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Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”- John 13:7

Holy Thursday

Homily by Fr. Gunther Kerkmann, SJ
St. Ignatius Church, Tokyo

 

John 13:1-17 (Scene: Jesus washes the feet of His disciples.)

 

The “prophetic act” of Jesus:

A prophetic act is one common way that the prophets of the Old Testament used to teach people something important. The prophet does something that shocks people, e.g. he destroys pottery in the market place, or does similar acts.

Here Jesus washes the feet of His disciples. Why is this shocking? He is the Master, but he does the work of the lowest slave.
He does it during a meal. That is definitely not the time for feet washing.
He does it in the dining room. That is definitely not the place for feet washing.

After a prophetic act, the prophets explain what they are doing.
What is the lesson that Jesus gives us here?

Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’, and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”


We should not be concerned with titles, ranks, social position, etc., but simply love one another.
There is new logic here: A new command I give you: “Love one another, as I have loved you,”
the sentence should continue with; so you must love me. But it does not. It continues with;
“so you must love one another”.
What does it mean concretely?
That we should accept others as they are, even their feet, which are the lowest parts of the body. Meaning we should accept others with all their faults and deficiencies.
To forgive each other, “as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We must believe that people can change for the better. We should not give up on people, but believe that they can grow, that they can learn from their mistakes. We know that they, too, are created in the image of God.
We don’t have to do something heroic. Let others come alive, encourage them, make them laugh, speak to them, pray for them.
By the way, all people who encountered Jesus came away with more life!
Communication is the key and the beginning of Love!

 

 

Good Friday

“But Jesus in the Middle”


Passion according to St. John, by J. Sebastian Bach (But Jesus in the Middle)

There they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, but Jesus in the middle.
Jesus was in one row with the sinners.


At the baptism in the Jordan too, Jesus lined up with the sinners to be baptized by John. The real baptism took place on the cross, but here again he is in the middle of the sinners. He reveals his solidarity with the sinners. And the baptism on the cross brings forth the forgiveness of sins.


We ourselves have to recognize that we are sinners who cannot redeem ourselves. Redemption comes through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Forgiving Love is the greatest expression of Love. And God’s Love is a forgiving Love.


Jesus does not insist on his divinity, but he is in solidarity with human beings. He chooses the lowest place, the place at the end of the banquet table; that is the cross. By doing so, he venerates God.


So we should know our place, the place of the sinner. We are not God, but poor human beings. In acknowledging this, we perform the highest form of worship.
Our worship has two dimensions, like the cross there is the vertical dimension, and the horizontal; the relation with God and the relation among us, human beings. With this everything is centered.


Pilate had placed an inscription placed on the cross which read “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.” This inscription was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek.


Hebrew: the language of worship represents the world of Religion, and of our daily lives.
Latin: the language of politics, commerce and economics.
Greek: the language of culture, scholarship, philosophy.

Can we ask ourselves whether we put Jesus in the middle, in the middle of our daily lives, in the middle of our worship? What role does religion play in our lives? Participation in the sacraments?
The world of politics, commerce and economics; is Jesus in the middle of these?
The world of culture, art, scholarship, philosophy, poetry; is Jesus in the middle of these?

If we put Jesus in the middle of our lives, then we have understood what this means; namely that we have to make God’s Love concrete in this world.
 

 
 

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