Week 3: Death

Gospel Formed Footwashing pt. 2

To understand the practice of foot-washing, it’s important to understand the social context of the time. There are three main points to wrap your head around. First, it was standard practice before evening meals throughout the Greco-Roman world to either wash your feet or have your feet washed. This activity depicted the social status of all participants for the meal. In most household settings, the wife, children, or slaves would wash the feet of a husband returning from his daily activities. For a hosted party, a slave would be provided by the host to wash the guest’s feet. If the host could not provide a slave, they would at least provide a basin and towel for the guests to wash their own feet.

Second, they washed their feet for a reason. The primary mode of transportation was walking the town streets to and from work. In his excellent commentary on John, Craig Keener describes the quality of the roads, “Many ancient Eastern streets must have been ‘unpaved, narrow, badly crowded,’ and some ‘would have been choked with refuse and frequented’ by dogs and other sources of excrement.” Though respectable Jerusalem would have had better latrine services, the basic nature of the road systems would have caused feet, hands, and faces to become increasingly dirty.

Third, the most significant social context is the play of honor and shame that lies behind nearly every ancient activity. Honor and shame were the primary currency of the ancient world, substantially more important than money. It was customary for disciples of a teacher to be constantly vying for the place of honor beside the teacher. It was dishonorable to lower yourself by washing someone else’s feet. As John Christopher Thomas writes, “those who received foot washing from another were social superiors of those who performed the task.”

This is the social setting for today's reading, which is a continuation of yesterday’s reading. Whereas yesterday focused on Jesus washing his disciple's feet, today focuses on his calling for us to do the same. To be Gospel formed is to take on our death in routine practice.

Who do you choose to serve? Your spouse, child, or friend?

Does your closeness with a person determine the extent to which you will serve them?

For most of us, it probably does. When Jesus goes to wash the feet of the disciples, he washes the feet of someone who will betray him to his death (Judas) and someone who will deny knowing him while he is dying (Peter). Though Jesus knew what both people would do, he still lowered himself to the point of a slave and washed the dust, dirt, and dog feces off their feet. Then, he calls his disciples to do the same. In 13:14, Jesus says, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.”

Jesus demonstrates and then teaches that being his authentic disciple means giving over your pride and ego to serve someone else. This activity is not based upon your closeness to that person but on God’s closeness with you. Jesus performs this shameful activity because he “knew that the Father had put all things under his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God” (13:2).

In the same way, we know that we are children of God, heirs of his kingdom, having come from God and awaiting our return to God. Thus, we can die to ourselves in service to anyone… right?