"For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1 Cor. 1:25)
Holy Thursday
Posted On: March 20th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Holy Thursday
In Nomine Iesu
It is Passover night, the night before the day the children of Israel walked though blood-stained doorways into freedom and life. This is the paschal night, the night of the remembrance meal - the hard, unleavened bread, the bitter herbs, the lamb roasted to dry toughness. The Lamb’s blood painted on the doorposts. It is the night of judgment and death as God seeks out the blood. Under the blood of the lamb, you are safe. Death passes over. Without the blood you are dead. It is neither safe nor salutary to deal with God apart from the blood of the Lamb.
It is a night of remembrance. “This day shall be for you a day of remembrance, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, you shall observe it as an ordinance forever.” In this meal, you remembered the Lord and His saving work; and the Lord remembered you, His Israel. You ate in solidarity with Israel, past and present. It was a holy communion of a holy community.
Jesus reclines at the head of a table with His disciples, His Twelve, His Israel. At this table, Jesus gives to His disciples in two ways. First, an example of humble service - He washes their feet. The Lord and Creator of all, bends down to do the work of the lowest rung of servant. The Master becomes the slave. He came not to be served, but to serve, and to lay down His life as a ransom for the many.
Peter refuses. “You shall never wash my feet.” Pride gets in the way of Peter’s being served by the Master. It gets in the way of our being served too. Too proud, the old Adam in us. We don’t like being given to; we lose control, we’re dependent. We hate that, at least the old self-centered sinner does. But Jesus, ever patient, ever lowly, gently persists in His giving. “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” Peter must learn the way of receiving, the way of faith, the way of Baptism. Before you can give of yourself in service, you must receive the Lord’s service. He must wash you before you can wash others.
In washing their feet, Jesus gives them a pattern for service “that you should do as I have done to you.” This is what it means to live under Him in His kingdom and to serve Him. This King bows before His subjects and washes their feet. So also you with your fellow servants. “A servant is not greater than His master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.” What would Jesus do? He would wash feet.
Jesus gives in another way, not the way of example but the way of sacrifice and gift. He takes the bread of the Passover meal, the hard, unleavened bread of affliction, He gives thanks, and breaks it into pieces, and hands a piece to each of His disciples. The morsel grants them admittance, acceptance. “This is my body, which is given for you.” His words tell us what we could not know for ourselves by the science of our reason and senses. This bread is Jesus’ body, what will later that day be given into death on the cross. Here bread finds the highest and holiest service - to deliver Jesus’ body to our bodies, the Bread of Life, living Bread come down from heaven as manna to feed His people.
He takes the cup of wine after supper. He lifts it, gives thanks, and gives each of His disciples to drink from that cup. “This is the new covenant in my blood.” The blood of the new covenant is given to drink as wine. Here wine finds its ultimate purpose, delivering Jesus’ blood to the disciples’ lips, binding those who drink of His cup in a covenant of His blood. Blood is life. “The life of the creature is in the blood.” This blood of the new covenant is a blood that was poured out for you, in your place, for the forgiveness of your sins. Where the blood of the Lamb is, death passes over. This is the food of immortality - eat and drink and live forever.
St. Cyril of Alexandria writes:
It was fitting, therefore, for Him to be in us both divinely by the Holy Spirit, and also, so to speak, to be mingled with our bodies by His holy flesh and precious blood; which things also we possess as a life-giving Eucharist, in the form of bread and wine. For lest we should be terrified by seeing actual flesh and blood placed upon the holy tables of our churches, God, humbling Himself to our infirmities, infuses into the things set before us the power of life, and transforms them into the efficacy of His flesh, that we may have them for a life-giving participation, and that the body of Him Who is the Life may be found in us as a life-producing seed. And do not doubt that this is true, since Himself plainly says, This is My body; This is My blood; but rather receive in faith the Savior's word; for He, being Truth, cannot lie. -- St. Cyril of Alexandria, Homily 142 on St. Luke (thanks to Wm Weedon for that one!)
Washing feet was Jesus’ example, something the disciples could do for each other. But giving His body to eat and His blood to drink, that was something only Jesus could do for them. He unites them with Him in His death and life. He the Vine; they the branches. His body and blood, His death and life flowing into them making them fruitful foot washers. Apart from Him, they can do nothing. Nor can you.
He gives His all to you to save the all of you. Nothing stands outside His forgiveness. Nothing can separate you from this self-giving, self-sacrificing love. No greater love is there than that this servant love that lays down His life for another. In His Supper, at His table, He lays before you the gifts of His cross and says, “These are for you.”
And from this Meal you arise refreshed, renewed, restored - in faith toward Him and in fervent love toward on another. Faith that trusts in Christ alone; love that bends down in service of the neighbor - both friend and stranger. Faith that receives Jesus’ service; love that seeks to serve Him in the least, the lost, the lowly of this world. Faith that receives the washing of sin; love that washes the feet of a fellow sinner.