Is Footwashing in the New Testament a Command or Just Symbolic?
1) Direct Answer
It is a command to be practiced by believers. It is not merely symbolic, though it carries a spiritual meaning. Footwashing is a New Testament ordinance tied to the Lord’s Supper.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- Jesus said, “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet… I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you… If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (John 13:14–15, 17).
- He explained the spiritual meaning—cleansing in our daily walk—yet still told them to do it (John 13:8–10).
- The early church continued it: a faithful widow is described as one who “washed the saints’ feet” (1 Timothy 5:10).
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- Jesus didn’t say, “Think about what I did,” but, “Do as I have done to you.” That’s a command.
- If it were only cultural, the Holy Spirit would not have stamped it in the church record as a mark of faithful service (1 Timothy 5:10).
- Like water baptism and the Lord’s Supper, it is both meaningful and to be literally observed. The act expresses humility, fellowship, and the reminder that the Lord keeps us clean in our daily walk—but He still told us to do it.
4) Reinforcing Statement
Now notice, the Bible ties blessing to obedience: “Happy are ye if ye do them.” So we keep it because the Lord said so. It’s not three ideas or traditions—it’s one simple command: wash one another’s feet.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Pride
55-0807A §20
You never see crows and doves having much fellowship with one another. They're two different kinds of birds; one has one thing, and the other has the other. Now, the crow, he's a scavenger. He just eats dead things. But the dove cannot eat dead things. If the dove eats dead things, then the dove would die right away; he can't digest it. The dove---the bird that we know to be called dove---symbolized the Holy Spirit of a dove in the Bible; that dove doesn't have any gall. It cannot digest bad, foul things; because i...
Questions and Answers, part 2
54-0103E §68
Yes, your vision, Sister... If you're a good, clean, holy woman before God, you were standing there and Jesus was letting you know that He was giving the communion, that you were taking Him in as a symbol; and if you're not, as a warning to you to get right with God before you do it again.