Thoughts on the Gospel of John (125) - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2024

So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.
John 13:12-15

Thoughts on the Gospel of John (125)
Feet-washing was a common gesture in the Orient at that time to welcome visitors. It was often performed by slaves. The fact that Jesus Himself washed the feet of His disciples shows His incomparable humility. This is certainly the reason why, over the centuries, many artists have depicted the feet-washing scene.

But Jesus' action is not to be understood primarily as a lesson in humility, as important as this virtue is in itself. Jesus introduces Himself here as "Lord and Teacher". He thus speaks with authority and commitment, obliging His disciples to wash one another's feet.

Remember that Jesus was about to return to heaven. His own would remain behind in the world. But His ministry of washing feet would continue in a figurative sense: the glorified Lord speaks into our lives through His Word, calling our attention to our sins and transgressions - and not to ours only, but here especially to those of our fellow believers.

He therefore reminds us to our mutual responsibility: whoever sees that one of his fellow believers has become "soiled" through sin - and the person in question does not recognise it - is to restore him in humility with a word from the Bible. It is a ministry of love, because the happiness and joy of the other is at stake: It is about helping him to recover his joy in and with the Lord Jesus.

Today's reading: Numbers 20:1-13 · Matthew 12:46-50