Washing the Feet of Judas (for Maundy Thursday)
It is easy to love people you would already love, it is harder to love someone who may not love you back.
CHRIST washed the feet of Judas! The dark and evil passions of his soul, His secret plot, and sordidness complete, His hate, his purposing, Christ knew the whole, And still in love he stooped and washed his feet.
-George Marion McLaren, The Feet of Judas
Shortly after Francis became Pope, he did something that people found quite shocking. On Maundy Thursday he decided to wash people's feet. Now, foot-washing is a common practice on Maundy Thursday, so it wasn't a big deal that he washed someone's feet. What was a big deal was whose feet he washed: the feet of juvenile delinquents.
Someone was watching when Francis decided to wash the feet of juvenile delinquents two continents away in Los Angeles. Many of them wrote letters to the Pope and they went like this: “Thank you for washing the feet of youth like us in Italy. We also are young and made mistakes. Society has given up on us, thank you that you have not given up on us.”
You can hear the desire in these young kids to be loved even with all of what they have done and who they have hurt. They want someone who loves them unconditionally.
Jesus has one last dinner before he is taken away, tortured, and crucified. Imagine the dinner is finished, and the dishes are cleared. Jesus gets up, takes off his outer robe, grabs a towel and a basin of water and starts to wash the disciples' feet. The disciples freak out. Why? Foot-washing was an act of hospitality offered to guests after their journey. What makes Jesus' act so scandalous is that the act of foot-washing was performed either by the guests themselves or by a slave or servant. This was a menial task. Jesus was showing what it means to be a follower, a disciple. The way of the world is that leaders should sit in places of honor while those below them wash their feet. But Jesus flips the script. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and you speak correctly, for I am," Jesus says. Teacher and Lord were titles that in the world meant someone who was an important person to be served. But Jesus reverses the meaning. To be Lord is to show love in service. "As I have done, so you must do," Jesus says, telling the disciples that this is what they must do if they claim to follow Jesus.
At the same time that all this was happening, Satan entered into Judas who would soon betray Jesus. Jesus knows all this and tells the disciples, "You are all clean, but not all of you. Because Judas didn't believe, Judas was not pure. If we were to continue reading John 13, we would see Jesus expose Judas as the betrayer.
Judas is an interesting character in all the gospels. The different writers treat Judas differently. In Matthew, Judas shows some remorse by returning the money he received for handing Jesus over to the authorities. But in John, Judas is a far more nefarious character. Over the years, people have tried to explain why Judas did what he did. I remember one theologian ignoring all the excuses and thinking that pastors should just preach what John preaches: that Satan used "a despicable weakling. Judas was nothing and must be treated as such.
But this is not how Jesus treats Judas. It's not written down, it's more implicit than explicit. Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, even Peter who protested what Jesus was doing. You know who else had his feet washed? Judas. Jesus showed love to the one who would soon betray him. The one who would soon reject Jesus and send him to his death was the one whose feet were washed by Jesus. The first verse of today's passage is that Jesus loved his disciples to the end. Jesus would go to any length to show his love to his disciples, even when they denied him, like Peter, and even like Judas, who betrayed him.
Later in chapter 13, Jesus tells us to love one another. That's nice to hear, but harder to put into practice. It is easy to love people you would already love, it is harder to love someone who may not love you back. It's harder to love someone who might hurt you. It's harder to love someone who does things you don't approve of. But here was Jesus, washing the feet of his disciples, even the one who tried to betray him. To be a servant like Jesus is to be a servant to everyone.
Jesus was in solidarity with all of creation. Jesus chose to love. Even when creation didn't love him back.
Who do you love? What does it mean to love those outside the doors of this church? What does it mean to love those who are not always so easy to love? Can we wash the unlovable's feet?
The fact that Jesus washed the feet of his friends, even of the betrayer, is a sign of the overflowing love of God, even for the one who didn't deserve it.
Whose feet are we willing to wash?
Questions to Consider:
The washing of feet only happens in John. It’s central to the Last Supper whereas in the other three gospels it is communion. Why do you think the writer of John chose to share this act instead of communion?
After washing their feet, Jesus said that all of the disciples had been washed, but not all are clean referring to Judas. Why would washing his feet not make him clean?
Jesus tells the disciples they are to follow his example and wash each other’s feet. That phrase could mean learning to serve each other. What are some examples of washing each other’s feet that you’ve seen in your life?
Jesus calls on the disciples to love one another. Was he referring to just their group or even beyond their group? What does this phrase mean today?
Pope Francis took that text to mean washing the feet of people like young offenders. Who are the people God might call us to wash their feet?