The Collect of the Day
Almighty Father, whose dear Son on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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 synoptic gospels’ 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’ claim in John’s Gospel that when he is lifted up, he will draw all to himself (John 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. All rights reserved. The Collect of the Day and the Psalm
translation are from The Book of Common
Prayer. Commentaries are copyright ©
2021, Epiphany ESources, 67 E. Main St., Hornell, NY 14843, www.epiphanyesources.com. All
rights reserved. Permission is given to copy for group study.
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