Did Jesus Wash Judas’ Feet?

Jesus chose His disciples all by Himself. Before He decided on whom to choose to preach the gospel of God and to cast out demons, He went to the mountain and prayed all night. Jesus had twelve disciples who helped Him in His ministry. Judas Iscariot was among the famous disciples of Jesus. Judas is familiar to people because he betrayed Jesus.

Jesus washed Judas’ feet. However, the Bible does not explicitly state this. Jesus washed His disciples’ feet near the end of His time on Earth, and when He had finished, Christ states that not all of His disciples were clean. this is taken to be a reference to Judas’ treacherous plotting.

Judas was paid to identify Jesus. The betrayal of Judas was not a surprise to Jesus because He knew the disciples that believed in Him and the one that was going to sell Him out. Jesus knew that Judas would betray him does not mean that he did it because it was supposed to happen. God is the creator of time, sees our future, and He just shared what was about to happen before it did.

Judas and his interactions with Christ

Judas Iscariot referring to Jesus as Rabbi could portray that he did not believe Him to be a God but rather a teacher. This explanation could bring us to see why Judas had to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Jesus is also seen as a Rabbi because He taught crowds of people how to live to see the kingdom of God.

As we read the Bible, we will see that Judas Iscariot is listed last when it comes to the disciples of Jesus. Simon, Andrew and John come first, and as we all know, they were close to Jesus. This discovery leads us to believe that Judas Iscariot did not have a close relationship and only saw Jesus as a teacher. The distance between them could be another reason why Judas Iscariot did not hesitate to betray Him.

The only time that we see Jesus and Judas have a close-talk in the Bible is during the resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus rebukes Judas for claiming that the expensive ointment that Mary, Lazarus’ sister used on Jesus’ feet should have been sold.

Mary’s anointing of Jesus is an act of worship and not misusing the expensive ointment. Judas Iscariot was the keeper of the bag in which he bought things that Jesus and the disciples did not have or give to the poor. Judas being a treasurer could show that he had an interest in the money, and he believed that he could benefit from collections taken for the group.

Judas & Jesus at the Last Supper

In the last supper, Jesus sat down with all of His twelve disciples. It is called the last supper because it was the last meal that Jesus had with His disciples before His death. He told them that He wanted to share with them before he began His suffering. Jesus blessed a cup and bread and shared it among His disciples.

He told them that the bread should remind them of the body of Christ and the cup of the blood of Jesus. He then tells them that the man who would betray Him was there with Him at the table. They start murmuring among themselves on who was likely to betray Jesus. He did not say the name of the disciple that was going to betray Him. He turns to him and tells him to do what he is about to do quickly. After Judas leaves, he continues to teach them.

They later went to the mountain to pray. Christ prayed to God to lift the suffering but later on agreed with God’s will. His disciples fell asleep, and we see Him waking them up and telling them not to sleep but rather pray not to fall in temptation for the spirit is ready, but the flesh is weak.

The last supper is when Jesus also washed the feet of His disciples. Jesus displayed his humility and servanthood, and washing the disciples’ feet was in direct contrast to their heart attitudes at that time. When it comes to us, washing our feet is symbolic of our role in the body of Christ. The disciples were stunned by this act of humility from their master since they expected His feet to be washed instead. The disciples had been arguing among themselves also which of them was most outstanding, which was in direct contrast to Jesus attitude of servanthood.

On the washing of the disciples’ feet

 Jesus did not neglect any of His disciples when it came to washing their feet, including Judas. He knew that Judas Iscariot would betray Him that night, but He still went ahead and washed his feet. You could be wondering what was going on in Judas’ mind as Jesus was washing his feet because Jesus knew of the deal that he had made to betray Him.

Did Judas know that Jesus knew that he was going to betray Him?

By the statement Jesus made about not all the disciples are clean, Judas might have known that Jesus knew and yet He was still washing his feet. Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him that night did not stop Him from washing his feet. As a person, it would be hard for you to tolerate not even wash the feet of a person who has betrayed you.

Even after Jesus chose Judas, taught him and ministered, he betrayed Him, but He still showed him this act of humility. Jesus tries to show His disciples that if a teacher can render services to them, then they should be able to render services to one another in all ways. Jesus teaches the church to be humble, loving and selflessly serve other people.

Jesus finished praying on the mountain and came to wake His disciples up for the time had come. Judas came with multitudes of people, and he kissed Jesus, and the soldiers laid their hands on him and took him. Jesus asked them why they came with swords to take Him as if He was a thief, yet He was teaching them daily in the temple. The Bible has two accounts talking about the death of Judas Iscariot after the betrayal.

References to Judas throughout the Bible

In Mathew, Judas realized that he had betrayed Jesus and brought thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. Judas claimed that he had sold a man without sin, but they told him that that was on him and not them. He then left the pieces of silver in the temple and went and committed suicide. The chief priests took the pieces of silver and bought a field to bury strangers. They could not put the money back to the treasury because they believed it to have blood on it.

The Acts of the Apostles states that Judas went ahead and bought land with thirty pieces of silver and fell with his head first and his body busted open. People in Jerusalem heard of his death and named that land, field of blood. Judas Iscariot had betrayed the trust of Jesus and that of all the other eleven disciples.

In Mathew, Jesus says that the son of man will go as it is written of him, but it is unfortunate for the man who betrays the son of man. Jesus continues to say that the world would have been a better place without Judas in it. God and Jesus were focused to bring salvation to humankind, and nothing would stop that. Judas made his choices, and no one forced him to betray Jesus; therefore, he is likely to suffer some form of punishment due to his involvement in the whole thing. Judas being a follower of Christ might help him get forgiveness from God though he did not have strong faith.

In the book of John, Jesus prays concerning His disciples. He says that while He was on earth, He was with them, and He kept them safe and protected them. And that none of them was lost apart from one who had to go astray for the scripture to be fulfilled. Judas played a part in identifying Jesus for Him to start suffering and even die for the salvation of human beings.

The eleven disciples came together after the death of Judas Iscariot and decided to replace him. They had two men, Mathias and Joseph, called Barsabbas. They prayed to God for direction to choose the most suitable disciple. They decided by lots and chose Mathias. However, people tend to think that God preferred Paul to be the twelfth disciple.

This assumption is because Paul was well known in the early church, unlike Mathias, who was never mentioned again in the New Testament. Paul seemed quite crucial than most of the disciples except for Peter and John. So this makes Mathias a fit as the twelfth disciple despite his death as a martyr of Christ just like all the other disciples apart from John. If God did not want Mathias to be chosen as a disciple, He would not have made it happen.

Conclusion

Though there are not many instances in which we hear of Judas Iscariot, there are several things that we learn from what he did in the Bible. You should be careful of who you choose to be in your life. You cannot avoid meeting people; therefore, you should know who to associate with and who not to befriend.

You also get to see how the love for money can be the start of regrettable decisions. The story of Judas also teaches us that having remorse is not the same as repentance. Judas was remorseful for betraying Jesus, but he never asked God for forgiveness.

Gene Botkin

Gene is the director of the Theosis Christian Project. He studied physics and military science before founding the Project. Gene is currently pursuing his doctorate in systems engineering at an engineering college in the Ozarks. The Theosis Christian Project is his attempt to expand Holy Orthodoxy in America.

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