Lutheran Devotional 3 March 2026, Tuesday Message
TOPIC: Washing Feet
SCRIPTURE READING: John 13:4-5, 12b, 14
[Jesus] rose from supper. He laid aside His outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around His waist. Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around Him. … [Afterward] He said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? … If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:4-5, 12b, 14)
What is this washing, that Jesus does to us and commands us to do to each other? Why is it so important that He says, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with Me”? We get a clue when Jesus says, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean.” There’s only one bath I know of that makes a person clean forever, and that is Baptism. And so this daily washing of feet—what is it, then? It must be the ongoing, continuing forgiveness Jesus gives us for the sins we commit every day of our lives. When He washes us, He restores us to the perfect cleanness He gave us at Baptism, and we are glad.
Jesus can do this because He has paid the price for our cleansing at the cross with His own blood. Because of His death and resurrection, we who trust in Him are no longer sinners doomed to destruction; we are God’s own children, who live with the life Jesus gives us. And we follow His example, washing the feet of our brothers and sisters, forgiving them when they sin against us—just as Jesus forgave us.
WE PRAY: Dear Jesus, thank You for washing me! Amen.
Reflection Questions:
- When does Jesus wash you clean of your daily sins?
- How and when do you forgive your neighbors?
- When you have trouble forgiving, where can you find help?
Today’s Readings:
Leviticus 15-16
Mark 8:22-38
Lenten Devotions were written by Dr. Kari Vo.