Homilia de lotione pedum

A homily of our father among the saints John Chrysostom on the foot-washing, for Holy and Great Thursday. The mercy of God and his love for humanity is proclaimed by the whole of creation, and it is also proclaimed by the ordering of creation. For there is nothing among visible things that does not proclaim the goodness of God; but heaven, earth, sea, and all things visible and invisible have come to be, are sustained, and are preserved by the mercy of God. Reasonably, then, the blessed David proclaims the merciful one from his love for humanity, saying: "The Lord is merciful and just, and our God shows mercy." He has mingled justice with love for humanity, and calls him both just and loving, so that when you hear "just," you may fear the judgment, and when you hear "loving," you may hasten to repentance. And he does not proclaim love for humanity as absolute, nor justice as bare. For if he were to proclaim only justice, he would discourage those who hope in mercy, and if he were to speak only of love for humanity, he would lead the more careless into contempt. "Merciful and compassionate and just is the Lord God." He has joined love for humanity with justice, and has placed mercy as the beginning and seal of the saying.

For all things began from love for humanity and ended in love for humanity: heaven came to be for love for humanity, not for God's use; for from the time heaven was created, it is not yet six thousand years. But before the heavens and before those infinite ages which have no beginning, God is and was; and before every conception, the "was" is spoken. Heaven therefore did not come to be for God's use, but for love for humanity. For this reason the heavens proclaim not God's use, but God's glory. For our God is said to be above in heaven; but this is said not as though God has need of it, but as one who rests among the angels in heaven. For scripture often calls heaven the angels in heaven, just as it calls earth the humans from earth. As the history, hinting at the time of the midday meal, says: "All the earth was dining," meaning "It was time for the midday meal." So it calls earth the humans from earth, and heaven the angels in heaven. And this is made clear by: "Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth exult." Why should those in heaven, the angels, rejoice? For the salvation of the world. And who guarantees this saying? The king of the angels himself, saying: "Amen, amen, I say to you, joy occurs before all the angels in the heavens over a single repentant sinner.

The heaven came into being for the glory of God, but for our use, so that the sun might shine upon us, and the moon, and all the stars. For God had no need of the sun. The creator of light had no need of perceptible light, He who alone possesses immortality, dwelling in inaccessible light. And it is no wonder if God has no need of perceptible light; for not even angels have need of earthly light, but only of the heavenly light; and the heavenly light is God Himself. Thus it is witnessed: In the middle of the night an angel stood by the prison where Peter was. And what does the historian say—or rather, the Holy Spirit speaking through him? "And behold, an angel stood by in the night, and light shone in the cell." But if an angel, who is a created being, has no need of light, does the maker of angels and of all creation have need of light? He has no need of light, then, but through light He delights us, He gives us life, He warms us. For all things came into being for His glory, but for our use: the sun that it might shine upon men, clouds for the service of rains, and earth for the abundance of crops, and sea for the plenty of merchants. All things serve together for man—or rather, for the image of God.

For even when imperial portraits and images are brought into a city, and rulers and peoples go out to meet them with acclamation and awe, they are not honoring the plank or the wax-painted picture in doing this, but the character of the emperor. So also creation does not honor the earthly vessel but reveres the heavenly character. Everything, then, came into being not because of any need of God, but for our use, and so that we might glorify the love of God for humanity. Hence, bearing witness to God’s mercy, the wisdom of God said: “You have mercy, Lord, on all, because you can do all things.” For from the beginning, loving us, he made us, and now he administers with goodness; for he would not have fashioned anything if he hated it; if he hated, he would not have formed it; if he hated, he would not have ordered it. For this reason, scripture says: “You abhor nothing, Lord, of what you have made; for you have fashioned nothing while hating it.” Nothing, then, among visible things came into being because of any need of God, but for the glory of God, so that he might be glorified as the friend of humanity, needing nothing and yet doing everything. For even if we offer hymns to God, even if we build houses, we honor and glorify ourselves; God accepts only the gratitude. For this reason, David, being grateful and a lover of God, and prizing gratitude, confessed God’s lack of need, saying: “I said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord, because you have no need of my goods.’” For God has need of none of the things from us.

The visible things, then, proclaim the goodness of God, but nothing proclaims it so much as his sojourn among men, so that he who exists in the form of God took the form of a slave, not changing his dignity but exalting his philanthropy. And it is the awesome mystery that took place today that leads us to this sequence of the discourse. What happened today? The Savior washes the feet of the disciples. To tell the truth, it is awesome and to keep silent is fearful; we are afraid even as we proclaim, because we consider the greatness of the dignity, and we are afraid lest by being silent we fall into the danger of ingratitude. These things, whether spoken or kept silent, involve fear: spoken because of the greatness, kept silent because of the ingratitude. Let us speak, then, of the fearful things, since he himself did not refuse to do the awesome things. A man appeared on earth, the maker of men, the master among slaves, the creator with his creations, the form of God in the form of a slave, concerning whom Paul says: "He who exists in the form of God did not consider it a usurpation to be equal to God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.

Throughout the whole of the human character, then, the master of all put on the form of a slave, but especially in this economy he put on the form of a slave when, rising from the dinner, he who nourishes everything beneath the heavens, when he reclined with the apostles, the master with the slaves, the fountain of wisdom with the unlearned, the Word with those who had not learned the word, the beginning of wisdom with those who did not understand letters, when he reclined and feasted together with them, he who feasts all, and was fed with the disciples, he who nourishes the inhabited world. And he was not satisfied with this great gift, that he reclined with his own servants. Peter and Matthew and Philip, men from the earth, reclined; but Michael and Gabriel and the whole host of angels stood by him. O the wonder: angels stood by him with fear, but the disciples reclined with him with great boldness. And he was not satisfied with this wonder. But rising from the dinner, it says, he who is clothed with light as a garment took off his cloak and girded himself with a linen cloth, he who girds the heaven with clouds, and he poured water into a basin, he who pours out the nature of waters in lakes and rivers. And bending on his knees, he washed the feet of the disciples, he before whom every knee of the heavenly, earthly, and subterranean beings bends.

The Lord washes the feet of all the disciples, not degrading his dignity, but displaying his boundless philanthropy. Yet even if the philanthropy is great, Peter did not ignore the preeminence. For he who is always fervent in faith was found fervent also in the recognition of truth. And the others accepted him washing, not being indifferent but trembling, for it was not possible to contradict the master. But Peter does not allow him out of reverence, but says: "Lord, you wash my feet? You will never wash my feet for eternity." Peter is rightly abrupt, grateful but ignorant of the economy, he declines in faith and obeys gratefully. For the pious person must be like this, not inflexible in judgments, but yielding to the will of God. For even if he declared as a man, he repented as a lover of God. And the Savior, seeing his soul's resistance unbending and stronger than any anvil, says to him: "Truly, truly I say to you, if I do not wash you, you have no part with me.

Attend to what a fearsome thing this is, and how he resolved his objection through a greater severity: he pronounces a severe judgment against him, making him alien to his own portion, so that human resistance might not prevail, but the will of God might prevail. Then the good and wondrous Peter, having swiftly pronounced his judgment, swiftly repented, and when he saw that the judgment was severe, he offered a severe repentance, saying: "Not only my feet, but also my hands and my head—wash me entirely, bathe me entirely, so that I too may say with David: 'You will wash me, and I will be whitened beyond snow.'" The Savior said to him: "He who has bathed has no need except to wash his feet only." And why does he wash only the feet? Because of the journey of the apostles. He washes the feet, not only cleansing the filth, but also instilling power into the heels of the saints. Isaiah, having seen this beautiful washing of the feet from long ago, from above the ages, and knowing that it was not a man who washed, but God who cleansed, cried out, saying: "How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim the good things, of those who proclaim peace." He touches the feet, so as to strengthen earthly feet that are about to traverse the entire world under heaven.

And there is another mystery, brothers: since from the beginning God, having pronounced judgment against Adam and Eve, said to the serpent, "It [the serpent] will guard your head, and you will guard its heel," he touches the place of the heel against which the judgment was pronounced, so that when the physician places his hand, the serpent's venom may no longer take effect, and so that you may learn that washing the feet henceforth gave power against demons. For before this, the heel was surrendered to the serpent, but after this, however, strengthened by the divine hand, it trampled the deceiver; as he, having strengthened their feet, says, "Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon every force of the enemy." Therefore, as the cross of grace shines and washes all our minds with the word of truth, let us conduct ourselves purely, sending up glory to him as our benevolent God, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.