If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another's feet.
I then.
Matthew 20:26-28 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; …
Mark 10:43-45 But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: …
Luke 22:26,27 But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve…
ye also.
Acts 20:35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Romans 12:10,16 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; …
Romans 15:1-3 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves…
have washed your feet,
Foot washing was a common practice in ancient Near Eastern culture due to the dusty roads and the wearing of sandals. It was typically a task for the lowest servant in a household. By washing His disciples' feet, Jesus demonstrates humility and servanthood, subverting the cultural norms of His time. This act prefigures His ultimate act of service and sacrifice on the cross. It also fulfills the prophecy of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53, who humbles Himself for the sake of others.
you also should wash one another’s feet.
This command is a call to emulate Jesus' example of humility and service. It is not merely a literal instruction but a broader principle of serving others selflessly. This teaching aligns with other New Testament passages that emphasize love and service, such as Philippians 2:3-7, where believers are encouraged to have the same mindset as Christ. The act of foot washing symbolizes the cleansing and forgiveness that believers are to extend to one another, reflecting the forgiveness they have received through Christ.
• Jesus begins with a premise that is already proven true—He has just finished washing the disciples’ feet (John 13:4-5).
• The “if” functions as “since,” anchoring the coming command to a completed act (John 13:15).
• Throughout Scripture, Christ’s personal conduct is presented as the believer’s model (Philippians 2:5-8; 1 Peter 2:21).
• “Lord” underscores His supreme authority (Luke 6:46; John 20:28).
• “Teacher” highlights His doctrinal authority (Matthew 23:8-10).
• By pairing the titles, Jesus shows that rightful authority and humble service are not mutually exclusive.
• Foot-washing was the lowest servant’s role; Jesus chose it deliberately (Luke 22:27).
• He acted with full awareness of His divine status (John 13:3-5).
• Every disciple’s feet were washed, including Judas’s, demonstrating grace toward the undeserving (Romans 5:8).
• The historical, literal act embodies the heart of “the Son of Man [who] came … to serve” (Mark 10:45).
• “Should” conveys obligation; the command is not optional (John 13:15).
• Genuine discipleship obeys Christ’s example (1 John 2:6; James 1:22).
• The call extends beyond ceremonial foot-washing to ongoing acts of humble service (Galatians 5:13).
• Mutual service cements unity in the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:25; Romans 12:10).
• Every believer both gives and receives ministry, erasing rank and status (Philippians 2:3-4).
• Serving fellow believers validates love’s sincerity (John 13:34-35).
Because Jesus—our authoritative Lord and trustworthy Teacher—literally stooped to perform the lowliest task for His followers, we are bound to imitate His example. John 13:14 calls every believer to a lifestyle of tangible, self-forgetting service that displays Christ’s love to one another and to the watching world.
(14) Ye ought also to wash one another's feet.--The argument is a fortiori. If He had so humbled Himself as to do the work of a servant for them, much more ought they to humble themselves for each other. To make his words as striking as possible, they are prefaced by the emphatic I, and "Master and Lord" is repeated from the previous verse, but in the inverse order, to give special prominence to the word of greater dignity.Verses 14, 15. - If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet; ye ought also to wash one another's feet: for I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Καθώς, "as," "like as," was used by our Lord rather than ὅ, "that which." The ὑπόδειγμα shows that he had set before his disciples a parallel, an example, a symbolic type of the service they were to render to one another, and was not establishing a custom or exact ordinance. The washing of the feet was an Oriental custom of great antiquity as a mark of hospitality (Genesis 18:4; Genesis 19:2; Abigail, 1 Samuel 25:41; see also Luke 7:38, 44). In 1 Timothy 5:10 there is trace of such a custom of Christian hospitality. Considering the ease with which the Church has established a ceremonial from an isolated text, it is remarkable that no more literal use has been made of this injunction. However, Maundy Thursday, a name derived from Dies mandati, was celebrated as the day on which this great command, or that contained in ver. 34, was given - Mandatum novum do vobis - and the feet of the newly baptized were washed. The endeavor to make Augustine the authority for this religious practice is doubtful; but the Council of Toledo (A.D. 694) mentions this particular day as that on which it was appropriate. In the early Gallican Church there was such a ritual, and the forms of pedilavium observed are to be read in early Gothic and Galliean missals. Bernard of Clairvaux tried to convert the ceremony into a sacrament, but without success. And it would seem that some effort was made to introduce it into Spain. "In 1530, Wolsey washed, wiped, and kissed the feet of fifty-nine poor men at Peterborough. The practice was continued by English sovereigns till the reign of James II." (Westcott). No traces of it are to be found in the Ambrosian ritual, but the preservation of the custom is found now in the Russian imperial palace, in the ceremonies of the holy week at Rome, and in the palaces of Vienna, Madrid,Munich. The practice was for a time retained by the United Brethren and Mennonites, and the Tunkers of Philadelphia (see 'Dictionary of Christian Antiquities,' vol. 1. arts. "Baptism," §§ 34, 67, and "Maundy Thursday;" Herzog., 'Encyc.,' art. "Fusswaschung," by H. Merz; and Schaff's 'Herzog.,' art. "Tunkers"). The Church has for the most part looked below the mere form to the real substance of the Lord's teaching, and only thus can we appreciate it adequately. The very injunction would be an inadequate, burdensome one where the feet are covered, and would become impossible and valueless in the Northern and Western world. The service demanded is the self-forgetting ministry of love, which places the interests of self behind and below those of others. Nothing is more theoretically easy and acceptable than this principle, but nothing more difficult of accomplishment. This sentence of our Lord is a noble illustration of the method in which a great principle is made by him the basis of a small duly (cf. Paul's vindication of his own truthfulness and freedom from ἐλάφρια, 2 Corinthians 1:17-20; he based it on God's own faithfulness to promise).