In the round of the liturgical year there are certain texts which we might hear only once. John’s account of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet is one such text. We hear this at Maundy Thursday at the solemn beginning of the Triduum.
Today’s Gospel verses come straight after the washing of the feet and this context gives Jesus’ words a very particular power:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
no servant is greater than his master,
no messenger is greater than the man who sent him.’
Jesus makes his love for his disciples concrete and real by bending right down to the floor and doing what would usually be the job of a female slave. In the action of washing the disciples’ feet we have the Gospel in microcosm: serve one another in love. From the smallest deeds of simple kindness to the greatest deeds of selfless love we image Christ the Foot-washer.
How can you image Christ today?