Feet – Matthew 28:1-10

Feet in Israel got dirty. The common foot attire was sandals and the dusty unpaved roads made for dirty feet. And so it was common to wash one’s feet often, especially upon entering a house, and a common courtesy of a host to provide water for washing one’s feet. Jesus washed his disciples’ feet on Passover night because no servant was around to do it and because he loved them and wanted to serve them. It was a lowly task to deal with someone’s feet.

But when Jesus came out of the grave alive and the women who came to visit his tomb met him on the way, they did not hesitate to touch those feet.

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” (Matthew 28:1-10 ESV)

We see in John 20 that Jesus could just appear in a room and in Luke 24 that he could simply vanish, so why did the angel need to roll back the stone?  Evidence!  First, that the guards were there on their post and no one came to steal Jesus’ body.  They passed out in the presence of the angel. Second, Jesus’ body wasn’t there.  The tomb had to be open to verify that.  Third, the women couldn’t have rolled the stone away from the entrance.  It would have taken concerted strength.

The fact that Jesus appears first to the women who came to the tomb shows that the Gospel accounts are not trying to make up this event.  Women were not considered valid witnesses in that culture and an author seeking to build the case for Jesus would not have chosen to write the event with women at the center of it.  But that is what happened and they won’t change the record just to convince the reader.  Jesus knows that women are legitimate witnesses and even sends a message to the disciples through them to meet him in Galilee.

The women took hold of Jesus’ feet. This is a posture of abject worship as well as confident love. They didn’t take his hand, didn’t hug his neck, but took hold of his feet, typically the most unclean part of the body. And they were afraid, hence the encouragement from Jesus. The women were filled with both fear and great joy.  I remember my granddaughter and I sitting in a ride that took us up to great heights then suddenly dropped us in controlled free fall.  She was saying, “Poppy, I don’t like this,” and truth be told, I didn’t either.  But now she wants to do it again whenever she gets the chance.  We can be in great fear and joy at the same time.  These events of Jesus’ resurrection were startling and strange and overwhelming, from the angel bright as lightning to the risen Jesus.  Everything was suddenly turned upside down, but in a good way.  Jesus was alive!  What could be next?

What an amazing experience this was for them.  One day we too will be able to take hold of Jesus’ feet and maybe even hug his neck.  And I don’t think we will be afraid.