From heaven’s bright throne and courts filled with praise,

King Jesus came humbly, a servant of grace.

Trading his glory for shadows and fears,

He washes the feet of the world . . .

With his tears.

(Joseph Martin,  Who is This King?))

The choir at St. Mark sang this anthem on Maundy Thursday, April 18, 2019. It touched me deeply, but its effects rippled on until I saw Jesus in a new light.

This morning Victoria and I were talking about how holiness is connected with the washing of the disciples’ feet. That’s what it says in  The Message, John 12: 10. “My concern is holiness, not hygiene. So now you’re clean.” How were the disciples made holy? By the water? Certainly not. By the example of service, as Jesus explains in John 12:12-17.  “I’ve laid down a pattern for you,” he says. (Eugene H. Peterson, The Message). 

Jesus’ mission was service, more than sacrifice.  Yes, he willingly gave his life, but he gave it to show how a “servant of grace” should live. “He washes the feet of the world . . . with his tears.” These moving words by the lyricist Joseph Martin (above) suggest that the demonstration of love to the disciples goes beyond their intimate fellowship to show the world how to live.

In the First Testament, holiness was conceived as a hierarchy, with the high priest assuming the role of intermediary between the people and God.  In the Temple, the Holy of Holies was accessible only to the high priest, with the other priests in the next circle, the Jewish people in the next, and the Gentiles in the outer court, far from the presence of God. Holiness could be viewed as an ultimate attainment, but the worshippers were always confined to their circle within the Temple.

Jesus dispensed with the notion of a hierarchical community through the washing of feet, but really throughout his entire ministry. He hoped that the model he set for his disciples would grow into a wider community of service, i.e. people who are not concerned with power and influence, but with love for one another, even love for “the other.” Probably Joseph Martin is extrapolating from the Gospel of John with “Washes the feet of the world,” because Jesus only speaks of the love of the disciples for one another in this chapter. Yet isn’t it John who says “God so loved the world“?

The point of the washing of feet is not to make us more holy, but to redefine what it means to be holy. When the master serves the servant, that is the practice of holiness. Not necessarily how often he goes to church or reads the scriptures or keeps Lenten vows. The point of it all is service, acts of mercy that connect people across the social classes, across religions, across political privilege. Holiness should no longer divide us; it should unite us.

Even when we think of the Incarnation, of God becoming man, we do not think of Jesus losing his holiness, but his status.  In the Gospel of John he constantly refers to his origin and his destiny, not to impress us with his heavenly power, but to remind us of the power he relinquished to become human. The gospel is first about servanthood, about yielding power and status.

God grant us hearts to serve without self-righteousness, but take our cues from Jesus.