because, as we can imagine, was not considered a pleasant task! The servant would bring a basin of water and wash your feet and then the guests reclined with bare feet around the table. Did you catch that? They did not eat as we picture it, sitting in chairs around a table. You would spend hours with someone’s feet right behind your head, so you would not want their feet smelling like dirt or worse. Thus, foot washing brought hygiene, comfort, a touch of class, and a great sense of refreshment to the occasion.

Well, put all that into this story. At the last supper, Jesus had sent the disciples to prepare the upper room. But they didn't remember the need for a servant to wash the feet of the guests. The fact that the meal was already begun and no foot washing had happened indicates that the disciples responsible for setting up the meal had failed to get someone to perform this menial task. John does not comment on why the disciples' feet had not been washed. He simply tells us that Jesus began the process. In that culture Jesus was the last person in the room that should have been washing people's feet. In fact, it seems that the disciples would often wash the Rabbi’s feet. Nonetheless, Jesus took off his outer garment, tied a towel around himself, and took a basin of water to wash each of the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.

In this way, Jesus modeled what he had been preaching. All that talk of loving your neighbor was clearly shown by washing his disciple’s feet. The act of foot washing stood as a symbol for servanthood. More than that, it was an acted parable. Jesus had told a lot of parables that taught the disciples various truths about the kingdom of God. Now, Jesus was acting out those parables, showing vividly what the Kingdom of God was all about—serving one another. This was quite a switch from the common understanding in that culture and in ours quite frankly. Humility was despised in the ancient world as a sign of weakness.

We see in Matthew’s account when the disciples were vying for Jesus’ left and right hand in the kingdom that pride and ego – the opposite of humility – found a home in the disciples’ competitive desire to be the Master’s favorite:
“Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’” Matthew 20:24-28

Within this ego-based climate of selfishness and getting ahead Jesus embarks upon his unexpected and subversive act of humility.