FEETWASHING, C. H. Cayce If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him,” John 13:14-16.
Here it is plainly stated, that “Ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.” The Lord said this. He either was correct in this statement or else He was wrong. If He was wrong, then we should say, “Ye also ought not to wash one another’s feet.” Will you say, “Ye ought not to wash one another’s feet,” or will you say, “Ye also ought to wash one another’s feet?”
Was the Saviour right or was He wrong? Verse 15 says, “I have given you an example.” An example is something to be followed. If the Lord was right in this statement, the example which He set in washing the disciples’ feet should be followed. Again, “That ye should do as I have done to you,” is a statement also made by Him in that same verse. An example which is right is something that those people to whom it is given are under obligation to follow. Anything which one ought to do is something which is wrong for him to leave undone. Anything which one should do is something which he is obligated to do. This obligation of doing rests upon him, and he is blameworthy if he fails. From this it is evident that there can be no question but what the followers of the Lord are required to wash each other’s feet, or to engage in the practice of feet washing.
Now the question is, as asked by you, “When should this be done?” . . . . By referring to the second verse of John 13 you will find that John says, “And supper being ended.” And in verse four, John says, “He riseth from supper,’ and then goes on and relates the entire circumstance of the Saviour washing the disciples’ feet, down to and including verse seventeen. Then beginning with verse eighteen, he goes back and relates the conversation which took place during the eating of the Passover supper, at which (Passover supper) he instituted the sacramental supper, or communion.
To show you this is the same conversation I refer you to this fact—in verse twenty-one he records the Saviour’s language thus, “Verily, verily I say unto you, That one of you shall betray me.” Matt. 26:20-29 gives an account of the eating of this Passover and the institution of the sacramental supper. In verse twenty-one he tells us that the Saviour said, “Verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.” This shows that the conversation was during the Passover supper. Verses twenty-six to twenty-nine in Matthew 26 show that the sacramental supper was instituted at the close of this Passover. Then John’s language shows that when the supper was ended the Saviour washed the disciples’ feet. Please read these references, and others, and
investigate, according to this way of harmonizing the matters recorded concerning this question.” (Cayce’s Editorials vol. 2, ppg 215, 216)
FEETWASHING, C. H. Cayce It is truly clear that Jesus has said, “Ye also ought to wash one another’s feet,”and we should do so for this reason. No matter if it does seem to us to be an empty rite, the Saviour said we ought to do it, and that is a good reason why we should. To say that it was an old Jewish custom, and therefore not required under the gospel, is to impeach the Apostle Peter with ignorance of the customs of his own people, for the Saviour said, “What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.” Peter did know the old Jewish customs, hence this was not done as an old Jewish custom. In washing their feet Jesus said He had given them an example, that they should do as He had done to them. An example is something to follow. If the Saviour was immersed in baptism, we cannot follow Him in baptism unless we are also immersed. If He was immersed in baptism, and if His baptism is an example for us to follow, then we cannot follow the example unless we are immersed. Even so, we cannot follow His example in feet washing unless we wash each other’s feet. Doing something else is not following the example.
Washing the saints’ feet is put down in the catalog of good works by the Apostle Paul in 1 Tim. 5:9-10. It is clearly mentioned here as a good work. Then if we fail to do it, it is evident that we fail to do one good work the Lord has said we ought to do.
If the Saviour had commanded us to practice something symbolizing our honesty, it would be right for us to do it. In Matt. 6:16-17 the Saviour is not teaching us that we should not show our humility. Beginning with the first verse of the chapter, He teaches us that we should not do the things mentioned to be seen of men. We should not engage in any service to be seen of men. If that is the object we have in view, then the service becomes an empty form, and is not acceptable service. If we are not to show humility, then we should not perform any act that might be prompted by a spirit of humility. Instead of humility being something we should not show, it is something that we should show. If all the brotherhood would show and manifest toward each other more of the spirit of humility, we are of the humble opinion there would be less trouble among us. Washing each other’s feet is an act of humility; Christ performed it as an example, and we should follow the example. We say, in washing each other’s feet, that we have a desire to live at the feet of our brethren, and that we esteem our brethren and prefer them before ourselves. We profess this when we wash their feet; and then we should live the profession. The Primitive Baptist, March 9, 1909.