Copy What I Have Done To You.
Today's Gospel John 13:1-15
Maundy Thursday
It was before the festival of the Passover, and Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to pass from this world to the Father. He had always loved those who were his in the world, but now he showed how perfect his love was.
They were at supper, and the devil had already put it into the mind of Judas Iscariot son of Simon, to betray him. Jesus knew that the Father had put everything into his hands, and that he had come from God and was returning to God, and he got up from table, removed his outer garment and, taking a towel, wrapped it round his waist; he then poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel he was wearing. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘At the moment you do not know what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ ‘Never!’ said Peter ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus replied, ‘If I do not wash you, you can have nothing in common with me.’ ‘Then, Lord,’ said Simon Peter ‘not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well!’ Jesus said, ‘No one who has taken a bath needs washing, he is clean all over. You too are clean, though not all of you are.’ He knew who was going to betray him, that was why he said, ‘though not all of you are.’
When he had washed their feet and put on his clothes again he went back to the table. ‘Do you understand’ he said ‘what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord, and rightly; so I am. If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.’
Peter is often portrayed in the gospels as impulsive, blurting out anything that comes to mind. This same trait allowed him by the Holy Spirit to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah. This time, however I'm quite sure it was not the spirit asking Jesus to wash “not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well!” It is a human trait to think that one's God should not wash feet. Apparently our conditioning about superiority and the proper caste is a little more than skin deep, as was Peter's.
Jesus tells us “ If I do not wash you, you can have nothing in common with me.” Jesus is showing that he is Master, Lord AND servant of all. St Augustine reflects,”Since the Father had given all things into His hands, He washed not His disciples' hands indeed, but their feet; and since He knew that He came from God, and went to God, He performed the work not of God and Lord, but of a man and servant.”
And in doing so he gave us a specific example to follow. Which brings us back to the Peters of the world. Before his denial and subsequent reconciliation on the seahore, Peter was impulsive, egocentric and frankly annoying. Yet afterward he became the leader of the Apostles and the first bishop of Rome. Even then he was not without problems, including a public rebuke from Paul over his behavior with the Jews. It is my belief that Peter humbly received this rebuke, never forgetting his exchange with Jesus over the foot washing and patterned his life around it.
In the Admonitions of St Francis, Francis speaks to this human condition of the desire for superiority by explicitly recalling the foot washing.
Chapter IV. That no one should appropriate to himself the office of superior
I did not come "to be ministered unto, but to minister" (cf. Mt 20:28), says the Lord. · Let those, who are set up over others, glory as much because of that office of superior, as if they had been appointed to the office of washing the feet of the brothers. · And in as much as they are more disturbed because of having lost their office of superior than because of (having lost) the office regarding feet, so much more do they assemble purses for themselves to the danger of their souls (cf. John 12:6).
In Francis' mind the purse was a sign of treachery (on account of St. John's condemnation of Judas Iscariot for stealing from the purse entrusted to him by Christ). In the early sources of St. Francis' life, the keeping of a purse is frequently the cause of condemnation and the hallmark of infidelity to the Franciscan vocation In the admonition, the symbol of the purse is used in reference to the avariciousness of human willfulness and pride, which St. Francis demanded to be rejected by the Franciscan vow of obedience.
“If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.” May we practice obedience to Christ by “washing a brother or sister 's feet” today. Let us show perfect love.
Maundy Thursday
It was before the festival of the Passover, and Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to pass from this world to the Father. He had always loved those who were his in the world, but now he showed how perfect his love was.
They were at supper, and the devil had already put it into the mind of Judas Iscariot son of Simon, to betray him. Jesus knew that the Father had put everything into his hands, and that he had come from God and was returning to God, and he got up from table, removed his outer garment and, taking a towel, wrapped it round his waist; he then poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel he was wearing. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘At the moment you do not know what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ ‘Never!’ said Peter ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus replied, ‘If I do not wash you, you can have nothing in common with me.’ ‘Then, Lord,’ said Simon Peter ‘not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well!’ Jesus said, ‘No one who has taken a bath needs washing, he is clean all over. You too are clean, though not all of you are.’ He knew who was going to betray him, that was why he said, ‘though not all of you are.’
When he had washed their feet and put on his clothes again he went back to the table. ‘Do you understand’ he said ‘what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord, and rightly; so I am. If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.’
Peter is often portrayed in the gospels as impulsive, blurting out anything that comes to mind. This same trait allowed him by the Holy Spirit to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah. This time, however I'm quite sure it was not the spirit asking Jesus to wash “not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well!” It is a human trait to think that one's God should not wash feet. Apparently our conditioning about superiority and the proper caste is a little more than skin deep, as was Peter's.
Jesus tells us “ If I do not wash you, you can have nothing in common with me.” Jesus is showing that he is Master, Lord AND servant of all. St Augustine reflects,”Since the Father had given all things into His hands, He washed not His disciples' hands indeed, but their feet; and since He knew that He came from God, and went to God, He performed the work not of God and Lord, but of a man and servant.”
And in doing so he gave us a specific example to follow. Which brings us back to the Peters of the world. Before his denial and subsequent reconciliation on the seahore, Peter was impulsive, egocentric and frankly annoying. Yet afterward he became the leader of the Apostles and the first bishop of Rome. Even then he was not without problems, including a public rebuke from Paul over his behavior with the Jews. It is my belief that Peter humbly received this rebuke, never forgetting his exchange with Jesus over the foot washing and patterned his life around it.
In the Admonitions of St Francis, Francis speaks to this human condition of the desire for superiority by explicitly recalling the foot washing.
Chapter IV. That no one should appropriate to himself the office of superior
I did not come "to be ministered unto, but to minister" (cf. Mt 20:28), says the Lord. · Let those, who are set up over others, glory as much because of that office of superior, as if they had been appointed to the office of washing the feet of the brothers. · And in as much as they are more disturbed because of having lost their office of superior than because of (having lost) the office regarding feet, so much more do they assemble purses for themselves to the danger of their souls (cf. John 12:6).
In Francis' mind the purse was a sign of treachery (on account of St. John's condemnation of Judas Iscariot for stealing from the purse entrusted to him by Christ). In the early sources of St. Francis' life, the keeping of a purse is frequently the cause of condemnation and the hallmark of infidelity to the Franciscan vocation In the admonition, the symbol of the purse is used in reference to the avariciousness of human willfulness and pride, which St. Francis demanded to be rejected by the Franciscan vow of obedience.
“If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.” May we practice obedience to Christ by “washing a brother or sister 's feet” today. Let us show perfect love.
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posted by Joe S. 
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4/09/2009 08:52:00 AM
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