At the Last Supper, a peculiar incident interrupts the progress of the meal.
"Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, so He got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist" (John 13:3). In a garb of a slave, He then bent over and washed the grime of Jerusalem from the disciples' feet.
Jesus already on top - who was a rabbi, teacher, master - suddenly got down on the bottom and began to wash the feet of His followers, symbolically overturned the whole social order. Hardly comprehending what was happening, even His own disciples were almost horrified by His behavior.
Jesus asked His disciples couple of things:
- to love each other,
- to baptize others,
- to remember the meal He shared that evening - Holy communion,
- to wash one another's feet.
The Church has always honored them,
but the foot washing notion seems primitive, rural, unsophisticated.
One can debate about whether Jesus intended His command only for the twelve disciples or for all of us to come, but there is no evidence that the Twelve followed instructions either.
Later that same evening a dispute arose among the disciples as to which of them was considered to be greatest.
Jesus did not deny the human instinct of competition and ambition. He simply redirected it : " the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves". That is when He proclaimed, "I confer on you a kingdom" - a kingdom based on service and humility.
In the foot washing, the disciples had seen a living tableau of what He meant.
Following that example has not gotten any easier in the two thousand years. ( Philip Yancey)