Article March 2, 1974 Issue

SPIRITUALIZING THOUGHT by washing one another's feet

LEE ZEUNERT JOHNSON

The early Christians were reckless in their love and generosity toward others. Their neighbors did not know what to make of them—these impractical innocents who spent their lives absurdly sacrificing themselves and their worldly goods for the well-being of their fellowmen, Christians and non-Christians alike.

Obviously, for them Jesus' "new commandment," which is prescribed three times in John's Gospel, was radically novel and pointed. The early Christians knew this was what Christianity was all about. It was their common denominator, a commandment straight from the Master, for them the "eleventh" commandment. "A new commandment I give unto you," Jesus had said, "That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."^{ John 13:34, 35;}

The Master acted out a parable to teach a lesson on love at the Last Supper.^{ See vv. 1-15;} According to John's account, Jesus sat or knelt on the floor by his disciples and washed their feet. Providing the bread and the cup at that supper was a natural enough thing for a host to do. Washing the feet of the guests was something else again, for this constituted a demeaning chore, a job left to a household slave. Jesus even removed his dinner garments to perform the task. Clearly the emphasis of the account is on unrestrained self-effacing love of the purest sort.

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