A new commandment I give to you...just as I have loved you, you must love one another.
1st
Reading: Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14
In chapter 11 of Exodus, God has declared the tenth
and final plague he will bring upon the Egyptians, that of the death of the
first-born, both human and livestock.
Before the plague begins, he introduces the celebration of the Passover,
which will become Israel’s greatest yearly celebration. It marks how the Israelites were spared this
plague, by a “passing over” the Israelite houses with blood on their doorposts
and lintels. Passover in Hebrew is pesach, hence
the word that most languages use for the Easter feast, and we use in English as
an “Easter adjective,” paschal.
12:1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: 2 This
month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month
of the year for you. 3 Tell the
whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a
lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. 4
If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its
closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to
the number of people who eat of it.
[5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old
male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day
of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter
it at twilight. 7 They shall take
some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses
in which they eat it. 8 They shall
eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with
unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 Do
not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its
head, legs, and inner organs. 10 You
shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the
morning you shall burn.]
11 This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded,
your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it
hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord.
12 For I will pass through the land
of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of
Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute
judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the
houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no
plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 This day shall be a day of remembrance for
you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a
perpetual ordinance.
Psalm 116:1, 10-17
1 I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of
my
supplication, *
because he has
inclined his ear to me whenever
I
called upon him.
10 How shall I repay the Lord *
for all the good
things he has done for me?
11 I will lift up the cup of
salvation *
and call upon the
Name of the Lord.
12 I will fulfill my vows to
the Lord *
in the presence of
all his people.
13 Precious in the sight of the
Lord *
is the death of his
servants.
14 O Lord, I am your servant; *
I am your servant
and the child of your handmaid;
you have freed me from
my bonds.
15 I will offer you the
sacrifice of thanksgiving *
and call upon the
Name of the Lord.
16 I will fulfill my vows to
the Lord *
in the presence of
all his people,
17 In the courts of the Lord’s house, *
in the midst of
you, O Jerusalem.
2nd
Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Paul’s brief description of the fundamental acts of the Eucharist is
important because it repeats what is found in the Gospel story of the Last
Supper, indicating the very early adoption of this liturgical remembrance and
proclamation. Paul adds an interpretation:
when we do this, we “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” This does not negate the resurrection, but
acknowledges that the fulfillment of resurrection will happen when “he comes.”
It might be helpful in understanding what Paul means here by recalling Jesus’
three-fold claim in John’s Gospel that when he is lifted up he will draw all
people to himself (John 3:14, 8:28 and 12:32).
11:23 I received from the Lord what I
also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed
took a loaf of bread, 24 and when
he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do
this in remembrance of me.” 25 In
the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new
covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26 For as often as you eat this
bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Gospel
Reading: John 13:1-17, 31b-35
John does not tell the Last
Supper story we expect. Instead “during supper” (which here is not the Passover
meal), Jesus begins his final teaching with a profound act that summarizes that
teaching. Jesus becomes the servant. Peter resists and Jesus is sharp with him
(echoes of the “Who do you say that I am?” incident in the synoptic Gospels). The
new commandment Jesus gives is more than calling his disciples to love one
another, but to do so as Jesus has loved them, as servant.
13:1 Now before the festival of the
Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to
the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the
end. 2 The devil had already put it
into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all
things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table, took off his outer
robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then
he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe
them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He
came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I
am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 Peter
said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you,
you have no share with me.” 9 Simon
Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does
not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are
clean, though not all of you.” 11 For
he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are
clean.” 12 After he had washed
their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to
them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You
call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed
your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you
also should do as I have done to you. 16 Very
truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are
messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17
If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 31b Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and
God has been glorified in him. 32 If
God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will
glorify him at once. 33 Little
children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I
said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love
one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my
disciples, if you have love for one another.”
The
Scripture quotations (except for the psalm) are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ
in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.
All rights reserved. The Psalm
translation is from The Book of Common
Prayer. Commentaries are copyright ©
2017, Epiphany ESources, 67 E. Main St., Hornell, NY 14843, www.epiphanyesources.com. All
rights reserved. Permission is given to copy for group study or congregational
use.
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