Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14 / 1 Cor 11:23-26 / John 13:1-15
Today is called Holy Thursday. It is also called Maundy Thursday.
That word “Maundy” is derived from the Latin word “mandatum” which means mandate, and it refers to the new commandment of love which Jesus gave to His apostles at the Last Supper.
Indeed, it was a night of love, and Jesus showed how perfect His love was.
Yet it was also a reminder that love entails sacrifice.
At the first Passover, a lamb was sacrificed and its blood was put on the doorpost as a sign that Israel was to be freed from slavery.
At the Last Supper, Jesus was the Lamb of God who would have to pour out His blood so that we could be freed from the grip of sins.
When it comes to saving mankind from the grip of sin, let us remember that it was not easy for God to sacrifice His own Son.
Neither did Jesus look for a quick fix for a broken world that was shattered by sins.
Yet in the bread and wine, Jesus foreshadowed His self-sacrifice on the cross for the salvation of the world.
And then came an action that is difficult to express in words.
In the strangest of divine actions, Jesus who is Master and Lord, got up from the table, and with towel and basin, washed His disciples’ feet.
And this upsets our perception of social norms and how things should be. Even Peter protested.
Peter and the rest did not understand what Jesus did then.
Maybe they understood it later when it came to their turn to go down on their knees and pour out their lives for others.
Are we also able to comprehend the meaning of what Jesus did?
On this holy night of the Church’s Triduum, Jesus instituted the Eucharist and then He went down on His knees and washed His disciples’ feet.
The Eucharist is about sacrifice. The washing of feet is about service with humility. One flows from the other.
Jesus, our Lord and Master, gave us this example so that we should follow. It is a mandate. It is a commandment.
When we truly understand the mystery of the Eucharist and the washing of feet, we too will take up the towel and pour out our lives for others in love and service.