Pastor Tom Johnson, April 17, 2014
Tonight our Gospel text is about
service—divine service—the service of our Lord. The washing of the
disciples’ feet is, in Jesus’ words, given as an example. It is not another
sacrament but I think a vivid illustration of the Sacraments. Sometime
during the Last Supper, Jesus lays aside His outer garments, ties a towel
around his waist, pours water in a basin, and washes the disciples’ feet.
Everything is going smoothly—that is, until He came to Peter. And what is
there not to like about Peter’s response? He is thoughtful, sensitive,
and pious. “You shall never wash my feet,” he says. We should put the best
construction on Peter. He had a
high regard for his Lord. He knew Jesus was the Christ, the promised Son of
God. Jesus was Peter’s King and Peter was the King’s subject.
Kings are served by their subjects—not the other way around.
But this is no ordinary king. Jesus tells him, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with Me.” Peter’s willingness to obey his King is evident when Peter replies, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” If submitting to his Lord means going beyond the call of duty, Peter is willing to do so. When Peter is told to jump, he asks, “How high?” But he still misses the point. He is determined to serve his King not be served by his King. But as we have been reminded so often before, Jesus “did not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
During my year at our Seminary in Fort Wayne, there were a few times when my jaw hit the floor. One of those times was when a Professor said, “The highest act of worship is receiving the forgiveness of sins.” He went on to talk about something else. I wouldn’t let him. I raised my hand and asked, “Can you please repeat what you just said about worship?” “The highest act of worship is receiving the forgiveness of sins.”
True worship is receiving divine service. Such divine service does not deny that we have our service to Him. Jesus says at the end of our Gospel, “For I have set you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” He calls us to follow His example—to love those around us—to lay aside our pride as Jesus does his outer garment—to stoop down and serve one another in humility. Getting on our knees is uncomfortable and a dirty job. Washing feet is an appropriate picture of the work of the Church. It illustrates why we continue to need the Lord’s forgiveness—and why we need one another. And it also illustrates that serving one another can be an uncomfortable and humble service.
But our ongoing need of cleansing does not mean that we have strayed away and have been lost. It simply means that God has provided a way to bring us back into the fold and assure us time and time again. Jesus tells Peter and the disciples that they do not need to have their whole bodies, heads, and hands washed. They are completely clean. Jesus, no doubt, is referring to their washing with water and the Word in Holy Baptism. The disciples are already clean. We the baptized are already clean. Our Lord says, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean.”
Before the eyes of God the Father, those who have been baptized are dressed in the perfectly white robes of Christ’s righteousness. But we still live in bodies tempted and stained by sin. As long as our feet tread this earth, they will be contaminated We still need a place of cleansing. And that place is here—in the communion of Saints—here Christ still serves His Church. We still need the ministry of the Word—in the reading and preaching of God’s Word. Jesus said a few chapters later in the Gospel of John, “Already you are clean because of the Word I have spoken to you” (John 15:3). He still serves us through the ministry of the Lord’s Supper—where Christ gives his true Body and true Blood for the forgiveness of sins.
That is why
Jesus washes the disciples’ feet the same night He institutes the Lord’s
Supper. He wants us to see dirt being removed from the disciples feet as an
example of what our physical eyes cannot see—guilt being removed from our
consciences—all flowing from what he began in our Baptism. This
washing and forgiveness is only possible because of what will happen tomorrow
on Good Friday. It is the shedding of His own blood—the pouring out of his
water and blood to cleanse us. Our Lord’s
willingness to serve us is truly astounding. As John writes at the beginning of
our Gospel reading: “Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this
world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to
the end.”
Tonight, he willingly lays aside His outer garments—just as he laid aside his divine glory years earlier to become Human. And, tomorrow, He will lay aside his outward glory again. He will be stripped, beaten, and crucified for us. He lays aside His glory temporarily in order to serve us, wash us, and bring us into that same glory forever. Let him serve you. Let him release you from guilt. Let him wash you.
But this is no ordinary king. Jesus tells him, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with Me.” Peter’s willingness to obey his King is evident when Peter replies, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” If submitting to his Lord means going beyond the call of duty, Peter is willing to do so. When Peter is told to jump, he asks, “How high?” But he still misses the point. He is determined to serve his King not be served by his King. But as we have been reminded so often before, Jesus “did not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
During my year at our Seminary in Fort Wayne, there were a few times when my jaw hit the floor. One of those times was when a Professor said, “The highest act of worship is receiving the forgiveness of sins.” He went on to talk about something else. I wouldn’t let him. I raised my hand and asked, “Can you please repeat what you just said about worship?” “The highest act of worship is receiving the forgiveness of sins.”
True worship is receiving divine service. Such divine service does not deny that we have our service to Him. Jesus says at the end of our Gospel, “For I have set you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” He calls us to follow His example—to love those around us—to lay aside our pride as Jesus does his outer garment—to stoop down and serve one another in humility. Getting on our knees is uncomfortable and a dirty job. Washing feet is an appropriate picture of the work of the Church. It illustrates why we continue to need the Lord’s forgiveness—and why we need one another. And it also illustrates that serving one another can be an uncomfortable and humble service.
But our ongoing need of cleansing does not mean that we have strayed away and have been lost. It simply means that God has provided a way to bring us back into the fold and assure us time and time again. Jesus tells Peter and the disciples that they do not need to have their whole bodies, heads, and hands washed. They are completely clean. Jesus, no doubt, is referring to their washing with water and the Word in Holy Baptism. The disciples are already clean. We the baptized are already clean. Our Lord says, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean.”
Before the eyes of God the Father, those who have been baptized are dressed in the perfectly white robes of Christ’s righteousness. But we still live in bodies tempted and stained by sin. As long as our feet tread this earth, they will be contaminated We still need a place of cleansing. And that place is here—in the communion of Saints—here Christ still serves His Church. We still need the ministry of the Word—in the reading and preaching of God’s Word. Jesus said a few chapters later in the Gospel of John, “Already you are clean because of the Word I have spoken to you” (John 15:3). He still serves us through the ministry of the Lord’s Supper—where Christ gives his true Body and true Blood for the forgiveness of sins.
That is why
Jesus washes the disciples’ feet the same night He institutes the Lord’s
Supper. He wants us to see dirt being removed from the disciples feet as an
example of what our physical eyes cannot see—guilt being removed from our
consciences—all flowing from what he began in our Baptism. This
washing and forgiveness is only possible because of what will happen tomorrow
on Good Friday. It is the shedding of His own blood—the pouring out of his
water and blood to cleanse us. Our Lord’s
willingness to serve us is truly astounding. As John writes at the beginning of
our Gospel reading: “Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this
world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to
the end.” Tonight, he willingly lays aside His outer garments—just as he laid aside his divine glory years earlier to become Human. And, tomorrow, He will lay aside his outward glory again. He will be stripped, beaten, and crucified for us. He lays aside His glory temporarily in order to serve us, wash us, and bring us into that same glory forever. Let him serve you. Let him release you from guilt. Let him wash you.
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