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We have begun the Triduum, the three holiest days of our lives. The Gospel begins with, “Jesus knew his hour had come.” Over the next three days we do not simply follow Jesus with our eyes. Rather, we see the meaning of our own lives as reliving what he lived. The hour of our lives has also come.

The first reading, from the Book of Exodus, is a story of our ancestors in faith, the Hebrew people, who also knew their hour had come. That reading is a description of the Passover—that very meal that Christ was celebrating when he gave us the Eucharist. One of the interesting aspects about that first reading is that the entire passage is, really, a monologue. God does all the speaking. I don’t know of any other passage, that we proclaim in church, where God does all the talking. 

God, and God alone says, “You are to gather the people, your household and neighbouring households, and take a lamb, an unblemished lamb. You are to slaughter this lamb at twilight. You are to take some of its blood and place it on the door frame. You are to eat the lamb that very night. Eat it with unleavened bread, with sandals on your feet, and you shall eat it hurriedly. The blood on the door frames will be a sign that I am to pass over your houses so that no plague will destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. This shall be a day of remembrance for you and shall be celebrated as a festival to the Lord for generations.”

This shall be a day of remembrance for you; in other words, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Remember, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt where you lived as slaves. If he did it for those people then, and if as Jesus says, “My father is continually at work,” then he goes on liberating us now.  

Because that first reading is a monologue, where God alone is the speaker, we a get privileged glimpse into the mind of God. The Gospel story of the washing of the feet is also a privileged glimpse into the center of Christ. With Jesus removing his outer robe, we get a privileged glimpse into the mind and heart of Jesus. With the outer robe gone, it is like the tearing in two of the curtain in the temple, a curtain that was supposed to separate God, the holy One, from the ungodly. With Jesus removing his outer robe, the world of separation, which we create and maintain, is gone. God, the holy One, is flowing everywhere. 

There is tremendous God consciousness going on in this Gospel passage. Jesus has already told us in another part of Scripture, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” Like Jesus we must put knowing and doing together.

What does Jesus know and what does he do? Here comes the peek into the interior life of Jesus. He knows three things, and they are all God-centered things. He knew the Father had given all things into his hands. Secondly, he knew he had come from God. And, thirdly, he knew he was going to God. 

Do you know that God has given all things into your hands? If we did, we would immediately fill with gratitude. The gratitude would be so overwhelming that we would not be able to contain ourselves. Not being able to contain ourselves we would break like bread broken and like wine that overflows. Do you know, like Jesus knew, that you come from God? Your beginnings are not just biological but, more importantly, divine. Do you know, like Jesus knew, that your life is going to God? You were not meant to be food for the worms. You were meant to live with God in glory forever. Jesus is fasting and will not drink of the fruit of the vine until your return when the new wine will be uncorked in your honor in the Kingdom of God.So, if you know all things have been handed over to you, and that your origin and your destiny is the Divine, what must you do? What must we do? With the same God-consciousness, we must do as Jesus did, for he has given us an example. We must get up from table, take off our outer robes, tie towels around our waists, and wash each other’s feet.

Fr. Phil Mulligan