John 13:10 "Jesus said to him, 'He who has bathed does not need to wash...'"

"Jesus said to him, 'He who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but he is clean all over; and you are clean, but not every one of you" (John 13:10 RSV).

Question:

We are at the Last Supper, and the Gospel of John does not describe the communion ritual described in the other gospels, but rather has Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. Peter refuses to allow Jesus to assume so humble a role, but Jesus insists, "If I do not wash you, you have no part of me" (Matthew 13:8). Peter then replies "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" And Jesus responds with the line quoted above.

Comment:

In a practical sense, the washing of feet was important in such a dusty world. It was considered rude not to provide guests the opportunity to wash the dust of the road off their feet when they came to your home. Jesus honors that tradition, but—as always—he also takes it to a deeper spiritual dimension. "He who has bathed" is one who is immersed in the Truth of his/her Oneness with the divine—the Christ. The feet represent the point at which our spiritual identity comes in contact with the human experience we are sharing. Keeping clean and clear at that point of contact allows our spiritual truth to express in the world, unpolluted by the dust of the road—the negative energies we may pick up in the course of our journey through a mortal lifetime. Jesus affirms that his disciples are 'clean'—they are centered in their spiritual identity—except for one, whom the author assumes to be Judas. So they don't need to be “re-baptized”—they just need to remove the dust—the negative energies—from their feet. We, too, need to consistently “wash our feet”—to remove negative energies we may unknowingly accumulate in the course of a day. Without that constant effort we will indeed becoming increasingly “dirty”—expressive of negative energies—and a more thorough cleansing will then be necessary. Better to wash off the dust of the day as it appears, so our spiritual journey can continue unabated.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed