Washing of Feet

May 6, 2008 by Bryce Haymond

A reader has asked, “Do you have any insight into what happened to the washing of feet? Could
the washing of feet have been preparatory to the full ordinance of washing as we now have it in
the initiatories?”

The ordinance of washing of feet is still performed in the temple, for it is a restored ordinance,
but it is part of the culminating sealing ordinances which are reserved for those who make their
calling and election sure through faith. Temple scholar Matthew Brown has offered this:

The Lord mentioned in a revelation on 1 November 1831 that he had granted unto his disciples
the authority to “seal both on earth and in heaven” (D&C 1:8). During the same month he
indicated that God the Father would reveal to his servants who should be sealed up “unto eternal
life” by this power (D&C 68:12). The ordinance of the washing of feet was then introduced
by the Lord as the means whereby someone could be rendered “clean from the blood of this
generation” (D&C 88:138-141), and when Joseph Smith administered this ordinance, he
stated that those who received it were not only “clean” in a ritual sense but were also
“sealed up unto eternal life” (HC, 1:323-24; see also MD, 829-32). ((Matthew B. Brown, The
Gate of Heaven, 235.))

Indeed, the Prophet Joseph had this to say on the sacred occasion, in language that mirrors D&C
132:26:

On the 23rd of January, we again assembled in conference; when, after much speaking, singing,
praying, and praising God, all in tongues, we proceeded to the washing of feet (according to the
practice recorded in the 13th chapter of John’s Gospel), as commanded of the Lord. Each Elder
washed his own feet first, after which I girded myself with a towel and washed the feet of all of
them, wiping them with the towel with which I was girded. . . . At the close of the scene, Brother
Frederick G. Williams, being moved upon by the Holy Ghost, washed my feet in token of his
fixed determination to be with me in suffering, or in journeying, in life or in death, and to be
continually on my right hand; in which I accepted him in the name of the Lord.

I then said to the Elders, As I have done so do ye; wash ye, therefore, one another’s feet; and by
the power of the Holy Ghost I pronounced them all clean from the blood of this generation;
but if any of them should sin wilfully after they were thus cleansed, and sealed up unto eternal
life, they should be given over unto the buffetings of Satan until the day of redemption. ((HC,
1:323-324.))

Dr. Daniel H. Ludlow has also given us some insight:

This ordinance of the gospel has been restored in this dispensation. When the School of the
Prophets was organized, the Lord indicated that the members should “be received by the
ordinance of the washing of feet, for unto this end [that ye might be clean from the blood of this
generation] was the ordinance of the washing of feet instituted.” (D&C 88:139.) The ordinance
of washing of the feet has now been incorporated in the ordinances that are revealed to be
administered in the Lord’s house. ((Daniel H. Ludlow, Companion to Your Study of the
Doctrine and Covenants, vol. 2, 322-323.))

Elder Bruce R. McConkie has also taught:

Washing of feet is a gospel ordinance; it is a holy and sacred rite, one performed by the
saints in the seclusion of their temple sanctuaries. It is not done before the world or for
worldly people. . . .

As part of the restoration of all things, the ordinance of washing of feet has been restored in
the dispensation of the fulness of times. In keeping with the standard pattern of revealing
principles and practices line upon line and precept upon precept, the Lord revealed his will
concerning the washing of feet little by little until the full knowledge of the endowment and all
temple ordinances had been given. . . .

Thus the knowledge relative to the washing of feet has been revealed step by step in this day
until a full knowledge is now incorporated in the revealed ordinances of the Lord’s house.
Obviously the apostate peoples of the world, being without revelation to guide them, cannot
comply with our Lord’s command given on the occasion of the last supper. ((Bruce R.
McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, vol. 1, 708.))

It is enlightening that originally the traditional church hymn “The Spirit of God Like a Fire is
Burning!“, which was sung at the dedication of the Kirtland temple, had these words as one of
the verses:

We’ll wash and be washed,

In Elder McConkie’s excellent 4-volume series, The Mortal Messiah: From Bethlehem to

After reclining at the Passover table, Jesus and his apostolic friends ate the Passover meal with
such portion of its rites and ceremonies as then suited their purposes. Then he introduced the
gospel ordinance of the washing of feet. . . . To keep things in proper perspective, however, it
is important to emphasize that the washing of feet came in the course of the meal, not at the
beginning, and it was not simply an illustration of Godly humility, devised by Jesus to
demonstrate his teachings about precedence, but was in fact the introduction of a new gospel
ordinance.
John alone records such portions of what transpired relative to the foot-washing ordinance as
have come down to us from biblical sources; our more extended knowledge relative thereto
comes from latter-day revelation. . . . And the two ordinances about to be revealed—those of
the washing of feet and of the partaking of the emblems of his flesh and blood—these two
become an eternal manifestation of the grace and goodness and love of the Lord for the
Twelve and for all who believe and obey the gospel, thereby making themselves worthy to
receive each of these ordinances. . . .

. . . He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them
with the towel wherewith he was girded.”

This appears to be a general summary of all that transpired. What then follows are some of the
particulars. As to these particulars, John says: “Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith
unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?” Jesus replied: “What I do thou knowest not now; but
thou shalt know hereafter.” That is: ‘You assume that I am acting only as any slave or host
might, which is far from the case. I am about to perform a sacred ordinance, the meaning of
which I will explain, and in due course you will know its true meaning.’ Still impulsive and
reticent, the Chief Apostle said: “Thou“—our Master and Lord!—”Thou,” of all people, “needest
not to wash my feet.” ‘Even though it be a sacred ordinance, let someone else do it instead!’ . .
.

Jesus then said: “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.” Catching a partial glimpse of
the cleansing power of the new ordinance, Peter, ever impetuous, ever desiring to do all and
more than need be, exclaimed “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.” Jesus
replied: “He that has washed his hands and his head, needeth not save to wash his feet, but is
clean every whit; and ye are clean, but not all.”

At this point, with reference to the ordinance itself, John explains: “Now this was the custom of
the Jews under their law; wherefore, Jesus did this that the law might be fulfilled.” The full
significance of this is not apparent to the casual reader, nor should it be, for the washing of feet
is a sacred ordinance reserved to be done in holy places for those who make themselves
worthy. It is evident, however, that the Jews also had sacred ordinances performed in their
temple, a knowledge of which has not been preserved, nor could it be, in any literature that has
come down to us.

What had he done? He had instituted—nay, reinstituted, for “the order of the house of God has
been, and ever will be, the same” — he had reinstituted one of the holy ordinances of the
everlasting gospel. Those who have been washed in the waters of baptism, who have been
freed from sin and evil through the waters of regeneration, who have come forth thereby in
a newness of life, and who then press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, keeping the
commandments and walking in paths of truth and righteousness, qualify to have an eternal
seal placed on their godly conduct. They are thus ready to be endowed with power from on
high. Then, in holy places, they cleanse their hands and their feet, as the scripture saith,
and become “clean from the blood of this wicked generation.” (D&C 88:74-75, D&C
88:137-41.) Then, as the scripture also saith, they receive anointings and washings and
conversations and statutes and judgments. (D&C 124:37-40.) Then they receive what Jesus
here gave the Twelve, for as the Prophet said: “The house of the Lord must be prepared, . . . and
in it we must attend to the ordinance of washing of feet. It was never intended for any but official
members. It is calculated to unite our hearts, that we may be one in feeling and sentiment, and
that our faith may be strong, so that Satan cannot overthrow us, nor have any power over us
here.” (Commentary 1:709.). . . .

It should be clear to all, however, that just as the act of immersion in water only hints at the true
significance and power of baptism, so the act of the washing of feet is far more than the
cleansing and refreshing of dusty and tired pedal extremities. It is an eternal ordinance, with
eternal import, understood only by enlightened saints. That it might be continued by those
having divine authorization to perform it, Jesus said:

Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have
washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example,
that ye should do as I have done to you.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent
greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. . . .

And in conclusion, well might we ask: If true disciples are to wash each other’s feet, where
among the sects of Christendom is this done? And how could it be done except by revelation?
Who would know all that is involved unless God revealed it? Is not this holy ordinance one of
the many signs of the true Church? ((Bruce R. McConkie, Mortal Messiah: From Bethlehem
to Calvary, vol. 4, 36-41.))

Posted in: Church History, General Authorities, Scholarship, Temples Today Tagged: anointing, bruce r.

Washing of Feet
During the Last Supper, Jesus took a towel and a basin of water and washed the feet
of the disciples.1 Some Christian groups followed this New Testament precedent,
washing feet as a token of humility or brotherhood. 2 A revelation to Joseph Smith in
December 1832 required participants in the School of the Prophets to participate in
the washing of feet. The Lord commanded the elders to “clean your hands, and your
feet, before me” as witness that they were “clean, from the blood of this, wicked
generation.”3 Joseph Smith and other members of the school first participated in this
ordinance during the school’s first session in January 1833.4 As the construction of the
Kirtland Temple neared completion, Joseph Smith explained to members of the school
that the “ordinance of washing of feet” was a restoration of the New Testament
practice “calculated to unite our hearts” and prepare the elders for an endowment of
spiritual power.5 He further taught that the ordinance needed to be performed in a
place “aside from the world.”6 Accordingly, on March 29 and 30, 1836, about
300 priesthood holders from the Kirtland area, including Joseph Smith and other
Church leaders, met to wash one another’s feet. 7