Washing Of The Disciples Feet example essay topic

Christ washed his disciples' feet that he might give a proof of that great love wherewith he loved them. Christ washed his disciple's feet that he might signify to them spiritual washing, and the cleansing of the soul from the pollutions of sin. Christ washed his disciple's feet that he might give an instance of his own wonderful humility, and show how lowly and condescending he was, and let all the world know how low he could stoop in love to his own. Christ washed his disciple's feet to set before us an example. Foot washing was commonplace in Greco-Roman and the first-century Jewish culture and appears as a ritual of daily cleansing, as a religious act, or as a token of hospitality when someone first entered a home. This was a world where the roads were dusty and sandals were worn daily.

In Luke 7: 36-50 Simon the Pharisee's failure to wash Jesus' feet was correctly interpreted as a gesture of hostility. In Timothy 5: 10 washing the feet of the saints may be a metaphor for humble service. "Actions speak louder than words". This expression is not always true, but it is sometimes true.

And in some instances it is the only actions that speak at all. Sometimes a gesture or an object lesson gets the point across faster and better than any number of words. We know these things. So we are not surprised to learn that on His last full night with His disciples just before His crucifixion, when He wanted to teach them many things, Jesus began His teaching, not with words which might have been missed by them, but with the two significant actions.

The first action was the washing of the disciples feet, recorded in John 13: 2-11. The second action, which I will not talk much about, was the giving of the sop to Judas, recorded in John 13: 21-30. In each case the action is followed by important teaching. Many wonder why Jesus did these actions.

The disciples were preoccupied. They disciples were terrified of the Jewish leaders; they suspected that Jesus was about to be arrested, and they were afraid that He would die and that they would die with Him. Or, even if that were not the case, it might be that He would be taken and they be left. Nothing in their present circumstances had prepared them to hear His teaching. So Jesus acted boldly in order to get their attention.

We cannot miss the fact that He sometimes does that with us, particularly when we are persisting in some sin or act of stubbornness and so refuse to listen to Him. Verse 1 of John 13 states that. ".. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love". This is the cornerstone verse to Jesus' love for the disciples in these few verses. Jesus loved his disciples the whole time he was with them but the foot-washing is a symbol of his love in action for them.

"His own" are the objects of His love; "unto the end" is the extent of His love. He loves us unto "the end" of our miserable failures, unto the "end" of our wanderings and backsliding's, unto the "end" of our unworthiness, unto the "end" of our deep need. We should recognize that love itself is unrecognizable. From God's perspective there is nothing in us to make us remotely desirable. He is holy; we are unholy.

He is just; we are unjust. He is loving; we are filled with hatred and all forms of sin. In short, we are sinful and in will full rebellion against Him. Yet he loves us. In fact, this is so great a marvel that God even uses it to commend His love to us. "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us". Jesus knew that one of his disciples had already decided to betray him. Another would deny him by the next morning.

Even this night, they would desert him. In the next hours they would repeatedly display ignorance, laziness, and lack of trust. It was indeed a sorry lot that gathered in the upper room. Even with good reasons to reject the entire group, Jesus deliberately showed to them the full extent of his love. The actions, words, and feeling he shared with the disciples conveyed the highest form of love because his disciples did not deserve nor immediately appreciate this love. Jesus knows us as fully as he knew those disciples.

He knows intimately of every time and every way that we have denied or deserted him. Yet knowing us, he willingly died for us. Jesus continually displays his love toward us and reaches out to us. He continues to serve us the Lord's Supper, and he guides and encourages us by His Spirit. He serves us as we serve one another. Christ's love leads into the next reason why He washed their feet.

Christ does this so that the disciples are purified from their sin. When the disciples were baptized, they were purified completely. That is like us asking Christ to become our personal Savior and asking for the forgiveness of sins for the first time; we are purified. Washing of the feet is like a rededication of the body. The conversation between Peter and Jesus in verses 6-11 are the cornerstone to this reasoning. Peter did not know what Jesus was doing at the time when He washed the rest of the disciple's feet.

Peter thought that this was another baptism. Continuing to exploit the metaphoric possibilities of the event, Jesus explains that, just as a person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet, Peter is clean. That is cleansed, not from physical dirt but from the spiritual pollution of sin, presumably on account of his close association with Jesus and his faith in Jesus; word. Very willingly would Peter have taken the basin and towel, and washed his Master's feet, and been proud of the honor. Jesus expresses the necessity, not only for the cleansing of Peter's feet to make him socially acceptable for the dinner, but also for the cleansing of his personality to make him fit for the kingdom of God. The external washing was intended to be a picture of spiritual cleansing from evil.

Our Lord Jesus does many things the meaning of which even his own disciples do not for the present know, but they shall know afterwards. We must let Christ take his own way, both in ordinances and providences, and we shall find in the issue it was the best way. Peter had gone from one extreme to the other. Though we have occasion to repent daily, God's gifts and callings are without repentance. The heart may be swept and garnished, and yet remain the devil's palace; but if it be washed, it belongs to Christ, and he will not lose it. Christ washed his disciple's feet to show his own humility and to show that he was willing to get on his hands and knees to show the disciples his servant ship.

Christ was a servant toll. Jesus knowing, and now actually considering, and perhaps discoursing of, his honors as Mediator, and telling his friends that the Father had given all things into his hands, and to the surprise of the company, who was wondering what he was going to do, washed his disciples feet. The task of foot washing was so menial that according to some Jewish sources, Jewish slaves were exempt and the job kept for Gentiles. At the very least, all ancient sources show that foot washing was a degrading and lowly task. When done by a wife (for her husband), a child (for his / her parents), or a pupil (for his teacher), it was always an act of extreme devotion.

But since it was an act with social implications, in no way do we find those with a "higher" status washing the feet of those beneath them. When Jesus "takes off his outer clothing" and wraps a towel around himself, he is adopting the posture of a slave. Christ's motivation in washing the disciple's feet is evident. We are told three things about Jesus's tate of mind as He performed this action.

First, He knew that "the Father had given all things into his hands". This speaks of Christ's authority. Second, He knew that "he was come from God". This speaks of his divine origin. Third, He knew that He was even then on the verge of returning "to God". This speaks of his future glory.

We notice that it was not in forgetfulness of who He was and where He was going, then, that Jesus washed the disciples feet, but rather in full consciousness of it. It was not that He forgot He was God and so humbled Himself. It was because He was God and wished to act as God that He did it. Every act of Jesus, described in excruciating detail, would have been like a dagger in the disciple's heart, convicting them of their pride and refusal to lower themselves to the role of the servant. The other Gospel writers record a discussion the disciples had on the way to this meal when they argued about who would have the greatest position in the new kingdom. Jesus' humble service contrasted sharply with their search for high places of prestige in the kingdom and their desire to be considered the "greatest".

Unselfish service to each other and to those not part of the inner circle was to be the one of the distinctive marks of Jesus' true disciples. When we feel temptation to pride or to be competitive comparisons with other believers, the antidote will be a healthy dose of service. Christ humbled himself to wash his disciple's feet. The action itself was mean and servile. And that which servants of the lowest rank were employed. If he had washed their hands and faces, it had been great condescension, but for Christ to stoop to such a piece of drudgery as this may well excite our admiration.

Thus he would teach us to think nothing below is wherein we may be serviceable to God's glory and the good of our brethren. In relation to Jesus, His disciples were his scholars, his servants, and such as should have washed his feet, whose dependence was upon him, and their expectations from him. He did it with all the humble ceremony that could be. He went through all the steps and skipped none. He did it as though he had done it before. He girded himself with the towel, as servants throw a napkin on their arm, or put an apron before them.

He poured water into the basin out of the water-pots that stood by and washed their feet. And to complete the service, wiped them. Many interpreters consider Christ's washing his disciple's feet as a representation of his whole undertaking. He knew that he was equal with God, and all things were his.

Yet he rose from the table in glory, laid aside his robes of light, girded himself with our nature, took upon him the form of a servant, came not to be ministered to, but to minister, poured out his blood, poured out his soul unto death, and thereby prepared a laver to wash us from our sins. The discernment of the disciples developed slowly. It took them a long time to begin to comprehend the intensity of Jesus' love for them and the nature of his humility in dealing with them. His act of sacrifice cannot be repeated, but his model of self-giving love can become a natural feature of the community that follows him and imitates him. Jesus performed this lowly act as an example to all the disciples. He did this to show the humility He had to do His Father's work.

The "example" does not necessarily imply the perpetuation of foot washing as an ordinance in the church. The only other allusion to foot washing in the New Testament occurs in 1 Timothy 5: 10, where it does not refer to a regular custom but seems to allude to charitable ministrations to the poor. John calls this act an "example", which implies that the emphasis is on the inner attitude of humble and voluntary service for others. Some people serve naturally. For Jesus' friend Martha, serving others came easily and graciously. For many, hospitality is their gift.

For others, serving is an ordeal. If they do not feel inept at their efforts, the work exhausts them. Or they become angry when their service goes unappreciated. For these, hospitality becomes an uncomfortable chore. Some find it difficult to accept service from others. Being helped makes them feel inadequate or vulnerable.

They are unable to be gracious when they are not in control. We need to remember that the true point of serving is to obey and imitate Jesus Christ. Likewise, accepting service from others is accepting Christ's service. Christ elevated serving others as the highest pursuit to which we can dedicate our lives. We are sent to be servants. That is, so far as God is concerned, the servant role for us is not optional.

It is our assignment, just as it was also the task of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that in the second half of verse 16 the Lord uses the word "sent" twice. In Greek these are different words: , from which we get the word apostle and, which is the word Jesus uses of His own commissioning by the Father. Both words occur in John's Great Commission, in which Jesus says, "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you" We are called to be servants primarily because it is for this that God has called us, just as He called Jesus. If He has done this, we will not be fully happy in any other role. James Montgomery Boise, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary Volume 4 John 13: 1 17: 26.

(Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1978), 27. Ibid. 28. Romans 5: 6-8, New International Version Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: Vol. V. - Matthew to John.

(McLean, Macdonald Publishing Company, 1662-1714), page 1094. Ibid. 1094. Andreas J. K"osten berger, Encountering John: The Gospel in Historical, Literary, and Theological Perspective.

(Grand Rapids, Baker Academic, 1999), 146. John 20: 21, The New Scofield Reference Bible.