The texts assigned in the Revised Common Lectionary for Maundy Thursday of Holy Week are Exodus 12:1-14 (instructions for observing Passover), Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19 (I will lift up the cup of salvation), 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (Jesus on the night betrayed took bread…cup….), and John 13:1-17, 21b-35 (Jesus eats the Passover with the disciples).

Traditionally, Maundy Thursday liturgies contain a ceremony where congregants wash each others feet, just like Jesus did at the last supper. And so,

A Summative Theology of Feet

• Genesis 18:4 – Abraham encounters the Lord in the form of a trinitarian/angelic appearance at the oaks of Mamre. Abraham bids them to stop and, “Rest in the shade of this tree while water is brought to wash your feet.”
• Exodus 3:5 – Moses encounters the Lord in a burning bush. Moses is told by God, “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.” The experience of God was transmitted through the toes.
• Psalm 119:105 – “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”
• Luke 7:38 – Jesus is encountered by a questionable woman while eating dinner. She proceeds to caress his feet with a mixture of her own desperate tears, expensive perfume, her own hair, and the saliva from her kisses. A cultural no-no? You better believe it. Jesus uses the opportunity to teach them about forgiveness. He ends by saying to her, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
• John 13:4-5 – Jesus wishes to demonstrate a sacrificial relationship to his disciples. He wants them to get a mental image of the upside-down character of the economy of God’s Kingdom. He serves his followers by washing their feet.
• John 19:18 – After Jesus was sentenced to death, “they nailed him to the cross.” Tapered spikes were hammered through his feet, piercing skin, tendons, and bone through to the rough wood of the cross.
• Matthew 28:9 – On the first Easter Sunday, after the women were visited by an angel that told them what happened to Jesus, they take off running to find the other disciples. They are greeted by Jesus, alive and well. It says that the women, “ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him.”
• Romans 10:15/Isaiah 52:7 – “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” The proclamation of God’s Kingdom is so good that even the dirty feet that bring it are exquisite.