Washing One Another's Feet at the Foot of the Cross

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Maundy Thursday: Washing one another’s Feet at the Foot of the Cross

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean."

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord--and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

"Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, `Where I am going, you cannot come.' I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

4/18/19 | Trinity Lutheran Church, Sunset Park, Brooklyn |

Maundy Thursday Homily | Rev. Michael Vanacore

Love One Another. With these three words, Jesus left us with the a new commandment: that we love one another as Jesus loved us. On this, his last night on earth, Jesus showed us exactly how we are to do this--by washing one another’s feet at the foot of the cross.

Now when I say that Jesus washes his disciples feet “at the foot of the cross,” I do not mean that he does this literally at the foot of the cross. I mean that he does so in the midst of his impending destruction and defeat.

Our Scripture tells us that, on the eve of the holy festival of the Passover, Jesus realizes “that his hour ha[s] come to depart from this world and go to the Father.” He knows full well that “the devil ha[s] already put it into the heart of Judas...to betray him.” It is not just his individual betrayal that he has to face, but the near total dismantling of everything that he gave his life to achieve.

On such a night as this, Jesus chooses to celebrate with his disciples. To eat with them, to fellowship with them, and to do this very intimate and humble act of washing their feet. Our Scripture tells us that during supper, Jesus rises from the table, takes off his outer robe, pours water in a basin, and begins to wash the feet of every one of his disciples, and to dry them with the towel that was tied around his waist. With this celebration of tenderness and intimacy, Jesus shows us that even in our darkest hour we can still be human. We can still show one another love even in the shadow of the cross.

Now, this LOVE that I am talking about is not the kind of love that we have come to celebrate in the 21st Century. It is not the kind of sentimental love that we see in movies like “Love Actually” or “A Princess Bride.” It is not the kind of “Self-Love” that we see lifted up in books and videos of Popular Psychology. And it is not even the kind of relational love that we evoke when we talk about “Soul Mates” and “Partners for Life.” While there is absolutely nothing wrong with any of these kinds of love, these are not the kind of Love that Jesus showed us on the night of his betrayal and death.

That Love is something different.

That love is what led those Parisians out under the night sky to witness the burning of their beloved Notre Dame, and to lift their voices in hymns.

That Love is what led thousands of individuals from across this country to raise $1.7 million dollars to support our brothers in sisters in Christ, whose churches were burned by a White Supremacist over the past week in the St. Landry parish in Louisiana.

Martin Luther King famously said, “Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”

This is the love that led Jesus to his fate of death on the cross. And it was this Love that led him to wash his disciples feet on the night of his arrest.

For it is by these simple acts of tenderness--a dinner party with friends, eating and drinking together, the intimate act of washing one another’s feet--that we remind one another that we are still human. That we still have our dignity. That we still have life in the face of death, comfort in the face of suffering, and love in the face of hate. For not even the power of the cross can take from us the joy of the Resurrection. Amen.