20. Слово в Великий Четверок (Чин омовения ног. Истолкование действия Господня, священнодейственно воспоминаемого)

Last year on this day there was a small gathering in this church, but now you see how many of you have gathered! It is true that you were attracted by the desire to see the rite of washing the feet. You will see this rank. Allow me only, as a reward for the work of your zeal, to tell you a few words in the interpretation of this action of the Lord, now sacredly remembered. This action is not a spectacle for idle curiosity, but is a presentation of great Christian truths, rich in spiritual edification. Just by the very fact that it was performed by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is eternal wisdom, and was performed on the apostles and for the apostles, on whom the Holy Church was created - the guardian of Divine wisdom, you can be convinced that this seemingly simple action is not alien to a deep and vast sign. And precisely, it depicts the essence of the ministry of Christ the Savior to humanity and indicates the program of future actions of the holy apostles in enlightening the human race with the Gospel preaching. Only all this is not interpreted in words, but is presented in action. The washing of feet is a parable in action. The Lord took visible objects and everyday affairs and gave them a spiritual sign - a parable came out, proposed in a word. And then it happened that the Lord did not speak a word, but performed an action with a deep spiritual sign - and a parable came out in action. Such is His seating on the lot, which signified the acceptance of the Gospel by the pagans and their submission to Christ the Savior; such is the withering of the fig tree, which signified the defeat of the barren synagogue. The same is true for washing feet. It means, as I mentioned, what and how our Lord did for the sake of salvation, and how the holy apostles should have acted, spreading the teaching about this salvation. Let me explain this to you briefly. So, the first thing is the washing of feet, if you look at it from the person of Christ the Savior? – It depicts the essence of the ministry of Christ the Lord to humanity in the arrangement of its salvation. The Lord has already spoken a lot about this. But then the last evening approached, and He deigned to conclude everything in one short action, so that later, in the last conversation, He could explain His work even more fully. Why does the holy evangelist John, when starting to describe the washing of feet, say: “knowing Jesus, that the hour has come, that he should pass from this world to the Father... and that he should depart from God, and come to God... to rise from supper” (John 13: 1, 3-4). This “knower” is in such close connection with this “vosta” that one cannot help but see in the latter a reflection of the former. In fact, Jesus Christ, believing that He is truly the Son of God and God, comes down from the first place and bows down to serve the apostles - is it not clear here that what the Apostle later says about Him is depicted in action: “Who is in the image of God, is not equal to God by admiration; but I diminished myself, and took on the form of a servant in the likeness of mankind” (Phil. 2:6-7). Having bowed down, the Lord performed the work of a servant - is this not an indication in action that He came not to be served, but to serve? Having loved His own being, the Lord washes our feet - isn’t it for the sake of more vividly imprinting in our thoughts that He is the cleansing of our sins?! But in these three is the whole essence of the economy of our salvation: its source is the descent of the Lord in the incarnation; the image of the commission is humiliation; the most important thing is cleansing. From a great height and deep we fell. The High God descends into the depths of our fall through incarnation to lift us up. We fell from pride, dreaming of being gods. God, in order to save us, accepts the image of a slave in deep self-abasement. We have fallen into impurity, the Most Pure One comes to reveal us pure in justification and confirm us in this purity by the renewal of our life. These are the truths that are so vividly imprinted by the simplest actions of the Lord: he rose from his seat, bowed down and washed his feet! And this is a sign of washing the feet in relation to the Lord. Secondly, what is the washing of feet, if you look at it from the face of the holy apostles? In this regard, the Lord could have the following intentions: 1. Enlighten Judas the traitor, for the Evangelist says: “I have already put the devil in the heart of Judas Simon Iscariot, that he may be betrayed... by the Lord rising from supper” (John 13:2,4), and the Lord said to the apostles during the ablution: “And you are clean by nature, but not all” (John 13:10), making it clear that He knows the traitor who is here but it was in order to induce him to enter into himself and come to his senses. 2. Give the apostles a lesson in humility, for the Evangelists remember that, while reclining at supper, the apostles allowed themselves to think about who would be their first. And so the Lord showed them in action that the first is the one who is the servant of all, and then in word he said: “Let the pain in you be as I am, and serve the elders as you serve” (Luke 22:26). 3. The Lord wanted to instill in the apostles, and through them, all of us, when approaching Holy Communion, to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. For after washing the feet, the Lord began to give communion to the holy Apostles, and therefore, by the act of washing, he said to them the same thing that the Apostle Paul later prescribed: “Let a man tempt himself, and let him eat of the bread, and let him drink of the cup” (1 Cor. 11:28). So, one can think that the Lord, in washing his feet, had these three intentions to admonish Judas the traitor, to give the apostles a lesson in humility and to inspire them and us to cleanse ourselves from all unclean things before Holy Communion. But I believe that the Lord's thoughts extended much further. Namely: He wanted, in the same brief act of washing the feet, to present the characteristics of the apostolic ministry, just as He presented in it the essence of the economy of our salvation that He completed. The Lord ended his visible activity on earth. He entrusts further work in arranging the salvation of people to the apostles, endowing them with power from above. Isn’t it fair to think that when the Evangelist says: “knowing Jesus, the hour had come, that he should pass away from the earth,” rose from supper and washed the feet of the disciples, then he gives us to understand that in this act of washing the Lord, ready to depart from the earth, gives instructions to those whom He leaves in His stead, how they should continue His work, which is now entrusted to them? The Lord washes the feet. No matter how you take care of your feet, it’s difficult to keep them clean. But the Lord washes them and thus, as it were, says to the Apostles: look, you will go to preach, you will act in the world, among the people and customs of sinners; no matter how difficult it is to protect yourself from every earthly, human, worldly attack, I want you to be completely pure in everything, even in that which seems impossible to avoid, in which impurity is not suspected, or that is not even considered impurity. This is the same as He said before: “You are the light of the world... So let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14,16). The Lord Himself expressed this thought when He said: “The betrayed man does not require only to wash his nose, for he is all clean” (John 13:10). This is the first. Second. The Lord washes your feet. The legs resemble walking, a path, a way of acting, and for the apostles the way of acting is in the apostleship. So, by washing the feet of the apostles with his own hands, making them clean and revealing them in their present form, the Lord taught that the image of the action of the holy apostles in the apostolic works will only then be pure, will be revealed in its true form, when it is controlled by the hands, or by the power of the Lord Himself. Therefore, perfect devotion to the Lord must be shown on the part of the apostles: go where the Lord leads; act as the Lord suggests; say what the Lord gives. Perfect devotion to God is the hallmark of the Apostleship. “He will girdle you and lead you even if you don’t want to” (John 21:18). “It is not you who speaks, but the Spirit of My Father who speaks in you” (Matthew 10:20). I wanted to go, says the Apostle Paul, to Asia, but the Spirit forbade me. This is how it happened with the apostles and this is why the Apostle Peter received such a severe reproach when he refused to wash himself. He showed that he wanted to act according to his own understanding, contrary to the quality of apostolic action. Consequently, he refused, as it were, the Apostleship and disappeared from the host of Christ’s servants; for which reason I heard: if - “I do not wash you, have no part with me” (John 13:8). - This is the second one. Third. The Lord Himself indicated. Having washed his feet, He lay down again and said: “Do you know what I have done to you? You proclaim Me, the Teacher and the Lord, and say well: there is more. If I have washed your noses, Lord and Teacher, you too must wash each other’s noses. I have given you an image, that even as I have created for you, you also create” (John 13:12-15). “It’s like this: a difficult task lies ahead of you - to conquer the whole world into obedience to faith.” Look, help each other, comfort each other, protect each other, warn, admonish, protect each other's honor and dignity. - Or this: what I am now for you, then each of you will be for the country in which it falls to him to preach. See, just as I have now fulfilled the very last need for you, so you too delve into all the smallest needs of believers and strive to satisfy them, sparing no effort and not considering any service humiliating. Let us now put all this together, and this is the instruction in the washing of feet that will be expressed for the holy apostles. The Lord seemed to say to them: keep yourself completely pure, both internally and externally, carry out the work of the apostolic ministry in the spirit of complete devotion to God, in mutual agreement and helping each other, sparing nothing to satisfy any needs that you notice among believers. Isn’t it true that this is an abbreviated program according to which the holy apostles almost relentlessly acted, as we know from the Acts of the Apostles? Now, perhaps, someone will ask: this means washing the feet in relation to the apostles, and that - what was said before - in relation to the Lord; for us, who remember it, what does it mean? – We need to collect spiritual fruits in moral lessons from both sides. Namely: by remembering the washing of feet, we commit ourselves to bear each other’s burdens and to protect and purify each other’s mutual honor; if we have not managed to reach perfect devotion to God, at least live in trust in God and try to fulfill His will definitely expressed in the word, when we still do not know how to discern His hidden inspirations in the heart; Keep yourself clean both in internal feelings and dispositions, and in external actions; but with all your perfections, avoid self-exaltation and assigning to yourself any advantages over others, learning this especially from contemplation of the economy of our salvation, through the humble service of the perfect Lord, which every reasonable person who remembers the washing of feet will understand by faith, diligently assimilate and manifest in his life in all its fullness. With such thoughts and feelings, look now at the rite of washing the feet, which we will now begin to perform for your teaching and edification, as a parable of the Lord, expressed in action and handed down to us in the words of the eyewitnesses of the apostles, which we will bring to your memory not only in words, but also by repeating the very act of the Lord. Amen. You might be interested in: