As we’ve highlighted in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, the Old Testament in our Bibles records two occasions in Israel’s redemptive story when God initiated a one-on-one meeting with one of His chosen vessels and showed up in an unprecedented way. Both meetings took place at a time that was crucial both for the leaders involved and for the future of His people. And in the course of both of those meetings, God issued a command for the men involved to remove their sandals.  We found that command intriguing. So, for the past couple of weeks, we’ve been exploring the implications of that command that might apply to us in our day. But before we leave our discussion, there’s a New Testament episode that seems to involve some of the key principles that we found in the first two events. So, we’ll be concluding our Time to Take Your Shoes Off series by fast-forwarding to Jesus’ day and sitting in on another event He initiated that also required bare feet. 

Jesus Every Time ~
But just before moving on, we should point out that the primary link between those meetings with Moses and Joshua is that Jesus was involved in all of them. Even though He manifested Himself to Moses and Joshua in ways that were radically different, both were appearances of the One the Scriptures describe as the Angel of the Lord. And as we highlighted earlier, that phrase is unique and only applies to the second person of the trinity. That means that in both of these incidents, the men were not just talking with one of God’s angels, they were interacting with the pre-incarnate Christ, Himself! 

Another point shared within all these episodes is that in each of them, the Son of God alone decided when and where these meetings would take place, and how they would be conducted. He was in sovereign control over them from beginning to end. Those men involved neither requested nor expected God to do what He did. There’s a timeless principle being illustrated in these events that we don’t want to miss. The important thing is not how, when, or where God decides to meet with us. The important thing is what He says and does when He arrives. 

Another Barefoot Interlude ~
The story we’re referring to as we delve into another profoundly significant barefoot interlude with Jesus took place during the last gathering Jesus had with His disciples prior to His betrayal and arrest. It happened during a well-known event that we’ve come to refer to as the Last Supper. The traditional Passover procedures were underway, and Jesus spontaneously rose from the table and proceeded to add something totally unexpected and shockingly out of place in that context. But just as in the case with Moses and Joshua, this was a crucial time and His followers needed a fresh perspective on a  principle that would be vital to their success in carrying out the mission He was sending them to fulfill. Jesus was about to demonstrate that principle in a way they wouldn’t understand at first – but in a way they would never forget. John begins the story like this:

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (John 13:2-5 NIV)

There are no supernatural flames involved in this story and no iconic warriors with swords, and there’s no direct command for anyone to take their sandals off, so how does this episode fit into our current series?  If Jesus is going to wash someone’s feet, it’s obvious that the sandals had to come off, but no command was needed in that instance because the disciples had already taken them off. The cultural custom at that time (and in many places continues today) was for anyone entering someone’s home to remove their sandals as soon as they came in. Afterward, the guest would generally have his feet washed, a process normally carried out by the lowest ranking person in the household. But on the occasion before us, that had not happened. The fact that the disciples’ feet were being washed wasn’t unusual, but the context of the process and the One doing it made it shocking. 

Another Issue Emerges ~
When Moses and Joshua were commanded to take their shoes off, imminent contact with the holiness of God was specifically attributed as the reason. We gleaned from that episode that being accepted into God’s presence and partnering with Him in His redemptive plan required relinquishing everything that comes between us and Him and His holy presence. But in the foot washing incident with Jesus, holiness was not mentioned at all. Our first question is, WHY is that? 

In the incidents with Moses and Joshua, Jesus, as the Angel of the Lord, was qualitatively and essentially different from the human beings approaching Him, but in that upper room, He was one of them. John testified this of Jesus:

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17, NKJV)

  For approximately three years, Jesus’ disciples lived within touching distance of the holiness of God in human flesh. They were not just allowed in His presence, they were specifically called into His presence, and that access to Him wasn’t accomplished by their having achieved an exceptional level of performance in keeping God’s rules. It was a living demonstration that the grace of God had descended to earth in a new and unprecedented way. Holiness had come to walk the same ground as the most sinful, hopeless, lost, and broken to be found here. But just as there was an issue that threatened closeness and partnership with God in Moses and Joshua’s cases, there was also an issue to be dealt with in the upper room foot-washing episode that made that procedure mandatory.  

More than Humility Involved ~
There is far more to be dealt with in this episode than we can begin to approach in the space we have here, but there are some important things we must not ignore. Jesus’ humility is always emphasized by those who comment on this passage, but there’s something else, something very important, involved here, as well. Everyone there clearly understood how humbling Jesus’ behavior was, yet when Peter refused to participate, Jesus said to him, 

What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this. (John 13:7,  NKJV)

Jesus was illustrating something here that Peter didn’t see yet, but that was important enough to make participation in this process mandatory. Their exchange continued like this: 

Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”
Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash (cleanse) you, you have no part with Me.” (John 13:8, NKJV) 

When you read that, think partnership. Jesus was saying to Peter, “If you don’t let me do this (i.e., cleanse those sins picked up from daily contact with a dirty world), you can’t partner with me in the work I’ve called you to do.” The metaphorical message is that sins we hardly notice are obstacles to the kind of intimate togetherness and unity necessary to carry out His ongoing redemptive plan. In a nutshell, here are the basics:

• • My grandmother taught me early on that dirt was unacceptable, and the objective of washing is to remove it. The message in Jesus’ cleansing demonstration was that sin contaminates and must be removed to maintain partnership. 
  • The disciples’ feet got dirty just from walking through a dirty world. In the same way, we pick up sinful behaviors and attitudes we may hardly notice, and they interfere with the intimate fellowship necessary to work together with Jesus. 
  • Forgiveness is about cleansing. It’s about removing behaviors and attitudes that stand in the way of our partnership with Jesus. 
  • He went on to say that if our Master and Lord does that for us, we ought also to do that with and for each other. (John 13:12-15 and Colossians 3:12-13)

So … , there we have it. The lesson for each of us is that it’s time to take our shoes off – because there is a mission to be fulfilled and battles to be fought, and we cannot successfully engage in either of those unless we actively partner with the One willing both to cleanse us daily and share His love, power, and ultimate victory with us.

“TWEETABLES” ~ Click to tweet and share from the pull quotes below.  Each one links directly back to this article through Twitter . . .

• • As with Moses and Joshua being commanded to remove their shoes, being accepted into God’s Holy presence and partnering in His redemptive plan requires relinquishing ‘everything’ that comes between us, and Him, and His holy presence. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet) 

  • Jesus’ disciples were not just allowed in His presence, they were specifically called into His presence. Holiness had come to walk the same ground as the most sinful, hopeless, lost, and broken to be found here. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet) 

  • The grace of God had descended to earth in a new and unprecedented way. Holiness had come to walk the same ground as the most sinful, hopeless, lost, and broken to be found here. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)

  • The metaphorical message is that sins we hardly notice are obstacles to the kind of intimate togetherness and unity necessary to carry out His ongoing redemptive plan. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet) 

  • Just as there was an issue that threatened closeness and partnership with God in Moses and Joshua’s cases, there was also an issue to be dealt with in the upper room foot-washing episode that made the procedure mandatory. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet) 

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