Jesus was a teacher; in Aramaic, the word is rabbi. Like all Palestinian rabbis of
the time, Jesus had a group of close followers who went everywhere with him.
Being semi-nomadic, these disciples would all have left their families behind
and sworn obedience to their master. We see Jesus’ disciples fitting this mould
exactly.
A Jewish rabbi
could ask his disciples to accept all aspects of their teaching. If they did
not like what they heard, they simply ‘tore up the contract’ and left. We see
many of Jesus’ first disciples doing just that in John 6:66 over Jesus’
Eucharistic teaching.
The only thing a
Jewish rabbi could not ask of his disciples was for them to wash his feet. Only
a slave could be asked to do that.
In context, then,
the story of Jesus washing the feet of his own disciples in John 13 is
extremely odd. Firstly, because Jesus should not have even thought of foot
washing; and, secondly, if feet had been washed, his own would have been first.
As the reading
shows, Jesus’ disciples were confused. They knew that Jesus was making a
radical suggestion, but were either too afraid to face it, too embarrassed at
his unorthodox approach, or simply did not understand.
But with
hindsight, it is obvious what Jesus was saying: being a servant is an integral
part of being a Christian. Because we are to follow Jesus’ example in
everything, we can be asked to be servants in this same mould, that is, we are
to think of ourselves as slaves. In other words, there is nothing that we
cannot be asked to do. For him, we can and should be willing to do anything.
This is a matter
for great thanksgiving: there is no longer any need to ‘keep up with the
Jones.’ We are free from all distractions and ambitions. Our sole reason for
existence is to serve: to serve Jesus and serve the saints in our local church,
St Andrews’.
And because the
Greek word for ‘thanksgiving’ is ‘Eucharist,’ any public washing of feet in
church (whether on Maundy Thursday or not) is sometimes called a ‘John’s
Eucharist.’
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