It seems to me that over the last year in homilies, bible studies and our OCIA classes for the folks entering the Catholic Church on Saturday evening at the Easter Vigil – that I have returned to a consistent theme: the efforts and the extent to which God strives to be present to us. One overarching theme of the Old Testament is a story of God drawing near and the people, hesitant to draw close and even eventually stepping back, keeping God at a distance. “Return to God” – a constant cry of Moses, Joshua, the Judges and Prophets of Israel – the signs of God’s care and compassion are everywhere. God wants to be close to us.

Holy Thursday’s first reading is taken from the story of Exodus. In that book the signs of God’s presence are everywhere: in the miracles done attempting to persuade Pharaoh, the great sign of the Passover, the parting of the Red Sea, leading the people through the wilderness as a pillar of fire by night and a cloud during the day. While encamped at Sinai after the “Golden Calf” incident, God instructed Moses to build the Tent of Meeting – literally a place where God could meet the people. The Tent was with them during the 40 years in the wilderness, and came with them into the Promised Land. Did you know that later the Tent was replaced by the great Temple in Jerusalem.  There is a description in First Chronicles of the dedication of this new “Tent of Meeting.”  During the dedication the glory of God is seen filling the Temple – the presence of God among people. Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, God continually showed his people signs pointing to his presence, revealing His desire to be close to them. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. All the while the people hesitated to draw close; they eventually drift away despite all the signs, the warnings of the prophets, and so much more.

All the while the compassion of God remained: the desire to be close to us.

In the passage of time, God sent his only son – and as it says in John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”  Or more literally, he pitched his tent among us. If we wouldn’t faithfully “go to the Tent” then the “Tent” would come to us. Jesus is the great sign of the presence of God, his desire that all return to Him and be saved.

Throughout the first part of the Gospel of John, Jesus performed what are called “signs” – we think of them as miracles – and they are, but they are more.  Signs like turning water into wine, healing the son of the royal official and the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, feeding the 5000, walking on water, healing the man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus from the dead. These signs are more than miracles—they’re acts meant to point to deeper spiritual truths about who Jesus is – God among us; God, present to us. The signs also reveal to us the character of God in the person of Jesus: “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in loyal love and fidelity.” (Gen 34:6) Even as Jesus prepares to leave his disciples during the Last Supper, as St. Paul describes in the second reading, He instituted the Eucharist, the sign of His Body and Blood, the on-going presence of God in our lives. 

John’s Gospel notably does not include the Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper.  Rather than recording the ritual words (“This is my body…”), John points us toward the meaning of the Eucharist through other parts of his Gospel—especially John 6, the Bread of Life discourse where he writes “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” (John 6:51)  Tonight, in this gospel, John gives us another sign as he focuses on a different moment: the washing of the disciples’ feet. 

We don’t think of this action as a miracle, but then St. John never calls any of Jesus’ actions miracles. He calls them signs.  In the washing to the disciples’ feet Jesus gives a sign of humble service and love, which are core to Eucharistic life. The foot washing itself is a kind of embodied parable of the Eucharist: Jesus gives His body for us in the Eucharist; He also stoops to serve. 

Peter objects as should we! It is our place to kneel before the King, looking up, asking a favor or benefice. It is not the place or posture for the King. Like Peter, we have it all wrong. This is the presence of God. The king kneels before the servants, looking up, asking that we be ever close to Him and to be the continuing presence of God in the world – his servant of love and service, sent into the world to call people, to show people the way to God.

Washing of the disciples’ feet. Not as flashy as walking on water, but it is perhaps the greatest of the signs – revealing God’s desire to be present to us – revealing who we are called to be for others.

In the way we love and serve, we fulfill the great commandment: to love God and love one another.

As often as we celebrate the Eucharist, we are called to love and serve. As often as we celebrate we are present to God who always seeks to be present to us.

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Image credit: Christ washing the Disciples’ feet | Garofalo Ferrarese, c.1520 | National Gallery of Art, Washington DC | PD-US