Today Jesus, you us to let you wash our feet. We are often reluctant at first, just as Peter is. We often say, "You will never wash my feet." It is not really humility which makes us say this. We are afraid of the intimacy. We afraid to have to let you get so close to us. We think that if our feet our dirty, well, that's gross, and we should take care of them ourselves.
“Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.”
Only Jesus can do this. When we try it on our own we end up just moving the dirt around. We are no cleaner than we begin. This is because it is no ordinary water which makes us clean.
They shall take some of its blood
and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel
Only the precious blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, can wash away our sins. He says:
Come now, let us reasone together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
The doors of our homes and hearts need to be anointed with the blood of the lamb. When our hearts are anointed with this blood you will pass over us when you strike the land of Egypt and judge the sins of the world. This is the truth which all of the sacrifices of the Old Covenant prefigure. Blood must be shed for our forgiveness and "without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins" (cf. Heb. 9:22). Yet all before now is sign and symbol. This washing in the blood of Jesus is truth. "How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!" (cf. Heb. 9:14).
His precious blood. Our dirty feet. No wonder we shrink away. Yet when we realize our need we say:
Simon Peter said to him,
“Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.”
We get carried away, of course. We only need our feet washed because baptism cleans the rest of us. But the enthusiasm is hard to contain now that we see that Jesus wants to come so close to us and give us exactly what we need. Come as close as you want to come, LORD! Your goodness is almost too much to believe.
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
Your own gift to us is all we have to offer back to you in thanksgiving. Your own precious blood enables us to live our lives as gifts to you. This is how we remember and proclaim your death until you return. We proclaim it in the Eucharist. We are then able to proclaim it by living it in our own lives. You make our mission clear:
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash one another’s feet.
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