Jesus Did More Than Just Wash Feet

I don’t know if anybody is still thinking about the Super Bowl. In a world that moves so fast it feels like old news, but I’m still thinking about it. No, not because of who won and definitely not because of the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce drama. I’m still thinking about the Super Bowl because Jesus was in it. Sort of anyway. He was in a commercial that aired during the Super Bowl. Or more specifically, there was a commercial that aired during the Super Bowl that mentioned Jesus. 

If you watched the ad, you’ll know it showed people from all walks of life having their feet washed and at the end it said, “Jesus didn’t teach hate. He washed feet. He gets us. All of us.” I think all of that is true so I’m not here to hate on the commercial. The world is filled with enough hate already and I think any conversation about Jesus is better than no conversation at all. But I do think there is a conversation that needs to be had and I want to have it.

I want to make it clear that Jesus did a heck of a lot more than just wash feet.

But first let me backup and give you a small history lesson in feet washing. 

I’m hoping that when you walk into somebody’s house you politely take your shoes off. But after that I’m guessing nobody has ever then proceeded to politely pull out their water basin and offer to wash your feet. That would be weird, but in the first century that was the norm. These people walked everywhere, sometimes for days at a time, and they only wore sandals. So having your guests’ feet washed wasn’t just a polite gesture, it was a practical one. 

As you can probably guess, people were not lining up for the job of foot washer either. It was a job reserved for the lowliest servant. Yet, Jesus was the first one to volunteer for the job. Actually he was the only one. During the last supper with his disciples, Jesus grabbed a bucket and a rag and washed their feet. This was completely backwards. The master was washing his servants’ feet. The disciples were confused. If anybody should be washing feet it should be them lining up to wash Jesus’s, not the other way around. But this was the lesson Jesus was teaching his disciples and us. He was saying that as his followers we need to take on the role of servants.

Jesus washed feet and after he was done, he told us we ought to do the same. (John 13:14)

The disciples were stunned by this, but Jesus wasn’t even done with the lesson yet. Next he called them to love everyone. He said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love 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.” (John 13:34-35) 

This is the point the commercial is trying to get across. Jesus told us to love everyone. Big emphasis on everyone. No matter what they look like, which person they voted for, who they love, and where they come from. He told us to love one another just as he loved us. This meant being willing to take on the role of servant even if it means washing feet. Yes, everyone’s feet.

Because Jesus was willing to wash even the dirtiest of feet. And I mean that literally and figuratively because he was even willing to wash yours. Not just your feet, but your whole body. This is what the commercial leaves out. This is the conversation I want to have. 

Jesus didn’t just wash feet.

The commercial itself is part of a larger initiative called “He Gets Us”. The group’s agenda is to get people to “rediscover the love story of Jesus”. That’s awesome and Jesus’s love story is awesome. (The best one there is!) But Jesus washing feet is just the tip of the iceberg. They explain their commercial by saying, “Jesus was using foot washing to emphasize a larger point - a symbol for all of his followers to see how they should treat one another.”

BUT we are not talking about Jesus 2,000 years later because he was willing to wash his buddies’ feet. We are still talking about him now because of what happened next.

Jesus ate with sinners. He told sinners to come and be his disciples. He washed sinners’ feet. So I’m quite certain he would have washed the feet of every single person in that commercial - the young girl at the abortion clinic, the protestors, and he would have even stooped so low as to wash your feet. Yes, yours. 

What most of us (especially “Christians”) fail to understand is that we are all sinners. We all fall short of the glory of God. Your feet and mine need to be washed just as badly as anyone else’s. (Romans 3:23).

And that’s exactly what Jesus did for us. He made it possible for all of our sins to be washed clean. (Psalm 51:2) Jesus washing his disciples’ feet was not just a symbol for how we should treat one another. It was also a symbol for what he was about to do. After he washed their feet Jesus said, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” (John 13:7)

It was the very next day that Jesus would be hung on the cross and pay the price for our sins. But it would take three more days for them to fully understand. It was only when Jesus was raised from the dead three days later did they get it. Jesus tells them, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

Because of what Jesus did, you have the opportunity to be baptized and washed clean from head to toe. You have the chance to become a new creation in Christ. No matter how dirty you are or how many times you keep on getting dirty - Jesus is always there with a water basin and a rag.

But after he washes us clean, he doesn’t tell us to keep sitting in the mud pile. He calls us to get up and as his disciples he tells us to go and pull the next person up out of the mud too. Not because he’s mean, but because he wants to give you life and life abundantly. Let me put it for you this way, a good father doesn’t want his kids running through the middle of the street. Not because he hates them, but rather because he loves them. He wants to protect them.

This is exactly what Jesus is doing when he tells us to obey everything that he commanded of us. He’s trying to protect us. (Even knowing that we will continually run into the street over and over again.)

Earlier when Jesus confronts the crowd that wants to stone the woman caught in adultery he tells them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7) After he says this the whole crowd leaves. It was an important lesson for them to recognize that none of them were without sin, but it was a lesson for the woman as well. Jesus does not tell her to go and continue on the path she was on. He tells her, “Go and sin no more.” (John 8:11)

The commercial leaves this part out though.  

As Christians, Jesus tells us to go out and make disciples of all nations. He says wash feet AND teach them to obey everything that I have commanded of you. And what does Jesus say? He says get up off the ground and sin no more. 

I get why the commercial left this out. There’s not an easy way to explain this in a thirty second window. To tell someone to go and sin no more sounds condescending and hypocritical coming out of anyone’s mouth except for Jesus’s. I think this is why so many people are turned off by the church. For many people it feels like a stuck up country club that requires collared shirts and a monthly fee that is twice as much as your rent. 

But like the commercial does show - everyone is welcome. 

So as Christians please continue to wash feet. We have to be willing to wash even the dirtiest of feet just like Jesus. (Jesus washed Judas’s feet too, remember?) Because only then will we have the opportunity to tell them why. Only then will we have the opportunity to tell them that Jesus did a heck of a lot more than just wash feet. And no matter what they decide next, we can’t forget the next commandment that he gave his disciples. To love everybody. 

And if you think you're too dirty then I’m here to tell you that you aren’t. Jesus wants to wash your feet. I don’t care how gross you think they are. We all had dirty feet at one time too. But also know that he wants the opportunity to wash more than just your feet. And after he does, what he tells you to do next won’t be easy. For many reasons, getting up off the mud pile you’ve been sitting in can feel impossible. But I can tell you that it’s so worth it.