John 13:3-5 NLT‬
[3] “Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. [4] So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, [5] and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.”

‭John 13:12-17 NLT‬
[12]”After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? [13] You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. [14] And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. [15] I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. [16] I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. [17] Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.”

It amazes me how often God’s people turn spiritual truth into a religious ceremony! Jesus used ordinary human activities to illustrate profound spiritual truth but, instead of applying the truth, we like to major on the activity and turn it into a ritual.

John 13 is a case in point. Why did Jesus wash His disciples’ feet?

In the culture of His day, it was the host’s responsibility to assign a slave to wash the feet of his guests. Sandaled feet picked up dust and dirt as they walked, on paths covered with animal dung. Since they usually ate a meal reclining on cushions at a low table, dirty feet would soil one another’s clothes.

The smelly task of washing feet caked with animal dung was assigned to the lowliest of slaves. So, no one in Jesus’ group of disciples considered himself responsible to do the job, least of all Jesus, their rabbi.

However, imagine the disciples’ shock when Jesus Himself took on the role of a slave. Peter, as usual, resisted! He saw only the action, not the profound truth in what Jesus was doing.

However, Peter’s resistence brought the real meaning of Jesus’ action to the surface.

‭John 13:8-10 NLT‬
[8] “No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.” [9] Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!” [10] Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.”

How does Jesus cleanse His people? Not literally by washing their feet but spiritually, by cleansing away the pollution of sin

‭John 15:3 NIV
[3] “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”

‭Ephesians 5:25-26 NLT‬
[25] “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her [26] to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.”

Without God’s Word, we would never know what God did through His Son to cleanse us from our sin. His Word is the instrument by which we learn all the truths about Him that quicken our faith and bring us into union with Jesus. So, the Word teaches us that

‭1 John 1:7 NLT‬
[7] “But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.”

As disciples of Jesus and children of God, we are to love one another, then, as Jesus loves us. One of the practical ways in which we show that love is to build one another up in our faith.

‭1 Thessalonians 5:11 NLT‬
[11] “So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”

‭Galatians 6:1 NLT‬
[1] “Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.”

“Walking” in a filthy world soils our feet. Loving each other means washing one another’s feet. We use God’s Word, which tells us of God’s solution for sin, gently to bring a fallen brother or sister back to the path that takes us to the Father.

This loving action takes courage and humility since people’s pride often deters them from acknowledging their sin. Jesus’ actions shows us that, to wash another’s “feet” means to step down into selflessness that is willing to take the consequences even to resistance and hostility, to bring another, who is walking the wrong way, back into the light.

So, literally washing another’s feet has no meaning apart from restoring one to fellowship with the Father and His children who has walked in the dung of this world.

Go ahead, then, and wash one another’s feet. We do it only as a reminder that, as members of the Jrsus’ body, we are to be as concerned about clean souls as we are about clean feet.