Jesus answered and said: “What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.” Peter continued to resist, saying that his Divine Master should never wash his feet. Then Jesus said to him: “If I wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with Me.”[1] Thereupon Peter humbly replied: “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” Jesus saith to him: “He that is washed needeth not but to wash his feet, but is clean wholly. And you are clean[2], but not all.”[3]
After He had washed the feet of the twelve apostles, He sat down again at the table, and told them that since He, their Lord and Master, had given them such an example, they were to imitate Him in practising humility.
COMMENTARY.
Omniscience of our Lord. He knew beforehand that Peter and John would meet a man in the city, carrying a pitcher of water, who would go straight into the house where Jesus had arranged to eat the pasch. He also saw into the heart of Judas, and knew that he was meditating His betrayal.
The last Pasch. Jesus had a great desire to eat “this”, the last typical Pasch, with His disciples. When He had eaten this Paschal lamb with them, the Old Covenant was closed, and the New Covenant of grace began; for immediately after the Paschal feast our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist, in which the true Lamb of God is offered up, and given to the faithful to be the Food of their souls. The loving Heart of Jesus longed to institute the New Covenant of grace, to offer Himself up in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood for our salvation, and to give Himself to us for the nourishment of our souls. Therefore He said: “With desire I have desired to eat this Pasch with you.”
The Real Presence. Our Lord tells His disciples beforehand what is the holy Eucharist which He will presently institute. It is the fulfilment of the Paschal lamb. Therefore the Eucharist must be His own Self, His own Body and Blood, the real Lamb of God, and must be a sacrifice.
The object of the washing of feet. Firstly, our Lord wished to cleanse His disciples perfectly from sin, and prepare their souls for the
- ↑ No part with Me. No part in the graces given by Jesus, and especially in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar, which He intended to institute immediately after the washing of feet. This threat had its effect on Peter, for he could conceive nothing more terrible than to be separated from his beloved Lord.
- ↑ Clean, i. e. from sin, for by your faith and love you have obtained pardon, and now you only require to be cleansed of your small daily faults.
- ↑ Not all. Meaning Judas the traitor, who was not clean from sin.
