READINGS: EX 12:1-8, 11-14; PS 115:12-13. 15-18; 1 COR 11:23-26; JN 13:1-15
THEME: EAT AND BE EATEN!
Dearest friends, this evening, we celebrate the Gift of Christ to us, a gift that makes us a part and charges us to also give ourselves. We celebrate the Giving of Christ to us as our daily food, and his commandment that charges us to also give ourselves in service to others.
a. The Lamb of My Passover
When the time arrived for God to finally lead Israel out of the bondage of their slavery, on the night of the last fight between God and the power of darkness in Egypt which was holding God’s people captive, God wanted to keep a “memorial” (Zikkaron) for his people, so that they will always remember and celebrate the night of their victory, the night of their redemption, the night of their freedom. This zikkaron came in the form of a meal which demands the slaughtering of a lamb. Two things are important in this feast: the flesh of the lamb, and its blood. Every family and household must partake in eating the lamb slaughtered for them.
Then, the blood is to be put on the two doorposts and the lintels of the houses in which they eat it (Ex 12:7). While the eating of the lamb makes a family or household a member of God’s family to be delivered, the blood becomes a sign that protects the house from being struck down by the angel of destruction (Ex 12:12-13).
A lamb was enough to save the people from the wrath that befell the land of Egypt. The blood of the lamb becomes a ‘Passover-order’ to God himself. As mighty as God is, the blood of a lamb was enough to make his destructive power to pass over the house that bears the blood. The blood of the lamb having saved the people, securing their freedom, the people are to re-enact this feast every year because it is not just the night the angel of destruction passed over their houses, but also the night they passed over from slavery to freedom.
Hence, the festival becomes a re-enactment of the freedom of the people of God and an a zikkaron, of their salvation. On the night that inaugurates the last fight between Christ and the power of darkness, Christ, the lamb that must be slaughtered for its blood to secure protection and freedom of his
people, gave himself as a Pass-over meal to his disciples. His body becomes the food for his people, and his blood becomes the new covenant that perfects the old one.
Just as the eating of the flesh of the lamb in Exodus made a family part of God’s redeemed people, so also, and even more, does the flesh of Christ make all the partakers the ‘Pass-over’ people. And if the
blood of a lamb was enough to protect God’s people from destruction, how much more the blood of God’s only Son. The people of Israel were to celebrate the feast of Passover as a zikkaron (remembrance) of their redemption.
Hence, it is a feast that reminds them of the past. But the Eucharist is not just a memorial of what Christ once did, but a memorial (anamnesis) of the person of Christ and a re-enactment of his gift of himself to us. From the Table to the Feet and back to the Table (From Supper to Service).
There are two occasions in which Jesus, through his words or/and actions, instructs the disciples to keep on doing what he has done: in the institution of the Eucharist (anamnesis; cf Lk 22:19) and in ordaining the disciples to service (Jn 13:15). In both instances, the feast of Passover is mentioned, thereby linking the two actions as the part of the last activities of Jesus before he was sacrificed as the Passover lamb.
In this way, both Eucharist and service are linked and meant to go together, such that while the Eucharist nourishes service, service brings into action what is being eaten: self-giving in love. The evangelist John holds that Jesus got up from the table of his supper, put on the garment of a servant (Jn 13:4) and began to wash the feet of the disciples.
From the table, Jesus moved to the feet of the disciples; from supper, Jesus embraced the duty of service. Our partaking in the Lord’s supper, should also get us ready to launch ourselves into service to others. But it is important to note this movement of Jesus: he moved from the table (supper) to the washing of the feet of the disciples (Jn 13:4-5), and then from the washing of the feet, he moved back to the table (Jn 13:12).
So also should our movement be. Our service has to always be inspired by our partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ. And in the course of our service to others, we must always fall back to the table of the Lord. Our strength to give ourselves in service to others, to allow ourselves to become slaves to others, comes only through the
Eucharist.
The Eucharist truly received makes one become like Christ whom he/she receives. He removed his outer robe and tied a towel around himself (Jn 13:4) The reason it seems that it is difficult to live the life of Christ is because we have not actually begun to learn from Christ. The evangelist says that before Christ began the service of watching the feet of the disciples, he first of all removed his outer wear, and tied towel around himself (Jn 13:4). That is to say, he took upon himself a position that is below that of his disciples.
Hence, not only that God’s son relinquished his position as God and became man in order to save men, but that in order to serve men, he assumed the state that is below that of humans. For him to serve men who were also wearing outer robes, he has to remove what makes him equal with them and assume a lower state. We cannot serve unless we truly deny ourselves that state that makes us equal with the rest of humans and assume the state of a slave.
In the time of Jesus, only a slave, who was considered to be of the same value with one’s properties like goats, table etc., could tie a towel and wait upon the arrival of his master or other members of the house, in order to watch their feet and serve them at the table. By his gesture, Jesus teaches us that unless we remove our outer robes, that is to say, unless we are capable of seeing ourselves as nothing, as a mere slave, we cannot serve others.
But in order to teach us that we lose nothing when we assume the position of a slave, the evangelist says that after Jesus has washed the feet of the disciples, he put on again his robe (Jn 13:12). This corresponds to the Christological hymn of Philippians 2:6-11. Christ sacrificed his divine state for the sake of humanity, but God raised him higher and made his name greater than any thing else. There is a greater glory that follows our assuming a lower state for service.
Unless we are ready to remove our outer robes, we cannot serve, and unless we serve, our partaking in the Body and Blood of Christ becomes selfish and ‘un-Christlike.’
Fr. Nnamah Henry C.
Catholic Diocese of Aguleri