aten with men who were unwashed; but He could not eat with men hating
one another, glaring fiercely across the table, declining to answer or
to pass what they were asked for, showing in every way malice and
bitterness of spirit. He knew that at bottom they were good men; He knew
that with one exception they loved Him and one another; He knew that as
a whole they were clean, and that this vicious temper in which they at
present entered the room was but the soil contracted for the hour. But
none the less must it be washed off. _And He did effectually wash it off
by washing their feet._ For was there a man among them who, when he saw
his Lord and Master stooping at his couch-foot, would not most gladly
have changed places with Him? Was there one of them who was not softened
and broken down by the action of the Lord? Is it not certain that shame
must have cast out pride from every heart; that the feet would be very
little thought of, but that the change of feeling would be marked and
obvious? From a group of angry, proud, insolent, implacable, resentful
men, they were in five minutes changed into a company of humbled, meek,
loving disciples of the Lord, each thinking hardly of himself and
esteeming others better. They were effectually cleansed from the stain
they had contracted, and could enter on the enjoyment of the Last
Supper with pure conscience, with restored and increased affection for
one another, and with deepened adoration for the marvellous wisdom and
all-accomplishing grace of their Master.

Jesus, then, does not mistake present defilement for habitual impurity,
nor partial stain for total uncleanness. He knows whom He has chosen. He
understands the difference between deep-seated alienation of spirit and
the passing mood which for the hour disturbs friendship. He
discriminates between Judas and Peter: between the man who has not been
in the bath, and the man whose feet are soiled in walking from it;
between him who is at heart unmoved and unimpressed by His love, and him
who has for a space fallen from the consciousness of it. He does not
suppose that because we have sinned this morning we have no real root of
grace in us. He knows the heart we bear Him; and if just at present
unworthy feelings prevail, He does not misunderstand as men may, and
straightway dismiss us from His company. He recognises that our feet
need washing, that our present stain must be removed, but not on this
account does He think we need to