A Towel and a Bowl

March 29 A Towel and a Bowl John 13:1-11

“(Peter’s) modesty would be laudable, were not obedience of greater value in God’s sight than any kind of service or honoring; or rather, if it were not the true and only rule of humility to submit in obedience to God and have all our senses devoted to His good pleasure, so that everything He declares to be agreeable to Him shall also be approved by us, without any argument. We should therefore, above all, keep this rule of serving God aright that we may be always ready to agree without delay, whenever and whatever He commands.” John Calvin “Commentary on John” Vol. 5:56-57

The hour had come. Jesus knew that, before long, He would be separated from the disciples, so He took the opportunity to reinforce the lessons they had learned. But, just as they did not fully grasp the necessity of His death, so they failed to understand the pre-eminence of love. Some of the disciples, it seemed, had been arguing about who among them was the greatest. Jesus demonstrated that, in terms of the Kingdom of God, the greatest is the One who serves.

They had gathered, in an upper room, to celebrate the Passover meal together. Perhaps the gathering was private, and there were no servants present, or perhaps the excitement of the coming storm caused them to forget social convention. Either way, no one had performed the foot-washing that would have been expected. Their feet were dirty and dusty. A servant should have been on hand with a bowl of water and a towel; but for whatever reason the courtesy was not done. So Jesus did it.

He took the bowl, and a towel, and proceeded to wash the disciples’ feet. As He washed and dried, Jesus recounted the values of the Kingdom and exhorted them to humility and love. There is no place for one-upmanship in the Kingdom of God. There is neither a hierarchy nor a meritocracy. We are all sinners saved by grace alone. Only Jesus escapes from the condemnation caused by sin. He alone, among those gathered in the upper room, truly deserved to be served. So, for the highest and best to take the lowest place was an object lesson they would not forget.

It seems that the disciples were stunned into silence. One can only imagine the turmoil that consumed them, especially Judas, who had already made arrangements for betraying his Lord. Did he justify his betrayal by blaming Jesus? No self-respecting Messiah would ever stoop to wash His disciples’ feet. The same concern may have moved impetuous Peter to cry out, not to blame Jesus but to protest His actions. It was not right, thought Peter, that the Christ, the Son of the living God, should wash his feet.

Jesus’ answer to Peter teaches us an important distinction. Peter must have his feet washed, but the rest of him is fine, for he is already clean. If we are to be made clean, spiritually, we must experience both forensic cleansing and familial washing. We are cleansed, forensically, when we undergo the full bath of salvation, when we accept the sacrifice of Christ for our sins. By this action our sins, past, present, and future, are atoned for. They are wiped out and forgiven. But we also need the familial washing of regular acts of confession. When we come to God, either in worship or alone, seeking forgiveness, we do not do so as those who need to have our feet washed. We are clean, if we have repented and turned to Christ in faith. We don’t need the same level of cleansing ever again. But we can become sullied by our association with the world, so we need to confess our sins to God, and seek and receive our Father’s forgiveness. This time, we come not as enemies, but as friends.

For further reading: Psalm 119: 105-128