Footwashing in John 13 and the Johannine Community

by John Thomas (Christadelphian)

Publisher:

T&T Clark

, 2004

Overview

There is good evidence that the Christian community where the Gospel of John was written practiced footwashing as a religious action. However, few scholars have studied the practice or meaning of the rite. This book undertakes the most comprehensive study so far of the practice of footwashing in the ancient world, unearthing many fascinating parallels to the early Christian act. John Thomas next studies the footwashing in John 13 with the tools of modern literary analysis, asking what the text was intended to mean to the readers implied by the Gospel. He then turns to a study of the actual readers in John’s community to reconstruct what they believed about it and how they carried it out, before concluding that the purpose of footwashing in the community was to act as a sign of the cleansing of post-conversion sin committed by a disciple after baptism.

Contents

Top Highlights

“Sixth, reading Jn 13:1–20 as a literary unit has revealed that the footwashing is not an option for the disciples but a necessity if they are to maintain a share in Jesus’ destiny. More particularly, footwashing conveys a cleansing that supplements the bath (baptism) that has earlier produced a more fundamental cleansing. The footwashing at Jesus’ hands serves as a sign of continued fellowship with him and as an additional cleansing in the disciples’ lives. When the commands to wash feet (13:14–17) are read in the light of vv. 6–10, it becomes clear that Jesus, as here portrayed, intends his followers to continue the practice of footwashing and for this practice to have a significance related to that of his own action.” (Page 188)

“Certain interpreters claim this theme to be the primary emphasis of the passage. The essential nature of the washing (v. 8), its cleansing effects, the centrality of the cross in John, the emphasis upon Jesus’ love, and the pericope’s setting at the beginning of the Book of Glory have all been claimed to support this identification. In this view the footwashing symbolizes the cleansing which takes place through the sacrificial death of Jesus.” (Pages 16–17)

“Finally, there is some philological support for taking λούω as a reference to baptism. In several New Testament passages λούω and its cognates are probable references to baptism (Heb. 10:22; Eph. 5:26) or are closely related to it (Acts 22:16; 1 Cor. 6:11; Tit. 3:5).” (Page 103)

“Jesus removes his clothes and girds himself with a towel, attire that is reminiscent of the dress of servants depicted in Roman works of art.” (Page 59)

Product Details

• Title: Footwashing in John 13 and the Johannine Community
• Author: John Christopher Thomas
• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Publication Date: 2004
• Pages: 184

About John Thomas (Christadelphian)

Dr. John Thomas (April 12, 1805 – March 5, 1871) was the founder of the Christadelphian movement, a Restorationist religion with doctrines similar in part to some 16th century Antitrinitarian Rationalist Socinians and the 16th century Swiss-German pacifist Anabaptists.