John 13:10Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

But if they are clean, why do You wash their feet? So that we may learn modesty. Therefore He turned not to some other part of the body, but precisely to that which is valued less than all the others.

What does "washed" mean? The same as clean. But were they clean? They had not yet been freed from sins and had not been counted worthy to receive the Holy Spirit.

Sin still held dominion. The written bond of the curse still existed, and the Sacrifice had not yet been offered.

Why, then, does He call them clean? So that you may not think they are clean in the sense of already being freed from sins, He added: "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you" (Jn 15:3).

Taking the occasion, the Lord reproves the betrayer, showing that he has an unclean thought and needs washing from wickedness and a change of intention.

You, He says, having been washed, do not need another washing. But one is unclean and needs washing.

Many ask why the Lord said to the apostles, "You are clean," when they had not yet been freed from sins and had not received the Spirit. Sin still reigned, and the curse still retained its force.

The Lamb who takes away the sin of the world had not yet been slain. Our Redeemer from the curse had not yet been hung upon the tree.

In what sense, then, were the apostles clean? One may say that although they had not been completely freed from sins, they were clean through the word which the Lord had preached to them (Jn 15:3).

He takes an example from what commonly happens among us, and very opportunely reproves the betrayer, teaching a man to reconsider his intentions and change toward a better state.

Although He does not yet openly expose the guilt of the plot present within him, His speech has a sharp penetration.

For by testifying to the complete purity of the others, He clearly casts suspicion on the one who was not such and points to him as unclean.

Indeed, for the rest of His disciples, the granted constancy of remaining with Him, the labor of following Him, firmness in faith, and fullness of love for Christ provide purity.

Someone may perhaps be troubled by this and say, "Oh no! If he is wholly clean, why does he need to wash his feet?" But the Lord knew what He was saying, even if our weakness cannot penetrate His mysteries.

Nevertheless, since He has deemed us worthy to be instructed and taught from His law, I will answer something concerning the depth of this question, with His help, according to my understanding and my weak powers.

First, it will not be difficult for me to show that He does not contradict Himself in this saying. Who can say that what is said here is untrue: "He is wholly clean, except for the feet"?

It would have been said more elegantly if it had been put this way: "He is wholly clean, save only the feet." This means the same thing.

This, then, is what the Lord says: "He who is washed needs only to wash his feet, for he is wholly clean." Indeed, either, "clean except for the feet," or, "wholly clean, save that the feet must be washed."

But what does this mean? What did He wish to say? What must be investigated here? The Lord speaks, and the Truth affirms, that one who has been washed needs to have his feet washed.

What do you think of this, my brothers? What, if not this: in Holy Baptism a man is washed entirely, not entirely except for the feet, but entirely altogether.

Yet afterward, finding himself amid human affections, he touches the earth. The human feelings themselves, without which one cannot live in this mortal condition, are like feet.

Through them human affairs affect us. They affect us in such a way that, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (cf. 1 Jn 1:8).

Thus He Who intercedes for us washes our feet daily (cf. Rom 8:34). We confess in the very prayer given by the Lord that we need our feet washed daily, that is, that we need to make our spiritual way.

For we say, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" (Mt 6:12). If, as it is written, we confess our sins, then surely there is One Who has already washed the feet of His disciples.

He is faithful and true. He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (cf. 1 Jn 1:9), that is, He will cleanse even the feet by which we tread upon the earth.

Therefore the Church, whom Christ cleanses by the washing of water through the word, has neither spot nor blemish (cf. Eph 5:26-27).

This is true not only in those who, after the washing of regeneration, are immediately taken up to heaven from fellowship with this life and do not tread the earth, for then their feet would need washing.

It is also true in those whom the Lord, showing them great mercy, permits to depart from this world with washed feet.

Yet although the Church is clean in those who remain here because they live righteously, they still need to wash their feet, since, of course, they are not without sin.

Therefore she says in the Song of Songs, "I have washed my feet; how shall I soil them?" (Song 5:3). She said this when she was about to go to Christ and tread the earth as she went.

Again another question arises. Is Christ not above? Has He not ascended into heaven and does He not sit at the right hand of the Father?

Does not the Apostle cry out and say: "If then you were raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth" (Col 3:1-2)?

Why then, in order to come to Christ, are we compelled to tread the earth, when we ought rather to lift the heart upward to the Lord, so that we may be able to be with Him?

You see, brothers, that the shortage of time today compels us to shorten this question. If perhaps you see it as small, I, for my part, see how serious a discussion it requires.

Therefore I ask that it be deferred rather than discussed carelessly or briefly. Your expectation will not be deceived, but only fulfilled after a delay. For the Lord, Who makes us debtors, will help us repay our debts.

I have not forgotten my debt, and I acknowledge that the time has come to repay it. May He Who gave me the ability to become a debtor give me that by which I may repay it.

For He gave me the love concerning which it is said: "Owe no one anything, except to love one another" (Rom 13:8). May He also give the word that I see I must speak to the beloved.

I deferred what you were expecting in order to unfold, according to my powers, how we come to Christ on earth, although we are commanded to seek rather the things above, not the things on earth (see Col 3:1-2).

Christ dwells in the world above, sitting at the right hand of the Father. Yet surely He is also here. For this reason He said to Saul, raging on earth, "Why do you persecute Me?" (Acts 9:4).

We were led to the question we must examine by the fact that the Lord washed the feet of His disciples. The disciples had already been washed, and needed only to wash their feet.

Then it became evident that this must be understood in this way. Although a man is wholly washed in Baptism, still, so long as he lives further in this world, he takes upon himself something through his human affections.

These are like the feet with which he treads the earth, that is, the very course of this life. Because of this he says, "Forgive us our debts" (Mt 6:12).

Therefore he is cleansed by Him Who washed the feet of His disciples (see Jn 13:5) and does not cease to intercede for us (cf. Rom 8:34).

After this there were cited the words from the Song of Songs, in which the Church says, "I have washed my feet; how shall I soil them?" (Song 5:3).

She said this when she wanted to go and open to Him Who had come to her, knocked, and asked her to open to Him, the One fairer than the sons of men (cf. Ps 44:3).

Here arose the question which, because of lack of time, we did not wish to treat briefly, and therefore deferred until now.

How must the Church, when she goes to Christ, fear to soil the feet she has washed in Christ's Baptism?

For she says: "I sleep, but my heart watches. Behold, the voice of my beloved, who knocks at the door." After this He says: "Open to me, my sister, my neighbor, my dove, my undefiled one."

"For my head is filled with dew, my locks with the drops of the night." And she answers: "I have taken off my tunic; how shall I put it on again? I have washed my feet; how shall I soil them?" (cf. Song 5:2-3).

O wondrous sacrament! O great mystery! Does she fear to soil her feet by going to Him Who washed the feet of His disciples?

She rightly fears, for she goes upon the earth to Him Who also abides on the earth, because He does not abandon His own who are here.

Is it not He Who says, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Mt 28:20)? And is it not He Who says, "You will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man" (Jn 1:51)?

If they ascend to Him because He is in the world above, how do they descend, unless because He is also here?

The Church says, "I have washed my feet; how shall I soil them?" She says this in those believers who, cleansed from every defilement, can say: "I desire to depart and be with Christ, but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you" (cf. Phil 1:23-24).

She says this in those who preach Christ and open the doors to Him, so that through faith He may dwell in the hearts of men (cf. Eph 3:17).

She says this in them when they consider whether they should take upon themselves a ministry for which they deem themselves little suited, lest they fulfill it with error and, while preaching to others, become worthy of reproach (cf. 1 Cor 9:27).

It is safer to hear the truth than to preach it. In the hearer humility is preserved, but scarcely any preacher is not approached by some measure of boasting, by which the feet are surely soiled.

Therefore, as the Apostle James says, "Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak" (Jas 1:19). Another man of God also says: "Make me hear joy and gladness, and the humbled bones shall rejoice" (Ps 50:10).

This is the same as what I said: in the one who hears the truth, humility is preserved. Another also says: "The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice" (Jn 3:29).

Let us rejoice as we listen to what the truth speaks silently within us. Yet it also sounds outwardly through the reader, the announcer, the preacher, the interpreter, the comforter, and the exhorter, and also through the singer and psalm-reader.

Those who do this must fear soiling their feet, if, through a hidden love of human praise, they strive to please men.

Those who listen willingly and piously to them, however, have no chance to exalt themselves through another's labors. They rejoice greatly at hearing the voice of the Lord's truth, not with puffed-up bones, but with humbled ones.

Therefore, in those who know how to listen willingly and piously, and who lead a quiet life in sweet and saving zeal, the holy Church rejoices and says, "I sleep, but my heart watches."

What does "I sleep, but my heart watches" mean, if not this: "I keep repose in such a way that I listen. My repose serves not the growth of idleness, but the acquisition of wisdom."

"I sleep, but my heart watches. I rest and see that You are the Lord, for wisdom of the scribe is acquired in leisure, and he who has few occupations can acquire it" (cf. Sir 38:24).

"I sleep, but my heart watches" (Song 5:2). I rest from troubles, and my spirit is directed toward divine concerns.

But while the Church enjoys repose in those who in this way find pleasant and humble rest, see how He Who says the following knocks: "What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light."

"And what you hear in the ear, preach upon the housetops" (Mt 10:27). This is the voice of Him Who knocks at the door and says: "Open to me, my sister, my neighbor, my dove, my undefiled one."

"For my head is filled with dew, my locks with the drops of the night" (Song 5:2). It is as though He were saying: "You rest, and the door is closed before Me."

"You care for the repose of a few, and because iniquity is multiplied, the love of many grows cold" (cf. Mt 24:12). The night, of course, is iniquity.

His dew and drops are those who grow cold, suffer a fall, and make the head of Christ endure cold. That is, they cause there to be no love for God, for "the head of Christ is God" (1 Cor 11:3).

They lie upon the locks, that is, they are admitted to the mysteries visible to the eye, but never reach the hidden meanings.

So He knocks in order to deprive the leisurely saints of repose, and cries: "Open to Me. By My blood you are My sister. By My coming you are My neighbor. By My Spirit you are My dove."

"By My word, which you have come to know more fully in repose, you are My undefiled one. Open to Me. Preach Me. For how shall I enter those who have shut themselves against Me, if there is no one to open?"

"How shall they hear without someone preaching?" (cf. Rom 10:14). Therefore even those who love to devote their leisure to good pursuits do not wish to bear the burden of heavy cares.

They feel themselves not very capable of such a ministry and of fulfilling it without fault. If it were possible, they would prefer that the holy Apostles and ancient preachers of truth rise again against the multiplication of iniquity.

Because of this multiplication, the warmth of love grows weak. But in the person of those who have already left the body and been deprived of the garments of flesh, though they were not separated from it, the Church answers.

"I have taken off my tunic; how shall I put it on again?" (Song 5:3). This tunic will certainly return, and in those who have died the Church will again be clothed in flesh.

But not now, when those who have grown cold must be warmed. This will happen when the dead rise.

Thus, troubled by the lack of preachers and remembering those of her members who were sound in speech and holy in conduct, but have already left their bodies, the Church sighs and says:

Covetousness separated Judas from the perfect members of the Lord, as the Savior gently taught. Judas was not of the body of His Church, but dust clinging to the feet of His disciples. Therefore, on that night when He separated him from them, He washed away the uncleanness that clung to their feet. He did this to teach us that Judas, who as the last of the twelve Apostles appeared to be like the feet of the body, was washed by Him from the Apostles’ feet with water, like filth destined for fire. By His goodness our Lord lowered His wise hands, washing the feet of His betrayer, who expressed gratitude for his cleansing with the nails of the Cross.

Through baptism every sin is washed away, and sin departs. But since Adam was caught by the devil (see Gen 3:1-6, 15), and the poison was poured upon his feet, you wash the feet so that great help of sanctification may come where the serpent lies in wait. Then he will no longer be able to conquer you. Therefore you wash the feet in order to wash away the serpent’s poison. Great benefit also comes from humility, because later we shall not be ashamed of what we treat with disdain.

So that the disciples would not think this washing was the same kind of cleansing as baptism, Jesus Christ dispels this thought by an example.

"He who is washed needs only to wash his feet," because with his feet he walks and has soiled them. In all else he is wholly clean, because he has already washed.

"And you are clean," because you have already been cleansed by the teaching I gave you, and have already rejected every malice and wickedness.

Chrysostom, explaining the words "and you are clean," says that here was also added, "because of the word which I have spoken to you," that is, the teaching.

You do not need to be cleansed by that through which you have already been cleansed. Only the feet need to be washed, for a reason which you do not yet understand, but will know afterward.

Jesus makes it clear that this washing of the feet signifies forgiveness of sins, not only the forgiveness given in baptism.

In addition to that, it signifies the forgiveness by which the daily guilt of believers is cleansed through His daily mercy. Without this, it is impossible to live in this life.

Our feet, by which we move about and touch the earth, and therefore cannot keep free from contact with dirt as the other members can, signify the necessity of living on earth.

This necessity draws us, idle and unskilled as we are, deeper day by day. Even those distinguished by their way of life are distracted from contemplation of the heavens, which is so dear to them.

Thus, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 Jn 1:8).

"He who is washed needs only to wash his feet, for he is wholly clean," Christ said to him, and He continued the washing of the feet that had been temporarily interrupted.

In hot countries people walk with bare feet, wearing sandals that protect only the soles from accidental pricks.

When walking, bare feet become dusty and must be washed often. A complete washing of the whole body is done much more rarely.

From this arose the notion that one who has washed, and is wholly clean, needs only to wash his feet.

Applied to the apostles, and in general to the followers of Christ, this saying means that one who has sincerely repented and abandoned a sinful life must not calm himself with the thought that he has already been reborn.

But Christ answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” This remark was enough for the fervent disciple to cry out, “Lord, not my feet only. But also my hands and my head.” Christ continued the washing, declaring at the same time that they, as those washed with the water of spiritual teaching from the fountain of life, were clean. But, He added with sorrow, “not all.” At that moment His holy hands were perhaps washing the dirty feet of the betrayer, who had only just returned from his vile bargain.

Jesus says, and so forth. In His answer to these words of Simon, the Lord partly indicates to him, and also to the other disciples, who likewise could fail to understand His action, the higher meaning contained in it.

Yet He indicates it still somewhat enigmatically, and the Evangelist later explains this enigmatic saying.

"He who is washed needs," and so forth. The simple literal meaning of the Lord's words is this: one who has washed needs nothing more except to wash his feet, to which impurity may cling on the road.

For as one washed, he is clean in the whole body, except the feet.

But the further words, "and you are clean, but not all," show that beneath the simple literal meaning of the saying another and higher meaning is hidden.

To explain to the disciples the meaning of the washing being performed, the Savior points them to the condition of a man who has washed in water.

After washing, he comes out clean. But when he sets his feet on the ground, he soils them with dust and must wash them again.

With the exception of one, Christ's disciples were clean, as those washed by His life-giving teaching (Jn 14:3). It remained to wash the feet.

The dust and impurity that had clung to them through contact with the world had to be washed away. This happens amid earthly occupations and affairs, and in intercourse with earthly people.

Such is earthly life. As long as a man lives on earth, willingly or unwillingly he soils his feet in the dust. He in no way escapes the impurities of sin.

Peter's love and his fear of being cut off from the Lord, as Chrysostom observes, compel him to rush to the opposite extreme and ask that his head and hands also be washed.

The Lord treats Peter's shortcomings with meek love and adds an instruction common to all.

In the Lord's words two meanings must be distinguished. One concerns the individual person. The other concerns the Church of Christ, represented at that moment by all twelve apostles, of whom one was unclean and therefore was being cast out.

With respect to Peter personally, and to each faithful disciple, the Lord called them "washed." For they had already been cleansed through the Lord's word: "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you" (Jn 15:3).