To those of us living in cold northern climes, the idea of foot-washing is strange. However, if we lived in the Middle East it would not be. In hot and dusty parts of the world, if you wear sandals, your feet will get hot, tired, and dirty. In the time of Jesus, to wash a visitor’s feet was a sign of hospitality, and was usually something done by a servant. For a host or householder to do the foot-washing themselves was a sign both of humility and the importance of those being welcomed. Tonight Christ washes our feet. We are all guests at the Lord’s Supper, where Jesus institutes the Eucharist on the night before He suffers and dies.

St Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians (our Second Reading tonight) was written about twenty years after Christ’s Death and Resurrection. This is the earliest account we possess of what happened on this night. Paul describes how Our Lord blesses bread and wine and feeds his followers. Jesus also explains what He is doing, saying, ‘This is my Body … This is my Blood’ ‘hwn yw fy nghorff … hwn yw fy ngwaed’. These words are repeated whenever the Eucharist is celebrated because Our Lord told us to ‘Do this’ ‘gwnewch hyn’, and so we do. We are fed by Christ, fed with Christ, both to proclaim His Death, but also to share His New Life. This is no ordinary meal, but rather a proclamation of God’s saving work.

At the Last Supper Jesus takes on the role of a servant, the Teacher washes His disciples’ feet, and feeds them with Himself. These acts of humility and generosity, help to bring the Christian Church into being. It starts here, tonight. This is why the Church commemorates it every year, both to remind us where we have come from, and where we are going. This is the Wedding Banquet of the Lamb, the Heavenly Feast of the Kingdom to which all people are invited. 

God (through me) washes our feet, kneeling on the floor, and wipes them with a towel. This is something that is both humble and utterly wonderful. Jesus gives us an example of loving service: this is what the Church is supposed to be. Those in positions of Christian leadership are called to be shepherds in the service of God’s people. Likewise, as Christ’s followers, we are all called to serve each other. As Jesus said:

‘If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.’

‘Os wyf fi, felly, a minnau’n Arglwydd ac yn Athro, wedi golchi eich traed chwi, fe ddylech chwithau hefyd olchi traed eich gilydd. Yr wyf wedi rhoi esiampl i chwi; yr ydych chwithau i wneud fel yr wyf fi wedi ei wneud i chwi. ’ (Jn 13:14-15)

We follow Christ’s example. In the same way we celebrate the Eucharist because Christ told us to ‘do this’ ‘gwnewch hyn’ and so Christians have for nearly two thousand years, and we will continue to do so until Our Lord comes again. This is more than sacred drama. We are not simply spectators watching a reenactment, we are active participants in the mysteries themselves! The Eucharist, which Jesus instituted this evening, means a number of things. Firstly, the Eucharist is our thanksgiving to God for who Christ is, and what He does. Secondly, the Eucharist is an act of obedience: Our Lord told His disciples to ‘do this’, and so, for two thousand years the Church has obeyed His command. Thirdly, the Eucharist is a mystery that makes present the Body and Blood of Christ, which suffered and died for us on Calvary. As Christ fed His disciples, so He feeds us too. Tonight’s Eucharist is just as real as the first one, in the Upper Room, and each and every one ever since. That is why Christians celebrate this evening. On the night before He suffered and died for us, Jesus took bread and wine, gave thanks to God, and gave them to His disciples, telling them to do this in remembrance of Him.

God gives Himself to us as nourishment. God gives Himself to us, so that we might have life in Him. The role of the Church is to carry on the offering of the Son to the Father, to make it present across space and time. That is why we are here, tonight, gathered as disciples of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. As Christians we are to be people of love. It is love that makes us Christians. God’s love for us: a love which sees Our Lord offer Himself, to take away our sins, to heal our wounds, and restore us to God’s loving embrace. 

So my brothers and sisters in Christ, let us come to the Lord, and be washed. Let us feed on the heavenly banquet, which strengthens us. And let us to sing the praises of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. To whom be ascribed, all majesty, glory, dominion, and power, now and forever. Amen.