And you know what? I found out it isn't! First of all the hand washing ceremony typically occurs at the beginning of the Passover seder, long before the actual meal, and John 13, says that the meal was already underway. That would imply that they had already eaten the main course of the meal and were in the home stretch of the Passover seder because the early elements are not really part of the "meal" so to speak. So I prayed for God to show me why He washed feet and not hands, and what was the meaning of it all.
John 13 also says that Jesus told the disciples that they would understand the foot washing later, so it couldn't have been a typical part of the seder or there would have been no question why Jesus would do this.
My whole life I had heard it was Jesus showing he was the servant of all. Absolutely, one can make a good argument for this. At the time, when someone had guests over, the lowliest servant would wash the feet of the guests to remove the dirt, so Jesus could have been stating that He was the lowliest of servants. My qualm with this reasoning came with the fact that they had not just arrived to the gathering. The meal was underway. So why then? Why feet?
Then the Lord reminded me that his death on the cross was the purchase price for His bride. The disciples were the Bride at the time, so I wondered if the Jewish betrothal ceremony included foot washing. And well, not exactly, but I found something very interesting.
When a person is making a covenant with regard to an inheritance he removes his sandal and gives it to the person who will inherit from them. (There is a sort of sandal covenant aspect to every Hebrew betrothal ceremony, as the Bride is both inheritance and co-inheritor with the groom.) The sandal covenant is clearly seen in the book of Ruth as an inheritance agreement. Boaz was a kinsman redeemer, but not the closest to Naomi, so he had to ask the nearest kinsman to redeem Ruth. When he declined, that indicated that Boaz would then stand to inherit all of the property and could marry Ruth. This agreement was confirmed when the nearer kinsman removed his sandal and gave it to Boaz in the sight of the elders, indicating that Boaz would receive the inheritance.
When Jesus removed the sandals from the disciples and washed their feet, He was not merely stating that He was a servant. He was saying they are his inheritance, and as His bride, they will also have an inheritance. Jesus was depicting a sandal covenant, that indicates sonship and is also a typical part of the betrothal ceremony between a groom and his bride. He claims her as his own inheritance and offers her an inheritance with him.
What Jesus did that Passover was not a simple cleansing of feet, not a simple act of servanthood, but so much more. He said to them, "you have been my servants, you have been my friends, I now call you sons! I claim you as my inheritance and offer you an inheritance with me as my bride."
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