Foot washing or Humility
1. Historical cultural meaning of foot washing
If we look back in history we discover that foot washing in the time of Jesus was seen as good hospitality. This was particularly true where sandals were the main footwear. A good explanation of this can be found in the New World Encyclopedia.
“A host would provide water for guests to wash their feet, serve the guests by washing their feet, or even provide a servant to wash the feet of the guests. This is mentioned in several places in the Old Testament of the Bible (for example, Genesis 18:4; 19:2; 24:32; 43:24; I Samuel 25:41; and so on), as well as other religious and historical documents. A typical host might bow, greet, and kiss his guest, then offer water to wash …show more content…
“Do you understand what I have done for you? He asked them. You call me Teacher and Lord and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
In order to understand this text and whether we should practice foot washing today we should give a definition of what Principlizing means.
“Principlizing is an attempt to discover in a narrative the spiritual, moral, and or theological principles that have relevance for the contemporary believer. It is based on the assumption that the Holy Spirit chose those historical incidents recorded in Scripture for a purpose to give information to make a point to illustrate an important truth and so on”.Principlizing attempts to understand a biblical account in such a way that we can recognize the original reason it was included in Scripture, the principles it was meant to teach.”
We will analyze the 15th verse.
1. He got up from supper and laid aside his …show more content…
But all this is not to be taken literally because we cannot find in the bible where the disciples practiced foot washing after Jesus ascended to heaven. We read in Virkler’s book “texts have only one meaning but may have many applications.” This text has one meaning. Jesus is illustrating how to be a servant. He is showing them true humility. He is instruction them to be humble and not to argue among themselves who will be the greatest (Luke 22:27). The greatest among them is the one who has the attitude of being a servant to others. Foot washing was a necessity at the time of Jesus because of the dusty roads and the wearing of sandals. How do we apply this to today’s necessities? Many Christians today are blind and deaf when it comes to this question of being servants. Carson writes, “Careful handling of the Bible will enable us to ‘hear’ it a little better.” I would also add that careful listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit will make us humble and “wash each other’s feet.” We need to serve others in need. We must not close our eyes. We must not only say, “God bless you.” We have hundreds of opportunities every day to be servants at the work place, in our neighborhood, and in our churches. We must see the needs around us and be ready to follow Jesus’ example. Jesus got up from supper and laid aside his garments. He got out of His
1. Historical cultural meaning of foot washing
If we look back in history we discover that foot washing in the time of Jesus was seen as good hospitality. This was particularly true where sandals were the main footwear. A good explanation of this can be found in the New World Encyclopedia.
“A host would provide water for guests to wash their feet, serve the guests by washing their feet, or even provide a servant to wash the feet of the guests. This is mentioned in several places in the Old Testament of the Bible (for example, Genesis 18:4; 19:2; 24:32; 43:24; I Samuel 25:41; and so on), as well as other religious and historical documents. A typical host might bow, greet, and kiss his guest, then offer water to wash …show more content…
“Do you understand what I have done for you? He asked them. You call me Teacher and Lord and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
In order to understand this text and whether we should practice foot washing today we should give a definition of what Principlizing means.
“Principlizing is an attempt to discover in a narrative the spiritual, moral, and or theological principles that have relevance for the contemporary believer. It is based on the assumption that the Holy Spirit chose those historical incidents recorded in Scripture for a purpose to give information to make a point to illustrate an important truth and so on”.Principlizing attempts to understand a biblical account in such a way that we can recognize the original reason it was included in Scripture, the principles it was meant to teach.”
We will analyze the 15th verse.
1. He got up from supper and laid aside his …show more content…
But all this is not to be taken literally because we cannot find in the bible where the disciples practiced foot washing after Jesus ascended to heaven. We read in Virkler’s book “texts have only one meaning but may have many applications.” This text has one meaning. Jesus is illustrating how to be a servant. He is showing them true humility. He is instruction them to be humble and not to argue among themselves who will be the greatest (Luke 22:27). The greatest among them is the one who has the attitude of being a servant to others. Foot washing was a necessity at the time of Jesus because of the dusty roads and the wearing of sandals. How do we apply this to today’s necessities? Many Christians today are blind and deaf when it comes to this question of being servants. Carson writes, “Careful handling of the Bible will enable us to ‘hear’ it a little better.” I would also add that careful listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit will make us humble and “wash each other’s feet.” We need to serve others in need. We must not close our eyes. We must not only say, “God bless you.” We have hundreds of opportunities every day to be servants at the work place, in our neighborhood, and in our churches. We must see the needs around us and be ready to follow Jesus’ example. Jesus got up from supper and laid aside his garments. He got out of His