Thursday of the Great Mysteries
28 March 2013
Copy of what I have done to you
For a moment,
let’s go back a little, less than seven weeks ago, to the beginning of Lent. We were celebrating Cana Sunday. We found ourselves at a table, in fact, a
wedding celebration. During the dinner,
the mother of Jesus noticed that the hosts were running out of wine. Jesus immediately responded, “. . . what do you
want from me? My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4)
This evening we
find ourselves again at a table. Jesus
is reclined there with his closest friends, “his own, the ones He loved.” But now it is different. Jesus realized that His hour has come, that
He was going to pass from this world to the Father.
Just as He had
done throughout His ministry, Jesus taught His disciples by doing
something. Let’s examine the text. We hear that Jesus “knew that the Father had
put everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning
to God.” Jesus knew exactly who he was;
he had been given everything; he wasn’t filled with doubt, second-guessing or
fear. The one who had been given
everything by the Father, knelt down and washed the feet of his loved ones.
This was
contrary to the way things should be: He was Rabbi, the Teacher, the Master.
Yet, here He was, performing the most lowly of tasks. He wasn’t doing this to show how humble He
was: he was doing it to teach them how they were supposed to do things. And this was just the beginning of things to
come. Very soon, He would be called to
sacrifice everything.
Peter objected—out
of respect for Jesus. But Peter wasn’t getting
it. Jesus explained that He had to wash
Peter so that he could be a part of the things to come. Peter needed to be a part of Jesus
self-sacrifice so that he could eventually sacrifice himself for others.
Jesus asked them
if they understood and then explained: “you must wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may
copy what I have done to you.” (John
13:15).
