HOLY THURSDAY MASS OF THE LORD'S SUPPER (Cycles ABC)
Readings:
Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
Psalm 116:12-13, 15-18
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-15
Abbreviations: NAB (New American Bible), NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), RSVCE (Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name YHWH (Yahweh).
God reveals His divine plan for humanity in the two Testaments, and that is why we read and relive the events of salvation history contained in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that our Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
The Theme of the Readings: The Passover and the Institution
of the Eucharist
On Holy Thursday night, we gather to celebrate the gift of
the Eucharist. We begin by collecting the Lenten alms, which we have been
putting aside throughout our Lenten journey. We will reenact Jesus' washing of
the Apostles' feet during the Old Covenant ritual meal that was a symbol of their
ritual purification and commissioning as Christ's humble emissaries to carry
the news of His love and sacrifice to the world (Jn 13:4-9). Then, in the Liturgy
of the Eucharist, we celebrate the first Eucharistic banquet that Jesus offered
in the sacred meal we call the Lord's Supper. Celebrated on the first night of
the Jewish feast of Unleavened Bread, when the Old Covenant community ate the meal
of the Passover victims in groups of ten to twenty throughout the city of
Jerusalem, Jesus gave the Old Covenant memorial meal a new meaning. From that
point on, He is "our Passover ... that is Christ," sacrificed" for us (1 Cor 5:7).
He is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (Jn 1:29), as He
offered to those assembled that night in the Upper Room His Body and Blood consumed
in a New Covenant sacred meal (Lk 22:19-20; Jn 6:51-57). The Lord's Supper is
both a prefiguring and a prelude to the Passion of the Christ, symbolizing
Jesus' death and resurrection.
After the celebration of the Mass of our Lord's Supper, we withdraw, and, as Jesus requested of His disciples at the Garden of Gethsemane, we "keep watch" with Him in prayer (Mt 26:38, 40-41; Mk 14:34, 37-38; Lk 22:40, 46). The three days that the Church calls the Paschal Triduum (the three days of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus) have begun. The Paschal Triduum lasts from sundown on Holy Thursday until sunset on Easter Sunday. See the summary of Jesus' last week in Jerusalem at the end of the lesson.
The First Reading Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14 ~ The First
Passover and Sacred Meal
1 The LORD said
to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2
"This month shall stand at the head of your calendar; you shall
reckon it the first month of the year. 3 Tell
the whole community of Israel: On the tenth of this month every one of your
families must procure for itself a lamb [*a flock animal], one apiece for each
household. 4 If a family is
too small for a whole lamb [for a whole flock animal] it shall join the nearest
household in procuring one and shall share in the lamb [take it] in proportion
to the number of persons who partake of it. 5 The lamb [seh = flock animal] must be a year-old male
and without blemish. You may take it from either the sheep or the goats. 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth
day of this month, and then, with the whole assembly of Israel present, it
shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight [between the twilights (plural)
= noon]. 7 They shall take
some of its blood and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel of every
house in which they partake of the lamb. 8
That same night, they shall eat its roasted flesh with unleavened
bread and bitter herbs." [...] 11 "This
is how you are to eat it: with your loins girt, sandals on your feet, and your
staff in hand, you shall eat like those who are in flight. It is the Passover
of the LORD. 12 For on this
same night, I will go through Egypt, striking down every firstborn of the land,
both man and beast, and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt; I the
LORD! 13 But the blood will
mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; thus,
when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you. 14 This day shall be a memorial feast for
you, which all our generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the LORD, as
a perpetual institution."
[...] = literal translation IBHE, vol. I, page 170.
*The New Testament never designates the sacrificial victim as a "lamb" in the Hebrew text but as an animal from the flock of sheep and goats. Exodus 12:5 clearly states that the animal could be a lamb or a goat-kid: The flock animal must be a year-old male and without blemish. You may take it from either the sheep or the goats. Also, in the New Testament, the words "Passover lamb" never appear together in the Greek text. Modern translators have taken the liberty of using "Passover lamb." For example, in 1 Corinthians 5:7b, St. Paul writes in the Greek text: For the Passover of us, Christ, has been sacrificed and NOT "for our paschal lamb, Christ has been sacrificed" as the phrase appears in the NAB and RSV but not in the NJB, which has the correct translation (IBGE, vol. IV, page 457-8). The point is that Jesus is a sin sacrifice, like the Tamid lamb, not a Passover festival sacrifice (see the eBook, "Jesus and the Mystery of the Tamid Sacrifice").
1 The LORD
said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 "This month shall stand at the head of your calendar;
you shall reckon it the first month of the year.
The month is Abib (Ex 13:4), March/April, by our seasonal
calendar, and at God's command became the beginning of the liturgical year in the
Israelites calendar. Previous to this turning point in salvation history, the
month of Ethanim, also known as Tishri, in our September/October time frame,
was the beginning of the civil year for the Israelites. The month of Tishri
was believed to be the first month of the Creation event and remained the beginning
of the civil calendar year. However, from the time of the first Passover
sacrifice, the liturgical calendar was to begin in the early spring in the
month of Abib/Aviv (Ex 13:4; 23:15; 34:18; Dt 16:1), which would be known as
the month of Nisan after the Babylonian captivity (Est 3:7; Neh 2:1). See the Israelite calendar of lunar months and feast days.
Exodus 12:3 ~ Tell
the whole community of Israel: On the tenth of this month, every one of your
families must procure for itself a lamb [she = a flock animal], one apiece for
each household.
The Hebrew word seh refers to a lamb or a kid as in
Exodus 12:5 and Deuteronomy 14:4.
In Exodus 12:1-7, God gave Moses specific instructions concerning
the selection of the sacrificial victim and in how to offer it in sacrifice:
The lamb or kid could not older than a year nor younger than eight days (Ex 22:29; Lev 22:27). According to the first-century AD priest and historian Flavius Josephus, the definition of a household was a minimum of ten people but not more than twenty (Jewish Wars, 6.9.3). The same instructions for the Passover sacrifices are in the Jewish Talmud (Mishnah: Pesahim, 64b).
Significantly, in God's instructions for the first Passover, the people had to choose the Passover victim on the 10th of the month (Ex 12:3) and eat it five days later (as the ancients counted) in a sacred meal. Jesus, the "Lamb of God" (Jn 1:29), rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the 10th of Abib/Nisan in AD 30 AD (Jn 12:1-15). Saint Bede (AD 672-735) linked the Pascal victim's selection on the 10th of Abib/Nisan, five days before the Passover sacrifice (as the ancients counted), to Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem on the 10th of Abib/Nisan. In a homily on Palm Sunday, St. Bede said: "It was commanded that the paschal lamb, by whose immolation the people of Israel were freed from slavery in Egypt, should be selected five days before the Passover, that is, on the tenth day of the month, and immolated on the fourteenth day of the month. This signified the one who was going to redeem us by his blood, since five days before the Passover (that is today), accompanied by the great joy and praise of people going ahead and following, he came into God's Temple, and he was there teaching daily. At last, after five days, having observed up to that point the sacraments of the old Passover, he brought them to perfect fulfillment, and he handed over the new sacraments to his disciples to be observed henceforth. [Then], having gone out to the Mount of Olives, he was seized by the Jews and crucified [the next] morning. He redeemed us from the sway of the devil on the very day when the ancient people of the Hebrews cast aside the yoke of slavery under the Egyptians by the immolation of the lamb" (Homilies on the Gospels, 2.3).
St. Bede referred to the victim of the first Passover as chosen five days in advance just as Jesus presented Himself to the people on the 10th of Nisan (the name of the month in the 1st century AD) five days before the sacrifice of the Passover victims. The Bede taught that Jesus brought the old sacraments of the first Passover to fulfillment at the Lord's Supper (Lk 22:14-20), establishing the new Sacrament of the Eucharist, the celebration of which He commanded from that time forward, telling His disciples, "Do this in memory of me" (Lk 22:19). He also pointed out that Jesus' crucifixion was on the very day the Egyptian Pharaoh freed the Israelites from bondage, corresponding to the morning after the Last Supper, with Jesus' sacrifice making possible our liberation from sin and death. Notice that the Bede used the ancient method of counting a series of days, with the first day in the series as day #1. What an amazing continuity in salvation history that Jesus should present Himself to the Jews of Jerusalem on the same day of the month as when the Israelites selected the first Passover victims in Egypt. It was a connection St. Paul made when he called Jesus our Passover in 1 Corinthians 5:7b ~ For our Passover, Christ, has been sacrificed (from the Greek translation).
The instructions God gave Moses for the protection of the children of Israel on the night of the tenth Egyptian plague included these commands:
The firstborn sons of every family who were not obedient to God's commands throughout Goshen and Egypt and not protected under the "sign" of the blood sacrifice died that night along with the firstborn of the cattle (Ex 12:12).
Exodus 12:12 ~ The Passover Judgment
12 For on
this same night, I will go through Egypt, striking down every firstborn of the
land, both man and beast, and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt; I
the LORD!
The purpose of the tenth Egyptian plague was to execute
God's divine judgment on Egypt's false gods (Ex 12:12). In the tenth plague judgment
of death, the Egyptians, in their refusal to release the Israelite slaves, made
the unwilling sacrifice of their firstborn sons and animals as the Israelites
offered up the willing substitute sacrifice of the unblemished male lambs and
goat-kids.
In the spring of AD 30, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the same day that the Israelites selected the animal victims in the Egyptian Passover, the 10th of Abib/Nisan. From Sunday to Thursday, for five days as the ancients counted, Jesus was present in Jerusalem for everyone to view His perfection as the unblemished Lamb of God. It was the same way the first Passover victims were kept in public view before their sacrifice five days later (as the ancients counted) from the 10th to the 14th. The Jewish days began at sundown. After sundown on the day the Passover sacrifice, that began at noon at the Temple (which became the 15th of Nisan), Jesus fulfilled the Sinai Covenant obligation to hold the sacred meal of the Passover victim on the first night of the Feast of Unleavened Bread with His disciples in an upper banquet room in Jerusalem (Ex 12:14; 13:10). It was during that Old Covenant sacred meal that He offered Himself: Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the first Eucharistic banquet (Mt 26:26-28; Mk 14:22-24; Lk 22:14-20; Jn 13:4). It was the beginning of His walk to the altar of the Cross. His blood was the sign that death "passed over" those who believed in Him and accepted His sinless sacrifice in atonement for their sins.
Exodus 12:13 ~ The Blood Sign
13 But the blood
will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you;
thus, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you.
In the first Passover, the Israelites smeared the sacrificial
victim's blood over their houses' doors from the thresholds to the lintels and
doorposts, making the "sign" of a bloody cross. It represented the safe entry
and protection of those under the blood's visible sign (Ex 12:7). It was also
a sign that visually illustrated the price of redemption and salvation and
symbolically pointed forward in salvation history to the sacrificial death of
Jesus, the Lamb of God (see 1 Pt 1:2; Rom 5:8-9; Heb 9:13-14; 13:12). Jesus'
precious blood stained the cross beams and upright support of the Cross, becoming
a "sign" of salvation and redemption, just as the blood of the first Passover
victims was visible across the doorposts and lintels of the Israelite houses as
a "sign" of salvation and redemption from the tenth plague. The entire event
of divine judgment against the Egyptian in the first Passover resulting in the Israelites'
salvation prefigured our Lord's Passion and humanity's salvation.
14 This day
shall be a memorial [zikkaron] feast for you, which all our generations shall
celebrate with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution."
God commanded that every generation of the Israelites relive
the Egyptian Passover and the sacred meal. The Hebrew word zikkaron means
more than "memorialize" or "remember"; it requires action to commemorate the
event by reliving/reinacting the experience (JPS Commentary: Exodus, page
57). Jesus' command at the Last Supper of the sacred Passover meal, which became
the Christian Eucharist, was the same; the experience had to be relived and reenacted
by the faithful until the end of time. His command wasn't just to "recall" it but
"to do this in memory/remembrance of Me" (Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24-25).
As Catholic Christians, we are faithful to the command to relive the events of the Old Covenant Passover sacrifice in the transformed sacred meal of the New Covenant Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is both a sacrifice and a sacred meal. It is what the first Passover prefigured. When New Covenant believers receive Christ in the Eucharist, the Lamb of God's on-going sacrifice is present before us on the altar. We relive what the Apostles experienced in the Upper Room in Jerusalem in the spring of AD 30 as we consume what was bread and wine but becomes the very life of Christ: Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. In obedience, the Church keeps this sacred feast that replaces the Old Covenant communion peace meal of the Toda ("Thanksgiving" in Hebrew) that the Old Covenant faithful ate in the presence of God in the Temple (Lev 7:11-15, Mishnah: Zebahim, 8.7). We eat Jesus' sacred meal of the Eucharist ("Thanksgiving" in Greek) that He offers to all generations of New Covenant believers until the end of time as we know it. Some but not all professing Christians are faithful to this divine command. Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant according to His words from the Cross declaring, "Teltelestai," meaning, "It is fulfilled/accomplished/completed" (Jn 19:30). We keep Christ's command in Luke 22:19 when He said, "Do this in remembrance of me." We memorializing the Eucharistic banquet in a living and active sacrificial feast of the Lamb of God, whose precious Blood protects us from God's judgment by forgiving our sins and opening the door to eternal life.
In the first Passover, the Israelites were only saved from the tenth plague's death judgment if they followed the plan God gave Moses for their deliverance: being protected under the "sign" of the blood and eating the sacred meal. To make the sacrifice without eating the meal was not enough to avoid the plague judgment and ensure their salvation. The question each of us must face is this: Is there a way for us to avoid the curse of eternal death for our sins and receive the gift of eternal salvation? Have we received a warning and a plan for our salvation? The answer to both questions is "Yes." Jesus and the New Testament writers warned both Old and New Covenant believers many times about the judgment that would decide a person's destiny for eternity. There is a way to avoid the judgment of eternal death, but only if we follow the plan of salvation that God gave us through Christ Jesus. There is one plan; there are not many different roads to salvation. Jesus called God's plan of salvation the "Narrow Gate and the Narrow Road/Path when He said: "Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to destruction is wide and spacious, and many take it; but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Mt 7:14). Jesus also said: I am the gate. Anyone who enters through me will be safe: such a one will go in and out and will find pasture (Jn 10:9). On Pentecost Sunday, fifty days after Jesus' Resurrection, the Jews asked St. Peter how they could be saved. He said: "Every one of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). He also told the Jewish Law Court (Sanhedrin): Only in him [Jesus] is there salvation; for of all the names in the world given to men, this is the only one by which we can be saved (Acts 4:11b-12, emphasis added). See the chart on the typology between the Passover in the Redeeming Work of Jesus Christ at the end of the lesson.
Responsorial Psalm 116:12-13, 15-18 ~ Sacrifice and
Thanksgiving
The response is: "Our blessing cup is a communion with the
Blood of Christ."
12 How shall I make
a return to the LORD for all the good he has done for me? 13 The cup of salvation I will take up, and I
will call upon the name of the LORD.
Response
15 Precious in the
eyes of the LORD is the death of his faithful [holy] ones. 16 I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
Response
17 To you will I
offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will call upon the name of the LORD. 18 My vows to the LORD I will pay in the
presence of all his people.
Response
The response refers to St. Paul's identification of the cup of Christ's precious Blood at the Last Supper as the third communal cup of the ritual meal of the Passover sacrifice on the first night of Unleavened Bread as the "Cup of Blessing" also called the "Cup of Redemption" (1 Cor 10:16).
Psalm 116 is part of the Hallel ("Praise God") Psalms 113-118, also called the "Egyptian Psalms because they recount Israel's Exodus experience. The covenant people sang this collection of psalms in the Temple liturgy during the eight days of the festivals of Passover and Unleavened Bread (Lev 23:4-8; Num 28:16-25). You will recall it was on Psalm Sunday when Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem that the crowd sang Psalm 118:25-26a (Mt 21:9; Mk 11:9; 19:38; Jn 12:13). They saw Him repeat King Solomon's coronation ride into the city in 1 Kings 1:38-39 and fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9, Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! See, you king shall come to you; a just savior is he, meek, and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass (c.f., Mt 21:1-5).
In Psalm 116:12-13, the psalmist expresses his desire to thank Yahweh by offering sacrifices in the Temple. He is the Lord's servant who willingly makes his offerings to the Lord in the liturgy of worship (verses 15-16). In verse 17, the psalmist, to express his gratitude, resolves to offer God a "sacrifice of thanksgiving" that is the communion peace (with God) sacrifice and sacred meal, called in Hebrew the Toda/Todah ("thanksgiving" or in Greek "eucharistia"; see Lev 7:11-21) in Yahweh's Temple. Some Jewish scholars suggest the "cup of salvation" in verse 13 could refer to the blood ritual when the priest poured the sacrificial victim's blood out in front of the altar of sacrifice. However, since the psalmist "will take it up," other Jewish scholars suggest the cup most likely refers to the red wine consumed by the offeror and those with him in the sacred meal of the Toda communion sacrifice of peace and thanksgiving eaten in the presence of God in the Temple. For Christians, our "cup of salvation" is the Blood of Christ that is "poured out" before our altars to the faithful who receive the chalice of Christ's Blood in the Eucharist.
Christians read the "cup of salvation" as a prophecy of Christ's precious Blood that He gave His disciples at the Last Supper or the "cup of suffering" Jesus spoke of in His prayer to the Father at Gethsemane. Teaching on this verse, St. Augustine (d. 430) wrote: "Who gave you the cup of salvation, so that by taking it and calling on the name of the Lord, you might repay him for all that he has given to you? Who, if not the one who says: 'Can you drink the cup of which I must drink' [Mt 20:22; Mk 10:38; Jn 18:11]? Who has bidden you to imitate his sufferings if not He who has already suffered for you? Moreover, 'precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his holy ones' (quoting Ps 116:15). He paid the price with his blood, which he poured out for the salvation of his servants, so that they would not hesitate to give their lives for the name of the Lord" (Enarrationes in Psalmos, 115.5).
The Second Reading 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ~ The Tradition
of the Eucharist
23 I received from
the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was
handed over, took bread, 24 and,
after he had given thanks, broke it and said, "This is my body that is for
you. Do this in remembrance of me." 25 In
the same way, also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant
in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink
the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
St. Paul was writing to the Christian community at Corinth in Greece in c. AD 57. It was only about twenty-seven years since Jesus instituted the Eucharistic on the first night of the Jewish feast of Unleavened Bread in AD 30. The word "Eucharist" is from the Greek word eucharistia and means "thanksgiving" or "thankfulness." Christians called it the Eucharist because at its institution at the Last Supper, Jesus "gave thanks," and it is by this fact that it is the supreme object and act of Christian gratitude to God (1 Cor 11:24). However, as a sacrifice of "thanks" for restored peace with God, it replaces the Toda, "thanksgiving" communion meal of the Old Covenant.
St. Paul reminds the Christian community at Corinth of the tradition of the Eucharist that he "received from the Lord" and which he "also handed on" to them as part of the apostolic Tradition (verse 23). Paul, whose Jewish name was Saul, must be referring to the tradition of the significance of the Eucharist that He received from the glorified Christ in his conversion experience or a later vision (Acts 9:1-18). This passage is the fourth account of the institution of the Eucharist in the New Testament (see Mt 26:26-29; Mk 14:22-25; Lk 22:16-20). In this review of the Eucharist, Paul lists the fundamental elements of the mystery:
The phrase "do this in remembrance of me" (verses 24 and 25) is Christ's command to reenact the event of the Eucharist until the end of time when He will return in glory (also see Lk 22:19) and fulfills His promise that He will always be with us (Mt 28:20b; Jn 14:18). The word "remembrance/to remember" (zakar), in the Hebrew sense, is charged with meaning. It is associated with God's command to the Israelites in Egypt on the night of the tenth plague to eat the meal of the Passover victims with bitter herbs and unleavened bread (Ex 12:8-10, 17-20). He commanded them to "remember/memorialize" the Exodus liberation by reenacting the events year after year and generation after generation as though each member of the covenant experienced a personal redemption and liberation. Yahweh told Moses: This day shall be a memorial feast for you which all your generations shall celebrate with a pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution (Ex 12:14 and repeated in 12:17, 24-25 and 13:3). God commanded the fathers of every Israelite generation to tell their children: This is because of what Yahweh did for me when I came out of Egypt, and for with a mighty hand Yahweh brought you out of Egypt (Ex 13:8 emphasis added; see CCC 1363).
Jesus commands us to continue to celebrate the Eucharist in the same way as a personal act of redemption. It is for this reason that Jesus instituted the New Covenant ministerial priesthood. The Council of Trent teaches at the Last Supper Jesus "ordered the apostles and their successors in the priesthood to offer this sacrament when he said, 'Do this in remembrance of me,' as the Catholic Church has always understood and taught" (De SS. Missae sacrificio, chap. 1; cf. can. 2). Pope John Paul II also wrote that the Eucharist is "the principal and central reason-of-being of the sacrament of the priesthood, which effectively came into being at the moment of the institution of the Eucharist, and together with it" (Letter to all Bishops, 24 February 1980). When we celebrate the sacrifice of our Lord in the Eucharist, we acknowledge that the Christ who died for us also lives in us and will come again in glory!
The Gospel of John 13:1-15 ~ The Ordination of the
Ministerial Priesthood at the Lord's Supper
1 Before the feast
of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the
Father. He loved his own in the world, and he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already induced Judas son of
Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during the supper, 3 fully aware that the Father had put everything
into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, 4 he rose from supper and took off his outer
garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to
wash the disciples' feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him,
"Master, are you going to wash my feet?" 7
Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing, you do not understand
now, but you will understand later." 8 Peter
said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "Unless I wash
you, you will have no inheritance with me." Simon Peter said to him, 9 "Master, then not only my feet but my hands
and my head as well!" 10 Jesus
said to him, "Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for
he is clean [katharos] all over; so you are clean [katharoi], but not all." 11 For he knew who would betray him; for this
reason, he said, "Not all of you are clean [katharoi]." 12 So when he had washed their feet and put his
garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, "Do you realize
what I have done for you? 13 You
call me 'teacher' and 'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am. 14 If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have
washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. 15 I have given you a model to follow so that as
I have done for you, you should also do."
St. John Chrysostom, the great 4th century AD Archbishop of Constantinople, admonished his congregation in a homily he delivered on Holy Thursday, saying: "Christ is present. The One who prepared that Holy Thursday table is the very One who now prepares this altar table. For it is not a man who makes the sacrificial gifts become the Body and Blood of Christ, but He that was crucified for us, Christ Himself. The priest carries out the action, but the power and the grace is of God. 'This is My Body,' he says. This statement transforms the gifts" (Homilies on the Treachery of Judas circa 380 AD).
The Gospel of John chapter 12 begins with the warning that it is only six days until the Passover sacrifice. Since the dinner took place the day before Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, we can identify the day of the sacrifice of the Passover lambs and kids as Thursday, Nisan the 14th, as the ancients counted. You may recall that with no concept of a zero place-value, the first in any series is always #1. Therefore, if the next day was Palm Sunday, then day #1 of the six days is Saturday, and #6 would be what we call Thursday, which agrees with the Synoptic Gospels (Christianity and the Roman Empire, Ralph Novak, page 282). See the summary of Jesus' last week in Jerusalem at the end of the lesson.
1 Before the
feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to
the Father. He loved his own in the world, and he loved them to the end.
The Gospel of John charts Jesus' ministry as covering three
Passovers (Jn 2:13; 6:4; 12:1). Jesus first spoke of His "hour" to His blessed
mother at the Wedding at Canna and the inauguration of His ministry when He
told the Virgin Mary, "My hour has not yet come" (Jn 2:4b), referring to
the "hour" of His Passion and glorification. He announced that His "hour" had finally
come in the last year of His ministry. On the Wednesday of His third Passover,
on the last day of His teaching at the Temple after His triumphal entry into
Jerusalem on Sunday, Jesus announced: "The hour has come for the Son of Man
to be glorified" (Jn 12:23). It was then two days before the Passover
sacrifice as the ancients counted with Wednesday, Nisan the 13th,
being day #1 and Thursday, the day of the Passover sacrifice, Nisan the 14th,
day #2 (Mt 26:1-2; Mk 14:1).
2 The devil had
already induced Judas son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over.
It was on Wednesday, after dinner with friends in Bethany at
the home of Simon the [former] Leper (Mt 26:6-13 and Mk 14:3-9), that Judas Iscariot
betrayed Jesus to the chief priests (Mt 26:14-16; Mk 14:10-11).
According to tradition, each group of covenant members brought their Passover lambs and kids and festival hagigah offerings to the Temple for the liturgical worship service and sacrifice of the Passover victims that began at noon that Thursday on the 14th of Nisan (Ex 12:6; Lev 23:5). Philo of Alexandria, the first century AD Jewish theologian, wrote: "And after the feast of the new moon comes the fourth festival, that of the Passover, which the Hebrews call pascha, on which the whole people offer sacrifice, beginning at noonday and continuing till evening (late afternoon). [...]. And this universal sacrifice of the whole people is celebrated on the fourteenth day of the month, which consists of two periods of seven, in order that nothing which is accounted worthy of honor may be separated from the number seven. But this number is the beginning of brilliancy and dignity to everything" (Special Laws II, 145-149).
After the Temple service, the people brought the animal's skinned body back to where they stayed in the city to roast it by fire for the sacred meal. At sundown, it became the next day for the Jews and the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was the designated time for eating the sacred meal of the Passover victim by the covenant community (Ex 12:8-10, 15-20; 13:3-10; 23:15; 34:18-23; Dt 16:16; Lev 23:6-8). According to the Law in Exodus 12:15-20 ~ For seven days, you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day, you must clean the leaven out of your houses, for anyone who eats leavened bread from the first to the seventh day must be outlawed from Israel. [...] You must keep the feast of Unleavened Bread because it was on that same day that I brought your armies out of Egypt. You will keep that day, generation after generation: this is a decree for all time. In the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day, you must eat unleavened bread.
Philo of Alexandria also wrote concerning the necessity of celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread at the time of the full moon: "And there is another festival combined with the feast of the Passover, having a use of food different from the usual one, and not customary; the use, namely, of unleavened bread, from which it derives its name. [...] And this feast is begun on the fifteenth day of the month, in the middle of the month, on the day on which the moon is full of light, in consequence of the providence of God taking care that there shall be no darkness on that day" (Special Laws II, 150-155).
3 So, during
the supper, 3 fully aware that
the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and
was returning to God, 4 he rose
from supper and took off his outer garment. He took a towel and tied it around
his waist. 5 Then he poured water
into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and dry them with the towel
around his waist.
At sundown, the guests Jesus invited arrived at an Upper Room
in the city of Jerusalem. Jesus was the host of the gathering. All the Passover
participants had ritually cleansed themselves and dressed in their best clothes
for the meal. Arriving at a house, they removed their sandals and, using a
basin of water by the door, washed the street dirt from their feet. They would
have entered a room and gone to a large, low U-shaped table called a triclinium.
Originally the covenant people ate this feast standing up (Ex 12:11), but since
to eat standing marked one as a slave, it had become the custom to eat a sacred
meal in the Greek style, reclining on low couches as only freeborn men and
women ate.
We do not know how many people were present at the meal. The Gospel writers only mention the guests of honor, the Apostles, but according to the Law, the feast was to be a family event. It was important to include children since God commanded the adults as a covenant obligated: You will observe this as a decree binding you and your children for all time, and when you have entered the country which Yahweh will give you, as he has promised, you will observe this ritual. And when your children ask you, "What does this ritual mean?" You will tell them, "It is the Passover sacrifice in honor of Yahweh who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, and struck Egypt but spared our houses" (Ex 12:24-27 NJB). As part of the meal's ritual order, in obedience to Exodus 13:8, three questions were asked by a boy during the banquet (Rabbinic Jews ask four questions in the modern Seder of the Passover). Jews rightly point out to Christians that if women and children were not present, then Jesus and His disciples did not celebrate a Passover feast. How could Jesus travel for a week to Jerusalem with His mother for this sacred feast and not invite her? In each of the Gospel accounts, the inspired writers do not describe the order of the sacrificial meal, which they and all Jewish Christians knew very well; they only tell us the parts that Jesus changed.
In John 13:4, Jesus removed His outer garment, wrapped Himself in a linen cloth (linteum is a Latin word for linen used only here and in verse 5), and He prepared to wash the Apostle's feet. According to tradition, there were three ritual handwashing during the Passover's sacred meal during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The ritual of washing hands and feet was an important Jewish symbol for generations. In Genesis 18:4, Abraham washed the feet of the three "men" who visited him at his tent at Mamre. He washed their feet as an act of hospitality and as a token of his esteem. There was also a daily mitzvah (commandment) to wash one's hands in the morning and before eating, symbolizing the removal of impurity and the renewal of spiritual integrity (the Pharisees criticized Jesus' disciples for this failure in Mt 15:2). But once again, Jesus did something unexpected. Instead of the ritual of the washing of hands, He washed the disciples' feet.
Jesus probably removed His outer cloak (in Hebrew, the tallit) with the required tassels according to the Law (Num 15:37). Jesus did not remove the tunic He was wearing under the cloak; such a display of nakedness would have been inappropriate. He wore a seamless white linen garment (Jn 19:23-24), the required tunic of a priest (Ex 28:39; 39:27-29; Lev 6:3). Since it was woven in one piece, it was very valuable (Jn 19:23-24). Jesus had come to the sacred feast dressed in a chief priest's garment, which identified the meal as a liturgical event. Priests could not wear their liturgical clothes outside of the Temple services (Ez 42:14).
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Master, are you going
to wash my feet?" 7 Jesus answered
and said to him, "What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will
understand later." 8 Peter said to
him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "Unless I wash you,
you will have no inheritance with me." Simon Peter said to him, 9 "Master, then not only my feet but my hands
and my head as well!"
St. Peter was shocked by Jesus' actions. Jesus was taking
the humble position of an inferior to a superior. The role reversal was
incomprehensible to Peter, who knew Jesus not just as his teacher but as his
God (Mt 16:16).
The ritual foot-washing may have taken the place of one of the three ritual handwashings that, according to the Mishnah, were required during the sacrificial meal of the Passover victim. Hands were ritually washed:
To take the place of one of the ritual hand-washings during the meal (Jn 13:2b ~ So, during supper) gives the foot-washing an aspect of ritual purification, and for Christians, it symbolizes an act of ordination. Jesus washed His Apostles' feet in this significant ritual, and later during the meal, they would also ritual cleanse their hands. Before entering the Sanctuary, Yahweh commanded that the priests ritually sanctify their hands and feet a the purification ritual. God first commanded this purification ritual for the first High Priest Aaron (Moses' brother) and Aaron's priestly sons. Whenever the priests came near the sacrificial altar to minister the sacrifice offered to Yahweh or when they entered the Holy Place, they washed their hands and feet, even though they were already clean. The ritual washing symbolized their inner purity of spirit before they entered Yahweh's Presence (see Ex 30:20 and Lev 8:6).
In the foot-washing ritual, Jesus was not only instructing His ministers to preach the Gospel of salvation in humility, but His actions also symbolize the anointing of the new ministerial priesthood of the New Covenant Church. For this reason, Catholics see this action as signifying the establishment of the Sacrament of Holy Orders in the ordination of the New Covenant priesthood. Jesus' symbolic purification of the Apostles takes place before the celebration of the first Eucharistic sacrifice. You see this same act of ritual purification in the Mass as the priest washes his hands before offering the bread that will become the Body of Christ.
The role reversal that so shocks Simon-Peter that he protests that he cannot allow his Lord to perform this menial and degrading task (Jn 13:6-8). Jesus' response to Peter is, if he does not let Jesus wash his feet, then he can have no inheritance with me (Jesus' words to Peter). It is a Semitic expression indicating that Peter will be cutting himself off from his Lord and his share in the glory of Christ.
In John 13:9, Peter declares:
"Master, then not only my feet but my hands and my head as well!"
Some believe Peter's response shows his lack of understanding,
while others find humor in Peter's heartfelt declaration. However, Peter
surely understood what Jesus said in regards to the significance of this ritual
for Peter to have a share in Christ and His future glory. Even if he didn't
fully understand every aspect of what that share will contain or even Jesus' reason
for washing his feet, which Jesus will explain in the following several verses,
he knew it was necessary. Significantly, Jesus doesn't chastise Peter as He
often does when he shows a lack of understanding. Perhaps Peter's answer may
be a humorous response, but it shows his willingness to submit entirely in offering
all of himself to Jesus. Perhaps we can understand his declaration to mean:
"As You said, Lord, I may not fully understand, but I trust You, and I yield to
You so completely that I give you my entire self: from my head to my feet!"
Jesus must have smiled at Peter's response; He knew what Peter wanted to say.
St. John Chrysostom commented on this passage: "You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. That is: You are clean only to that extent. You have already received the Light; [...] The Prophet [Jesus] asserted: 'Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil from your souls' (Isaiah 1:16). [...] Therefore, since they had rooted out all evil from their souls and were following him with complete sincerity, he declared, in accordance with the Prophet's words: 'He who has bathed is clean all over'" (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on St. John, 70.3).
10 Jesus said to him, "Whoever has bathed has no need
except to have his feet washed, for he is clean [katharos] all over; so you are
clean [katharoi], but not all." 11 For
he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, "Not all of you are clean
[katharoi]."
Notice the emphasis with the triple use of the Greek word katharos
(katharoi in the plural), which can mean "clean" or "pure"
(see Jn 15:2-3). Peter is not only outwardly clean but inwardly "clean."
Peter is "clean," not just because he bathed before coming to the supper. He was
spiritually cleansed when he accepted John the Baptist's baptism of repentance.
He has also yielded himself entirely to the Living Word of God, as illustrated
by Peter's request that Jesus bathes/purifies not just his feet but also his
head and hands in 13:9. Jesus will speak of purity of the spirit during His
discourse after the supper in John 15:3-4a. In His talk, after speaking of
"pruning" that which does not bear the fruit of obedience, He will tell the
Apostles: You are clean already, by means of the word that I have spoken to
you. Remain [abide] in me, as I in you.
"so you are clean [katharoi], but not all."
Peter is pure, but Jesus says one of them is not clean/pure.
One of them is spiritually impure/unclean. Judas Iscariot is impure; Jesus
knows he has already betrayed Him and is betraying Him again in Judas' unyielding
heart (see Mt 26:14-14; Mk 14:10-11; Lk 22:3-6; and Jn 6:70-71; 13:2). For
he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, "Not all of you are clean
[katharoi]." Jesus knows the traitor is Judas.
John 13:12-15 ~ Jesus'
Explanation of the water purification of the Apostles' feet
12 So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and
reclined at table again, he said to them, "Do you realize what I have done for
you? 13 You call me 'teacher' and
'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am. 14
If I, therefore, the master [kyrios = master or lord] and teacher
[didaskalos = teacher], have washed your feet, you ought to wash one
another's feet. 15 I have given
you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do."
In John 13:4, when Jesus continued to wash all the disciples' feet, He even washed Judas' feet. After performing this symbolic act, Jesus put on His outer garment and again took His place at the table; Jesus was taking the father's role as host of the meal.
Jesus' disciples call Him "Teacher" and "Lord." The words in Greek are literally "Teacher" [didaskalos] and "lord" [kyrios] and correspond to the traditional Jewish titles of Rabbi and Mar. These are the typical ways that disciples or servants of a Rabbi would address their Master. Jesus then gives the reason for His actions in washing their feet in verses 14-15. He has shown His Apostles by example how they are to serve Him and His Church. They must serve one another lovingly, in complete humility, just as Jesus humbled Himself to "serve" them by washing their feet. He will tell them in His homily after the sacred meal: this is my commandment: love one another as I love you (Jn 15:12). What a contrast to what the Old Covenant priesthood had become! God is love, and it was for love that Jesus loved his own in the world, and he loved them to the end (Jn 13:1b).
At the end of the Passover meal, after those assembled ate the Passover victim and just before offering the third ritual cup, called the "Cup of Blessing," or the "Cup of Redemption," Jesus instituted the Eucharist on the last night of His life. We know the timing because St. Paul identifies the Cup of Christ's Blood as the "Cup of Blessing" in 1 Corinthians 10:16. This sacrificial offering of Himself was His first step in demonstrating the depth of His great love on His walk to the altar of the Cross that began in the Upper Room. First, Jesus instituted the New Covenant priesthood necessary to continue His sacred offering in the ritual washing of His disciples' feet. Then, He transformed the Old Covenant Passover sacred meal into the New Covenant Toda ("Thanksgiving) sacred communion meal of His Body and Blood that became the principal source of sustenance of the supernatural life that was His gift to the world. The Lord's Supper became the prelude to His work of redemption to save humankind from sin and death and to bring us to forgiveness and spiritual restoration through the offering of His life and His glorious Resurrection. His sacrificial offering would merit graces for humanity that only God the Son could merit before God! Therefore, on this night, as you memorialize the Lord's Supper in receiving the Eucharist, truly relive the experience of the miracle just as the disciples received the first miracle of Jesus' sacred meal. Apply the Sacrament to your life as Jesus commanded because He is truly present to you in the Eucharistic sacrifice as He was to His disciples in the spring of AD 30.
The sacrifice of the Passover victim and eating the Passover victim in a sacred meal on the feast of Unleavened Bread is a "type" of Jesus Christ and His work of redemption in saving humanity from bondage to sin and death.
| Passover and Unleavened Bread | Jesus of Nazareth |
| The selection of the first Passover victims was on the 10th of Abib/Nisan (Ex 12:3). | Jesus rode into Jerusalem to keep the Passover on the 10th of Nisan; He was the Lamb of God selected for sacrifice (Jn 1:29; 12:1-2, 12-14). |
| The covenant people were to keep the Passover victims in the community for five days (Ex 12:3, 6).* | For five days, Jesus taught the community of Israel at the Temple (Mt 21-26:2).* |
| The blood of the Passover victims, spread from the threshold of the doorways to the doorposts and lintels, was a cross-shaped "sign" of the Israelites' firstborn redemption from death (Ex 12:13, 21-23). | Jesus' blood on the Cross was the sign of humanity's redemption from sin and death (Acts 3:17-26). |
| The people used a hyssop branch to smear the Passover victims' blood on the doorposts and lintels (Ex 12:22). | The Roman soldier used a hyssop branch to give Jesus His last drink on the Cross (Jn 19:29). |
| No bones of the victims were to be broken (Ex 12:46). | Unlike the men crucified with Him, Jesus' bones were not broken (Jn 19:32-36). |
| The Israelites were redeemed from slavery when they fled out of Egypt on the 15th of Abib/Nisan (Ex 12:29-42). | Jesus gave up His life on the Cross, redeeming humankind from sin and death on the 15th of Nisan (18:28, 17-18). |
| Each sacrificed victim died so that the Israelites might live temporally. | Jesus was the sacrificed victim who died so that humanity might live eternally. |
| The Passover victims were the food of the sacred feast which the Israelites ate so that they might live (Ex 12:8, 13). | St. Paul wrote that we "celebrate the feast" of the Eucharist (1 Cor 5:7-8) and eat Jesus' flesh that we might live (Jn 6:50-58). |
| As part of the covenant obligations, the first Passover and sacred meal of the Passover victims was to be remembered and relived by every generation (Ex 12:14, 42). | Jesus told the disciples to eat His Body and Blood and to "do this in remembrance of me," a command every generation of New Covenant believers must obey (Lk 22:19-20). |
| The Passover victims' sacrifice was God's plan for the salvation of Israel (Ex 12:13). | Jesus' sacrifice was God's plan for humanity's salvation (Jn 3:1-16; 1 Jn 4:9). |
| Michal E. Hunt Copyright © 2009 | |
* as the ancients counted without the concept of a zero place-value.
Summary of Jesus'
Last Week in Jerusalem: The Countdown to the Passion
Day #1: Saturday, the 9th of Nisan ~ Six days
before the Passover, Jesus attended a dinner in Bethany at the home of
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, where Mary of Bethany anointed His feet (Jn 12:1-8).
Day #2: Sunday, the 10th of Nisan ~ The next day, Jesus rode into Jerusalem (Mt 21:1-11; Mk 11:1-11; Lk 19:28-40; Jn 12:12-15). He cleansed the Temple a second time and healed the blind and the lame (Mt 21:10-17; Lk 19:45-46). He spent the night at Bethany on the Mount of Olives (Mt 21:17)
Day #3: Monday, the 11th of Nisan ~ The next day,
returning to Jerusalem from Bethany
(Mk 11:12) Jesus cursed the fig tree (Mt 21:18-19; Mk 11:12-14), cleansed the Temple a third time (Mk 11:15-19), and taught in the
Temple (Mt 21:23).
Day #4: Tuesday, the 12th of Nisan ~ The disciples commented on the withered fig tree (Mk 11:20), and Jesus spent the day teaching at the Temple (Mk 11:27; 12:1).
Day #5: Wednesday, the 13th of Nisan ~ Jesus' last day teaching at the Temple (Mk 13:1) in which He declared the "hour" of His glory has come (Jn 12:22). Wednesday was two days before the Passover sacrifice on Thursday (counting as the ancients counted = Wednesday is day #1 and Thursday is day #2). Passover will begin at sundown (which becomes the next day), and the religious authorities plan Jesus' death (Mt 26:1-5). Jesus had supper in Bethany at Simon the Leper's home (Mt 26:6-13; Mk 14:1, 3-9). An unnamed woman (probably Mary of Bethany who saved some ointment as Jesus told her in Jn 12:7) anointed His head; it is His third anointing (#1 = Lk 7:36-38; # 2 = Jn 12:3; # 3 = Mt 26:6-7 and Mk 14:3-4). Judas went to the chief priests to betray Jesus (Mt 26:14-16; Mk 14:10-11; Lk 22:3-6).
Day #6: Thursday, the 14th of Nisan ~ It is the day of the Passover sacrifice that will take place at the Temple at noon; it is the day identified in John 12:1. Jesus sent Peter and John into the city to prepare for the sacred meal at sundown, the beginning of the 15th of Nisan (Mt 26:17-19; Mk 14:12-16; Lk 22:7-13).
Day # 7: Sundown is the beginning of the Jewish Friday, the 15th of Nisan (our Thursday night). It is sundown on the day when the Passover victims were sacrificed earlier in the day at the Temple, and it was the first night of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Lev 23:6-9; Num 28:16-25; Mk 14:17). That night was both the prelude and prefiguring of the Lord's Passion enacted in the sacred meal of the Lord's Supper that symbolized His death and resurrection. According to the Old Covenant tradition, after eating the Passover victim in a sacred meal, Jesus transformed the Old Covenant sacred ritual by offering His disciples His Body and Blood in a New Covenant sacred meal (Jn 6:54-56; Mt 26:26-28; Mk 14:22-24; Lk 22:19-20). It was a sacred meal that He commanded His disciples to continue to memorialize until the end of time (Lk 22:19-20; 1 Cor 11:24-26). Later, the guards arrested Jesus on the Mount of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mt 26:50; Lk 22:39, 54). He was tried and condemned to death by the Jewish Sanhedrin (Mt 26:57-66; Lk 22:66-71) and then taken to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, at dawn (Mt 27:1-2; Mk 15:1).
Catechism References (* indicates Scripture quoted or
paraphrased in the citation):
Exodus 12:3-14 (CCC 608)
Psalm 116:12-13 (CCC 224, 1330*); 116:17 (CCC 1330*)
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (CCC 1339*), 11:23 (CCC 610, 1366); 11:24-25 (CCC 1356); 11:24 (CCC 1328, 1329*); 11:25 (CCC 611, 613); 11:26 (CCC 671*, 1076, 1130, 1344, 1393, 2772, 2776)
John 13:1-15 (CCC 1337); 13:1 (CCC 557*, 609, 616, 622, 730*, (1085*, 1380, 1524*, 1823, (2843*); 13:3 (CCC 423); 13:12-15 (CCC 1269*, 1694*); 13:13 (CCC 447*); 13:15 (CCC 520*)
The institution of the Eucharist (CCC 1337-1344*)
Eucharist as thanksgiving (CCC 1359-1361)
Eucharist as a sacrifice (CCC 610*, 1362-1365*, 1366-1372, 1382, 1436)
The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist (CCC 1373*, 1374-1380*, 1381)
Holy Communion (CCC 1384*, 1385*, 1386-1390, 1391*, 1392-1395, 1396*, 1397-1401, 2837*)
The Eucharist as the pledge of glory (CCC 1402, 1403*, 1404, 1405*)
Institution of the priesthood at the Last Supper (CCC 611*, 1366)
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2015; revised 2021 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.