Looking at Dependence: Vulnerability and Power in the Gospel of the Foot Washing

Abstract

Accepting help of other people does not always come natural to us. On the contrary, it is often felt as degrading and even indignant. Yet, dependence is an essential characteristic of human life. It has been inscribed in the opening pages of the Bible that humanity is dependent and at the same time fully in God’s image. The biblical narrative frequently recalls that it is only in relationships of care and mutual help that we can encounter God. This dependence on other human beings, so complicated to live with, is also highlighted in a singularly empowering way by Jesus in the dusk of his life, when he washed the feet of his disciples. This contribution shows how several biblical passages illuminate dependence and vulnerability as places of empowerment and as part of God's plan for humanity.

Keywords:

• Autonomy
• Bible
• dependence
• practical theology
• vulnerability

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara (Medan, Indonesia) for their invitation to guest-lecture at their premises. This article was written during my stay in Medan.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 This article was written while I was guest-lecturer at Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara (Medan, Indonesia).

2 Comité consultatif national d’éthique.

3 The statues made present the deity as they made present the king. This is the main argument for the worship of icons in the Orthodox Church and the rationale for which the first Christians refused to sacrifice to the statue of the emperor. Thanks to my colleague Petre Maican for pointing this out to me.

4 In Gn 18:4 we read: “Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree.”; but in the Targum Neofiti this verse is rendered in a very different way: Abraham says: “I will fetch water to wash your feet.” In this version Abraham, as a host, washes the feet of the travellers.

5 4th conference of Maurice Zundel at Sainte Marie de la Paix in March 1961, available on line: https://kerusso.ch/sites/mzc2/le-lavement-des-pieds-derniere-tentative-de-jesus-pour-faire-saisir-aux-apotres-que-la-divinite-est-en-eux/ (consulted on 08/07/2020 – my translation, emphasis added).

6 Special thanks to my colleaugue Pedro Valinho Gomes, “Unless I Wash You” Exegesis and Theology of the Footwashing (John 13,1-17) as Life-Giving Love, Essay, Nairobi, Tangaza College Catholic University of Eastern Africa, 2005.

7 Joyce Anne Mercer : https://www.christiancentury.org/article/features/what-does-christian-vocation-look-elderly (consulted on 06/06/2018).