This post is a part of the Catholic Teen Life Lenten Journey.
We'll look at the passage that the theme "Washing Feet" is based on. I've modeled the first part of this post after the Mini Bible Study- Proverbs 31 post from a few months ago, and the last part gives some more details about our upcoming Lenten journey.
Mini Bible Study:
John 13:1 - "Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end."
This verse sets the stage for the scene. We are at the Last Supper. Jesus knows that His time is coming, and He spends His last hours of freedom loving His disciples to the fullest.
John 13:2-4- "The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist."
At this point, the disciples are in the middle of supper. The plan to capture and kill Jesus has already been set in motion, and Judas is under the control of the devil. Despite all of that, and knowing that Judas will betray him, Jesus prepares Himself to serve His disciples by washing their feet.
Jesus knew He came from God and that He was God- and yet He took on the form of a slave in order to teach us what true service looks like.
John 13:5- "Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist."
Washing feet was the role of a servant in Jesus' time. Mostly everyone wore sandals, and feet were dirty and often bloodied from walking everywhere. The servants of a household, as a gesture of hospitality, would wash the feet of those who entered their master's household. In washing His disciple's feet- even the feet of the one who would betray Him- He shows to His disciples how they are to serve the world.
John 13:6-8- "He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, 'Master, are you going to wash my feet?'
Jesus answered and said to him, 'What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.' Peter said to him, 'You will never wash my feet.' Jesus answered him, 'Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.'”
Peter did not want Jesus to wash his feet because he knew He should be the one serving Jesus- not the other way around, and presumably because he knew how dirty his feet were. Peter did not yet know that the ultimate act of love and service- Christ laying down His life- was still to come. Jesus tells Him that unless He allows Him to wash his feet, He will not have any inheritance with Him. THIS ALLUDES TO CONFESSION...
John13:9-11-"Simon Peter said to him, 'Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.' Jesus said to him, 'Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all.' For he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, 'Not all of you are clean.'”
..... Peter hears this and immediately wants to be completely made clean. Jesus says that whoever has bathed (Baptism) has no need except to have His feet washed (which the Lord does for us when we receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation!) Even though the Lord has washed us in Baptism our souls still take on the dirt and dust of the world because of our sins. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession) Jesus comes to us and washes our "feet" and purifies our souls of the dirt and dust that remain!
St. Ambrose and St. Bernard believe that the washing of the feet came before the Institution of the Eucharist (which is not mentioned in John's Gospel) to show that great purity is expected of those who receive the Eucharist. This attributed to the Church's teaching that no one who is in a state of mortal sin should receive the Holy Eucharist. (Read more about this here.) However, since Jesus purifies a soul of venial sins when He enters it upon the reception of the Eucharist, we are not required to confess all of our venial sins before receiving communion. (CCC 1393)
John 13: 12-13- "So when he had washed their feet [and] put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, 'Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am.'"
After Jesus washes His disciples' feet, He affirms that, yes, He is their teacher and master....
John 13: 14-16- "'If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do. Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him.'"
... but that does not excuse Him from serving them. In fact, He shows them that the entire point of leadership is servitude. Love is self-giving. Love is an action. When we love someone, we are to serve them joyfully and selflessly. Our Lord did this practically by washing His disciple's feet, and then supernaturally in His sacrifice of Himself on the cross. All of us- no matter our role in society- are called to serve. The Christian life is one of love, and therefore one of service.
John 13:17- "'If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it.'"
If we understand that we, as Christians, are all called to serve and love our neighbor as Christ loves and serves us, the Lord calls us blessed if we put it into practice, which....
...IS OUR GOAL IN THIS LENTEN SEASON!!!
We are going to try as best we can to serve others selflessly and totally, just as Christ did in washing His disciples' feet and later in His sacrifice on Love on the Cross... As we do these things for others each day, we serve Christ. Together, we will serve by practicing the Lenten pillars of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, and by offering the things that we do for specific intentions. Though not all the things we do will have a direct impact on others (because we are teenagers and many of us have little time, money, resources, or ways to do this on our own) we will offer what we do to Our Lord for the intentions of others and serve them through our prayers and sacrifices in that way. In all that we do, we will be serving Christ; giving back to Him by putting into action what He taught us by washing His disciples' feet.
I hope that this (brief) study of the passage that our Lenten Journey is based on will get you even more excited to jump into this journey of love and service! We're less than a week away!
Sources I used to write this post:
https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/hcc/john-13.html
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/13
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