THURSDAY: ARE YOU GOING TO WASH MY FEET?

 April 2. 2026

John 13:1-15

13 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

² The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴ so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

⁸ “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹ “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

¹⁰ Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

¹² When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 

Today is Maundy Thursday, a day of Holy Week that Jesus' followers remember the last evening Jesus shared with his disciples in the upper room before his arrest and crucifixion. Maundy Thursday marks three key events in Jesus’ last week: his washing of his disciples’ feet, his institution of the Lord’s Supper, and his new commandment to love one another. The name “Maundy Thursday” comes from the Latin “mandatum novum”, referring to the “new commandment” Jesus taught his disciples (John 13:34). In other words, this is “new commandment Thursday.”

 

We read in Verse 1 above, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.” On the night before the cross, Jesus does something unexpected.

He kneels at the feet of each of the disciples.

The One who has all authority over heaven and earth, wraps a towel around His waist and begins washing His disciples’ feet,  even the ones who will fail Him, deny Him, and betray Him. Let that sink in.

This is the heart of Jesus:
love that serves, even when it knows the cost.

Peter resists at first, like many of us, uncomfortable with being served. But Jesus makes it clear to Peter and to you and me, that we cannot follow Him unless we first let Him wash us.

That’s where this Maundy Thursday begins:
not with what we do for Jesus, but with what He does for us.

Then Jesus gives a command:
“Do as I have done for you.”

Simply put Jesus is saying:

Love like this.
Serve like this.
Humble yourself like this.

Today, we are invited to receive His grace…
and then to give it away.

LET'S PRAY

Jesus,
You knelt to serve and showed us what love looks like.
Wash us with Your grace,
and teach us to love others the same way.
Amen.