Navarre Bible Commentary:Holy Thursday (Evening Mass)

Washing the Feet of Peter by Sahi

John 13:1-15

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

13 [a]Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 And during supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 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 rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel. 5 Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. 6 He came to Simon Peter; and Peter said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not know now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part in me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet,[b] but he is clean all over; and you are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “You are not all clean.”

12 When he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, and resumed his place, 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 so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

Footnotes:

1. 13.1 John begins here to unfold the mystery of the love of Jesus for “his own.” Note the solemn introduction to the “hour” of his passion and death.
2. John 13:10 Other ancient authorities omit except for his feet

Cited in the Catechism:  In promulgating the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Blessed John Paul II explained that the Catechism "is a statement of the Church's faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magisterium."  He went on to "declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion" (Fidei Depositum). Passages from this Gospel reading are cited in the Catechism, in several paragraphs.

Commentary

13:1. Jewish families sacrificed a lamb on the eve of the Passover, in keeping with God’s command at the time of the exodus when God liberated them from the slavery of the Pharaoh (cf. Ex 12:3–14; Deut 16:1–8). This liberation prefigured that which Jesus Christ would bring about—the redemption of men from the slavery of sin by means of his sacrifice on the cross (cf. 1:29). This is why the celebration of the Jewish Passover was the ideal framework for the institution of the new Christian Passover.

Jesus knew everything that was going to happen; he knew his death and resurrection were imminent (cf. 18:4); this is why his words acquire a special tone of intimacy and love towards those whom he is leaving behind in the world. Surrounded by those whom he has chosen and who have believed in him, he gives them his final teachings and institutes the Eucharist, the source and centre of the life of the Church. “He himself wished to give that encounter such a fulness of meaning, such a richness of memories, such a moving image of words and thoughts, such a newness of acts and precepts, that we can never exhaust our reflection and exploration of it. It was a testamentary supper, infinitely affectionate and immensely sad, and at the same time a mysterious revelation of divine promises, of supreme visions. Death was imminent, with silent omens of betrayal, of abandonment, of immolation; the conversation dies down but Jesus continues to speak in words that are new and beautifully reflective, in almost supreme intimacy, almost hovering between life and death” (Paul VI, Homily on Holy Thursday, 27 March 1975).

What Christ did for his own may be summed up in this sentence: “He loved them to the end.” It shows the intensity of his love—which brings him even to give up his life (cf. Jn 15:13); but this love does not stop with his death, for Christ lives on after his resurrection and he continues loving us infinitely: “It was not only thus far that he loved us, who always and forever loves us. Far be it from us to imagine that he made death the end of his loving, who did not make death the end of his living” (St Augustine, In Ioann. Evang., 55, 2).

13:2. The Gospels show us the presence and activity of the devil running right through Jesus’ life (cf. Mt 4:1–11; Lk 22:3; Jn 8:44; 12:31; etc.). Satan is “the enemy” (Mt 13:39), “the evil one” (1 Jn 2:13). St Thomas Aquinas (cf. Comm. on St John, in loc.) points out that, in this passage, on the one hand we clearly see the malice of Judas, who fails to respond to this demonstration of love, and on the other hand great emphasis is laid on the goodness of Christ, who reaches out beyond Judas’ malice by washing his feet also and by treating him as a friend right up to the moment when he betrays him (cf. Lk 22:48).

13:3–6. Aware that he is the Son of God, Jesus voluntarily humbles himself to the point of performing a service appropriate to household servants. This passage recalls the Christological hymn in St Paul’s Letter to the Philippians: “Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant …” (Phil 2:5–7).

Christ had said that he came to the world “not to be served but to serve” (Mk 10:45). In this scene he teaches us the same thing, through specific example, thereby exhorting us to serve each other in all humility and simplicity (cf. Gal 6:2; Phil 2:3). “Once again he preaches by example, by his deeds. In the presence of his disciples, who are arguing out of pride and vanity, Jesus bows down and gladly carries out the task of a servant […] This tactfulness of our Lord moves me deeply. He does not say: ‘If I do this, how much more ought you to do?’ He puts himself at their level, and he lovingly chides those men for their lack of generosity.

“As he did with the first twelve, so also, with us, our Lord can and does whisper in our ear, time and again: exemplum dedi vobis (Jn 13:15), I have given you an example of humility. I have become a slave, so that you too may learn to serve all men with a meek and humble heart” (St Josemaría Escrivá, Friends of God, 103).

Peter understands particularly well how thoroughly our Lord has humbled himself, and he protests, in the same kind of way as he did on other occasions, that he will not hear of Christ suffering (cf. Mk 8:32 and par.). St Augustine comments: “Who would not shrink back in dismay from having his feet washed by the Son of God.… You? Me? Words to be pondered on rather than spoken about, lest words fail to express their true meaning” (In Ioann. Evang., 56, 1).

13:7–14. Our Lord’s gesture had a deeper significance than St Peter was able to grasp at this point; nor could he have suspected that God planned to save men through the sacrificing of Christ (cf. Mt 16:22ff). After the Resurrection the apostles understood the mystery of this service rendered by the Redeemer: by washing their feet, Jesus was stating in a simple and symbolic way that he had not come “to be served but to serve”. His service, as he already told them, consists in giving “his life as a ransom for many” (Mt 20:28; Mk 10:45).

Our Lord tells the apostles that they are now clean, for they have accepted his words and have followed him (cf. 15:3)—all but Judas, who plans to betray him. St John Chrysostom comments as follows: “You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. That is: You are clean only to that extent. You have already received the Light; you have already got rid of the Jewish error. The Prophet asserted: ‘Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil from your souls’ (Is 1:16).… Therefore, since they had rooted out all evil from their souls and were following him with complete sincerity, he declared, in accordance with the Prophet’s words: ‘He who has bathed is clean all over’ ” (St John Chrysostom, Hom. on St John, 70, 3).

Also, when our Lord speaks about the apostles being clean, now, just before the institution of the Blessed Eucharist, he is referring to the need for the soul to be free from sin if it is to receive this sacrament. St Paul repeats this teaching when he says: “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor 11:27). On the basis of these teachings of Jesus and the apostles, the Church lays down that anyone who is conscious of having committed a grave sin, or who has any positive doubt on that score, must go to confession before receiving Holy Communion.

13:15–17. Jesus’ whole life was an example of service towards men, fulfilling his Father’s will to the point of dying on the cross. Here our Lord promises us that if we imitate him, our Teacher, in disinterested service (which always implies sacrifice), we will find true happiness which no one can wrest from us (cf. 16:22; 17:13). “ ‘I have given you an example’, he tells his disciples after washing their feet, on the night of the Last Supper. Let us reject from our hearts any pride, any ambition, any desire to dominate; and peace and joy will reign around us and within us, as a consequence of our personal sacrifice” (St Josemaría Escrivá, Christ Is Passing By, 94).

Source: The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries. Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.

"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." St Jerome

Navarre Bible Commentary:Wednesday of Holy Week

Matthew 26:14-25

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

14 Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.

The Passover with the Disciples

17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the passover?”[a] 18 He said, “Go into the city to such a one, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at your house with my disciples.’” 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the passover.

20 When it was evening, he sat at table with the twelve disciples;[b] 21 and as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 And they were very sorrowful, and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” 23 He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me, will betray me. 24 The Son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 25 Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Is it I, Master?”[c]He said to him, “You have said so.”

Footnotes:

1. 26.17 The passover supper was eaten this year on Friday evening (Jn 18.28). Jesus must have anticipated the passover meal because he would be dead the following day and because the meal prefigured his death.
2. Matthew 26:20 Other authorities omit disciples
3. Matthew 26:25 Or Rabbi.

Cited in the Catechism:  In promulgating the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Blessed John Paul II explained that the Catechism "is a statement of the Church's faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magisterium."  He went on to "declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion" (Fidei Depositum). Passages from this Gospel reading are cited in the Catechism, paragraphs 610 and 1339.

Commentary

26:15. It is disconcerting and sobering to realize that Judas Iscariot actually went as far as to sell the man whom he had believed to be the Messiah and who had called him to be one of the apostles. Thirty shekels or pieces of silver were the price of a slave (cf. Ex 21:32), the same value as Judas put on his Master.

Preparations for the Last Supper and announcement of Judas’ treachery

26:17. This unleavened bread, azymes, took the form of loaves which had to be eaten over a seven-day period, in commemoration of the unleavened bread which the Israelites had to take with them in their hurry to leave Egypt (cf. Ex 12:34). In Jesus’ time the passover supper was celebrated on the first day of the week of the Unleavened Bread.

26:18. Although the reference is to an unnamed person, probably our Lord gave the person’s actual name. In any event, from what other evangelists tell us (Mk 14:13; Lk 22:10), Jesus gave the disciples enough information to enable them to find the house.

26:22. Although the glorious events of Easter have yet to occur (which will teach the apostles much more about Jesus), their faith has been steadily fortified and deepened in the course of Jesus’ public ministry (cf. Jn 2:11; 6:68–69) through their contact with him and the divine grace they have been given (cf. Mt 16:17). At this point they are quite convinced that our Lord knows their internal attitudes and how they are going to act: each asks in a concerned way whether he will prove to be loyal in the time ahead.

26:24. Jesus is referring to the fact that he will give himself up freely to suffering and death. In so doing he would fulfil the will of God, as proclaimed centuries before (cf. Ps 41:10; Is 53:7). Although our Lord goes to his death voluntarily, this does not reduce the seriousness of Judas’ treachery.

26:25. This advance indication that Judas is the traitor is not noticed by the other apostles (cf. Jn 13:26–29).

Source: The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries. Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.

"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." St Jerome

Navarre Bible Commentary:Tuesday of Holy Week

Peter Denies Christ by Michael D. O'Brien

John 13:21-33; 36-38

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Jesus Foretells His Betrayal

21 When Jesus had thus spoken, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. 23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was lying close to the breast of Jesus; 24 so Simon Peter beckoned to him and said, “Tell us who it is of whom he speaks.”25 So lying thus, close to the breast of Jesus, he said to him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give this morsel when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 Then after the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”28 Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. 29 Some thought that, because Judas had the money box, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast”; or, that he should give something to the poor. 30 So, after receiving the morsel, he immediately went out; and it was night.

The New Commandment

31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of man glorified, and in him God is glorified; 32 if God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’

Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial

36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now; but you shall follow afterward.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why cannot I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the cock will not crow, till you have denied me three times.

Cited in the Catechism:  In promulgating the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Blessed John Paul II explained that the Catechism "is a statement of the Church's faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magisterium."  He went on to "declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion" (Fidei Depositum). No passages from this Gospel reading are cited in the Catechism.

Commentary

The treachery of Judas foretold (13:21–30)

13:21. Christ’s sadness is proportionate to the gravity of the offence. Judas was one of those whom Jesus chose to be an apostle: he had been on intimate terms with him for three years, he had followed him everywhere, had seen his miracles, had heard his divine teaching, and experienced the tenderness of his affection. And despite all that, when the moment of truth comes, Judas not only abandons the Master but betrays him and sells him. Betrayal by an intimate friend is something much more painful and cruel than betrayal by a stranger, for it involves a lack of loyalty. The spiritual life of the Christian is also true friendship with Jesus; this means it is based on loyalty and uprightness, and on being true to one’s word.

Judas had already decided to hand Jesus over and had made arrangements with the chief priests (cf. Mt 26:14; Mk 14:10–11; Lk 22:3–6). Temptation had been burrowing its way into Judas’ heart for some time back, as we saw at the anointing in Bethany when he protested against Mary’s loving gesture; St John commented in that connexion that he did it not out of love for the poor but because he was a thief (cf. Jn 12:6).

13:23. In that period, on important occasions the customary thing was to eat reclining on a kind of divan called a triclinium. The diner rested on his left elbow and ate with his right hand. This meant it was easy to lean on the person on one’s left and talk to him without people hearing. In this verse we can see the intimacy and trust which existed between the Master and his beloved disciple (cf. Jn 19:27; 20:2; 21:23), a model of Jesus’ love for all his true disciples and of theirs for their Master.

13:26–27. The morsel which Jesus offers him is a sign of friendship and, therefore, an invitation to him to give up his evil plotting. But Judas rejects the chance he is offered. “What he received is good”, St Augustine comments, “but he received it to his own perdition, because he, being evil, received in an evil manner what is good” (In Ioann. Evang., 61, 6). Satan entering into him means that from that moment Judas gave in completely to the devil’s temptation.

13:29. “These details have been recorded that we may not bear ill will against those who wrong us, but may reproach them and weep over them. Indeed, not those who are wronged, but those who do wrong deserve our tears. For the covetous man and the slanderer, and the man guilty of any other wrongdoing injure themselves most of all. […] Christ repaid the man who was going to betray him with just the opposite. For example, he washed his feet, reproved him without bitterness, censured him in private, ministered to him, allowed him to share in his table and his kiss. Yet, though Judas did not become better because of these things, Jesus himself persevered in his course of action” (St John Chrysostom, Hom. on St John, 71, 3).

13:30. The indication that “it was night” is not just a reference to the time of day but to darkness as an image of sin, an image of the power of darkness whose hour was beginning at that very moment (cf. Lk 22:53). The contrast between light and darkness, the opposition of good and evil, is frequently met with in the Bible, especially in the Fourth Gospel: even in the prologue we are told that Christ is the true Light which the darkness has not overcome (cf. Jn 1:5).

The new commandment. The disciples’ desertion foretold (13:31–38)

13:31–32. This glorification refers above all to the glory which Christ will receive once he is raised up on the cross (Jn 3:14; 12:32). St John stresses that Christ’s death is the beginning of his victory: his very crucifixion can be considered the first step in his ascension to his Father. At the same time it is glorification of the Father, because Christ, by voluntarily accepting death out of love, as a supreme act of obedience to the will of God, performs the greatest sacrifice man can offer for the glorification of God. The Father will respond to this glorification which Christ offers him by glorifying Christ as Son of man, that is, in his holy human nature, through his resurrection and ascension to God’s right hand. Thus the glory which the Son gives the Father is at the same time glory for the Son. Christ’s disciple will also find his highest motivation by identifying himself with Christ’s obedience. St Paul teaches this very clearly when he says: “Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal 6:14).

13:33. From this verse onward the Evangelist recounts what is usually called the discourse of the Last Supper; in it we can distinguish three parts. In the first, our Lord begins by proclaiming the New Commandment (vv. 33–35) and predicts Peter’s denials (vv. 36–38); he tells them that his death means his going to his Father (chap. 14), with whom he is one because he is God (vv. 1–14); and he announces that after his resurrection he will send them the Holy Spirit, who will guide them by teaching them and reminding them of everything he told them (vv. 15–31).

The second part of the discourse is contained in chapters 15 and 16. Jesus promises to those who believe in him a new life of union with him, as intimate as that of a vine and its branches (15:1–8). To attain this union one must keep his New Commandment (vv. 9–17). He forewarns them about the contradictions they will suffer, and he encourages them by promising the Holy Spirit who will protect them and console them (vv. 18–27). The action of the Paraclete or Consoler will lead them to fulfil the mission Jesus has entrusted to them (16:1–15). The fruit of the presence of the Holy Spirit will be fullness of joy (vv. 16–33).

The third part (chap. 17) gives Jesus’ priestly prayer, in which he asks the Father to glorify him through the cross (vv. 1–5). He prays also for his disciples (vv. 6–19) and for all those who through them will believe in him, so that, staying in the world without being in the world, the love of God should be in them and they should bear witness to Christ being the envoy of the Father (vv. 20–26).

13:36–38. Once again Peter in his simplicity and sincerity tells his Master that he is ready to follow him even to the point of dying for him. But he is not yet ready for that. Our Lord, St Augustine comments, “establishes here a delay; he does not destroy the hope, indeed he confirms it by saying, ‘You shall follow afterwards! Why are you in haste, Peter? As yet the rock has not made you strong inwardly: do not be brought down by your presumption. Now you cannot follow me, but do not despair: later, you will’ ” (In Ioann. Evang., 66, 1).

Peter had certainly meant what he said, but his resolution was not very solid. Later on he would develop a fortitude based on humility; then, not considering himself worthy to die in the way his master did, he will die on a cross, head downwards, rooting in the soil of Rome that solid stone which endures in those who succeed him and forming the basis on which the Church, which is indefectible, is built.

Peter’s denials, which are signs of his weakness, were amply compensated for by his profound repentance. “Let everyone draw from this example of contrition, and if he has fallen let him not despair, but always remember that he can become worthy of forgiveness” (St Bede, In Ioann. Evang. expositio, in loc.).

Source: The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries. Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.

"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." St Jerome