Thursday 29 March 2018

Psalm: Psalm 116

Background

As we saw yesterday, the Gospel of John’s account of the Last Supper is very different from those of the other three Gospels. Only John tells us that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. Foot washing (in the ancient world) was a regular custom and an act of courtesy, making guests more comfortable on their arrival. Foot washing during a meal was unusual, which in itself indicates that John saw this as more than a routine activity. This is a symbolic action, representing the relationship between Jesus and his disciples, as well as the sort of community that the disciples would create.

The exchange between Jesus and Peter makes it clear that John’s Gospel retells this story to describe the new community of the Church. Peter’s resistance to having his feet washed (verse 8) is presumably because he feels that it is beneath Jesus to perform such a task. Jesus’ response is that this is the unconventional way he wants his community to behave. The fourth Gospel does not tell us very much about Peter before the final sequence of events; the only time he has spoken until now is to profess loyalty when many other followers were deserting Jesus (John 6:68-69). Peter’s impulsiveness then and in this passage is typical of his character in the Passion narrative: first he doesn’t want to be washed at all and then he wants to be washed completely; he promises that he will follow Jesus even at the cost of his life (John 13:37) and later denies him (John 18:15-17, 25, 26-27); in the garden it is Peter who produces a sword and starts to wave it around (John 18:10). There is a contrast between Peter’s excessive protestations and the quiet and reasonable attitude of Jesus.

The last part of this passage is Jesus’ “new commandment” (v. 34). The name Maundy Thursday appears to come from the Latin word ’mandatum’ (the root of the English word ‘mandate’), which means ‘order’ or ‘command’. With this part of the chapter as an appendix, the act of foot washing can be understood as a symbol of the way in which Jesus was urging the disciples to live; what should mark out the Church is that it is a community of loving service in which people are prepared to do non-prestigious but necessary things for each other.

To Ponder

• Some churches practice foot washing as a regular part of worship, arguing that it should be as much a part of church life as Holy Communion. What do you think? And why?
• Jesus gives the disciples a model of a very different way to behave, telling them that this will show they are his disciples. What, if anything, marks out Christians as different from other people today?