It turns out that the original Greek words were more like "laid down" his garment and "rose" from the table. Both of these words almost always refer in the New Testament to Jesus' Death and Resurrection.
This is all very much St John's style, and so we can see why people often say that the Washing of Feet replaces the institition of the Eucharist in the fourth Gospel. There is a parallel with the actions and words of Jesus over the bread and wine: he took, blessed, broke and gave saying 'my body given for you', and 'my blood poured out for you.'
The foot washng is not just a lesson leading to a moral lesson for us all, important as that is. Both the washing of feet and the Eucharist point us to the life giving Death and Resurrection that Jesus was to accomplish over the next few days.
No comments:
Post a Comment