Church Fathers Commentary John 13:6-11

"So he cometh to Simon Peter. He saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt understand hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is bathed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew him that should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean." — John 13:6-11 (ASV)

Origen of Alexandria: As a physician who has many sick people under his care begins with those who need his attention most, so Christ, in washing His disciples’ feet, begins with the most unclean, and so comes at last to Peter, who needed the washing less than any. Then He comes to Simon Peter. Peter resisted being washed, perhaps because his feet were nearly clean, and said to Him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”

St. Augustine of Hippo: What is the meaning of “you” and “my feet”? It is better to think about this than to speak of it, for fear that one might fail in adequately explaining what could have been rightly conceived.

St. John Chrysostom: Although Peter was the first of the Apostles, it is possible that the traitor insolently placed himself before him, and that this may be the reason our Lord began washing others first, and then came to Peter.

Theophylact of Ohrid: It is plain that our Lord did not wash Peter first, but none of the other disciples would have attempted to be washed before him.

St. John Chrysostom: Someone will ask why none of them stopped Him, except Peter, since this was a sign not of a lack of love, but of reverence. The reason seems to be that He washed the traitor first and came next to Peter, and that the other disciples were restrained by the reply given to Peter. Any of the others would have said what Peter did, had his turn come first.

Origen of Alexandria: Alternatively: All the others held out their feet, certain that someone so great would not wish to wash them without a reason. But Peter, looking only at the act itself and seeing nothing beyond it, refused out of reverence to let his feet be washed. He often appears in Scripture as hasty in putting forth his own ideas of what is right and expedient.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Alternatively: We must not suppose that Peter was afraid and refused when the others had willingly and gladly submitted to the washing. Our Lord did not go through the others first and come to the first of the Apostles afterward (for who does not know that the most blessed Peter was the first of all the Apostles?), but began with him. Peter, being the first to whom He came, was afraid, as indeed any of the others would have been.

St. John Chrysostom: That is to say, what a useful lesson of humility this teaches, and how directly this virtue leads to God.

Origen of Alexandria: Alternatively, our Lord implies that this is a mystery. By washing and wiping, He made beautiful the feet of those who were to preach the good news (Isaiah 52:7) and to walk on that way of which He tells them, I am the way. Jesus laid aside His garments that He might make their clean feet still cleaner, or that He might receive the uncleanness of their feet onto His own body by the towel with which He was girded, for He has borne our griefs.

Observe, too, that He chose to wash His disciples’ feet at the very time that the devil had put it into the heart of Judas to betray Him, and the dispensation for mankind was about to take place. Before this, the time had not yet come for washing their feet. Who would have washed their feet in the interval between this and the Passion? During the Passion, there was no other Jesus to do it. And after it, the Holy Ghost came upon them, by which time they should have already had their feet washed.

This mystery, our Lord says to Peter, is too great for you to understand now, but you will know it afterward when you are enlightened.

St. Augustine of Hippo: He did not refuse because our Lord’s act was beyond his understanding, but because he could not bear to see Him bending at his feet. Peter says to Him, “You shall never wash my feet”—that is, “I will never permit it,” for the expression “not for ever” is the same as “never.”

Origen of Alexandria: This is an example of how a man may say something with a good intention, and yet, out of ignorance, to his own harm. Peter, ignorant of our Lord’s deep meaning, at first says mildly, as if in doubt, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” and then, “You shall never wash my feet,” which was, in reality, to cut himself off from having a part with Jesus. Consequently, he not only blames our Lord for washing the disciples’ feet, but also his fellow disciples for allowing their feet to be washed. Since Peter did not see what was for his own good, our Lord did not allow his wish to be fulfilled. Jesus answered and said to him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

St. Augustine of Hippo: When He says, “If I do not wash you,” it was only his feet that He was going to wash. This is just as we might say, “You are treading on me,” when it is only our foot that is being trodden on.

Origen of Alexandria: Let those who refuse to allegorize this and similar passages explain how it is probable that the one who said, “You shall never wash my feet,” out of reverence for Jesus would have had no part with the Son of God, as if not having his feet washed was a deadly sin. Therefore, it is our feet—that is, the affections of our soul—that are to be given to Jesus to be washed, so that our feet may be beautiful, especially if we aspire to higher gifts and wish to be numbered among those who preach the good news.

St. John Chrysostom: He does not say why He performs this act of washing, but only threatens him. For Peter was not persuaded by the first answer. After hearing, “You will understand afterward,” he did not say, “Then teach me, so that I may submit.” But when he was threatened with separation from Christ, he submitted.

Origen of Alexandria: We may use this saying against those who make hasty and unwise resolutions. By showing them that if they adhere to these vows, they will have no part with Jesus, we can free them from such commitments, even if they have bound themselves by an oath.

St. Augustine of Hippo: But Peter, agitated by fear and love, dreaded being denied by Christ more than seeing Him at his feet. Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”

Origen of Alexandria: Jesus was unwilling to wash hands and disregarded what was said of Him in this respect: “Your disciples do not wash their hands when they eat bread” (Matthew 15:2). And He did not wish the head to be submerged, in which the image and glory of the Father was apparent. It was enough for Him that the feet were given to Him to wash. Jesus answered and said, “The one who has bathed needs only to wash his feet; he is completely clean. And you are clean, but not all of you.”

St. Augustine of Hippo: A person is clean all over, except for the feet. The whole of a person is washed in baptism, including the feet; but in living in the world afterward, we tread upon the earth. Those human affections, then, without which we cannot live in this world, are like our feet, which connect us with human affairs. This is why “if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves” (1 John 1:8). But if we confess our sins, He who washed the disciples’ feet forgives our sins, even down to our feet, with which we interact with the world.

Origen of Alexandria: It was impossible for the lowest parts and extremities of a soul to escape defilement, even in someone as perfect as a human can be. Many, even after baptism, are covered up to their heads with the dust of wickedness, but the true disciples of Christ only need their feet washed.

St. Augustine of Hippo: From what is said here, we understand that Peter had already been baptized. Indeed, the fact that Christ baptized through His disciples shows that His disciples must have been baptized, either with John’s baptism or, more probably, with Christ’s. He baptized by means of baptized servants, for He who had the humility to wash feet did not refuse the ministry of baptizing.

Regarding the phrase, “And you are clean, but not all of you,” the Evangelist immediately explains what this means: For He knew who was to betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.”

Origen of Alexandria: The phrase “You are clean” refers to the eleven, while “but not all of you” refers to Judas. He was unclean, first, because he did not care for the poor but was a thief, and second, because the devil had put it into his heart to betray Christ. Christ washes their feet after they are clean, showing that grace goes beyond necessity, according to the text, “Let the one who is holy continue to be holy.”

St. Augustine of Hippo: Alternatively, the disciples, having been washed, only needed to have their feet washed because as long as a person lives in this world, he comes into contact with the earth through his human affections, which are, so to speak, his feet.

St. John Chrysostom: Alternatively, when He calls them clean, you must not suppose that they were delivered from sin before the Victim was offered. He means cleanness in respect of knowledge, for they were now delivered from Jewish error.