The Gospel of Feet
by David Haberstock
Dirty, dusty feet. On Holy Thursday—the night on which He instituted His Supper—Christ our Lord washed His disciples’ dusty, dirty feet (John 13). We usually understand this as Him taking the role of the servant and setting an example for His disciples by taking the lowest place, for the servant is not greater than his master (John 13:14-17). The works the Master does, the servant will also be sent to do.
But why foot washing? And if Christ our Lord ordered His disciples to do this, why don’t we have a ceremony or sacrament of foot-washing?
Well, in a sense, we do. Once Christ our Lord bathes us in Holy Baptism His servants regularly wash the grime of our daily lives off us (John 13:9-10). For He sends His disciples to do as He did (John 13:16), to forgive sins (John 20:21-23). On the cross He paid for the sins of the world, and now pastors distribute that forgiveness publicly each week in the Divine Service, and privately for those sins you know and feel in your heart. And sins can’t be forgiven without feet.
But why foot washing? And if Christ our Lord ordered His disciples to do this, why don’t we have a ceremony or sacrament of foot-washing?
When Adam and Eve sinned, the sneaky snake was cast to the ground by God’s Word to munch dust (Genesis 3:14). He would dwell in the lifeless dust to which Adam would return. He would be underneath us mortals, where the foot of a son of Eve would one day crush all his works and all his ways (Genesis 3:15). That surreptitious serpent would pierce the hands and feet of Christ while the wounded Christ would crush his head, breaking his power forever.
When one has been washed by Christ with the laver of regeneration (Titus 3:5), he is completely clean (John 13:10). He has no need to be washed again, except for his feet! You, oh baptized one, have no need to be washed again in Holy Baptism, for you are clean. But it is good to regularly rinse off the dust of death that clings to your limbs by Christ’s Word of forgiveness.
And how does this Word of forgiveness come to you? By the feet of one sent to preach the good news (Isaiah 52:7; Romans 10:14-15)! And how beautiful are those feet! Those dirty, dusty feet! For those foot-washing foot soldiers of the Gospel are cleansing you who hear and believe in our risen Lord.
Christ works by sending preachers! And preachers come by feet—although nowadays they may travel by car. But feet are symbolic. For the Sons of Israel would inhabit, hold, and inherit “every place on which the sole of your foot treads” (Deuteronomy 11:24). Remember when Moses was called, he had to take off his what? His sandals. For the place on which he was standing was holy ground (Exodus 3:5). It was holy not because of the land itself, but because of the sanctifying presence of the Holy God.
And what does Christ our Lord equip Christians’ feet with? The readiness of the Gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15). He binds His forgiveness to your feet so you can stand on and hold holy ground, so that you can advance when your Captain calls you to march. Christ readies your feet with His Gospel forgiveness.
Then in triumph you and I—washed by our Lord in baptism, cleansed by His foot-washing forgiveness—“will soon crush Satan underneath [our] feet” (Romans 16:20)! Then we righteous ones of the Righteous One “will bathe [our] feet in the blood of the wicked” (Psalm 58:10) as we follow our Captain who has “[trodden] down our foes” (Psalm 60:12). For in Christ, death cannot defeat you, sin cannot defile you, Satan cannot claim you. Clothed in Christ’s Gospel armour of light, you “will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot” (Psalm 91:13).
You, oh baptized one, have no need to be washed again in Holy Baptism, for you are clean. But it is good to regularly rinse off the dust of death that clings to your limbs by Christ’s Word of forgiveness.
And not only that, but every place that the Lord has planted your feet is holy ground, for He goes with you (Joshua 1:9; Matthew 28:20). He will not leave you nor forsake you. He will make you able to stand (Ephesians 6:11, 13). And “He will not let your foot be moved” (Psalm 121:3), for your dirty, dusty feet are cleansed and ready in His Gospel grace (Ephesians 6:15) for this world and for the next.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
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Rev. David Haberstock is Regional Pastor for Lutheran Church–Canada’s Central Region.
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