Jesus Waited and Washed
John 13:1-15
April 18, 2019 anno Domini – Redeemer
Jesus waited. Peter and John finally showed up. The meal was ready. John Mark began the customary conversation that had been passed down for 1400 years. He asked Jesus, “Rabbi, what do you mean by this service?” Jesus began, “It is the Lord’s Passover” and then He told the story of God saving His people from Pharaoh. The conversation concluded and Jesus waited. The food was passed around. His disciples were eating and drinking. He waited. Finally He could wait no longer. He got up from his couch, took off His outer robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, poured water in the basin, and began to wash His disciples’ feet.
John was embarrassed. Thomas couldn’t believe it. Peter was Peter. “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.”
We don’t do foot washings on Maundy Thursday. It isn’t commanded in the Old or New Testament. It was simply a practical matter. Harddrives didn’t have a plant in Jerusalem in 30 AD. They didn’t have paved roads, cement sidewalks, and 38 pairs of shoes in their closets. They wore sandals and walked on sand, dirt, and rocks. Today when you enter someone’s home as a guest you might take off your shoes at the door. Back then the host of the meal provided a basin of water, a towel and a servant. You sat or reclined while a servant untied your sandals, washed your feet and dried them. I’m sure our feet haven’t gotten any prettier over time so that servant washed bunions and toe nail fungus and whatever people stepped in on their way to the party. It was the worst and most humbling household duty a servant undertook.
Jesus waited. The owner of the meal had provided the room, but the disciples had made it clear this meal was private – just Jesus and His men. So the owner provided the water, the basin, and the towel, but no servant.
Jesus waited, but no one served. Were His men selfish? Did they think themselves above the task? Did they just not give it a thought? Did they treat the foot washing like we treat our prayers? If no one says anything we just eat without doing it. Yes to all of that.
Jesus could not wait any longer. Not because foot washing was necessary, but because His disciples always needed teaching. We always need teaching. And whenever Jesus teaches He teaches Himself to His disciples
Jesus said to Peter, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” When Peter realized that Jesus His Master had taken the place of the lowest servant he said, “You shall never wash my feet.” To that Jesus replied, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”
The Son of God left His lofty throne on high to serve you because you cannot serve yourself. Oh you try. Just like Peter. Lord, I can handle this. I don’t need any help. Well, maybe just a little, but only when I ask and only what I want. What’s our problem? The same problem as in the room that evening. You’re selfish. You don’t think of others. Sometimes you forget. You can visit with someone for twenty minutes and then realize afterward that all you did was talk about yourself and you never asked about them. You won’t even do the simplest act of kindness unless your wife or your mother or your children tell you.
This is why Jesus waited. He waited to teach His disciples, to teach us. The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45) Peter didn’t understand what Jesus was doing, but he would understand three days later when Jesus stood alive before him with the peace of forgiveness. He would understand that Jesus is the true Passover Lamb. God served up His Son as the atoning sacrifice. Jesus’ blood is shed instead of your’s. His body suffers the judgment of God and the punishment of hell so your body is spared and raised from your grave. Like the Passover of old, the sacrificed Lamb is to be eaten by the people. Because of God’s Lamb, Jesus of Nazareth, death would pass over all who received and ate the Lamb in faith.
Jesus hosts the meal. Jesus serves the meal. Jesus is the meal. “Take, eat, this is my body” – the body of God, the same body that was in the womb of Mary, the same body that hung on the cross, and the same body that rose again on the third day. “Take and drink, this is my blood.” Yes, the blood of God, the blood that poured from the wounds, the blood that gushed from His side, the living blood of Him who sits on the heavenly throne. Jesus does it all for His men and for us. That is why He says to Peter, “If I don’t wash you, you have no share with me.”
I once read a communion announcement that said, “We may bring no contradiction to the Lord’s Table.” The announcement went on to explain that if you plan to continue in your sin or hold to your own beliefs contrary to God’s Word or deny that it is Christ’s true and real body and blood you ought not come to the Lord’s Supper. If you don’t belong to a church where Christ’s Words have free course you ought not come. It will be dangerous for you as Paul warns us in 1 Corinthians.
Faith is letting Jesus’ Word have its way with you. That doesn’t mean you’re not going to sin, but it does mean you’ll fight against your sin and hate it when you fail to live as God’s child. Faith means you will keep God Word even when the whole world says it’s silliness to believe God created the world in six days or He that made humans in only two genders – male and female. Faith holds that human life is sacred from conception to natural death and that marriage is only between a man and a woman. Faith holds the only men should be pastors and husbands ought to love their wives to death and wives ought to obey their husbands, even as the world mocks all of that as foolishness. Faith holds that in His Supper Christ’s body and blood are truly present under the bread and wine. That’s what Jesus means when He says, “If I don’t wash you, you have no share with me.” It’s either all Jesus or no Jesus. You cannot just have the part you like.
Jesus washed His disciples’ feet and gave them His Supper. They needed His forgiveness. They needed His body and blood for their life and salvation. But there is something else about their feet that is important. Jesus needed their feet to bring His gifts from the cross to the world. “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Jesus gave these men to the church to stoop down and serve, to wash, and preach, and feed people with Jesus. He gave the Church His men, Pastors, so that you could be served, fed, forgiven and loved in the name of Jesus. Amen.