Maundy Thursday Homily - April 9, 2020 - How Can This Be? - Part 1

Institution of the Eucharist Icon

I.

How can this be?

That Jesus Christ,
 our Lord and Savior,
  gives us his Body, broken for us
   writes for us the New Covenant in his blood
    and gives his full self to us in this Blessed Sacrament
     that he lovingly institutes tonight?

How can this be?

That Jesus Christ,
 on the very night before he was betrayed by one of his own disciples,
  removes his clothes, straps a towel to himself,
   literally taking up the garb of a slave,
    and washes each disciple's feet,
     even Judas Iscariot's feet, his betrayer?

How can this be?

That Jesus Christ the world's Redeemer,
 commissions his disciples in a new commandment,
  that above all else,
   they must love on another as Jesus Christ has loved them,
    and that the world will know that they are disciples of Jesus
     by their love?

II.

How can this be?

Because we, the disciples, have no idea what Jesus is doing for us
 as we sit at table with him
  and as we observe the Passover.

We, the disciples, have observed the Passover
 as observant Jews
  for all of our lives.

We rejoin, each year,
 the celebration of our liberation from Egypt.
  When God rescued us from the bondage of slavery
   from Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
    When we remember the marking of the spotless Passover Lamb's blood
      on our doorposts to be a sign that the destroying angel should pass over our house.
       (c.f. Exodus 12)

But how can this be on this night,
 that our Teacher, our Rabbi, has instituted a New Covenant
  in his blood?
   Why does Jesus speak to us as if he is a Passover Lamb of some sort?

How can this be?
 That as we sit at table with each other to commemorate the rescue of our ancestors
  from oppressive slavery in Egypt to freedom in God,
   Jesus, our teacher, begins to act as our slave!

He takes his clothes off,
 ties a towel around himself,
  and starts washing our feet!
   "No, Jesus!" we exclaim.
    "No, you aren't supposed to be a slave!
     You are the Messiah, this is beneath you to wash,
      let alone TOUCH
       my dirty feet!"

How can this be that Jesus,
 our Teacher,
  then gives us this new commandment to love one another
   as Jesus loved us?
    Does that mean we really have to wash each other's feet?
     Do we have to be slaves of each other?

Our Lord Jesus Christ,
 the Eternal Word of God,
  has not only confounded the disciples by what he does
   but he has also confounded you and me in the process,
    hasn't he?

Why did Jesus
 institute the Blessed Sacrament
  in which he actually gives us his own body and blood for food and drink?

Why did Jesus become a slave in his Incarnation,
 washing the feet of his disciples,
  rather than becoming a warrior or a king,
   and stamping out every foe in his way?

Why did Jesus command that we love one another,
 in spite of all of the sin, the tragedy, the tyranny,
  the evil we inflict on one another?

We ourselves cry out,
 "How can this be?!"

III.

And yet, Jesus Christ sits at table with us,
 blesses and breaks his Body,
  blesses and passes the cup of His Blood,
   and institutes the Blessed Sacrament
    that we enjoin every time we celebrate it.

And yet, Jesus Christ stoops at our feet,
 takes off our shoes, removes our socks,
  and washes our feet,
   sock fuzz and all,
    even while we inwardly cringe at the lowliness
     of the God of Heaven and Earth.

And yet, Jesus Christ looks at each one of us,
 unbelieving, uncertain, sinful as we are,
  and says, "I love you.
   Now I command you, love one another as I have loved you."

But what wondrous love is this,
 that Jesus speaks of?

Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this:
 to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."
 [John 15:13]

As the lights fade on the Blessed Sacrament,
 we the disciples are about to see what wondrous love that Jesus has for the world:
  and that love is in the shape of a Cross.

[To Be Continued]