Holy Thursday, cycle A

John 20:1-9
I WONDER HOW JESUS REALLY FELT ON THAT HOLY THURSDAY, THE END OF HIS LAST FULL DAY ON EARTH? JESUS KNEW WHAT WAS COMING, WE SEE THAT ALL THROUGH THE GOSPELS; BUT YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO BE GOD TO KNOW YOU WERE IN TROUBLE. HE HAD OFFENDED THE JEWISH AUTHORITIES WHEN HE RAISED LAZARUS; HE HAD OFFENDED THE ROMAN AUTHORITIES WHEN HE ENTERED JERUSALEM IN A TRIUMPHAL PROCESSION WHICH NOT ONLY STIRRED THE CROWDS INTO A NEAR RIOT, BUT WAS ALSO A SORT OF MOCKERY OF A ROMAN TRIUMPHAL PROCESSION; ONLY THE ROMAN GENERAL WOULD BE ON A MAJESTIC HORSE OR PULLED IN A WAR CHARIOT, NOT RIDING ON THE BACK OF A DONKEY. AND HE HAD NEARLY CAUSED A RIOT WHEN HE CLEANSED THE TEMPLE – AND THAT RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGH HOLY DAYS, RIGHT WHEN THE CITY WAS FULL OF PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE ROMAN EMPIRE, CELEBRATING THEIR LIBERATION FROM SOMEONE ELSE WHO HAD ENSLAVED THEM, THE PHARAOH OF EGYPT.
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOOD TIME TO GO INTO HIDING. BUT JESUS CELEBRATES THE PASSOVER WITH HIS DISCIPLES.
HOW LONELY HE MUST HAVE FELT. NONE OF THEM REALLY BELIEVED WHAT WAS TO COME; AND INDEED SO FAR THE AUTHORITIES HAD BEEN CURIOUSLY QUIET. HE LOOKED OVER THESE PEASANTS WHO WERE HIS CLOSEST DISCIPLES, THESE MEN WHO TIME AND TIME AGAIN HAD NOT SEEMED TO GET IT. HIS TIME WAS NEARLY OVER, AND THEY WERE GOING TO CARRY ON? BUT IT WAS PASSOVER, AND A TIME FOR BEING JOYFUL. THE WINE WAS FLOWING, AND THERE WAS MEAT ON THE TABLE, AND HIS FRIENDS WERE TALKING AND LAUGHING AS THEY CELEBRATED.
AND THEN JESUS DOES A STRANGE THING. HE STRIPS OFF HIS OUTER GARMENT, THROWS A TOWEL OVER HIS SHOULDER, AND STOOPS TO WASH THEIR FEET.
WE SEE THIS RITUAL EVERY HOLY THURSDAY. WE PICK A FEW PEOPLE FROM THE CONGREGATION, AND FATHER POURS WATER OVER FEET WHICH HAVE PROBABLY BEEN RECENTLY WASHED. BUT THINK ABOUT THE ACTUAL EVENT. FIRST, WASHING FEET WAS ALMOST A NECESSITY. PEOPLE THREW THEIR TRASH, INCLUDING HUMAN WASTE, IN THE STREETS. THERE WEREN'T TRASH COLLECTORS AND GARBAGE DISPOSALS. OTHER PEOPLE AND ANIMALS WALKED OVER THE REFUSE – AND THE ANIMALS CONTRIBUTED MORE TO THE GENERAL STINK AND FILTH. AND MOST PEOPLE EITHER RAN AROUND BAREFOOT OR WORE SANDALS, WHICH WERE LITTLE MORE THAN A PIECE OF LEATHER HELD ONTO THE FOOT WITH A FEW LACES. YOU CAN BELIEVE THAT FEET GOT FILTHY FAST.
SO AT A BIG DINNER PARTY, SOMEONE HAD TO WASH THE FEET. AND THAT SOMEONE WAS USUALLY A SLAVE, OR A POOR GENTILE HIRED FOR THAT PURPOSE. BECAUSE YOU BECAME RITUALLY UNCLEAN COMING INTO CONTACT WITH ALL THAT FILTH. AND WASHING THE FEET WAS REALLY WASHING, NOT A SYMBOLIC STREAM OF WARM WATER.
AND WHY DOES JESUS DO THIS? HE TELLS US THAT HE WANTS TO GIVE US AN EXAMPLE. BUT ON A DEEPER LEVEL, JESUS DOES THIS BECAUSE HE IS JESUS. HE CAME TO SERVE, HE STOOPED TO BECOME ONE OF US, HE EMPTIED HIMSELF OUT FOR US. IT IS JUST WHAT JESUS DOES – HE BECOMES A SLAVE TO US, AS ST. PAUL TELLS US IN HIS EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS.
HOLY THURSDAY IS THE DAY JESUS INSTITUTED THE EUCHARIST. IT IS THE DAY WHEN THE APOSTLES BECAME THE FIRST PRIESTS. WE HEAR A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THESE TWO MAJOR EVENTS IN THE EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL, BUT NOTHING IN THE GOSPEL. JUST THIS STRANGE STORY OF JESUS WASHING THE FILTH OFF THE FEET OF PETER, WHO WOULD DENY HE EVER KNEW HIM, OF JUDAS, WHO WOULD SELL HIM OUT FOR A FEW COINS; AND ALL THE REST, WHO WOULD LEAVE HIM ALONE ON THE CROSS, MOCKED BY THE SAME PEOPLE WHO ONLY A SHORT TIME AGO WERE WELCOMING HIM INTO JERUSALEM WITH PALM BRANCHES AND CRIES OF “HOSANNA, SON OF DAVID!”
TOMORROW WE WILL REMEMBER THE TERRIBLE DEATH JESUS ENDURED. ON SATURDAY, WE WILL THINK ABOUT HOW DEATH AND EVIL ALMOST WON THE BATTLE. AND ON SUNDAY, WE WILL CELEBRATE HIS RESURRECTION, WHEN HE PROVED ONCE AND FOR ALL THAT HIS RAISING OF LAZARUS WAS NO FLUKE; HE CONQUERED DEATH, FOREVER.
AND IN THAT GREAT SET OF EVENTS, WE MAY BE TEMPTED TO THINK THAT IT ALL CAME DOWN TO THIS, THIS GREAT PASSAGE FROM SUFFERING TO DEATH TO RESURRECTION, AND WE MAY FORGET THAT JESUS LIVED TO SERVE, THAT HE WASHED THE FILTH FROM THE FEET OF HIS FRIENDS, AND STILL SEEKS TO DO THAT FOR YOU AND I. AND IN HIS EXAMPLE TO US, HE SHOWS US THAT FOR MOST OF US, IT WILL NOT BE A MARTYR'S TRIUMPHANT DEATH AND ENTRY INTO HEAVEN; IT WILL NOT BE SOME GLORIOUS WORK LIKE FOUNDING A RELIGIOUS ORDER OR CONVERTING A NATION OF PAGANS, OR WRITING A DEATHLESS MASTERPIECE OF THEOLOGY OR DEVOTION.
NO, FOR MOST OF US, IT WILL BE WASHING EACH OTHER'S FEET, PUTTING UP WITH THE FILTH THAT CONTAMINATES ALL OF US, EACH IN DIFFERENT WAYS; RECOGNIZING THAT I AM THE WORST OF SINNERS AND AM LUCKY TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PERFORM A HUMBLE SERVICE FOR MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS; THAT I IMITATE JESUS MOST CLOSELY WHEN I FORGET MYSELF, AND SERVE MY NEIGHBOR IN THE WAY HE NEEDS ME TO SERVE HIM, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.
AND AFTER JESUS WASHED THEIR FEET, ALTHOUGH WE DON'T HEAR ABOUT IT IN JOHN'S GOSPEL, THE OTHER THREE GOSPELS TELL US THAT HE TOOK BREAD, AND BROKE IT, AND GAVE IT AWAY, AND SAID “EAT THIS, IT IS MY BODY”, AND HE TOOK THE CUP, AND BLESSED IT AND SAID, “DRINK THIS, IT IS MY BLOOD” AND HE WENT ON TO SAY THAT IN THE EATING OF HIS BODY AND THE DRINKING OF HIS BLOOD, THERE IS A NEW AGREEMENT BETWEEN GOD AND MAN, ONE THAT WILL LAST FOREVER; AND THAT AGREEMENT IS THAT WHEN WE EAT HIS BODY AND DRINK HIS BLOOD, HE WILL LIVE IN US, AND CHANGE US, IF WE LET HIM, AND THROUGH US CONTINUE TO BUILD UP HIS KINGDOM. BUT IT IS NOT A KINGDOM OF TRIUMPH AND GLORY, WHERE ALL HIS ENEMIES WILL BE CAST DOWN AND ALL HIS FRIENDS WILL ENJOY THAT HEAVENLY FEAST – AT LEAST NOT YET. IT IS A KINGDOM WHERE THE GREATEST WILL WASH THE FILTH OFF OF THE FEET OF THE LEAST, AND THE LEAST WILL DO THE SAME FOR THE GREATEST, AND IF YOU WANT TO SEE JESUS IN ACTION, LOOK FOR PEOPLE WASHING THE FEET OF THEIR NEIGHBOR. AND IF YOU WANT TO BE PART OF THE KINGDOM, LOOK FOR SOMEONE'S FEET TO WASH.