ACC ~ John 13 v1 - 5

OVERVIEW:

The passion narrative begins before the Passover feast (THEODORE). The Passover was a type of Christ the Passover lamb sacrificed for us who delivers us from the bondage of sin (AUGUSTINE). Here our Lord prepares a blessed “passing over” for his disciples and the whole church when he intercedes for them in prayer (LEO). As he is about to depart from the world, he will leave his emptiness to which he subjected himself at his incarnation in order to return to the fullness of his Godhead (ORIGEN). He leaves nothing left undone for those he loves (CHRYSOSTOM) who are left in the very world he is about to leave (CYRIL). He loves them to the end in giving his own life (BEDE), even as he himself is the end (AUGUSTINE).

The order of the washing, which normally would have been conducted before they sat down to eat, serves to signal a higher more spiritual washing that will occur (ORIGEN). Judas is present since not even the prospect of table fellowship will stop him (CHRYSOSTOM). But it is questionable as to whether Jesus washed Judas’s feet or not, since his betrayal shows he was not clothed with the full armor of God (ORIGEN) as he slept the sleep of avarice (AMBROSE). Nonetheless, Jesus was in control of the whole situation since everything had been given into his hands (ORIGEN), including Judas (AUGUSTINE) and the salvation of the faithful (CHRYSOSTOM). Again, one should notice the washing which occurs after the meal, demonstrating a secondary washing was needed (ORIGEN).

He who feeds everything under the heaven received sustenance himself as he reclined with the apostles as a master among servants (SEVERIAN). All of his actions are those of a servant, offering an example for us (CHRYSOSTOM). Jesus began to wash his disciples’ feet as a servant would do, first laying aside the glory of his status as the Word, symbolized by the garment he laid aside (ORIGEN). The Lord of the universe (THEOPHILUS OF ALEXANDRIA) then took up the servant’s towel (AUGUSTINE), a towel of suffering (BEDE), and began to wash his disciples’ feet as only he could (ORIGEN), cleansing their heels so they would not feel the serpent’s bite (AMBROSE).

The text tells us Jesus began to wash the disciples’ feet, but that washing was not complete until he had cleansed them so that they might no longer be defiled (ORIGEN). The Potter of the universe washes his disciples’ feet of clay (ROMANUS), washing not only their feet but their entire body, which was sanctified, and death itself was washed away (IRENAEUS). He humbled himself to teach us a humility that removes any contrast, division or dissension from human beings (THEODORE). Feet that are consecrated in this way are not swift to shed blood or run to evil but instead run to the gospel (GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS).

13:1a | Before the Passover and Jesus’ Departure from This World

BEGINNING OF THE PASSION NARRATIVE

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: From here the Evangelist passes to the story of the passion. Here also, insofar as is possible, he is careful in saying nothing that has already been related by the other [Evangelists], unless the course of the narrative obliges him [to do so], and it is impossible to construct an accurate order of events without reporting part of the facts already related by his colleagues. When he reports those things done and said by our Lord to his disciples, which we do not find to be mentioned by the others in their books, he wants to show that our Savior did not undergo his passion outside his knowledge and expectation but by his free will. Only when he wanted to did he taste death. … In the same way here, by writing, “Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father,” he means that he knew exactly the time of his passion and everything that would happen to him. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 6.13.1. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:252-53.

THE TRUE PASSOVER COMES

AUGUSTINE: Pascha (Passover) is not, as some think, a Greek noun, but it is Hebrew, although there is a remarkable amount of agreement between the two languages over this noun. For inasmuch as the Greek word paschein means “to suffer,” Pascha has been supposed to mean suffering, as if the noun derived its name from Christ’s passion. But in its own language, that is, in Hebrew, Pascha means “Passover,” [1] because the Pascha was then celebrated for the first time by God’s people when, in their flight from Egypt, they passed over the Red Sea. [2] And now, that prophetic emblem is fulfilled in truth when Christ is led as a sheep to the slaughter, [3] that by his blood sprinkled on our doorposts, that is, by the sign of his cross marked on our foreheads, we may be delivered from the perdition awaiting this world, just as Israel was delivered from the bondage and destruction of the Egyptians. We perform a most salutary journey when we pass over from the devil to Christ and from this unstable world to his well-established kingdom. … This name, then, of pascha, which, as I have said, is in Latin called transitus (“pass over”), is interpreted, as it were, for us by the blessed Evangelist when he says, “Before the feast of pascha, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should pass out of this world to the Father.” Here you see we have both pascha and passover. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 55.1. [4]

[1] Lat transitus.

[2] From what follows, Augustine surely meant to emphasize the angel of the Lord passing over the houses of the Israelites when killing the firstborn for Egypt. Perhaps we get a glimpse here of a preacher preaching without his notes.

[3] Is 53:7.

[4] ESUS IS INFORMED THAT LAZARUS IS SICK | JOHN 11:1-5

A MYSTICAL PASSOVER

LEO THE GREAT: The very feast that by us is named Pascha among the Hebrews is called Phase, [1] that is, Passover, as the Evangelist attests, saying, “Before the feast of Pascha, Jesus, knowing that his hour was come when he should pass [2] out of this world unto the Father.” But what kind of nature was it that he passed out of unless it was ours, since the Father was in the Son and the Son in the Father inseparably? But because the Word and the Flesh is one person, the assumed is not separated from the assuming nature, and the honor of being promoted is spoken of as accruing to him that promotes. This is what the apostle says in a passage we have already quoted, “Wherefore also God exalted him and gave him a name that is above every name.” [3] Here, the exaltation of his assumed manhood is no doubt spoken of so that he (in whose sufferings the Godhead remains indivisible) is similarly coeternal in the glory of the Godhead. And to share in this unspeakable gift, the Lord himself was preparing a blessed “passing over” for his faithful ones, when on the very threshold of his passion he interceded not only for his apostles and disciples but also for the whole church, saying, “But not for these only I pray, but for those also who shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one, as you also, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us.” [4] SERMON 72.6. [5]

[1] Lat Phase id transitus dicitur. See the Vulgate, Ex 12:11, est enim Phase (id est transitus) Domini. The form of the word is due to defective transliteration, the correct Hebrew form being Pesach, which is derived from a root that means to pass over or to overleap, and thus points back to the historical origin of the festival.

[2] Gk metabē; Lat transeat.

[3] Phil 2:9.

[4] Jn 17:20-21.

[5] NPNF 2 12:186**; CCL 138A: 447-48.

LEAVING HIS EMPTINESS BEHIND

ORIGEN: Surely this statement does not refer to the idea of a change of place with respect to the Father and the Son toward the one who loves Jesus’ word, nor can it be understood in a spatial sense. Rather, the Word of God, by condescending to us and by being humbled, as it were, in regard to his own worth, when he is present with human beings, is said to change places from this world to the Father. The result is that we also see him in his perfection, returning from the emptying with which he emptied himself [1] alongside us, to his own fullness. [2] ON PRAYER 23.2. [3]

[1] Phil 2:7.

[2] Col 1:19, 2:9; Eph 1:23.

[3] OSW 126*; GCS 3(2):350.

13:1b | He Loved His Own to the End

JESUS LEAVES NOTHING LEFT UNDONE

CHRYSOSTOM: This was not his first inkling that his hour had come. He had known long before that he was going to depart. The Evangelist is most eloquent in calling his death a departure. … Being so near to leaving his disciples, he shows greater love for them. “Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them to the end,” means that he left nothing undone that one who greatly loved should do. Why then didn’t he do this from the beginning? He reserved this for the end so that their love might be increased by it and to prepare them by this consolation for the terrible things that were coming. John calls them “his own” in the sense of personal attachment. … The word was used in another sense in the beginning of the Gospel, “His own received him not.” [1] HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 70.1. [2]

[1] Jn 1:11.

[2] NPNF 1 14:257**.

HE CAME FOR THOSE IN THE WORLD

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The Evangelist says that the Savior, before enduring his suffering for our salvation, was aware that the time of his translation to heaven was now close, “even at the doors,” [1] and he gave a proof of the absolute perfection of his love for his own that were in this world. … All things made by Christ our Savior, all intellectual and reasonable creatures, the powers above, and thrones, and principalities and all things related to these, inasmuch as they have all been made [by him], belong to Christ our Savior as his own possessions. Furthermore, all the rational beings on earth particularly belong to him, inasmuch as he is Lord of all, even though some refuse to adore him as Creator. Therefore he loved his own that were in the world. “It is not with angels that he is concerned” [2] according to the voice of Paul … but rather for the sake of us who are in the world, he the Lord of all has emptied himself and assumed the form of a servant, called to this by his love for us. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 9. [3]

[1] Mt 24:33.

[2] Heb 2:16.

[3] LF 48:172**.

THE PASSOVER CROSS, OLD AND NEW

BEDE: He loved them so much that by that very love he would end his bodily life for a time and soon pass from death to life, from this world to the Father. “Greater love has no one than this, that he should lay down his life for his friends.” [1] And so, each passing over—the one under the Law and the other under the gospel—was consecrated with blood, the former with the paschal lamb, the latter with “Christ, our Passover, who was sacrificed for us.” [2] The latter had his blood poured out on the cross, the former had its blood sprinkled in the manner of a cross in the middle of the lintel and the middle of the door posts. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 2.5. [3]

[1] Jn 15:13.

[2] 1 Cor 5:7.

[3] CS 111:44**.

CHRIST IS THE END. AUGUSTINE: For what do these words “to the end” mean but “to Christ”? “For Christ is the end of the law,” says the apostle, “for righteousness to everyone that believes.” [1] He is the end that consummates, not that consumes. He is the end that we are aiming for, not our end where we perish. It is exactly in this way that we are to understand the passage, “Christ our Passover is sacrificed.” [2] He is our end. We pass into him. For I see that these Gospel words may also be taken in a kind of human sense, that Christ loved his own even unto death, so that this may be the meaning of “he loved them to the end.” This meaning is human, not divine, for it was not merely up to this point that we were loved by him who loves us always and endlessly. God forbid that he whose death could not end should have ended his love at death. Even after death that proud and ungodly rich man loved his five brothers. [3] And is Christ to be thought of as loving us only till death? God forbid, beloved. He would have come in vain with a love for us that lasted till death, if that love had ended there. But perhaps the words “he loved them unto the end” may have to be understood in this way, that he so loved them as to die for them. For this he testified when he said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” [4] TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 55.2. [5]

[1] Rom 10:4.

[2] 1 Cor 5:7.

[3] See Lk 16:27-28.

[4] Jn 15:13.

[5] NPNF 1 7:299-300*; CCL 36:464.

13:2 | Judas Is Ready to Betray

WASHING BEFORE SUPPER

ORIGEN: It seems to me that the Evangelist has not preserved the literal sequence concerning the washing in these words that he might raise our understanding to the spiritual sense of the things in the passage, since those who need to wash their feet wash them before supper and before they recline to eat. The Evangelist, however, passed over that proper time for washing in his account, and now, after he has reclined to eat, Jesus arises from supper, that the teacher and Lord might begin to wash the disciples’ feet after they have eaten. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.11. [1]

[1] FC 89:344*; SC 385:190.

EVEN TABLE FELLOWSHIP DOES NOT STOP JUDAS

CHRYSOSTOM: The Evangelist inserts this as if in astonishment, showing that our Lord was about to wash the feet of the very person who had resolved to betray him. This also proves the great wickedness of Judas that even partaking of the same table, which checks the behavior of even the worst people, did not stop him. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 70.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:257**.

JUDAS NOT CLOTHED WITH THE ARMOR OF GOD

ORIGEN: I would also venture to say, as consistent with the statement, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me,” that he did not wash Judas’s feet, [because] the devil had already put into his heart to betray the teacher and Lord, since the devil found him not clothed in the full armor of God and not having the shield of faith with which one can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. [1] [The devil] is an archer [who] prepares fiery darts for those who do not keep their heart with all watchfulness. [2] … In the case of Judas, therefore, it has been written, “The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him.” Consistently with this you might say of each of those wounded in the heart by the devil, the devil having already put it in the heart of so-and-so that he should commit fornication, and of so-and-so that he should commit fraud, and of so-and-so that, mad for fame, he should submit to the idolatry of those who seem to have rank, and so in the case of the other sins that the devil puts into that heart that is not armed with the shield of faith, by which shield of faith one can quench not one, or two, but all the fiery darts of the wicked one. [3] COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.19-20, 24. [4]

[1] See Eph 6:13-16.

[2] See Prov 4:23.

[3] See Eph 6:16.

[4] FC 89:345-47; SC 385:194-98.

JUDAS SLEEPING THE SLEEP OF AVARICE

AMBROSE: Judas was sleeping; therefore he did not hear the words of Christ. Judas was sleeping, yes, sleeping the sleep of wealth since he sought a reward from his betrayal. The devil saw that he was sleeping, yes, buried in the deep sleep of avarice. He let himself into his heart, wounded the horse and threw the rider whom he had separated from Christ. ON THE PATRIARCHS 7.33. [1]

[1] FC 65:261*; CSEL 32 2:144.

13:3 | All Things in Jesus’ Hands

THE MEANING

ORIGEN: The things, therefore, that were not formerly in Jesus’ hands are given into his hands by the Father. And it is not some things and not others that are given into his hands, but all things. David, too, seeing in the Spirit, says in relation to this, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’” [1] For Jesus’ enemies were also a part of the “all things” that Jesus knew, so far as it was in the power of foreknowledge, to be given to him by the Father. … The Father has given all things into his hands, that is, into his power. For his hands hold all things. Or, the Father [has given all things] “to him,” for his work. “My Father works still, and I work also.” [2] COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.26-27, 34. [3]

[1] Ps 110:1 (109:1 LXX).

[2] Jn 5:17.

[3] FC 89:347, 349**; SC 385:198, 202.

EVEN JUDAS IS IN HIS HANDS

AUGUSTINE: Since the Evangelist was about to relate such a magnificent instance of our Lord’s humility, he first wanted to remind us of his majesty. This is why he says, “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands” … including his betrayer. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 55.6. [1]

“GIVING OVER” REFERS TO SALVATION

CHRYSOSTOM: The Evangelist wonders aloud how one who was so very great, who came from God and went to him and ruled over everything, did not disdain to undertake such an action [of humility]. And by “giving over” I think John means the salvation of the faithful, [2] … not that Christ would in any way be lessened by this action, since he came from God and went to God and possessed all things. But when you hear of “giving over,” you should not think of this action in human terms, because it shows how he honors the Father and demonstrates his unanimity with him. For just as the Father gives over to him, so he also gives over to the Father, as Paul declares saying, “When he shall have given over the kingdom to God, even the Father.” [3] But John here means this in a more human sense, showing his great care for them and declaring his unutterable love in now caring for them as for his own. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 70.1. [4]

[1] NPNF 1 7:300-301**; CCL 36:466.

[2] He then cites as proof of this understanding Mt 11:27; Jn 3:27; 6:44; 17:6.

[3] 1 Cor 15:24.

[4] NPNF 1 14:257**.

13:4 | Jesus Rose from Supper

NOT THE USUAL ORDER OF WASHING

ORIGEN: In bringing to mind the spiritual meaning of the passage, the Evangelist here seems to me not to have observed the literal sequence of the washing. Normally, it is before supper and before sitting down to supper that those who need to wash their feet wash them. But passing over that time in his account, he says that Jesus, having already sat down for supper, arose from supper so that the Teacher and Lord may begin to wash the feet of the disciples after they had supper. For before the supper, they had been washed and were altogether clean. [1] But after that washing they needed a second water for just their feet, that is, the lowest parts of the body. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.11-12. [2]

[1] See Is 1:16.

[2] FC 89:344**; SC 385:190.

THE COMPANY AT SUPPER

SEVERIAN OF GABALA: The whole visible world proclaims the goodness of God, but nothing proclaims it so clearly as his coming among us, by which he whose state was divine assumed the condition of a slave. This was not a lowering of his dignity, but rather a manifestation of his love for us. The awesome mystery that takes place today brings us to the consequence of his action. For what is it that takes place today? The Savior washes the feet of his disciples. … Although he took upon himself everything pertaining to our condition as slaves, he took a slave’s position in a way specially suited to our own arrangements when he rose from the table.

He who feeds everything beneath the heavens was reclining among the apostles, the master among slaves, the fountain of wisdom among the ignorant, the Word among those untrained in the use of words, the source of wisdom among the unlettered. He who nourishes all was reclining and eating with his disciples. He who sustains the whole world was himself receiving sustenance.

Moreover, he was not satisfied with the great favor he showed his servants by sharing a meal with them. Peter, Matthew and Philip, men of the earth, reclined with him, while Michael, Gabriel and the whole army of angels stood by. Oh, the wonder of it! The angels stood by in dread, while the disciples reclined with him with the utmost familiarity!

And even this marvel did not content him. “He rose from the table,” as Scripture says. He who is “clothed in light as in a robe” was clad in a cloak. He who wraps the heavens in clouds wrapped round himself a towel. He who pours the water into the rivers and pools tipped some water into a basin. And he before whom every knee bends in heaven and on earth and under the earth knelt to wash the feet of his disciples. HOMILY ON THE WASHING OF THE FEET. [1]

[1] JFA 50-51; REBy 25:227-28.

THE SIGNS OF HUMILITY

CHRYSOSTOM: Observe how not only by the washing but also in another way he exhibits humility. For it was not before reclining, but after they had all sat down, then he arose. In the next place, he does not merely wash them, but he does so taking off his garments. And he did not even stop here, but he girded himself with a towel. Nor was he satisfied with this, but himself filled [the basin] and did not ask another to fill it. He did all these things himself, showing by all of them that we must do such things when we are engaged in well doing, not merely for the sake of appearance but with every effort. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 70.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:258**.

WHY LAY ASIDE CLOTHING?

ORIGEN: What prevented him from washing the disciples’ feet clothed? This is not a problem at all if we consider (in a manner worthy of Jesus) the garments that he wore while eating and rejoicing with the disciples and what adornment the Word that became flesh wears. But he lays aside that [kind of a garment] that consists in some weaving of words with words and voices with voices, and he becomes more naked in the fashion of a slave, [1] which is signified by “having taken a towel, he girded himself,” both that he might not be completely naked, and that, after washing the disciples’ feet, he might dry them with a more appropriate cloth. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.43-45. [2]

[1] See Phil 2:7.

[2] FC 89:350-51**; SC 385:206.

THE LORD OF THE UNIVERSE HUMBLES HIMSELF

THEOPHILUS OF ALEXANDRIA: What is more contrary to expectation than this, what more awe-inspiring? He who is clothed with light as with a garment [1] is girded with a towel. He who held the waters in the clouds [2] and sealed the abyss with his fearsome name is bound about by a belt. He who gathers the waters of the sea like a wineskin [3] pours water in a bowl. He who covers his upper chambers with waters, [4] with water washed the feet of the disciples. He who measured heaven with his hand’s span and holds the earth in his grasp, [5] with his undefiled palms wiped off the feet of servants. He for whom “every knee bends, of those in heaven, and on earth and under the earth” [6] bowed his neck to attendant servants. The angels saw and recoiled; heaven beheld and shuddered; creation observed and trembled. SERMON ON THE MYSTICAL SUPPER. [7]

[1] Ps 104:2 (103:2 LXX).

[2] Job 26:8.

[3] Ps 33:7 (32:7 LXX).

[4] Ps 104:3 (103:3 LXX).

[5] Is 40:12.

[6] Phil 2:10.

[7] MFC 7:154.

DIVINE HUMILITY IN TAKING THE TOWEL OF A SERVANT

AUGUSTINE: But why should we wonder that he rose from supper and laid aside his garments who, being in the form of God, emptied himself? And why should we wonder if he girded himself with a towel who took on him the form of a servant and was found in the likeness of a man? [1] Why wonder if he poured water into a basin that he used to wash his disciples’ feet who poured his blood upon the earth to wash away the filth of their sins? Why wonder if with the towel in which he was girded he wiped the feet he had washed who with the very flesh that clothed him laid a firm pathway for the footsteps of his Evangelists? In order, indeed, to gird himself with the towel, he laid aside the garments he wore. But when he emptied himself in order to assume the form of a servant, he did not lay down what he had, but he assumed that which he did not have before. When about to be crucified, he was indeed stripped of his garments, and when he was dead, he was wrapped in linen clothes: and all that suffering of his is for our purification. When, therefore, about to suffer the last extremities of humiliation, he here illustrated beforehand its friendly compliances—not only to those for whom he was about to endure death but to him also who had resolved to betray him to death. Because so great is the beneficence of human humility that even the divine Majesty was pleased to commend it by his own example. For proud humans would have perished eternally had they not been found by the lowly God. For the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost. [2] And as he was lost by imitating the pride of the deceiver, let him now, when found, imitate the Redeemer’s humility. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 55.7. [3]

[1] See Phil 2:6-7.

[2] See Lk 19:10.

[3] CCL 36:466; NPNF 1 7:301*.

THE TOWEL OF SUFFERING

BEDE: He rose from the table and put aside his [outer] garments when, ceasing the fuller sharing of his life in time with human beings, he put aside on the cross the bodily members that he had assumed. He took up a linen towel with which he girded himself, when, after having taken up for us the mandate of suffering that he had received from his Father, he covered his body with the torment of his passion. A linen towel, which is woven by the endless labor of twisting [flax], is usually taken to signify the pain of suffering. When our Lord had laid aside his [outer] garments, he girded himself with a linen towel to signify that he was putting aside the clothing of the body that he had put on, [and that he was doing this] not without the distress of sorrow but with the prolonged anguish of the cross. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 2.5. [1]

[1] CS 111:45-46.

13:5 | Water in a Basin

MIGHTY WISDOM POURS WATER INTO A BASIN

ANONYMOUS: The Wisdom of God that restrains the untamed fury of the waters that are above the firmament, that sets a bridle on the deep and keeps back the seas, now pours water into a basin; and the Master washed the feet of his servants. The Master shows to his disciples an example of humility … as he in whose hand is the life of all things kneels down to wash the feet of his servants. MATINS FOR HOLY THURSDAY, CANTICLE 5. [1]

[1] LT 551.

THE HEAVENLY DEW WASHES THE HEEL THAT WAS CURSED

AMBROSE: I find the Lord divesting himself of his garments and girding himself with a towel, pouring water into a basin, washing the feet of his disciples. This water was that heavenly dew with which, it was prophesied, the Lord Jesus would wash the feet of his disciples. [1] And now let the feet of our souls be extended. The Lord Jesus wishes to wash our feet also. … There is a kind of water that we pour into the basin of our soul, water from the fleece and from the book of Judges, water from the book of Psalms. [2] The water is the dew of the heavenly message. Therefore, Lord Jesus, let this water come into my soul, into my flesh, that by the moisture of this rain the valleys of our minds and the fields of our inmost heart may grow green. [3] Let your drops come on me, sprinkling grace and immortality. Wash the steps of my mind that I may not sin again. Wash off the heel of my spirit [4] that I may be able to abolish the curse so that I may not feel the bite of the serpent on my inner foot, [5] but, as you yourself have ordered your followers, that I may have the power with uninjured foot to tread on the serpents and scorpions. You have redeemed the world. Redeem the soul of one sinner. ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 1, PROLOGUE 12, 16. [6]

[1] Ps 23:2 (22:2 LXX, Vg).

[2] See Ps 23:2 (22:2 LXX, Vg).

[3] See Ps 72:6 (71:6 LXX, Vg).

[4] See Gen 3:15.

[5] See Lk 10:19.

[6] FC 44:40-42**; CSEL 79:20, 22. See also On the Holy Spirit 1.13, where he speaks of washing the footprints of the mind.

JESUS NOT FINISHED WASHING THE DISCIPLES’ FEET

ORIGEN: Why do you suppose it was not written, “He washed the disciples’ feet” instead of “And he began to wash the disciples’ feet”? For is it the custom of the Scriptures to prefix “he began” without a reason, as in the usage of the majority? Or did Jesus then “begin to wash the disciples’ feet” and not stop when he had washed their feet at that time? For later he washed them and completed the washing, since they were defiled, according to the saying, “You will all be made to stumble because of me this night,” [1] and what was said to Peter, “The rooster will not crow until you deny me three times.” [2] For when these sins occurred, the defiled feet of the disciples were again in need of washing, which he had begun to wash when he rose from supper, [but] he completed the washing when he cleansed them that they might no longer be defiled. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.51-54. [3]

THE POTTER WASHES THE FEET OF CLAY

ROMANUS MELODUS:

The sea washes the brick, the Abyss washes the clay

And it does not destroy its structure,

But binds its substance and wipes clean its purpose. [4]

Behold the disposition of the One who made us.

See of what sort is the attitude of the Creator for His creatures;

They have reclined and He has stood, they are fed and He serves, they are washed and He wipes them clean;

And the feet of clay are not cast into a mold in the hands of fire.

Have mercy, have mercy, have mercy on us,

Thou who dost bear with all men and receive all men. …

May sleep take me to death, if I allow Thee, the Immortal,

To bend down before me, a mortal.

The enemy would laugh at me, if Thou dealest in this way with me.

Is it not enough that Thou dost consider me as Thine?

Is it not much that I am considered and called the first of Thy friends?

But art Thou to wash my feet and limbs of clay, Thou, the Potter of the universe?

O Redeemer, dost Thou wish to wash my mortal limbs and feet?

Have mercy, have mercy, have mercy on us,

Thou who dost bear with all men and receive all men.

KONTAKION ON JUDAS 17.8,10. [5]

[1] Mt 26:31.

[2] See Jn 13:38.

[3] FC 89:351-52; SC 385:208.

[4] The metaphor here refers to Christ as the abyss, in the sense of the depths of his wisdom and goodness. Adam was formed of clay, and the image presents us with Christ strengthening the clay and purifying it.

[5] KRBM 1:172-73.

DEATH WASHED AWAY

IRENAEUS: Now in the last days, when the fullness of the time of liberty had arrived, the Word himself did by himself “wash away the filth of the daughters of Zion” [1] when he washed the disciples’ feet with his own hands. For this is the end [result] of the human race inheriting God. In the beginning, by means of our first [parents], we were all brought into bondage by being made subject to death. And so now, at last, by means of the new man, all who from the beginning were his disciples—having been cleansed and washed from whatever pertains to death—come to life with God. For he who washed the feet of the disciples sanctified the entire body and rendered it clean. For this reason, too, he administered food to them while reclining, indicating that those who were lying in the earth were those to whom he came to impart life. AGAINST HERESIES 4.22.1. [2]

[1] Is 4:4.

[2] ANF 1:493*; SC 100:684-86.

A METAPHOR FOR SPIRITUAL ZEAL

GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: It is good for the [feet and hands] to be consecrated … so that they are not swift to shed blood or to run to evil, [1] but that they are prompt to run to the gospel and the prize of the high calling [2] and to receive Christ who washes and cleanses them. ON HOLY BAPTISM, ORATION 40.39. [3]

[1] Prov 1:16.

[2] Phil 3:14.

[3] NPNF 2 7:374. For further explorations of Jn 13 and the theme of humility in Gregory, see also Oration 38.14; 43.64; 45.26.

A LESSON IN HUMILITY

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Humility is the principle of all virtues: it removes any contrast, division or dissension from human beings and plants into them peace and charity. And through charity it grows and increases. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 6.13.3-5. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:254.