WASHING ONE ANOTHER'S FEET


There is a mild remedy that must be resorted to for the correction of faults.

--George MacDonald

The setting

"It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal (John 13:1-4).

You would expect a sign, wonder or another discourse on this occasion. Rather, Jesus "took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him" (13:5).

Foot­p;washing was an essential act of hospitality in those days. Normally, slaves performed the unwelcome task, but there were no slaves in the apostolic band and no one volunteered for the job. So our Lord took it on himself: Girding himself as a servant, he stooped and washed his disciples' feet, one by one.

We never think much about the humility of God. Theologians remark on his other attributes, but rarely on that virtue. Imagine: the Incarnate God of the universe, garbed as a servant, girded with a towel, crawling around on his hands and knees, washing his disciples' rank and filthy feet, moving steadily downward in submission and service to those in need---even to Judas who was about to betray him. What incredible modesty!

Perhaps he began with Judas' feet, the disciple reclining to his left, then Simon Peter's feet. Peter was nonplussed: "You'll never wash my feet!" he exclaimed, thinking that to do so was surely beneath a person's dignity. How humiliating!
"Unless I wash you," Jesus replied, "You have no part with me." "Then, Lord," Simon Peter sputtered, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!" Jesus answered, "A person who has a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is completely clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you. For (as John explained in historical retrospect), he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean" (13:10,11)

The meaning
When Jesus had finished his task, he robed himself again and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I've done for you?" he asked. "You call me 'teacher' and 'Lord' and rightly so, for that's what I am! Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash one another's feet. I have given you an example to do as I have done for you" (13:12­p;14).

Jesus' asks: "Do you understand what I've done to you?" What is there to understand?

Certainly, Jesus' behavior on this occasion is an example of humility and servitude. Peter picks up the significance of Jesus' modest act, and in particular his girded towel, when he instructed his readers to be "clothed (girded) with humility, because, as he warned, 'God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble'" (1 Peter 5:5). Once more we learn that leadership is a matter of being led downward to submission, humility and service to others.

Furthermore, Jesus' action was, in some way, a parable of the mission he undertook: "(He) being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped," but rising from his place at the right hand of the Father and disrobing himself, as it were, he "made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death---even death on a cross!" (Phil. 2:6-8). And what a man he was---man enough to take up the garb and the job of a slave, and humiliate himself to death.

But there's more: Jesus' intended his actions to be symbolic of the nature of our salvation and the means by which we are sanctified. As he explained, to take a "bath" signified being "completely clean"---declared righteous. Peter didn't need a bath---he had been justified by faith in Christ. But he did need to be washed from the daily accumulation of sinful attitudes and actions that arise from walking in the world. That regular cleansing was necessary for communion with Christ, for, as Jesus explained, "Unless I wash your feet you have no part (intimacy) with me" (13:8).

Jesus' meaning is clear: Sin impairs our fellowship with him. If we want to walk with him we have to do something about the condition of our "feet" (Cf. 1 John 1:5-10).

Furthermore, as Jesus went on to say, "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash one another's feet. I have given you an example to do as I have done for you" (13:12­p;14). What did he mean? What are we to "understand?"

The mild remedy

This undertaking---washing one another's feet---is what George MacDonald called "the mild remedy that must be resorted to for the correction of faults."

Foot washing suggests remedial action---helping others to see their contamination and deal with it. Sin is elusive; we all have our fudge factors and loopholes. If we love one another we'll bring sin into the light rather than stand by while it works its subtle mischief on us. It's painful to confront others and painful to be confronted, but it's the loving thing to do. Proverbs says that a faithful friend will wound if he must (Prov. 27:6). A true friend, as Ambrose Bierce observed, is one who stabs you in the front!

The issue is accountability: I am my brother's keeper and he is mine. We are responsible for others---to help them deal with sin, to watch over them, to instruct them, to counsel them, to admonish and correct them, to be engaged with them in their struggle against sin, to help them see their defilement and deal with it. As Chuck Swindoll once put it, we must care more for other's character than we do for their comfort.

Paul puts it this way: "Brothers, if someone is trapped in a sin, you who are spiritual (i.e. relying on the Spirit of Christ) should restore him gently Carry one another's burdens (of sin) and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ" (Gal. 6:1).

The law of Christ is the law of love: "This is my commandment that you love one another just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:12,13). Love insists that we lay ourselves and our friendship on the line to help a brother or sister entangled in sin. Gentle rebuke is love's duty.

Charles Finney remarked, "If you see your neighbor sin and you pass by and neglect to reprove him, it is just as cruel as if you should see his house on fire and pass by and not warn him." (In his sermon: "Reproof, a Christian Duty").

We can only judge sin---violations of clear and precise commands of scripture. We cannot judge in matters of conscience about which the Bible is silent, and certainly not in matters of traditions and human opinions that are not informed by the word (Cf. Mark 7:1-23).

Furthermore, scripture makes it clear that this action is only to be taken against one who considers himself a Christian. Jesus was the friend of tax gatherers and sinners. We too are called to befriend and love those on the outside. It's not our business to judge "the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters." God judges those who are outside. Our task to confront "anyone who calls himself a brother who is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler" (1 Cor. 5:9-12).

We're not to judge sin that a brother or sister is struggling to overcome. All of us have sins we hate, but have not vanquished. Rather, we're to judge "the sin (one) dwells in, those pervading his thoughts and ruling his conduct. His present live sins. The sins he keeps doing and will not give up. Those he is called to abandon but cleaves to" (George MacDonald).

We should never question another's motives. We do not know why people do what they do. We cannot speak to motives, only behavior. Only God knows the latent forces behind the patent facts. When our Lord comes, "he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and expose the motive's of men's hearts" (4:5). It is premature and presumptuous of us to judge another's heart before that time.

When we reprove another we should never bring in a crowd to verify ourselves. ("Several people agree with me.") That only creates suspicion and fear. If others are talking about this brother they are gossiping and gossip is serious sin. We must speak only about we have seen and heard. Einstein said when Hitler charged a hundred scientists to disprove the theory of relativity. "It's unnecessary. If I am wrong it only takes one to prove it."

We should only go if we are directed to go by God. We are not called to be "sin busters," as my wife Carolyn says. John Woolman warns us against precipitous action: "Only Christ knoweth," he said, "when the fruit bearing branches themselves have need of pruning."

And finally, as Paul insists we must administer such correction "in a spirit of gentleness," aware of our own proclivity for sin (Gal. 6:1). Correction is much easier to take if offered in humility and love. We should be as concerned with kindness as we are with honesty. It is impossible to be too honest, but it is possible to be honest without being kind.

The extreme severity

But, as MacDonald went on to say, there are times when we must "have recourse to extreme severity." Jesus spells it out for us in four steps: "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would an unbeliever or a tax collector" (Matt. 18:15-17).

Private Correction: Jesus begins as he did in the Upper Room with the mild remedy. We should first go privately to one who is sinning, show him his fault and summon him to repentance. If our friend repents of his sin we have "won (him) over"---gained him for God.

Private Conference: Jesus anticipates those times when others will not listen to our appeal and provides another step to restore them. He draws upon the Old Testament principle that a sin must be established by more than one witness: "Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses" (Nu. 35:30; 2 Cor. 13:1). Several witnesses provide credibility and ensure that the original testimony is neither personal nor prejudiced. Here is a larger circle of accountability to help an offender face the seriousness of the charge.3

Public Announcement: If the sinner does not listen to two or three, we are then to "tell it to the church." The purpose of this exposure is not to humiliate or degrade but rather enlarge further the circle of accountability. The church is encouraged to reach out in love and encircle the struggling believer and plead with him to repent.

Public Exclusion. When our efforts to bring about repentance fail, when the individual refuses to "listen even to the church," we are to "treat him as an unbeliever or a tax collector." What did Jesus mean?

I believe that 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 is Paul's inspired commentary on Jesus' words. According to that apostle, when assembled in public gathering, we are to "deliver such a one to Satan unto the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (1 Cor. 5:5 NASB). This entails a simple straightforward announcement of this "deliverance" to the congregation.

Following the announcement we are told "not to associate" with the individual (5:11), i.e., not associate as we would with other Christians. The person is excluded from church ministry, membership, fellowship, the Lord's table and all the other activities that suggest inclusion. They are excluded from the fellowship of God's people and permitted to go their own way, unprotected and unguarded by that fellowship. If we contact them we should always be kind and respectful (rudeness is a sin), but we can no longer socialize with them as though nothing has gone wrong. To do so is to justify their sin.

Compelled by sin, the sinning one will inevitably drift into greater wickedness. "Sin," as Augustine said, is the punishment for sin." Disobedience begets enslavement to vice, self destructive tendencies and obsessive­p;compulsive traits---what Paul calls the "destruction of the flesh." Those so dominated are to be pitied: It's a terrible thing to have one's life go completely out of control. But that discipline may bring the sinning one to the end of himself so that "his spirit may be saved" The ultimate goal is redemption. Our "extreme severity," is in reality a severe mercy.

If one repents

If the offender repents and is willing to deal with the sin, how should we then respond? We must "forgive and comfort him (and) reaffirm (our) love for him," for, as Paul continues, "we are not unaware of (Satan's) schemes," not the least of which is his passion for dividing and conquering churches by inflicting on them a legalistic, censorious and suspicious spirit ( 2 Cor. 2:7,8). We must fully receive repentant believers, forgiving and forgetting any offense, showering them with love and affirmation and encouraging them on in their newly­p;restored fellowship with God and, in due time, restoring them to ministry within the Body of Christ.

One who repented and was restored

Some years ago I received a letter from a dear friend who was disciplined by a body of Christians in another state and subsequently was restored. He wrote as follows:
"Several years ago you took public action against me in accordance with Matthew 18:15-20. The charges against me were true.

"After I became a Christian some 18 years ago I failed to deal thoroughly with lust and covetousness. In time I became self-deceived, proud and arrogant. Moreover, eventually God shouted upon the housetops that which I had desperately tried to keep hidden. God finally let me go into alcoholism and sexual immorality, both of which were worse than I experienced before my conversion.

"Twice I went through the horror and hell of manic­p;depressive psychoses (as Nebuchadnezzar did) that I might learn that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. I am very fortunate to be alive. I came close to suicide and should have died in ignominy and disgrace except for the scripture which says, 'Dost thou work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise thee? Is thy steadfast love declared in the grave, or thy faithfulness in Abaddon?'

"I am in need of your forgiveness for I have wronged you all. It is impossible for me to retrace my footsteps and right every wrong, however, I welcome the opportunity to meet and pray with you. I am looking and waiting for the further grace and mercy of God in this matter. What you have bound on earth was bound in heaven, and I now know that your actions were done in love for my own good and that of the body."

My friend is now fully re-engaged in fellowship and ministry. He stands as an example of the love of God and the love of his people.

Live and let live

Our culture clings tenaciously to the principle: "Live and let live" (though there's no life in that creed). In that environment it's considered wrong to challenge another's behavior even if the person is drifting into peril. If we try to rescue a brother or sister we'll be deemed judgmental, self­p;righteous and meddlesome and no explanations will satisfy.

But Jesus authorized this action: Mt. 18:19-20 speaks of the authority with which the church acts: "I tell you the truth, whatever you shall bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

More importantly, Jesus commands it: "Now that I your Lord and teacher have washed your feet," he said, "you also should wash one another's feet" (13:14). He is our teacher (one to hear) and our Lord (one to obey) His words are "something to be neither more nor less nor other than done," as George MacDonald said.

Happiness is washing feet

Paul writes, "Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast---as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth. (1Corinthians 5:6-8).

Churches that excuse sin and permit it to work "through the whole batch of dough" are almost always grim affairs, laced with under­p;currents of "malice and wickedness," and lacking the sense of "festival" that is the result of feasting on "the bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Cor. 5:6-8).

On the other hand, churches that care enough to confront are lively and happy places. As Jesus insists, "Now that you know these things, you will be blessed (happy) if you do them!" (John 13:17).


David Roper