
Foot Washing: Symbol or Sacrament?
No biblical text is exempt from proper hermeneutical and exegetical analyses, no matter how straightforward the reading of the text may be, for we all, without exception, bring some presupposition and pre-understanding to scripture. John 13 is no exception. This is a beloved passage of many Christians from various faith traditions, and for good reason. the narrative is a beautiful example of humility—Christ-like humility.
As beautiful as the narrative may be, it does leave its readers with two very important questions that must be answered: Should we practice foot washing today, and is this the best application of the text? Put another way, the act is beautiful, but is it necessary for Christians today? I am going to answer that question by principlizing John 13:12-16.
Principlizing is “an attempt to discover in a narrative the spiritual, moral, and/or theological principles that have relevance for the contemporary believer.” Principlizing “seeks to derive its teachings from a careful understanding of the story itself” and “recognizes the validity of both the historical details of a narrative and the principle(s) those details attempt to teach.”
Broadly speaking, principlizing seeks to answer the questions: What does the text say? What is the author’s intent? What does the text mean and what is its spiritual, moral, and theological significance? What does the text mean for me?
Now let's take a look at John 13:12-16:
"When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him."
As can be seen, Jesus had washed the feet of all the disciples–the act would have included Judas–and asked them if they understood the significance? The question must have been shocking, for surely they would have understood that no Jew, especially a Rabbi, would perform such a task. This was a Gentile slave’s task. But did they understand the act’s significance? Peter surely did not, and his misunderstanding may have been characteristic of the whole group. What Jesus’ question to the disciples tells us is the foot washing act was symbolic not sacramental.
This begs the question, symbolic for what? The context shows that the cleansing the disciples, and all of us for that matter, truly needed would be provided by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross—the ultimate cleansing. The foot washing act was anticipatory in nature. “As with the crucifixion, so with the footwashing: each is simultaneously an act of God by which human beings are freed or cleansed—whether in reality (cross) or in symbol (the footwashing).”
Jesus’ foot washing act was symbolic for spiritual cleansing. Doubtless we should love and serve our neighbors, this may or may not include foot washing, for nothing in scripture prohibits the act, but the example was not meant to be a normative ecclesiastical practice.
Bruce Milne asserts, "Whether this verse is a sufficient basis for the practice of footwashing becoming a regular ordinance of the church is probably doubtful. It was not seen in these terms in the early centuries. With the exception of 1 Timothy 5:10 there is no other New Testament reference to it, and there the reference appears social rather than sacramental. The accompanying attitude, however, permits no exception."
Implied in Milne’s assertion is that it is the spirit and not the action which is to be imitated. The foci of John 13, and its successive chapters, was not foot washing, but Christology and soteriology—the person and work of Christ. This does not mean the foot washing act excludes us altogether, on the contrary, it invites us into the redemptive historical narrative.
Jesus’ condescension to the disciples via foot washing was a picture and pointer of Christ as servant and suffering servant–it is the servanthood that we are called to partake in—serving each other in humble service. Does our serving each other necessitate foot washing as a normative ecclesiastical practice?
D.A. Carson answers in the following:
"We may reasonably ask if those Christian communities that practise [sic] footwashing as a Christian sacrament on a par with baptism and the Lord’s Supper have understood this passage better than those who find they cannot elevate footwashing to the same plane…Two factors have prevented most Christians, rightly, from so institutionalizing footwashing. First, nowhere else in the New Testament, or in the earliest extra-biblical documents of the church, is footwashing treated as an ecclesiastical rite, an ordinance, a sacrament... Second…the heart of Jesus’ command is a humility and helpfulness toward brothers and sisters in Christ that may be cruelly parodied by a mere ‘rite’ of footwashing that easily masks an unbroken spirit and a haughty heart."
In sum, the act of foot washing was not meant to be sacramental, but serves as a pointer to the gospel—Christ cleansing work at Calvary. Foot washing was a sign that pointed beyond itself to a greater reality, the ultimate cleansing of our sin. Thus, we revisit our questions: should we practice foot washing today, and is this the best application of the text? The former can be answered with a perhaps–the act is beautiful, but not necessary. The latter can be answered with a simple, yet strong "no."
As beautiful as the narrative may be, it does leave its readers with two very important questions that must be answered: Should we practice foot washing today, and is this the best application of the text? Put another way, the act is beautiful, but is it necessary for Christians today? I am going to answer that question by principlizing John 13:12-16.
Principlizing is “an attempt to discover in a narrative the spiritual, moral, and/or theological principles that have relevance for the contemporary believer.” Principlizing “seeks to derive its teachings from a careful understanding of the story itself” and “recognizes the validity of both the historical details of a narrative and the principle(s) those details attempt to teach.”
Broadly speaking, principlizing seeks to answer the questions: What does the text say? What is the author’s intent? What does the text mean and what is its spiritual, moral, and theological significance? What does the text mean for me?
Now let's take a look at John 13:12-16:
"When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him."
As can be seen, Jesus had washed the feet of all the disciples–the act would have included Judas–and asked them if they understood the significance? The question must have been shocking, for surely they would have understood that no Jew, especially a Rabbi, would perform such a task. This was a Gentile slave’s task. But did they understand the act’s significance? Peter surely did not, and his misunderstanding may have been characteristic of the whole group. What Jesus’ question to the disciples tells us is the foot washing act was symbolic not sacramental.
This begs the question, symbolic for what? The context shows that the cleansing the disciples, and all of us for that matter, truly needed would be provided by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross—the ultimate cleansing. The foot washing act was anticipatory in nature. “As with the crucifixion, so with the footwashing: each is simultaneously an act of God by which human beings are freed or cleansed—whether in reality (cross) or in symbol (the footwashing).”
Jesus’ foot washing act was symbolic for spiritual cleansing. Doubtless we should love and serve our neighbors, this may or may not include foot washing, for nothing in scripture prohibits the act, but the example was not meant to be a normative ecclesiastical practice.
Bruce Milne asserts, "Whether this verse is a sufficient basis for the practice of footwashing becoming a regular ordinance of the church is probably doubtful. It was not seen in these terms in the early centuries. With the exception of 1 Timothy 5:10 there is no other New Testament reference to it, and there the reference appears social rather than sacramental. The accompanying attitude, however, permits no exception."
Implied in Milne’s assertion is that it is the spirit and not the action which is to be imitated. The foci of John 13, and its successive chapters, was not foot washing, but Christology and soteriology—the person and work of Christ. This does not mean the foot washing act excludes us altogether, on the contrary, it invites us into the redemptive historical narrative.
Jesus’ condescension to the disciples via foot washing was a picture and pointer of Christ as servant and suffering servant–it is the servanthood that we are called to partake in—serving each other in humble service. Does our serving each other necessitate foot washing as a normative ecclesiastical practice?
D.A. Carson answers in the following:
"We may reasonably ask if those Christian communities that practise [sic] footwashing as a Christian sacrament on a par with baptism and the Lord’s Supper have understood this passage better than those who find they cannot elevate footwashing to the same plane…Two factors have prevented most Christians, rightly, from so institutionalizing footwashing. First, nowhere else in the New Testament, or in the earliest extra-biblical documents of the church, is footwashing treated as an ecclesiastical rite, an ordinance, a sacrament... Second…the heart of Jesus’ command is a humility and helpfulness toward brothers and sisters in Christ that may be cruelly parodied by a mere ‘rite’ of footwashing that easily masks an unbroken spirit and a haughty heart."
In sum, the act of foot washing was not meant to be sacramental, but serves as a pointer to the gospel—Christ cleansing work at Calvary. Foot washing was a sign that pointed beyond itself to a greater reality, the ultimate cleansing of our sin. Thus, we revisit our questions: should we practice foot washing today, and is this the best application of the text? The former can be answered with a perhaps–the act is beautiful, but not necessary. The latter can be answered with a simple, yet strong "no."

Rev. Mike Hernandez serves as the senior pastor of Crossroads Presbyterian Church. He is a graduate of Trinity International University (B.A.), Knox Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) at Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando.
Share this post:

No Comments