While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after he had broke it, gave it to them and said, "Take; this is my body." Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, "this is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Do this in remembrance of me."
If you are reading our story from the Bible to your class today, you will notice a number of clauses preceding the action of Jesus:
- Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from the world and go to the Father,
- Having loved his own, who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
- The devil had put in the heart of Judas to betray him.
- Jesus, knowing that all things were given into his hands, 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
It is easy to get a little bit bogged down in these words, they are awkward but, it is important to pause over them.
Up until recently Jesus had been performing miracles - why, he had just raised Lazarus back to life! He had stood his ground before religious leaders, defended himself in gruelling debates. He entered Jerusalem and was greeted by people crying out: 'Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!' He had toppled tables in the temple and was looking like a leader: strong and focused. But an inescapable darkness pervaded and had infiltrated into his closest group of friends. There was a betrayer in the ranks and Jesus knew his name. 'The hour' had come for him to go to the Father from whom he came: "He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being."(John 1). Having loved his own, he loved them to the very end - to the end of this work, to the end of himself, to the end of the ages. And as he gathered together in the Upper Room with these friends whom he had shared his life with, whom he loved, for this last meal, there was sorrow and there was love.
And so he got up from the table, took off his outer robe and tied a towel around himself. In doing this he became like a slave, like a servant among them. He filled a basin and knelt down before each of his disciples and washed their feet. This is a story about vulnerability and intimacy, it is about love that lays down rights, positions of authority, and power and serves others. In this action Jesus reversed the social order - the disciples had no category for what they were in the midst of. Remember, they showed up in the Upper Room and quickly prepared the feast of Passover. They came from busy days and when they sat down and caught their breath they might have been more than a little unprepared for how the evening unfolded. Jesus had taken the place of a servant and washed their feet. His words were potent, thick with meaning, their grief was catching them off guard, their words were sticking in their throats.
If you have said good bye to a loved one, been blessed by a person leaving your midst, shared that last meal together with a dear friend, gathered together one last time and found that a song was the only way to express what was in your heart, then you know the intimacy, the tenderness, the fragility, the beauty, the tearing away you feel inside yourself. When you find yourself in that place, it is both the last place you want to be and the only place you want to be, all at the same time. In this moment you feel like you are a witness to a greater grace, a greater truth and somehow you are held by a greater love.
In his last hours Jesus continued to reveal the glory of a God who become a baby - vulnerable, little, powerless. Who, as a grown man, stooped low before them and washed the feet of his beloved friends. This is a story that foreshadows the ultimate laying down of Christ self on the cross. We hear this in the exchange between Peter and Jesus:
"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 my hands and my head also."
Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, 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."
I have deep sympathies with Peter here. He is a bewildered leader, trying to understand, trying to take control, perhaps struggling with the intimacy of this evening, how did Jesus become his servant? But when Jesus tells him: "unless I wash you, you have no share with me, " he panics, I didn't mean that "wash all of me, Jesus."
This washing of which Jesus speaks is not the literal washing of feet but it is the washing of sin through Christ's atoning work on the cross through which we are made clean and joined to Christ. We are instructed by Jesus' action of foot washing and we can spend some time on that with our classes, it is significant. But let us not lose sight of the primary meaning, "that the Eternal Word, which was in the beginning with God has become flesh, not only to dwell among us, full of grace and truth (John 1:14) but also to love us and serve us to the the outermost limit, even to death on the Cross."
If you have said good bye to a loved one, been blessed by a person leaving your midst, shared that last meal together with a dear friend, gathered together one last time and found that a song was the only way to express what was in your heart, then you know the intimacy, the tenderness, the fragility, the beauty, the tearing away you feel inside yourself. When you find yourself in that place, it is both the last place you want to be and the only place you want to be, all at the same time. In this moment you feel like you are a witness to a greater grace, a greater truth and somehow you are held by a greater love.
In his last hours Jesus continued to reveal the glory of a God who become a baby - vulnerable, little, powerless. Who, as a grown man, stooped low before them and washed the feet of his beloved friends. This is a story that foreshadows the ultimate laying down of Christ self on the cross. We hear this in the exchange between Peter and Jesus:
"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 my hands and my head also."
Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, 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."
I have deep sympathies with Peter here. He is a bewildered leader, trying to understand, trying to take control, perhaps struggling with the intimacy of this evening, how did Jesus become his servant? But when Jesus tells him: "unless I wash you, you have no share with me, " he panics, I didn't mean that "wash all of me, Jesus."
This washing of which Jesus speaks is not the literal washing of feet but it is the washing of sin through Christ's atoning work on the cross through which we are made clean and joined to Christ. We are instructed by Jesus' action of foot washing and we can spend some time on that with our classes, it is significant. But let us not lose sight of the primary meaning, "that the Eternal Word, which was in the beginning with God has become flesh, not only to dwell among us, full of grace and truth (John 1:14) but also to love us and serve us to the the outermost limit, even to death on the Cross."
Hear the words of Paul in Philippians:
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death -
even death on a cross.
who though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death -
even death on a cross.
Now let us turn to Jesus words to his disciples after he washed their feet:
"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. For if your Lord and teacher has washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you should also 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."
When Jesus calls us to wash each other's feet he is calling us to love, to serve and to forgive one another.
Jean Vanier writes about the practice of washing feet and his experience of it at his l'Arche community, I want to leave this with you as it touched me deeply.
To wash a person's feet
is a gesture that creates and expresses a communion of hearts.
I became aware of the importance of this gesture
when I left my community and lived a sabbatical year in one of our homes
that welcomes people with severe disabilities.
Among them was Eric.
We had met him at a local psychiatric hospital.
When he arrived he was a lad of sixteen;
he was blind, deaf and could not walk or speak.
He was not toilet trained.
I have never seen so much anguish in a young person
as I saw in Eric.
There was a desire in him to die;
he would not keep food down in his stomach.
Many of those with disabilities
Who are welcomed in our l'Arche communities
have a broken self image.
They have been seen as a disappointment for their parents;
they are not wanted as they are,
so they feel they are no good.
If people are not loved,
they can feel that they are in fact not loveable,
that they are somehow bad or evil.
Our hope is welcoming such people
is to help them transform their broken or negative self image
into a positive one and find self-esteem.
The vision of l'Arche is to help people rediscover their value,
their beauty, their importance
But how could we help Eric make this transformation
when he could neither see nor hear nor understand?
The only way to communicate with his was through touch.
Through the way we touched, held and washed his body
with respect and love,
we were able to communicate and reveal to him
that he was precious.
I can imagine with what tenderness
Jesus touches the feet of his disciples,
looks into their eyes, calls each by name and says a special word to each one.
When he speaks at the meal, he speaks to them all
But as he kneels humbly before each one and washes their feet,
he has a personal contact with each one.
He reveals to each one his love,
which is both comforting and challenging.
He sees in each one the presence of his Father,
whom he loves and serves.
The love of Jesus reveals that we are important,
that we are a presence of God
and are called to stand up and do the work of God:
to love others as God loves them,
to serve and to wash their feet.
"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. For if your Lord and teacher has washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you should also 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."
When Jesus calls us to wash each other's feet he is calling us to love, to serve and to forgive one another.
Jean Vanier writes about the practice of washing feet and his experience of it at his l'Arche community, I want to leave this with you as it touched me deeply.
To wash a person's feet
is a gesture that creates and expresses a communion of hearts.
I became aware of the importance of this gesture
when I left my community and lived a sabbatical year in one of our homes
that welcomes people with severe disabilities.
Among them was Eric.
We had met him at a local psychiatric hospital.
When he arrived he was a lad of sixteen;
he was blind, deaf and could not walk or speak.
He was not toilet trained.
I have never seen so much anguish in a young person
as I saw in Eric.
There was a desire in him to die;
he would not keep food down in his stomach.
Many of those with disabilities
Who are welcomed in our l'Arche communities
have a broken self image.
They have been seen as a disappointment for their parents;
they are not wanted as they are,
so they feel they are no good.
If people are not loved,
they can feel that they are in fact not loveable,
that they are somehow bad or evil.
Our hope is welcoming such people
is to help them transform their broken or negative self image
into a positive one and find self-esteem.
The vision of l'Arche is to help people rediscover their value,
their beauty, their importance
But how could we help Eric make this transformation
when he could neither see nor hear nor understand?
The only way to communicate with his was through touch.
Through the way we touched, held and washed his body
with respect and love,
we were able to communicate and reveal to him
that he was precious.
I can imagine with what tenderness
Jesus touches the feet of his disciples,
looks into their eyes, calls each by name and says a special word to each one.
When he speaks at the meal, he speaks to them all
But as he kneels humbly before each one and washes their feet,
he has a personal contact with each one.
He reveals to each one his love,
which is both comforting and challenging.
He sees in each one the presence of his Father,
whom he loves and serves.
The love of Jesus reveals that we are important,
that we are a presence of God
and are called to stand up and do the work of God:
to love others as God loves them,
to serve and to wash their feet.
May God be with you as you share this story of the Last Supper with your students this week, as we remember the love that goes to the end, love that has stooped down low and delivered us from sin and death and love that has given us life that begins now and has no end.
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