Maundy Thursday Part 1

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?" Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand." Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you." For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, "Not all of you are clean." When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, 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 also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. - John 13.1-17

Jesus Christ, the Holy God-man, came down to earth in a humble means, rode into Jerusalem in humble means, and now takes the place as a common servant washing the disciples feet. In Jesus' rich words we are given a comfort, and a service. We are comforted with the fact that we know that as children of God, we are bathed by Christ completely and sufficiently to stand before God, cleansed by His precious blood, and all of our filth has been washed away. For Christ to say "if I do not wash you, you have no share with me" is totally humbling. There is no cleaning up our mess for Christ. Anytime we have a meeting with someone we respect, our inclination is to clean up and have a proper appearance. This is not the case with God. It is God who will condemn our filthiness, and it is God who will clean our filthiness. This is a beautiful truth. And then as we read on that "The one who has bathed does not need to wash...but is completely clean." Oh thank you Jesus for your absolute forgiveness, we are completely cleaned and no spot or blemish remains! You have done the work, and we have such an undeserved gift! Now there's the point of the washing of the feet. Even though our sins are forgiven and we have the righteousness of Christ to stand before God with confidence and enter to His presence, Christ said that everything is clean "except for his feet" and He continued to wash the disciples feet. Then He went on to say that "you also ought to wash one another's feet." While the historical, literal context might have been that their feet were constantly dirty, and they had to ceremonially be cleaned before they ate, the text begs something more. We understand the illusion of Christ cleaning us to be justification and the imputation of righteousness, so we should understand Christ's actions and words on the nature of washing feet to be symbolic of something more, namely the act of sanctification and the disciplines of growing in grace and aligning our actions more closely to those of Christ. This is why we must wash our feet, and this is, as Christ washed ours, what we ought to help our brothers and sisters in Christ to do! Just as no servant is greater than his master, Christ hes been victorious in removing the sting from our sin, forgiving us, and so we must in turn help each other to walk in holiness and wash away the dirt from our feet (fight against remaining sinful urges). As Christ served us, so we ought to serve each other, which in turn is an act of service to Him as our Lord. This is a profound truth.