“THERE IS A BASON FILLED WITH BLOOD”
Saint John 13: 1-15
Holy Thursday: 14 April Anno Domini 2022
Fr Jay Watson, SSP
Holy Thursday is actually a better name for this day. Maundy Thursday comes from the Latin word “mandatum” from which we get our English word “mandate,” i.e., a command a law to be done.
Ah, but who is doing the doing, who is keeping the law and fulfilling the mandate? Not you. Not me. Not any sinful and fallen man or creature. Only Christ Jesus, THE MAN, The God/Man is THE Holy One. Why even the demon in the Capernaum synagogue (in the possessed man) recognized Him: “I know Thee Who Thou art, The Holy One of God” [Mk. 1.24].
So, while it is salutary to keep with the tradition of using the term Maundy Thursday, it is even better to call this Thursday, during Holy Week, Holy Thursday. For you are Saints, are you not? Believers and followers and brethren of The Holy One. Did you not become Holy, “Sainted,” separated from the unholy at your—“HOLY” + Baptisms? Yes! And who did the washing, the regenerating, the born-“againing” at the—“HOLY” font? Did you wash yourself? No. Christ does the washing, cleansing, restoring, and watering with the eternal water from His heart, His pierced side: Water from The Rock, and that rock was Christ, writes St. Paul.
Yes. We know how tonight’s Gospel lection concludes—with 3rd use of the Law, i.e., how a Christian lives; what a Christian does because a Christian IS a Christian—Christ in you; you a Temple of The Holy Spirit. You do hear His Words: “…ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.” Jesus washed their feet—the Disciples. Jesus washed Saint Peter’s feet. They did not wash their own feet even as they did not call themselves to be His Disciples. You did not decide to be a believer, a Holy One, Jesus chose you. Jesus gifted you freely your faith by way of His Gracious and forgiving Washing. Jesus keeps you forgiven in His Gracious meal of mercy.
So, the events in the upper room on the night in which your Lord was betrayed are, in reality, all sacramental, all mysterious, all Holy, because they are all Jesus—The Holy One. The reason none of the other Disciples had their heads and bodies washed by Christ is the very same reason The Lord does not pour water on Peters hands and head, and on his whole body: “he that is washed needeth not; save to wash save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit.” Or as the ESV puts it more clearly for average Americans: “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean.” Jesus means: “you have all been + Baptized into Me. You don’t need to be Baptized a second time. You only need to have your sins forgiven by “Holy Absolution.” You confessed in The Lord’s Nicene Creed “…ONE Baptism for the remission of sins.” But you understand Jesus’ words that you daily need forgiveness [Luther says daily drown your “old Adam,” i.e., daily confess your sins and receive Jesus’ washing of your feet]. You pray in The Our Father: “forgive us our trespasses AS WE FORGIVE those who trespass against us.” There’s a whole lot of washing, Baptizing, forgiving going on amongst Christians.
You should ALWAYS (that word means what it says) forgive those who have sinned against you. Jesus, again, tells St. Peter “…not seven times but 70 times 7,” i.e., always! You don’t want to forgive, and at times you don’t—for a bit. You remain sinful and fallen until the end. But you know The Lord’s great parable of the unforgiving servant and you likewise know…believe, teach, and confess, that The Holy Spirit will constrain you to forgive the one who has wronged you “slightly,” BECAUSE Jesus has forgiven you for wronging Him greatly—for hating Him, ignoring Him, and killing Him again with daily sins.
Next time you find yourself sinning, or wanting to sin, i.e., later tonight or tomorrow, remember that with Peter, the Prince of The Apostles, you are + Baptized; you are Holy—brother and sister of The God/Man. And like Peter, you have had the filth of walking in the raw sewage of daily sin, washed off from your feet, from between your scaly and malformed toes (the old nature toes), by a kneeling, stooping, bent-over Jesus. God loved and loves you that much. That is true servanthood and self-sacrifice. Not you sacrifice; not your work; not your doing, but Christ Jesus in action.
Thus, the foot washing, the daily, or weekly, Holy Absolution from sins, ties you and all The Disciples back to your Holy + Washings at the Font. And also, the foot washing shows forth The Great Sacrament of The Altar most brilliantly. We know, YOU SHOULD KNOW (believe, teach, and confess) What The Sacrament of The Altar is. Your Small Catechism says: “It IS The True Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ…for us Christians to eat and to drink, instituted by Christ Himself.” You know the benefit, the “why” you do it: “…these words, ‘Given and shed for you for the remission of sins,’ namely, that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given…”
And now again, you know, Who does the giving, Who is The Meal, Who is the servant, cleaner, washer, and everything: “…and supper being ended…He riseth…laid aside His garment; and took a towel, and girded Himself…and began to wash the Disciples feet.”
Not just in Holy + Absolution, but in The Sacrament, your feet are washed—YOU ARE FORGIVEN and refreshed.
And when you fail so miserably yourself in not washing/forgiving your neighbor and brother and everyone else, He bids you to repent and be brought by The Spirit back to This Altar.
Or, in the words of The Reformer from his ‘Christian Questions & Answers’ Q: “Why do you wish to go to The Sacrament?” A: “That I may learn to believe that Christ died for my sin out of great love…and that I may also learn of Him to love God and my neighbor.”
No, you can’t stand before and beneath The Holy Cross and be cleansed by The fountain filled with Blood that flows from Immanuel’s veins. But you can kneel and be washed and cleansed and forgiven by the same exact Blood that flows from Jesus into the Holy Chalice and into you.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of The Holy Ghost
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