Our betrayals washed away.
Reflection on a reading from today's Church of England Lectionary. 11 October 2021. John 13: 1 - 11.
At the Passover feast Jesus begins to wash the feet of his disciples. Peter initially refuses but Jesus tells him that whoever wants to be a leader must be a servant. The demeaning job of washing guests’ feet was that only of the lowliest servant. Getting ahead of himself yet again Peter tells him that if he must wash his feet then he should wash his head and hands also. Jesus says to him that those who are already clean don't need any more washing but that there was someone in the room with them who was covered in dirt. He means Judas Iscariot who has already betrayed him to the authorities.
Knowing what Judas has done why does Jesus wash even him? Because Jesus is the servant of all so a disciple must be the same.
It wasn't physical dirt that covered Judas but the dirt of betrayal. Still, Jesus was prepared to wash it from him. If this is the case wouldn't he be prepared to wash our betrayals, our failures, yes, our sins from us?