Holy Thursday, 2006
Here in this country we have a custom of allowing a condemned man to choose his last meal. Even the most heinous serial killer gets to pick out what he gets to eat and presumably to enjoy it as much as he can considering what’s about to happen to him.
Tonight we remember Jesus’ last meal on earth. He’s a condemned man in spite of the fact that He’s done nothing wrong; in spite of the fact that He’s the son of God.
Even though it was over 2,000 years ago, we know what He had for dinner that night. He had lamb. He had unleavened bread. He had bitter herbs, He may have had a roasted egg and something called charoset made with apples and honey. There would have also been 4 cups of wine, although Jesus wouldn’t finish all four. The meal was the night of the Passover sedar
Last night, millions of Jews all over the world had this same meal. It's much more than just physical nourishment. Each food item has historical and spiritual significance to the Jewish people and there is a lot of ceremony that goes along with it. It's certainly the most important meal of the year for the Jewish people, so it would have also been the most important meal of the year for Jesus and his Apostles.
. The Jewish Passover meal is basically the same today as it was in Jesus time. The Passover meal and the condemned man’s last meal were one and the same.
So, how did He spend this last meal time with his Apostles? He got up in the middle of the meal and washed their feet! He washed their feet! Remember, this wasn’t like we reenacted this evening. The apostles didn’t wear shoes and socks. They wore sandals. There were no sidewalks. People walked the same paths that the animals walked. It was hot. It couldn’t have been pleasant, but He got up in the middle of the meal and washed their feet.
Jesus and the apostles had been together for three years. He could have washed their feet at any time. He could have done it after the wedding feast at Cana. He could have done it after he fed the multitudes. He could have done it at one of the many times when He and the Apostles were around the water. But, no; He waited until his last night on earth, in the middle of His last meal to do it.
He could have told them to wash one another’s feet. He could have told them a foot-washing parable. Instead, He did it himself, right in the middle of dinner. Remember, He’s just instituted the Eucharist, and in the process, created the priesthood. Most of us would say that was His most important earthly act. But, instead of sitting at the table, giving His followers instructions on what to do following His death, He washed their feet!!
He washed twenty-four dusty, sweaty, foul-smelling feet. He even washed the feet of the one who would betray Him. In just a little while Judas would turn him over to be killed after having his feet washed by the one he would betray, by the Son of God.
He didn’t even finish the meal. He gave them the ultimate example of what it means to be a follower of Christ. He tells all of us, by His actions, to wash one another’s feet. He doesn’t want us to wait until it’s convenient. He doesn’t want us to wait until after dinner. He doesn’t want us to do it next week, or next month, or even tomorrow. He wants us to do it NOW!
God loves each one of us enough to send His Son to die for our sins. Jesus loves enough to pay the ultimate price, a horrible, painful death. How do we pay Him back? What do you give the man who REALLY has everything? He told us, or rather He showed us on that Passover evening.
He knew that He was about to leave this world and return to His heavenly home. Rather than leave us alone, He left us the gift of His Body and Blood in the Eucharist so that He would always be with us.
He also gave us the great gift of the priesthood, men ordained to carry out the consecration of the bread and wine.
By washing the Apostles feet, He left us His gift of love. He showed us what it means to be His follower. That's why He chose to wash the Apostles feet on His last night on earth.
Just as He's in our very bodies through the gift of His Body and Blood as food and drink, He's with us in the spirit of love and service that He modeled for us in the washing of the feet. He's with us in the presence of His ordained ministers. By combining the three, He showed us their relative importance. Receive His Body and Blood from His priest then go out and serve one another.
You just can't separate them. You can't have one without the other two.
It’s too bad that so few Catholics actually attend mass on Holy Thursday. This night is really the Reader’s Digest version of everything that we believe. He left us His Body and Blood. He left us His priesthood. And, He showed us how to treat one another.
“You call me teacher and master and rightly so, for indeed I am.
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet.
I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”
May you have a peaceful and blessed Easter!
Tonight we remember Jesus’ last meal on earth. He’s a condemned man in spite of the fact that He’s done nothing wrong; in spite of the fact that He’s the son of God.
Even though it was over 2,000 years ago, we know what He had for dinner that night. He had lamb. He had unleavened bread. He had bitter herbs, He may have had a roasted egg and something called charoset made with apples and honey. There would have also been 4 cups of wine, although Jesus wouldn’t finish all four. The meal was the night of the Passover sedar
Last night, millions of Jews all over the world had this same meal. It's much more than just physical nourishment. Each food item has historical and spiritual significance to the Jewish people and there is a lot of ceremony that goes along with it. It's certainly the most important meal of the year for the Jewish people, so it would have also been the most important meal of the year for Jesus and his Apostles.
. The Jewish Passover meal is basically the same today as it was in Jesus time. The Passover meal and the condemned man’s last meal were one and the same.
So, how did He spend this last meal time with his Apostles? He got up in the middle of the meal and washed their feet! He washed their feet! Remember, this wasn’t like we reenacted this evening. The apostles didn’t wear shoes and socks. They wore sandals. There were no sidewalks. People walked the same paths that the animals walked. It was hot. It couldn’t have been pleasant, but He got up in the middle of the meal and washed their feet.
Jesus and the apostles had been together for three years. He could have washed their feet at any time. He could have done it after the wedding feast at Cana. He could have done it after he fed the multitudes. He could have done it at one of the many times when He and the Apostles were around the water. But, no; He waited until his last night on earth, in the middle of His last meal to do it.
He could have told them to wash one another’s feet. He could have told them a foot-washing parable. Instead, He did it himself, right in the middle of dinner. Remember, He’s just instituted the Eucharist, and in the process, created the priesthood. Most of us would say that was His most important earthly act. But, instead of sitting at the table, giving His followers instructions on what to do following His death, He washed their feet!!
He washed twenty-four dusty, sweaty, foul-smelling feet. He even washed the feet of the one who would betray Him. In just a little while Judas would turn him over to be killed after having his feet washed by the one he would betray, by the Son of God.
He didn’t even finish the meal. He gave them the ultimate example of what it means to be a follower of Christ. He tells all of us, by His actions, to wash one another’s feet. He doesn’t want us to wait until it’s convenient. He doesn’t want us to wait until after dinner. He doesn’t want us to do it next week, or next month, or even tomorrow. He wants us to do it NOW!
God loves each one of us enough to send His Son to die for our sins. Jesus loves enough to pay the ultimate price, a horrible, painful death. How do we pay Him back? What do you give the man who REALLY has everything? He told us, or rather He showed us on that Passover evening.
He knew that He was about to leave this world and return to His heavenly home. Rather than leave us alone, He left us the gift of His Body and Blood in the Eucharist so that He would always be with us.
He also gave us the great gift of the priesthood, men ordained to carry out the consecration of the bread and wine.
By washing the Apostles feet, He left us His gift of love. He showed us what it means to be His follower. That's why He chose to wash the Apostles feet on His last night on earth.
Just as He's in our very bodies through the gift of His Body and Blood as food and drink, He's with us in the spirit of love and service that He modeled for us in the washing of the feet. He's with us in the presence of His ordained ministers. By combining the three, He showed us their relative importance. Receive His Body and Blood from His priest then go out and serve one another.
You just can't separate them. You can't have one without the other two.
It’s too bad that so few Catholics actually attend mass on Holy Thursday. This night is really the Reader’s Digest version of everything that we believe. He left us His Body and Blood. He left us His priesthood. And, He showed us how to treat one another.
“You call me teacher and master and rightly so, for indeed I am.
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet.
I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”
May you have a peaceful and blessed Easter!
posted by Mike at 10:34 AM
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