I get a little bit jealous of John. I’m jealous of all the things that John got to see. He got to see Jesus turn water into wine. He got to see Jesus feed the thousands of people with just a few small fish and loaves of bread. He got to see Jesus raise a man from the dead! He got to hear all of Jesus’ teachings with his own ears and see Jesus’ face as he spoke, and now he gets to sit next to Jesus at the last supper. I get jealous of John for that. Particularly because John got to have special insight into the mind and heart of Jesus. As he was inspired to write by the Holy Spirit, he got to know what was on Jesus’ mind and heart in those last moments. He tells us what was on Jesus’ mind- John says: “Having loved those who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” John’s telling us that Jesus knew what was coming. He knew the betrayal that was going to happen. He knew about the kangaroo court that he would be subjected to. He knew about the crown of thorns and the whipping and the cross, but that’s not what was on his heart. He was focused on the love in his heart for his own. And he knew that he would love them to the end. And so in that love, he decided to show them what that love looks like. 

So John tells us that Jesus stood up- all the eyes in the room must have been focused on him- he takes off his outer robe, wraps a towel around his waist, grabs a basin of water, and begins to wash his disciples’ feet. Now, a note about feet washing- getting your feet washed was expected. This was a fancy dinner- this was the Passover meal and so they would’ve been pulling out all the stops to make this dinner special, and one of the things that makes a dinner special is a foot washing. Everyone expected it to happen. So you kinda wonder- there was a basin of water already in the room, and there was a towel already in the room. And you kinda wonder if as the disciples walked into the room and saw the basin and the towel and thought- yikes, I hope it doesn’t end up being me that has to do that. Washing feet was reserved for the lowest servant in the house. Not an exulted job to take someone’s dirty, smelly feet in your hands to wash them off for when they ate. And Jesus did that. He decided, I’m going to show them what love looks like, what service looks like, I’m going to wash their feet with my hands. 

And so Jesus does that he washes his disciples’ feet, but then he gets to Peter. And Peter is being gallant here. He sees that Jesus, his God, is performing a demeaning task and he says, Savior, this is not for you. You should not be washing feet. I’m going to save you from humiliation. You can imagine him looking around at the other disciples as if to say- how could you let him wash your feet? He’s the Savior of the world, he’s God, he’s the King of kings, and you’re letting him humiliate himself. Peter says Lord, you will not wash my feet. And you might remember that Peter is about to do a lot of learning in the next 24 hours. He’s got this lesson, he’s got a couple lessons in the garden, he’s got the lesson with the rooster crowing after he denies Jesus. But I wonder if these words from Jesus stuck with him in a big way. Jesus cuts him to the heart and he says: “If you don’t let me wash your feet, you have no part with me.” I think we need to talk about what’s going on here. This misunderstanding that was happening- this sin that was going on with Peter. It was a misunderstanding. Peter was misunderstanding what Jesus was doing here. Jesus was teaching them one last time about his ministry- who he was, and what he came to do. Jesus was illustrating the gospel. By getting down and washing his disciples’ feet he was demonstrating- here is what I came to do for you. I came to wash you clean. I came to humble myself and give myself so that you could be totally, truly, irrevocably clean. And Peter rejects it. He rejects Jesus and his love. Don’t miss that- that’s what he was doing- that’s why Jesus has really harsh words with him and says if you don’t let me wash your feet, you have no part with me. Why did Peter reject Jesus in this way? You see, there’s something really ugly rearing its head here. It’s pride. It was pride in Peter.. It was pride that made him forget who Jesus is and what he is here for. It was pride that made him utterly misunderstand the gospel- that he needed his Savior to wash his feet. And pride is one of those things that is so subtle in people. So subtle and insidious. 

Pride does that to us, too. It convinces us not to let Jesus wash our feet. I’ll give you a couple examples of this. If you think that you are a strong Christian- someone who thinks- I don’t need to grow anymore, I’ve got it all together. That’s textbook pride. And in that thinking, aren’t you stopping Jesus from washing your feet? A lot more subtle pride looks like this- if you’re thinking that you’re a weak Christian and you don’t deserve Christ, and so you allow yourself to be away from him and his word and his people- isn’t that pride too? And in that thinking, aren’t you stopping Jesus from washing your feet? 

 I think I could go on like this for a long time- because the devil tells us so many lies- saying “here’s why you don’t need Jesus to wash your feet” and it’s all pride. So Jesus cuts Peter to the heart and he cuts us to the heart as he said- if you do not let me wash your feet, you have no part with me. Here’s what that means for you. If you do not acknowledge that you are sinful and in need of a Savior to wash your sins away- you have no part with Jesus. And if you’re like me, and pride is one of your struggles, then you need to see the heart of God today. And you need to see Jesus for what he’s really doing here. Yes, at face value, he’s washing dirt and grime off the feet of his disciples, but what he’s really doing is he’s showing himself to be the God who humbles himself to wash us clean. That’s who he is. That’s who he is for us. We need to recognize that when we come before Jesus we are dirty, rotten sinners in need of a cleaning, and he’s the one who does that for us. He washes us. He washes us clean. This is the gospel. Thanks be to God. 

Building on part 1- on the gospel of Jesus, let’s move on to part 2. After Jesus finished washing his disciples’ feet, he said this: 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. He makes it obvious what he wants us to do. When he washed the disciples’ feet, he illustrated what he was about to do on the cross, and at the same time he also showed us what our Christian lives should be like until he comes back. He said- see what I’ve done for you, now go do the same. He said I have washed you completely clean- you are sinless and perfect- you have all that you need- now go and do the same for others. Go and wash each others’ feet.

Now I’m almost done, I’ll keep this short- what does washing feet look like here and now in 2024? I’ll give the what, the how, and the why? What is washing feet? Plain and simple, feet washing is living the gospel. It’s serving someone else so that they see Jesus in you. And that could happen in so many different ways. It could come by you spending two words to encourage someone else. Or it could come in the form of you going out of your way to help someone else, or it could be a hug, or it could be you taking some moments to serve here at church. Foot washing takes on so many different forms- but at it’s heart, it’s getting humble in your heart and serving someone else for Jesus’ sake. That’s the what. 

Here’s the how. Really, the opportunities are everywhere. The opportunities are easy, you just gotta open your eyes to them and decide to follow through on them. That’s something that we’re doing today with our ministry Sunday, we want to give you really easy but really impactful ways to serve others and love others for Jesus. But foot washing doesn’t just happen on Sunday morning, so also do this exercise. Look around the room this morning and pick one person and decide- I’m going to serve that person today. I’m going to wash their feet this week. And you could resolve- today I’m going to find that person and find a way to encourage them and say: “I really appreciate this about you.” Or you could invite them to coffee with you, or you could decide to send them a gift card, or you could just give them a hug, because you know how far the warmth of an embrace goes. The opportunities are all around us, and the reason we’re having this ministry Sunday is because we know that doing something like this for the first time can be really intimidating and so we want to give the church these plug and play opportunities to wash each other’s feet. Grab the opportunity to make coffee, or pick up donuts, or hand out bulletins. This is serving, this is ministry, this is washing each other’s feet. That’s the what and the how. 

Now here’s the why. Firstly, we do this because Jesus told us to. But also, pay attention to this. This is a command from Jesus that comes with a promise. Jesus says that if you do these things you will be blessed. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. I don’t think I have to work that hard to show you that this is true. You know how a word of encouragement from someone else can stick with you for a lifetime. And you know how when you go out of your way to serve someone else, that act of kindness might be the thing that someone looks back on and says- that was the first time I was loved like I now know that Jesus loves me. That hug, that word, that gift card, that donut, that coffee- that was Jesus to me. That’s the what, the how, and the why. 

Now, people of Hope. Jesus has washed your feet. He has loved you to the end, and he will love you forever. He proved it on the cross and with the empty grave. When he washed his disciples’ feet he showed us what he would do for us- washing our sins away. Take that home with you. Revel in that washing. And in that washing, this is where we get to wash each others’ feet. You can know that you’re safe to do this, because Jesus has washed you first. Can we be that church- where its people go out of their way to serve each other and love each other and show Christ to each other? If it’s on our own, no. But if it’s in the love of Christ, then yes, we can and we will. Jesus has washed you clean. Amen.