The Gospel of John

Foot Washing

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Conversations, Panels and Sermons

Lesson: 43- 70

Genre:

Track: 043

Dictation Name: RR197Y45

Location/Venue:

Year:

Let us worship God. Praise ye the Lord, praise God in His sanctuary, praise Him for His mighty acts, praise Him according to His excellent greatness, let everything that have breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Let us pray.

Our Father we give thanks unto Thee that Thou art not only in heaven but on earth, closer to us than we are to ourselves. Omnipresent and omnipotent. We come to Thee therefore to cast our every care upon Thee. We thank Thee our Father that the government is upon Thy shoulders, that Thou hast ordained all things in Thy wisdom. Give us grace and faith to trust in Thee, to know that Thou who art all mighty and all holy will in Thy righteousness do all things to perfection. Our God we thank Thee, in Christ’s name, Amen.

Our scripture is John 13:1-11. Our subject: Foot Washing. John 13:1-11.

“Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;

3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;

4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.

5 After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

6 Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?

7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.

10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.

11 For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.”

John’s account of the Last Supper differs from that of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Instead of an account of the actual supper and its sacramental nature we have instead our Lord’s teaching on that occasion. The time was before the feast on the evening prior to it. Jesus knew that His time had come and soon He would rise from the dead after His crucifixion and ascend into heaven. He loved His disciples despite their obtuseness, now He loved them unto the end or to the uttermost. His love for them and for us meant His willingness to die for us. Judas Iscariot had already determined to betray Jesus and enabled the religious leaders to make a night arrest. This would avoid a problem with the people, it would avoid a riot and it would confront the people with an accomplished fact before they could react. Jesus knew that the devil had led Judas to this decision to betray Him. Jesus also knew that the Father had already given all things, that is, the atonement, the resurrection, the kingdom of God, the judgment of all creation and more into His hands. He had come from the Father and would soon return to Him. Knowing Himself to be God incarnate He arose, took off His outer tunic and began to wash the feet of the disciples. Normally on arriving at a home someone commonly a servant in many homes would wash and dry the feet of all the guests. This courtesy was a refreshing service to the visitors. But Jesus and the disciples had arranged the temporary use of a upper room for their Last Supper, they had not provided for a servant to care for them. The meal had been arranged but nothing more.

Jesus faced an abashed silence as He went to one disciple to the other washing and drying their feet. Earlier in His ministry as recorded in Mark 10:42-45 He had said ‘ye now that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them and their great ones exercise authority upon them, but so shall it not be among you but whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister and whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all for even the son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many’. He was now demonstrating the meaning of this in very realistic terms. When Jesus came to Simon Peter Peter protested. Lord dost Thou wash my feet? We have no way of knowing in what order the disciple’s feet were washed, we do know that only the abashed Peter protested it. Jesus answered:

“What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.”

With the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension Peter would know better who Jesus was and is. He would understand the love and humility of all of our Lord’s life from His incarnation on, he would understand the love of God. Paul tells us in Romans 5:6-10:

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

[

The New Testament word for God’s love for us is agape, meaning unmerited favor, a love that is pure grace. God the Son in His foot washing episode demonstrates the meaning of this ministry of grace and love but Peter ashamed of his own lack of a ministering spirit said to Jesus Thou shalt never wash my feet. Our Lord’s answer is a devastating one, if I wash thee not thou has no part with me. The great cleansing for Peter as for us was just ahead, Christ’s atonement on the cross for our sin. He washed and regenerated us by His atoning blood. The foot washing was nothing compared to the crucifixion and the atonement. Foot washing became a ritual later on in some churches, often high churchmen washed the feet of the poor, kings sometimes took part in such ceremonies in their courts acting as Christ’s [unknown]. It is of interest that, however formalized and in some cases with the feet prewashed to make it less offensive for the bishop or pope or king, this rite was still a reminder that church and state are ministries under Christ and will be so judged. This does not mean that the ritual is biblically required. Peter’s response to Jesus’ statement ‘if I wash thee not thou hast no part with me’ was ‘Lord not my feet only but also my hands and my head’. Peter as a Jew knew the relationship between baptism and the covenant. He recognized it as a sign of covenant membership and regeneration and he saw this as an indication of that. Our Lord then said that all who are cleansed and redeemed by Him were washed, that is, bathed or cleansed, and He is thus dealing with the dust on their feet, ye are clean, he said, but not all, referring to the unclean or unatoned one, Judas.

Returning to verse one we are told that Jesus loved His disciples and He loved them unto the end. Of this last phrase as Morgan observed the words unto the end can also be translated to the uttermost, to the fullest. This can mean that His love was unto dying for them and also to the completion of their lives in Him. Peter later in life perhaps made an oblique reference to this episode in 1st Peter 5:2-5.

“Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock.

4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”

In other words Peter says a ministry is what we are called to, not to an over lordship. Peter makes clear that all Christ’s people must be ready to serve one another. Be subject one to another and be clothed with humility. The believer is not a spectator to the works of the clergy and its associates, all are together laborers, workers in Christ’s vineyard and kingdom. Let us pray.

Our Father we give thanks unto Thee for Thy word and for what our Lord and Savior has manifested in His life and person. Grant that we in His spirit and power minister one to another , be ever mindful that we have been called in Christ to be members one of another and not lords one over the other. We thank Thee for the plain speaking of Thy word, grant that we take it to heart, grow in terms of it and be ever faithful to Thee. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Are there any comments now about our lesson?

It is interesting to know that with the Enlightenment foot washing by kings ended. It was a rite which at least had this to commend it, the most arrogant king was expected to do it and to do it in a somewhat public way so that it was a public exercise of humility. But I believe the last king of England to do it was James the 2nd and it was virtually obsolete by then. Are there any…Yes?

[Unintelligible Question]

[Rushdoony] Well some reformed groups did, there are some groups that do and I don’t recall the name of the group that has the seminary in Ashland, Ohio, perhaps you can prompt me there Sharon? No? Well at any rate they do it, various of the Anabaptist groups do it so it still lingers on and a friend who witnessed such a service a number of times told me that while he would have to agree that it isn’t a required ritual he found it a very moving ceremony. Any other questions, yes?

[Unintelligible Question]

[Rushdoony] Yes, they had to do it, it was expected of them and it varied from country to country as to how public it was. IT could have been done in the court or elsewhere, bishops had to do it also and popes. It was a very popular ceremony with the people for obvious reasons because it brought home dramatically the fact that no one no matter how rich or powerful was exempt from ministering to others in Christ’s name even if it were done ritually once a year. So while it was not a biblically required rite I believe it was still in its time and place a very, very important thing.

We have only to think of it in very modern terms, very public terms, what if the president were required to do that once a year and to do it publicly. It would be at least a reminder to him of what he was supposed to be. Any other questions or comments?

You see, to dwell on it a little more, it is one reason why with the reformation the word for the clergy shifted. Now the word used in the middle ages and in the Catholic church to this day and other churches as well is priest. What we need to realize though it is not the same word as priest as you have in the Bible. It is presbyter, a corruption of the word presbyter. And it has been little by little reduced to priest from the three syllable word. And presbyter is an entirely good word, but with the Reformation even though many churches adopted a Presbyterian form of government or the use of presbyters, whatever they called their churches, they chose progressively for the clergy the word minister, coming out of this. That we are to be ministers one to another and that the clergy should take the lead in ministry. So our Lord’s teaching on this and what He did here has had a profound influence on the churches.

More so than people realize. For example, the clergy or the priests of the later middle ages were a rather poor lot, why? Because during the plagues when everybody ran from their sick and dying because they had the plague the priests went from house to house caring for and ministering to the plague victims. As a result a high percentage of the priests in any country finally got the plagues themselves and died of it. As a result when the first few great plagues which came in rapid succession year after year passed a very high percentage of the priests were dead. And to take care of the vacant churches a great many men were ordained who had no training, who did not know Latin, who were ignorant and corrupt and who had only one motive: they wanted the office for what they could do with it and it was better than what they had. So it led to a very unfortunate situation and a great deal of corruption and the consequence was the Reformation and then later the counter-Reformation. But the situation before the plagues was that the priests, a sizable element, were very much dedicated to ministering to the flock and it was their ministry which led to their death and their replacement too hastily with incompetents. Are there any other questions or comments? Yes?

[Unintelligible Question]

[Rushdoony] Presbyter is a Greek word and it can be translated either as bishop or as presbyter, presbyter is very close to the original Greek. And it refers to an officer and in this case an officer in the church. Well if there are no further questions let us conclude with prayer.

Our Father we give thanks unto Thee for our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. For the example he set for us of ministry, of helping one another. Give us grace to take to heart His example so that we do not stand on our authority or our supposed rights or our position but in His grace and in His spirit ministering one to the other. And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, Amen.