[Eighty-seventh in a series of posts on Bible Stories]
Encore Post:
In Jesus’ time, bathing was an important part of being cultured. The Romans especially prized their public baths, which were as much a part of daily life as going to the gym to work out is today. Especially before a banquet, you would visit the baths. Besides this, in the tradition of the Pharisees, Jewish people would ritually wash themselves and everything they would use to serve food. Especially during Passover, when no leaven could be eaten, they followed these rituals strictly.
The problem was that you couldn’t avoid getting your feet dirty in an age when you wore sandals and walked on dirt roads. In well-to-do homes, a Gentile slave would be provided to wash the guests’ feet. A disciple would do many things for his master, but foot-washing was beneath him. When there was no slave, you would wash your own feet.
That is why Jesus’ action was so shocking. The last one who should wash feet is the Lord. Peter understood this immediately. When Jesus came to wash his feet, Peter objected: “You shall never wash my feet.” He knew that disciples did not sit while their master performed a slave’s task.
Yet Jesus insisted. When Peter protested, Jesus replied, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Suddenly Peter wanted not only his feet washed, but his hands and head as well. Jesus answered that a person who has bathed is already clean and only needs his feet washed. The disciples belonged to Him. Their problem was not that they needed another bath, but that they needed their Lord to serve them.
So Jesus is the one who serves us all, and because he washed feet, we are also called to meet everyone’s needs.
Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: What Does This Mean?
The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack
Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana
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