Metanoia: March 29, 2018 (Maundy Thursday)

Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Psalm 116:1, 10-17

Can you imagine being at the first Passover event described in Exodus? Eating some roasted lamb and matzoh, which is kind of a hard cracker, having your sandals on, and being ready to flee for your life at a moment’s notice? Can you imagine sitting up at night listening to the Angel of Death going over and passing by your house because you remembered to put the lamb’s blood on the lintel?

Or…. can you imagine being at the Last Supper with Jesus and having this teacher you have been following around for three years do something as menial as washing your feet? I mean, this amazing rabbi stripped down and did a job reserved for the lowest of servants. Why would he do such a thing? And why would he want us to do the same? He wants us to touch each other’s stinky feet and wash them? Why would we want to do that? Jesus, we do not understand.

As with many things in this world, the only way to understand is to live our experiences, seeking God’s insight and pray.

Not until after Christ was risen did we have the wisdom given to us by Paul in the reading from 1 Corinthians. And we will not understand many things that happen in our lives until after we see the ways God chooses to work in them over time. We do not see the wisdom of being servants, for example, until we learn that by serving, we cultivate relationships with others and these relationships help us to grow.

Lord Jesus, as we wash each other’s feet tonight and receive your Body and Blood, draw us closer to you and help us to start to understand this sacrifice you made for us on the hard wood of the Cross. Amen.
-Jen McCabe