John 13
3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;
4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
5 After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
6 Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.
8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.
11 For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.
12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?
13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.
15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
16 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.
17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 88
138 And ye shall not receive any among you into this school save he is clean from the blood of this generation;
139 And he shall be received by the ordinance of the washing of feet, for unto this end was the ordinance of the washing of feet instituted.
140 And again, the ordinance of washing feet is to be administered by the president, or presiding elder of the church.
141 It is to be commenced with prayer; and after partaking of bread and wine, he is to gird himself according to the pattern given in the thirteenth chapter of John’s testimony concerning me. Amen.
John 13:1–17. The Savior’s Washing of His Disciples’ Feet
John’s Gospel does not record all the events of the Last Supper. John chose to focus on the Savior’s washing of the disciples’ feet at the conclusion of the meal and also on the Savior’s discourse to His disciples. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained that the Savior’s washing of the disciples’ feet showed His “unfailing devotion” to His disciples:
“In the midst of [the Last Supper], Christ quietly arose, girded himself as a slave or servant would, and knelt to wash the Apostles’ feet. (See John 13:3–17.) This small circle of believers in this scarcely founded kingdom were about to pass through their severest trial, so he would set aside his own increasing anguish in order that he might yet once more serve and strengthen them. It does not matter that no one washed his feet. In transcendent humility he would continue to teach and to cleanse them. He would to the final hour—and beyond—be their sustaining servant. As John wrote, who was there and watched the wonder of it all, ‘Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.’ (John 13:1.)
“So it had been, and so it was to be—through the night, and through the pain, and forever. He would always be their strength, and no anguish in his own soul would ever keep him from that sustaining role” (“He Loved Them unto the End,” Ensign, Nov. 1989, 25).
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John 13:4–12. Washing of Feet Is a Gospel Ordinance
The Joseph Smith Translation provides an additional insight into the washing of the disciples’ feet: “Now this was the custom of the Jews under their law; wherefore, Jesus did this that the law might be fulfilled” (Joseph Smith Translation, John 13:10 [in the Bible appendix]). Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught that when the Savior washed the disciples’ feet, He fulfilled the law of Moses and performed a gospel ordinance:
“Washing of feet is a gospel ordinance; it is a holy and sacred rite, one performed by the saints in the seclusion of their temple sanctuaries. It is not done before the world or for worldly people. For his day and dispensation Jesus instituted it in the upper room at the time of the Last Supper.
“Our Lord did two things in the performance of this ordinance: 1. He fulfilled the old law given to Moses; and 2. He instituted a sacred ordinance which should be performed by legal administrators among his true disciples from that day forward.
“As part of the restoration of all things, the ordinance of washing of feet has been restored in the dispensation of the fulness of times” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 1:708).
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On December 27, 1832, the Prophet Joseph Smith received a revelation that declared: “Sanctify yourselves; yea, purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you clean” (D&C 88:74). In that same revelation the Lord commanded the Prophet to organize the School of the Prophets, saying that those who were part of the school “shall be received by the ordinance of the washing of feet” (D&C 88:139). Elder McConkie further explained:
“In the case of [the School of the Prophets] the ordinance [of washing of feet] is to be performed by the President of the Church. In compliance with this revelation the Prophet on January 23, 1833, washed the feet of the members of the school of the prophets [see History of the Church, 1:323]. . . .
“On March 29 and 30, 1836, [in the newly dedicated Kirtland Temple] the leading brethren, including the First Presidency, Council of the Twelve, bishoprics, and presidents of quorums, participated in the ordinance of washing of feet [see History of the Church, 2:430–31]. . . .
“Thus the knowledge relative to the washing of feet has been revealed step by step in this day until a full knowledge is now incorporated in the revealed ordinances of the Lord’s house” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 1:709–10).
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What had he done? He had instituted—nay, reinstituted, for "the order of the house of God has been, and ever will be, the same" —he had reinstituted one of the holy ordinances of the everlasting gospel. Those who have been washed in the waters of baptism, who have been freed from sin and evil through the waters of regeneration, who have come forth thereby in a newness of life, and who then press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, keeping the commandments and walking in paths of truth and righteousness, qualify to have an eternal seal placed on their godly conduct. They are thus ready to be endowed with power from on high. Then, in holy places, they cleanse their hands and their feet, as the scripture saith, and become "clean from the blood of this wicked generation." (D&C 88:74-75, 137-41.) Then, as the scripture also saith, they receive anointings and washings and conversations and statutes and judgments. (D&C 124:37-40.) Then they receive what Jesus here gave the Twelve, for as the Prophet said: "The house of the Lord must be prepared, . . . and in it we must attend to the ordinance of washing of feet. It was never intended for any but official members. It is calculated to unite our hearts, that we may be one in feeling and sentiment, and that our faith may be strong, so that Satan cannot overthrow us, nor have any power over us here."
Bruce R. McConkie - Mortal Messiah - Volume 4 - Chapter 96 (The Last Supper)
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On the 23rd of January, we again assembled in conference; when, after much speaking, singing, praying, and praising God, all in tongues, we proceeded to the washing of feet (according to the practice recorded in the 13th chapter of John’s Gospel), as commanded of the Lord. Each Elder washed his own feet first, after which I girded myself with a towel and washed the feet of all of them, wiping them with the towel with which I was girded. . . . At the close of the scene, Brother Frederick G. Williams, being moved upon by the Holy Ghost, washed my feet in token of his fixed determination to be with me in suffering, or in journeying, in life or in death, and to be continually on my right hand; in which I accepted him in the name of the Lord.
I then said to the Elders, As I have done so do ye; wash ye, therefore, one another’s feet; and by the power of the Holy Ghost I pronounced them all clean from the blood of this generation; but if any of them should sin wilfully after they were thus cleansed, and sealed up unto eternal life, they should be given over unto the buffetings of Satan until the day of redemption.
Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 1:323-24
