Prior to making formal prayer, Jesus used to wash his limbs according to the teachings of the Torah. Moses and Aaron are recorded as doing the same in Exodus 40:30-1,"30 And he set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing, 31with which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet.... as the Lord commanded Moses."
Wudhu: Moses and Aaron: "And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat: when they went into the tent of the congregation and when they came near unto the altar, they washed, as the lord commanded Moses." (Exodus 40:31-32)
"Jesus (peace be upon him) washed himself before prayer, a practice that fits beautifully with Islam's emphasis on purity. The Bible says he ‘rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and taking a towel, girded himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash' (John 13:4-5), showing his care for cleanliness, much like wudu in Islam. The Qur'an honors him as a righteous servant: ‘He said, "Indeed, I am the servant of Allah"' (Surah Maryam, 19:30). Washing before prayer reflects his submission to Allah's will, preparing to stand before his Lord.
In Islam, we're taught to purify ourselves before salah: ‘O you who have believed, when you rise to pray, wash your faces and your forearms' (Surah Al-Ma'idah, 5:6). Jesus' actions align with this—prophets before Muhammad (peace be upon them) followed similar principles of devotion. His washing wasn't a divine act but a human one, showing he worshipped Allah as we do, not as God Himself. This ties him to the way of Islam: purity and prayer to the One Creator."
That's an interesting observation — but the reasoning again mixes cultural ritual with theology, and it overlooks what Jesus' actions actually meant in their biblical and historical context. Let's look carefully.
The scene in John 13:4-5—where Jesus "poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet"—wasn't wudu or Torah-style purification. The text clearly says He washed their feet, not His own limbs before prayer. And He explicitly explains why:
*"If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet." (*John 13:14)
It's a moral and spiritual lesson in humility, not a ritual act of purification. In fact, this washing occurred after supper, not before prayer, and was meant to symbolize inner cleansing—"You are clean, though not all of you" (John 13:10)—a reference to spiritual purity through His word (John 15:3), not bodily preparation.
So connecting John 13 to wudu is a category error: it turns a symbolic act of love and sanctification into a hygiene routine.
The verses from Exodus 40 describe the Levitical priests washing before entering the sanctuary. This wasn't a universal law for all believers before prayer—it was specific to priestly service in the tabernacle. The point was to symbolize holiness before approaching God's presence in the temple.
By contrast, the New Testament teaches that through Christ's atonement, all believers become spiritually cleansed and have direct access to God (Hebrews 10:19-22). Thus, the priestly washings were fulfilled, not continued, in Him.
Yes, Jesus called Himself a servant—but in the Bible, His servanthood is voluntary, not compulsory. Philippians 2:6-8 describes it perfectly:
"Though He was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant."
So when Jesus humbles Himself, it doesn't deny His divinity—it displays it. The Creator stooping to serve His creatures reveals divine love, not human limitation.
The Qur'an's focus in Surah 5:6 on physical washing before prayer represents ritual purity laws. In contrast, Jesus shifted emphasis to inner purity:
"Cleanse first the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean." (Matthew 23:26)
The physical was symbolic of the moral. True cleansing came through forgiveness and transformation of the heart—not water on the hands.
If God can only remain transcendent—never entering creation, never serving, never stooping—then yes, Jesus washing feet looks "too human." But Christianity reveals a God who is both transcendent and immanent: powerful enough to become man without ceasing to be divine.
So when Jesus washed His disciples' feet, it wasn't evidence of His servitude to another god—it was evidence of divine humility. He didn't perform wudu before prayer; He performed a living parable of redemption: the divine cleansing the human.
Far from showing that Jesus was a mere prophet performing ablution, the passage shows something far greater: the Lord of Glory kneeling to wash His followers—because only God Himself could cleanse them completely.