[79] If it be asked, why their feet? the answer is, that it was customary in the east for one to wash the feet of another. And this practice gave an easy introduction to the present enigmatical washing; which was equally expressive of the information designed, when performed on this part of the body, as on any other.
[80] Grotius saw the necessity of looking beyond the literal meaning of those words—If I wash thee not. “Mos Christi, says he, est a rebus, quæ adspiciuntur, ad sensum sublimiorem ascendere.” His comment then follows. “Nisi te lavero, id est, nisi et sermone et spiritu eluero quod in te restat minus puri,” &c. Considering how near Jesus was to his crucifixion, when he said this, one a little wonders how the great commentator, when he was to assign the mystical sense of these words, should overlook that which lay before him. Surely his gloss should have been, Nisi sanguine meo te eluero, &c.—Let me just add, that the force of these words, as addressed to Peter, will be perfectly understood, if we reflect that he, who said to Jesus—Thou shalt never wash my feet—said on a former occasion to him, when he spoke, without a figure, of his death (though not, then, under the idea of a propitiatory sacrifice, or ablution)—Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee. Matt. xvi. 22. So little did Peter see the necessity of being washed by the blood of Christ! And so important was the information now given him in this mystical washing—If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
[81] A remarkable instance will be given, in the Discourse referred to above, at the close of the next volume.
[82] Mark iv. 33. John xvi. 12.
[83] John xiv. 26.
[84] 1 John i. 7.
[85] Rev. i. 5.
[86] Eph. i. 7. Coloss. i. 14.
[87] 1 Cor. v. 7.
[88] 1 Pet. i. 12. 1 Cor. vi. 11. and elsewhere, passim.