Foot washing?

soldier of light · Feb 25, 2025

Jesus seems to say that a clean body is one who Christ has cleansed from sin. Note that Judas wasn't clean. Jesus is talking about his sin not his hygiene. So why the foot washing? It must be spiritual as well? What does it represent? Or is it just a simple act of servitude?

CLEEB · Tuesday at 5:09 PM

soldier of light said:
Jesus seems to say that a clean body is one who Christ has cleansed from sin. Note that Judas wasn't clean. Jesus is talking about his sin not his hygiene. So why the foot washing? It must be spiritual as well? What does it represent? Or is it just a simple act of servitude?

Jesus said, let him who is greatest among you be the servant of all. Yes, Jesus was indeed demonstrated this spiritual principle. After the foot washing he said, John 13:14 Carnal minds take this literally but Jesus is giving an example of love and service to others. It was common practice in those times to wash the feet of a guest in your house to show hospitality and be a gracious host since traveling in sandals would cause the feet to be dusty and dirty. This is not a practice today. Today we may offer food or drink and a comfortable chair to sit in. It is showing love and service to others. Some churches practice foot washing without this understanding and since it is not a common practice today makes people feel uncomfortable. They have no understanding.

Dan Perez · Tuesday at 5:40 PM

CLEEB said:
Jesus said, let him who is greatest among you be the servant of all. Yes, Jesus was indeed demonstrated this spiritual principle. After the foot washing he said, John 13:14 Carnal minds take this literally but Jesus is giving an example of love and service to others. It was common practice in those times to wash the feet of a guest in your house to show hospitality and be a gracious host since traveling in sandals would cause the feet to be dusty and dirty. This is not a practice today. Today we may offer food or drink and a comfortable chair to sit in. It is showing love and service to others. Some churches practice foot washing without this understanding and since it is not a common practice today makes people feel uncomfortable. They have no understanding.

And why did Jesus wash the disciple feet. ?

In EX 30:19 AARON. and sons always had to wash HANDS and FEET

And verse 20 would kill them. IF they did not WASH HANDS and Feet

Why , because the in. Rev 1:6 the 12 apostles will sit on 12 thrones JUDGING ISRAWL

dan p

CLEEB · Tuesday at 5:49 PM

Dan Perez said:
And why did Jesus wash the disciple feet. ?

In EX 30:19 AARON. and sons always had to wash HANDS and FEET

And verse 20 would kill them. IF they did not WASH HANDS and Feet

Why , because the in. Rev 1:6 the 12 apostles will sit on 12 thrones JUDGING ISRAWL

dan p

Jesus was not of the priesthood of Aaron / Levitical but of Melchizedek. Hebrews 7:7 You attempt to connect what Jesus did with the Levitical system will not apply. If Jesus was on Earth today he would not be a priest. Hebrews 8:4 Jesus could not even be a priest under the law because he came from Judah not Levi. You have your wires crossed and your comment has short circuited.

Dan Perez · Tuesday at 6:32 PM

CLEEB said:
Jesus was not of the priesthood of Aaron / Levitical but of Melchizedek. Hebrews 7:7 You attempt to connect what Jesus did with the Levitical system will not apply. If Jesus was on Earth today he would not be a priest. Hebrews 8:4 Jesus could not even be a priest under the law because he came from Judah not Levi. You have your wires crossed and your comment has short circuited.

Maybe your wires. are not there. ??

Read Heb 5:6-14 , PLEASE as I have to go as I am at work !!

Christ will be a HIGH . PRIEST DURING THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM

dan p

Bob Crowley · Wednesday at 4:07 AM

The foot washing was an act of service. God, in the form of God the Son, stooped down and washed the dusty feet of His disciples.

At Easter Catholic priests do the same thing on Holy Thursday, in a ritual enactment of Christ's service.

Lost4words · Wednesday at 6:13 AM

They walk right past my dirty paws at that mass!

Bob Crowley · Wednesday at 8:49 AM

You need to sit and hold your paws up first. There's no point in running up and down the aisles barking your head off and hoping they'll notice. :preach:

The Liturgist · Thursday at 10:00 AM

In the Syriac Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and I think the Coptic Orthodox churches, on Great and Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday), just before the vespers for Great and Holy Friday, the bishop, who is often very elderly, will wash the feet of the boys who are typically tonsured as Psaltis or in some cases readers, usually ages 8-12, which is a tradition beautiful to see, the greatest serving the least, in clear physical discomfort (it is not easy to ask a 75 year old bishop to get on his knees to do that); of course the act is at present symbolic because you can darn well bet the parents have ensured the feet of those youths are quite clean, although historically, this would not have been the case due to the poverty of the Oriental Orthodox churches, the desert terrain, and in many cases, the youth not having shoes or at best having sandals, due, once again, to reasons of poverty, so the act was more than symbolic given that it would have been impossible for anyone to get to the church without some degree of dust or dirt, especially the youths.

bbbbbbb · Thursday at 10:26 AM

Everybody who went outside to walk on the filthy streets and roads washed their feet when they returned home. If there were slaves or servants the job was done by the lowest servant. It was a job that everyone wanted to avoid if at all possible.

CLEEB · Thursday at 2:17 PM

H

bbbbbbb said:
Everybody who went outside to walk on the filthy streets and roads washed their feet when they returned home. If there were slaves or servants the job was done by the lowest servant. It was a job that everyone wanted to avoid if at all possible.

He that is the greatest among you is the servant of all. What Jesus did by washing the feet of the disciples was demonstrating this very thing but ignorant people have turned into a repetitive ritual that is meaningless.

bbbbbbb · Thursday at 9:10 PM

CLEEB said:
H

He that is the greatest among you is the servant of all. What Jesus did by washing the feet of the disciples was demonstrating this very thing but ignorant people have turned into a repetitive ritual that is meaningless.

I agree completely. Thank you!

DragonFox91 · Thursday at 9:37 PM

That's who he is. He loves even his enemies. He blesses those who curse & betray him.

The Liturgist · 2025-11-28T00:14:36-0600

bbbbbbb said:
I agree completely. Thank you!

I don’t think the liturgical practice in the Oriental Orthodox churches is meaningless at all. It requires humility on the part of the bishop; pride is toxic to bishops and monastics, and most of our bishops are also monastics. The function of the liturgy is to demonstrate the greatest serving the least to the congregation, to inspire piety in the youths whose feet are washed (also historically, in churches in the deserts of Syria, Iraq and Egypt and the beautiful but rugged countryside of Armenia and Lebanon, to relieve real discomfort in preparation for Pascha), and to remind the bishop of his role by forcing him to humble himself as Christ did.

The Eastern Orthodox version is less moving in my personal opinion, but still meaningful. This is one of those cases where the OO managed to get an edge on us liturgically (another being the lovely variable fractions of the Coptic Rite, the colorful vesture of the Syriac Orthodox Rite and, theoretically, the diversity of West Syriac anaphorae, and also the longer Coptic and Ethiopian liturgies, which maintain superb quality despite an increase in quantity).

Also historically Western Christians would give alms on Maundy Thursday in lieu of foot washing, which would not have at the time been meaningless.

However those restorationist churches in which everyone washes everyone else’s feet quarterly before the Eucharist has been celebrated have I think overdone it.

bbbbbbb · 2025-11-28T14:48:33-0600

The Liturgist said:
I don’t think the liturgical practice in the Oriental Orthodox churches is meaningless at all. It requires humility on the part of the bishop; pride is toxic to bishops and monastics, and most of our bishops are also monastics. The function of the liturgy is to demonstrate the greatest serving the least to the congregation, to inspire piety in the youths whose feet are washed (also historically, in churches in the deserts of Syria, Iraq and Egypt and the beautiful but rugged countryside of Armenia and Lebanon, to relieve real discomfort in preparation for Pascha), and to remind the bishop of his role by forcing him to humble himself as Christ did.

The Eastern Orthodox version is less moving in my personal opinion, but still meaningful. This is one of those cases where the OO managed to get an edge on us liturgically (another being the lovely variable fractions of the Coptic Rite, the colorful vesture of the Syriac Orthodox Rite and, theoretically, the diversity of West Syriac anaphorae, and also the longer Coptic and Ethiopian liturgies, which maintain superb quality despite an increase in quantity).

Also historically Western Christians would give alms on Maundy Thursday in lieu of foot washing, which would not have at the time been meaningless.

However those restorationist churches in which everyone washes everyone else’s feet quarterly before the Eucharist has been celebrated have I think overdone it.

I think that rather then going through a ritual of washing perfectly clean and healthy feet, it would be much more humbling to wash a pair of really filthy, diseased feet. I have the greatest respect for individuals who have sacrificed themselves to care for the poor, sick and wretched outcasts of society.

Bob Crowley · 2025-11-28T21:52:02-0600

bbbbbbb said:
I think that rather then going through a ritual of washing perfectly clean and healthy feet, it would be much more humbling to wash a pair of really filthy, diseased feet. I have the greatest respect for individuals who have sacrificed themselves to care for the poor, sick and wretched outcasts of society.

You can always set the example yourself.

bbbbbbb · 2025-11-28T22:11:39-0600

Bob Crowley said:
You can always set the example yourself.

True enough.

The Liturgist · 2025-11-29T03:02:56-0600

bbbbbbb said:
I think that rather then going through a ritual of washing perfectly clean and healthy feet, it would be much more humbling to wash a pair of really filthy, diseased feet.

I’ve done that personally - an elderly gentleman and veteran in his late 70s in a situation of poverty known to me.

However, from a liturgical perspective, it would be an embarrassment to the recipient to do that in front of a congregation, and there are real mystagogical and emotional benefits for all participants.

And also I would note, the fact that the boys of the church now have clean and (and mostly healthy, but this isn’t guaranteed; flat footedness and various disorders of the bone structure are unfortunately not uncommon) feet is a very recent phenomenon made possible by the improvement in the standard of living in the US and the Middle East in the late 20th century. So the idea that this ritual is hollow because the feet in question do not require being washed is a new concept, based on a very recent turn of events, and in my view it would be quite wrong to abolish this liturgy on that basis. For example, suppose there should be a collapse of our technological civilization due to some catastrophe? As it is, for reasons I will explain, there are two countries with substantial, in one case, a majority Oriental Orthodox population, where the conditions I mentioned do not exist, and abolishing this liturgy now would result in it not being done under such conditions, aside from the loss of mystagogical definition.

In the case of Ethiopia, I don’t know if they do this particular liturgy, although I should like to find out, but if they do, that country, which is home the largest Oriental Orthodox church, the condition of health and cleanliness would unfortunately exist only in the wealthier parts of Addis Ababa and certain other cities and in the diaspora, since Ethiopia and Eritrea (which became independent in the early 1990s in a war that followed the collapse of the Derg regime) have both suffered poverty, famine and in the case of Eritrea, a brutal and oppressive dictatorship, ever since the Communist Derg regime came to power in the 1970s, strangling the Christian emperor Haile Selassie*, and before that endured nearly a decade of oppression by the Italian fascist regime of Mussolini.

But if you want to find examples of Eastern and Oriental Orthodox priests and bishops who have done a lot for those in need, including washing their feet, our synaxaria is full of them, into the 20th century, for example, St. John Maximovitch of Shanghai and San Francisco. Likewise the Roman Catholics and many Protestant denominations have done superb work; Mother Theresa, an Albanian Catholic, comes to mind (Albania also has a large Eastern Orthodox population; the evil and stupid communist dictator Enver Hoxha tried to suppress all religions but as soon as his regime collapsed, the Christian faith reasserted itself; alas so too did Islam make a comeback). But Mother Theresa is far from the only example. Indeed the charitable operations of the Roman Catholic Church are the boast of all Christendom in my view; their charitable operations are more numerous, larger and better organized than those of anyone else.

* Haile Selassie it should be noted was opposed to Rastafarianism and attempted to convert the Rastas to Orthodoxy, sending missionaries to them, with some success. Nonetheless to the chagrin of all Egyptian and Ethiopian Christians you will find some Rastas who claim to be Coptic, which they aren’t (they only claim this because the Ethiopians were part of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria until the mid 20th century); both the Coptic and Ethiopian churches take a very dim view of marijuana use, and what is more, the Ethiopian church even strictly limits alcohol consumption; Ethiopian Orthodox Christians get one ration of a mild church-brewed beer along with bread at a few vigils throughout the year, before standing all night in prayer, that being the limit.

bbbbbbb · 2025-11-29T07:55:43-0600

The Liturgist said:
I’ve done that personally - an elderly gentleman and veteran in his late 70s in a situation of poverty known to me.

However, from a liturgical perspective, it would be an embarrassment to the recipient to do that in front of a congregation, and there are real mystagogical and emotional benefits for all participants.

And also I would note, the fact that the boys of the church now have clean and (and mostly healthy, but this isn’t guaranteed; flat footedness and various disorders of the bone structure are unfortunately not uncommon) feet is a very recent phenomenon made possible by the improvement in the standard of living in the US and the Middle East in the late 20th century. So the idea that this ritual is hollow because the feet in question do not require being washed is a new concept, based on a very recent turn of events, and in my view it would be quite wrong to abolish this liturgy on that basis. For example, suppose there should be a collapse of our technological civilization due to some catastrophe? As it is, for reasons I will explain, there are two countries with substantial, in one case, a majority Oriental Orthodox population, where the conditions I mentioned do not exist, and abolishing this liturgy now would result in it not being done under such conditions, aside from the loss of mystagogical definition.

In the case of Ethiopia, I don’t know if they do this particular liturgy, although I should like to find out, but if they do, that country, which is home the largest Oriental Orthodox church, the condition of health and cleanliness would unfortunately exist only in the wealthier parts of Addis Ababa and certain other cities and in the diaspora, since Ethiopia and Eritrea (which became independent in the early 1990s in a war that followed the collapse of the Derg regime) have both suffered poverty, famine and in the case of Eritrea, a brutal and oppressive dictatorship, ever since the Communist Derg regime came to power in the 1970s, strangling the Christian emperor Haile Selassie*, and before that endured nearly a decade of oppression by the Italian fascist regime of Mussolini.

But if you want to find examples of Eastern and Oriental Orthodox priests and bishops who have done a lot for those in need, including washing their feet, our synaxaria is full of them, into the 20th century, for example, St. John Maximovitch of Shanghai and San Francisco. Likewise the Roman Catholics and many Protestant denominations have done superb work; Mother Theresa, an Albanian Catholic, comes to mind (Albania also has a large Eastern Orthodox population; the evil and stupid communist dictator Enver Hoxha tried to suppress all religions but as soon as his regime collapsed, the Christian faith reasserted itself; alas so too did Islam make a comeback). But Mother Theresa is far from the only example. Indeed the charitable operations of the Roman Catholic Church are the boast of all Christendom in my view; their charitable operations are more numerous, larger and better organized than those of anyone else.

* Haile Selassie it should be noted was opposed to Rastafarianism and attempted to convert the Rastas to Orthodoxy, sending missionaries to them, with some success. Nonetheless to the chagrin of all Egyptian and Ethiopian Christians you will find some Rastas who claim to be Coptic, which they aren’t (they only claim this because the Ethiopians were part of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria until the mid 20th century); both the Coptic and Ethiopian churches take a very dim view of marijuana use, and what is more, the Ethiopian church even strictly limits alcohol consumption; Ethiopian Orthodox Christians get one ration of a mild church-brewed beer along with bread at a few vigils throughout the year, before standing all night in prayer, that being the limit.

As always, thank you for your excellent and very enlightening reply. It seems that virtually every branch of Christianity has had and continues to have cults that shoot off from it, Rastafarianism being one of the better-known examples.

The Liturgist · 2025-11-29T09:08:10-0600

bbbbbbb said:
As always, thank you for your excellent and very enlightening reply. It seems that virtually every branch of Christianity has had and continues to have cults that shoot off from it, Rastafarianism being one of the better-known examples.

While that’s true, the situation here is literally the opposite: the Ethiopian Orthodox converting non-Christian Rastafarians away from their decadent and indulgent false religion to the true religion of Christ our God.

To be clear, Rastafarianism didn’t consist of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians who decided to reject 1600 years of Christian teaching in order to smoke massive amounts of marijuana and perform obnoxious Reggae music, but rather, consisted of Jamaicans who heard of Emperor Haile Selassie, and, contrary to the wishes of the Emperor, decided that he was God, for reasons derived mainly from the color of his skin and the connections between Ethopia and ancient Israel. Among Ethiopians the small Rasta community that immigrated there is not well regarded.

Neither the Emperor, nor the Ethiopian church, refused to take action, however - actions to evangelize the people of the Carribean, including the Rastas, were undertaken, and these have been very successful in converting many Rastas to Christ.

+

Now that being said, Ethiopia did have, for several centuries, two schismatic, heretical sects which competed with the Orthodox for control of the church, both of which had seriously deranged teachings, however, through the grace of God, the Orthodox party associated with the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and most members of the Imperial household triumphed. But the schism was probably the worst one to happen to an Oriental Orthodox church since the Maronites broke away from the Syriac Orthodox Church in (many believe this was because the Maronites opted to embrace the Monothelite heresy being promoted at the time as a means of achieving EO-OO reconciliation, which resulted in St. Maximos the Confessor losing his tongue, and which also resulted in Pope Honorius I being the only legitimate Bishop of Rome (not counting anti-Popes) to ever be anathematized as a heretic by the Roman Catholic Church post-mortem).

Foot washing?

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Jesus I Trust In You

Well-Known Member

Traditional Liturgical Christian

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Traditional Liturgical Christian

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Traditional Liturgical Christian

Well-Known Member

Traditional Liturgical Christian

Similar threads