FOOT-WASHING ORDINANCE OR EXAMPLE?
Part One
In 1987 an article was published by ACD (Association for Christian Development, WA) called "Footwashing - Ordinance or Example?" They put forth many arguments concerning this topic. I answered them at the time. Two of the main ministers of this organization at the time was the founder Ken Westby and also the now late Dr.Charles Dorothy. I was somewhat surprised at what I read in their article because I had met both of them, even had a Feast of Tabernacles with Dr. Dorothy present under their banner. I met and talked with Charles Dorothy a lot over that Feast time. I really liked him as a humble man. He was very down to earth, easy to dine and relax with, and a very fine Flamenco Guitar player. He was also a scholar of Hebrew and Greek. Dr.Dorothy had managed to show Ken Westby and the ACD that they were wrong in their many years of teaching people that the Feasts of the Lord were not to be observed. Now there was a transition among them to return to observing the Festivals of God as they had done when part of the old WCG. I respected Ken Wesby for being willing to be corrected, for realizing they had been wrong in that teaching, and a willingness to change to the truth once more. So their article on "footwashing" was somewhat of a shock to me. I felt it needed to be answered. I will now begin to present to you their entire article as it was in 1987 and my answers to their arguments. I have not had contact with the ACD and Ken Westby for many years now. This old article I present to you with my 1987 answers MAY NOT BE THEIR PRESENT STAND ON THE MATTER OF FOOTWASHING! I ask the reader to please keep that in mind. I really do not know what their teaching is today on this part of the Passover observance. But the article and my answers I hope will be of service to those who are today questioning this practice within the service of the memorial of our Lord's death. ACD: On a solemn evening almost 2,000 years ago, a young teacher took a basin of water and washed the feet of His twelve students. And ever since there has been controversy over the meaning of what He did. Was He simply teaching a lesson - illustrating a point? Or did He intend for His followers down to this day to wash one another's feet as a religious ordinance or ceremony? Different Points of View That teacher, of course, was Jesus Christ. And Christians down through the centuries have had different understandings of the meaning of His washing the disciples' feet(recorded in John 13:1-17). Some have taken Jesus' example as an ordinance to be performed by all believers for all time. They feel a foot washing ceremony should accompany the taking of the bread and wine in commemorating Christ's death. Some believe it should be done only by the religious leaders. Another point of view is that Christ was not instituting a ceremonial ordinance at all. Since the people of that day walked dusty roads in open sandals, the washing of feet was part of their daily routine. Christ was instructing His disciples to serve one another throughout their lives, whether that required performing even the most menial tasks like the washing of others' dirty feet. Since people today wear shoes, walk on sidewalks, and ride in cars, 20th century Christians should serve others in ways more in keeping with our time and circumstances. Christ did not intend for the disciples to literally wash one another's feet as a ceremony. Rather, He was simply giving them a poignant example - as an object lesson of the attitude of service they should have towards one another throughout the year. Keith answers: I do take Jesus' example and words of instruction to mean that Christ was instituting an ordinance to be performed by all believers for all time. Certainly this ordinance is teaching the lesson that God's children are to serve one another throughout their lives. ACD: The First Feetwashing There can be no doubt that the washing of feet was a very practical part of daily living in the time of Christ. People wore open sandals and walked dusty and muddy roads - feet got dirty. A good host would naturally provide water for his guests so they could wash their feet and be refreshed. See Genesis 18:4; 19:2; 24:32; 1 Samuel 25:41; Luke 7:38, 44. Naturally, the washing of feet was considered a menial job - a person would normally wash his own feet, or a servant would wash them for him. The evening before His crucifixion, Christ gathered with His disciples for a final meal (John 13:1-17). After supper Jesus did something that shocked the disciples. He washed their feet. This would be like the company president shining the shoes of his employers. It just didn't make sense to the disciples for their Master and Teacher to be washing their feet. Yet it taught a lesson that they needed very much to learn. That very evening the disciples had argued about which of them would be the greatest (Luke 22:24-27). Christ responded, ".......but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve." And Christ, in washing their feet, was illustrating in a very powerful way the type of lives He wanted them to live - lives characterized by service. As He served them, so they should serve one another as a way of life. Keith answers: The washing of feet referred to in the first paragraph above was done when the visitor entered the home. The foot washing that Jesus performed had nothing to do with the host foot washing of his guests. First, Jesus was not gathering with His disciples just for a "final meal" (Mat.26:1,2,17-20). It was during (Greek of John 13:2) this Passover supper meal that Jesus performed the foot washing service. Yes, this service of Jesus did illustrate the type of lives He wanted them to live towards each other. We believe Jesus knew that His disciples would need a yearly reminder of this, just as they would need a yearly reminder of what His death for them should mean in their lives. So He instituted a new ordinance to accompany the New testament Passover ordinance. An ordinance that is physical (foot washing) to remind us annually of the more important life style of serving our brother with humility. ACD: Not An Ordinance Jesus went on to explain to the disciples what He had done to them. He said; "Ye call me master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you" (John 13: 13-15). Note that Jesus said nothing about WHEN or HOW they were to wash one another's feet. And there is no record of the disciples immediately taking up pans of water to wash feet. In fact, there is no example anywhere in the New testament of feetwashing being done as a ceremonial ritual. Paul, in giving the Corinthian Church the instructions which Christ delivered to him (1 Cor.11:23), mentioned nothing about feetwashing. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all omitted Christ's washing of feet in their accounts of the Last Supper. Evidently not one of them considered the incident to be an integral part of the bread and wine memorial Jesus instituted that evening. Only John mentions it, and he was writing 60-70 years after the event and 30-40 years after Matthew, Mark, and Luke had written their accounts. John's Gospel records many of the profound teachings of Christ about love and service (see John 13-17). Jesus' example of washing the disciples feet that night fit in as a vivid illustration of the spiritual principle He was teaching. There is simply no Biblical proof that the washing of the feet was intended by Christ as an ordinance that should be done by Christians today. Rather, His one-time example of feetwashing illustrates the attitude that should characterize a Christian's life 365 days a year. Keith Answers: I strongly disagree with the statement "Jesus said nothing about WHEN or HOW they were to wash one another's feet." The WHEN is given by Jesus' example - at Passover. He could have performed this foot washing on another day or on one of the other occasions (there was more than one time they argued over who was the greatest - see a Harmony of the Gospels book) when they disputed among themselves as to who would be the chief. Jesus clearly said, "I have GIVEN YOU AN EXAMPLE THAT YOU SHOULD DO AS I HAVE DONE TO YOU." The example was at Passover time. The HOW is simply to wash THE FEET of one or more of Jesus' disciples. Does God have to give us a text book on "How to wash feet"? I think not!
Because we cannot find another example in the NT of Passover foot washing does not automatically nullify the example and specific command Jesus gave us. Turn to Matthew 5:40,41. Can we find anywhere in the NT a specific instance where a man was sued at the law, his coat taken away and he gave also his cloak? Finding no such happening, does that automatically "do away" with this instruction from Jesus? Can we find in the NT someone who was compelled to go a mile and he went two mile? Not finding this happening does not annul the command of Jesus! Can we find in the NT where those commands and precepts are repeated? No we cannot! But that fact does not make them void. God does not HAVE to repeat Himself to make it true. Mankind may have to do so, and have more than one witness, BUT GOD DOES NOT! He is always true though every man be a liar. Concerning Paul writing to the Corinthians about things Christ had delivered to him. Did Paul in his letter to them write about ALL AND EVERYTHING that Jesus had taught him? I think not! Paul was concerned with only TWO ASPECTS of the Passover service in the main - the parts that were being perverted, and what had been told to him were being done that should not be done, which were: 1) Getting drunk on the wine. 2) Making a big meal out of it and letting the poor go hungry. He tells them the way it should be regards these two parts of the Passover service. Presumably, they were not in error with the foot washing part of the Passover. If they had only been in error as to the taking of the wine, Paul would have only corrected them on that. His letter is predominately a corrections of SPECIFICS which were brought to his attention by another party. The argument of silence is not one that I would like to use when I face my Savior in the judgment. The argument of Matthew, Mark, and Luke not considering the incident to be an integral part because they did not mention it(the foot washing), reminds me of the Church of Christ minister telling me that they kept the laws of God that could be found in the NT. If they could not find a law repeated in the NT they did not observe it. Or the group that told me they only followed a point of instruction if it was repeated two or three times, for the scripture said: "in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall a thing be established." They forgot the context of the verse, that it was for MAN within a court of law, and it was to do with SIN or the DEATH penalty(Deut.17:6; Num.35:30; Deut.19:15). God really does NOT HAVE to repeat Himself or be backed up by anyone, He is God, and He is PERFECT, His word is sure the first time out of His mouth. God is NOT DOUBLE MINDED as man is (James 1:8,17). And there was the man who said to me he would only follow the Scriptures that Jesus had, and the four Gospels. Only MATTHEW mentions that Jesus would be "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Evidently Mark, Luke, and John, did not find the ONLY SIGN that Jesus would give to His Messiahship that important. John in his Gospel mentions many things that Matthew, Mark, and Luke obviously did not find an important or intrinsic part of the ministry of Jesus, if we use the same argument. The argument of this man only mentioning this, and that man only mentioning that, and this was written by this man so many years after this other man wrote, is an argument I have seen used by many individuals and groups to "do away" with just about any law, command or instruction that God or Jesus ever gave. The proof that the washing of feet was intended by Christ as an ordinance that should be done by Christians TODAY, is found in the CLEAR words of Jesus - so clear a child could understand: "If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, YOU ALSO SHOULD WASH ONE ANOTHER'S FEET. FOR I HAVE GIVEN YOU AN EXAMPLE, THAT YOU SHOULD DO AS I HAVE DONE TO YOU.......IT YOU KNOW THESE THINGS, HAPPY ARE YOU IF YOU DO THEM" (John 13:14-17). |
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