Foot Washing Part I: Love, love, love

I can identify most Beatles songs in the first five to ten seconds. 

That’s my only party trick and you better believe I milk it for everything it’s worth.

Now you don’t have to be an absolute Beatles junkie like me to know that they really like singing about love.

Their first number one hit was a song called “Love Me Do” and their second “From Me To You” also covers the same topic. Their third is the iconic “She Loves You” followed by “I Want To Hold Your Hand” then “Can’t Buy Me Love”. 

Even their later, more mature hits retain this theme, like “Yesterday” about a love that didn’t last or, my personal favorite, “Something” which Frank Sinatra famously called “the greatest love song of the past 50 years.”

And, of course, who could forget the iconic “All You Need Is Love”?

Earlier this year, I read Dominion by the English historian Tom Holland. The book is a highly engaging journey through the influence of Christianity on Western culture. It’s a brilliant tour of just how deeply Jesus’s teachings are ingrained in our values.

One thing Mr. Holland rightly notes is how the Beatles’ fascination with love stems from Christ’s emphasis on it. Now, he also rightly mentions that this was likely a subconscious inheritance. Nonetheless, it shows just how deeply the Christian rhetoric of love has penetrated our culture.

For our first series here at Theophilus I want to explore Jesus’s approach to love by examining an important aspect of said love…

Foot washing.

Fun!

The symbol of foot washing and the story connected to it, in my opinion, remains one of the most subversive and powerful aspects of the Way of Jesus. There’s a lot of power in it, but perhaps not the kind we’d expect. 

So, buckle up, turn your Bibles to John 13, have your basins ready, and get some Beatles playing in the background.

We’re gonna wash some feet.

For now, be blessed.

Jon

Theophilus Newsletter

(P.S. I Love You)

Everyday we will include the short of the day, related to the topic of the newsletter. Today: Why is this series called footwashing?