Exodus 12: 1-14 (NRSV)
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. [Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.] This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the LORD. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.
Psalm 116: 1, 10-17 (BCP, p. 759)
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean."
After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord--and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, `Where I am going, you cannot come.' I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
Blog Reflection
The only Gospel of the four with the narrative about the Last Supper that does not contain the institution of Holy Communion, is John. In it's place is the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. The oral tradition that was passed on since, is that most likely Jesus washed the feet of the disciples before he instituted the Eucharist.
We don't do the washing of feet before every celebration of the Eucharist. The once a year ritual on Maundy Thursday happens as a reminder to live out the meaning of the Eucharist in our every day lives. When what we do at the Eucharist ends as we walk out the doors of our places of worship, so the Gospel story of the compassionate and loving Jesus, remains just another legend that happened in our imaginations. It hasn't actually happened, because the story cannot be read from our daily lives. This is why I really do think that when a church community limits the ritual of the washing of feet to certain chosen people, specifically those that limit it to twelve men, they do the larger Parish community a terrible disservice.
The ministry of Jesus is not limited to those in Holy Orders. According to the Catechism or Outline of the Faith in The Book of Common Prayer on page 855, the Laity are an order of ministry, who's responsibility begins with the same calling as anyone in Holy Orders. "To represent Christ and his Church..." We represent Christ and the Church whenever we give of ourselves selflessly for the benefit of another. If we are not willing to stoop down and wash the feet of those we worship with, how will we help those in need beyond the walls of our churches?
The reality of human life is, that all of us, regardless of who we are will need someone to help us at some point in time. We all find ourselves in a tough spot. We just cannot do it without someone's help. Whether it is a need to pay a bill, find a job, go grocery shopping, make dinner or plan a meeting. We all need to reach out and ask for help. For some, asking for help is the most difficult thing to do. For others, accepting the help of another person is even more challenging.
In the discourse of St. John's Gospel's account of all that Jesus says, is the new commandment to "love one another as he has loved us. No one has a greater love than to lay down one's life, for one's friend" (John 15: 12-13). We are all called at one point or another, to lay down our lives for someone else. Whether that be by way of doing for another, or allowing another to do for us.
The Sacrament of Holy Communion which is at the heart of our worship as Episcopalians, is how God poured out God's Self in the Person of Jesus, as he gives of himself as our Savior, and as our Spiritual nourishment. By the giving of himself in the bread and wine, to become the Body and Blood of Christ, God becomes for us the means of new and unending life, through the outpouring of God's grace and mercy. We become partakers in God's work of redemption and salvation as recipients and participants.
We also become disciples who are called upon to take up our own cross and follow Jesus in deed and example. We seek out those who experience prejudice, violence and oppression and work for justice, equality and open up possibilities for hospitality and reconciliation.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people along with many others who are marginalized in the Church and society are among those whom God challenges the followers of Jesus, to go to and bring healing, holiness and wholeness. Even to the point of washing their feet and allowing others to wash ours. We are to look beyond a person's clothing, behavior, race, culture, sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression, gender, language, immigration status, employment or economic status, health, challenge etc., and see the face of Christ who has loved us, and gave us the new commandment to love one another as we have been loved.
Where might Benedict have learned the idea of seeing a guest as Christ?
In the Dialogues of St. Gregory, the only record we have of the life of St. Benedict outside The Rule, Gregory tells the story of Benedict's time in Subiaco. Benedict fled his liberal arts education to find solitude in a narrow cave in Subiaco. One Easter Sunday, Romanus, a monk in a near by Abbey was getting ready to eat his Easter Dinner when it dawned on him that Benedict was still in the cave praying, fasting and seeking God. He wrapped up some food and ran to the opening of the cave. Upon finding Benedict, they said a prayer of thanksgiving, then ate their meal together. Romanus said to Benedict: "Today is the great Feast of Easter." Benedict replied: "It must indeed be Easter since I have the joy of seeing you." Esther de Waal in her book: A Life-Giving Way: A Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict writes: "In the face of the first person he sees, Benedict finds the first fruits of the resurrection and of the new world to which he is called" (p. 172).
Can all of us as we celebrate this Easter Triduum make a priority to see the face of the Crucified and Risen Christ in those whom we meet, and wash their feet?
Prayers
Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he
suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood:
Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in
remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy
mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen. (Collect for Maundy Thursday, Book of Common Prayer, p. 221).
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