The God Who Has Feet
John 1:19-29
December 21, 2025 anno Domini
The strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie. If you want to know John the Baptist’s place compared to Jesus ,he gives you no better picture.
It was the lowest servant’s job to undo his master’s sandals when he came into the house. Picture it. We’re talking sandals, not designer shoes from Schueller, or fancy boots from the Boot Shack, but sandals. In a farm culture. We’re talking smelly feet in stinking sandals. The best day of a rookie servant’s life was when there was a new rookie and he didn’t have to deal with his master’s malodorous feet.
Yet that was too high and lofty a station for John the Baptist.
When did the servant perform this loathsome task? When the master came home. And that is exactly what Jesus is doing when He came into the world, when He came to be baptized by John, and when He comes to you today in His Word and Supper. He would make His home with you.
John has no business at Jesus’ feet, and therefore doesn’t deserve to be in his Master’s house. It reminds you of the Centurian who says, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word and my servant will be healed.” Do you know it is an old custom for Christians to say those words as they come to the Lord’s table in the Lord’s house? “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul will be healed.”
John is not worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals and yet he does more than that. His voice calls people to repentance. His hands baptize sinners. His mouth confesses, and does deny, Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus makes John the greatest man born of a woman, even while he is least in the kingdom of heaven. That mysterious reality is also your reality. You should be comforted and amazed that you are here, in the Lord’s house, hearing His Word, dining at His table, and having conversation with Your heavenly Father through His Son.
You stand here, because Jesus stood there. That’s what John the Baptist points to – He points to Jesus’ feet. In answer to the question about why he is baptizing, John answers, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know.”
The Son of God had feet. The eternal Son of God who is outside of time and who is present everywhere, is now confined to a human body, standing on firm ground, near the Jordan river where John is baptizing. God has feet.
He has feet so He can stand, and not just stand anywhere, but in our midst. The creed says He became man for us men and for our salvation. Jesus did not come just stand in the midst of us, but to be the middle man – the man who stood between us and God.
Remember how those who questioned John asked if he was the prophet? They thought John might be the greater Moses promised in the Old Testament. Moses was a middle man between God and His people. When they were afraid to go up Mount Sinai, Moses went to hear God’s Word and to bring God’s covenant, His testament to the people. When God wanted to blot out Israel for their adultery with false gods, Moses pleaded with the Lord, even offering his own life in their place, if God wished it, to save Israel. Moses was a dim picture of Christ our mediator.
This is why the Son of God, the Christ has feet – so He can stand in the middle, or better so He can hang between heaven and earth. He has feet so they can carry His cross to Golgatha, so they can be pierced by nails, so they can walk out of the tomb, walk down the road to Emmaus and into the upper room. Those feet were muddied with the mess and stench of our sins. But more important they are the beautiful feet that preach the good news, “Your sin is forgiven.” Those feet of God bore your sins, and now they carry the Word of life.
The Son of God has feet. Among you stands one you do not know. With those words John the Baptist gave both his questioners and us a warning. Do you know Jesus as the Christ?
We have to commend the Jews. They were on the ball. Immediately when they heard about John the Baptist they went running after him. They sent the priests and Levites to question him. “Who are you?” They were waiting for the Messiah. They were expecting the Christ. They were anxious for God to appear on the scene and straighten out this mess of a world. But they did not know the Christ when they met him. John the apostle, not the Baptist, put it this way earlier in chapter one, “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own and his own people did not receive him.”
Some of the Jews wanted a warrior Messiah who would set them free from Roman oppression. Others, especially the Pharisees, wanted the Messiah to recognize them for their righteousness and piety and reward them with glory. What sort of a Savior do you want? Where have your feet been running in search of good news? Do you look for the goodness of God in your work? In your leisure? In the success of your political ideas? In your feelings? If I asked, “What’s the best thing that God did for you this week? Would the answer be, “His feet carried my sins to the cross, and with his beautiful feet my pastor stood and proclaimed the good news that I’m forgiven.” John’s the Baptist’s indictment of the Jews is also God’s indictment of you. Among you stands one you do not know.
There’s one more “foot” word in the sermon this morning. It’s part of John’s answer to who he is. After denying he was the Christ, and Elijah, and the greater-than-Moses prophet, his inquisitors say, “We need an answer. We have to have something to bring back to those who sent us.” John says, “I’m am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’ That word “make straight” is a another foot word. It’s a compound word – it puts two Greek words together – the word “good” and the word for “dash” or “rush.” In the Bruce Timm Stearns Country translation of the Bible I might say, “Make a bee-line for the way of the Lord.” Or “Get your feet on the Lord’s way, now.”
What does that mean? It means if you want to know Jesus you need to use your feet. You need to direct your feet to His house. This is where He is now in your midst, in His Word, in His Water, in His Supper. This is where His voice is heard. You need to keep your feet from being soiled by sin and when you do step in it – repent, return to the Lord, receive forgiveness, and walk in holiness. You need to put your feet up and rest – stop running after every false Christ that comes along, whether it be our next president or latest technology or designer drug. Run after the God who has feet, who stands in your midst, who is the Christ and your Savior. In the name of Jesus. Amen.