Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come
to pass from this world to the Father.
He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.
The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over.
So, during supper,
fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power
and that he had come from God and was returning to God,
he rose from supper and took off his outer garments.
He took a towel and tied it around his waist.
Then he poured water into a basin
and began to wash the disciples’ feet
and dry them with the towel around his waist.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him,
“Master, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“What I am doing, you do not understand now,
but you will understand later.”
Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered him,
“Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.”
Simon Peter said to him,
“Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.”
Jesus said to him,
“Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed,
for he is clean all over;
so you are clean, but not all.”
For he knew who would betray him;
for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

So when he had washed their feet
and put his garments back on and reclined at table again,
he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you?
You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’  and rightly so, for indeed I am.
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash one another’s feet.
I have given you a model to follow,
so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’  and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do

Jesus asks “Do you realize what I have done for you?” If there has ever been a more loaded question, in the history of the world, I am not aware of it. I don’t think that even 2000 years later we actually fully realize what He has done for us? Maybe not until we make it to heaven will we even begin to understand, and maybe not even then.

But there is another incredibly beautiful way of looking at this reading. John Bergsma explains an extraordinary typology revealed in this reading: “Jesus disrobing, washing the feet, dressing again, and sitting down once more is a parable of the sequence of his Incarnation‚ death, resurrection‚ and Ascension. Here is what I mean. Disrobing points to His taking off the garments of His visible divinity (His Divine Glory), and becoming incarnated as a lowly Human. The Washing of feet points to Jesus living a life of service while He was here in this world, and ultimately becoming humiliated in His passion and Death on the cross. The dressing again points to Jesus Dying and putting on the clothing of His glorified body in His resurrection on the third day. And Finally, the sitting down once again, points to the ascension into heaven, and His taking His seat in His throne at the right hand of the father.

This is a beautiful metaphor of His life and the model for which we should all live our lives. We all need to disrobe the clothing of original sin, through baptism. Then to live our lives imitating the model of humble sacrifice that Jesus gave us. And when we do this, then when we die we will be preserved from death, and at the last judgement we will have our glorified bodies restored to us, and we will be finally seated with Him in Heaven at the great wedding feast of Jesus the bridegroom, and His bride the church in Heaven.

The catechism (CCC 659) says “Jesus’ final apparition ends with the irreversible entry of his humanity into divine glory,”  this speaks beautifully of the fact that one of the reasons that Jesus came to earth was to join forever in heaven the human body with the beatific vision of God in Heaven. We are all made in God’s image, and our bodies are supposed to be witness to that. We mar them up with sin, and make them unrecognizable, but through all of that God still sees us, and yearns for us to be free of it.

But Jesus came to show us how to live, how to reconcile our sin with the Father, and how to die in a way that is pleasing to God. Then after purgatory, and the last judgment, we will be reunited with our human bodies, and we too can sit as full humans (body and soul) in the divine presence of the lord. What an amazing gift…, The gift of Jesus’ sacrifice, redeeming the world, is as Fulton Sheen said, “Jesus paid a debt He didn’t owe because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay.” Thank you Lord for everything you have done for us, I am eternally grateful.

Oh lord, Please lord barge into my life, and direct me in the way that most pleases you. Help me to learn to do your will.