Bronze Statuette from the Roman Period

  Bronze statuette from the Roman period of two soldiers carrying a wounded comrade.

Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet (John 13:4–5) has both an ethical and a symbolic sense. The ethical sense is emphasized in John 13:14–15 where Jesus presented Himself as the example of humble, loving service (cp. Luke 22:27). The command to do for one another what Christ had done for them ought not to be confined simply to washing feet. What Jesus did for the disciples was to lay down His life for them (John 15:13). Thus, the ethical imperative calls for giving our lives in extravagant acts of selfless service. Footwashing is one expression of this. Like the Lord’s Supper, the foot washing is an enacted sermon on the death of Christ. This symbolic sense is highlighted in the picture of Jesus’ laying aside His garments and then taking them up (a picture of Christ’s laying down and taking up His life, John 10:17–18), the note that the foot washing is necessary for the disciples to receive their inheritance (“part” 13:8), and the statement that it affects cleansing (13:10). Some interpreters see a connection with baptism (and the Eucharist) as sacraments of cleansing. Instead, the foot washing like baptism and the Supper, bears witness to the same salvific event, the selfless giving of Christ in the humiliating death of the cross.

Washing the feet of other Christians was a qualification for service as a “widow” in the early church (1 Tim. 5:10). Foot washing is here representative of humble acts of service (TEV).

The ceremonial washing of feet was first attested by Augustine in connection with Easter baptism. The association of the rite with Maundy Thursday was fixed by the council of Toledo (694). The developed Catholic practice involves a priest washing the feet of 12 poor men. Martin Luther criticized ecclesiastical authorities who washed feet as an act of humility and then   p 593  demanded greater humility in return. The Anabaptists practiced footwashing as a symbol of washing in the blood of Christ and to impress the example of Christ’s deep humiliation. Footwashing was commonly practiced by Baptists in early America. Today the regular practice is confined to smaller Baptist bodies, Mennonites, and some others.

Chris Church

Church, Chris. “Footwashing.” Ed. Chad Brand et al. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary 2003 : 592–593. Print.