John
13: 1-15 Cycle C
Tonight is a night of blood. It is about blood, shed and drunk. In our Passover Feast, Christ is the the lamb who sacrifices his own blood for our sins.
On this night Jesus, an observant Jew, knows that the Passover is not complete until his disciples eat the flesh of the lamb, but the lamb must first be sacrificed. Tonight, the lamb will be his own flesh and his own blood. He institutes the Eucharist, offering bread and wine, changing them into his flesh and blood. He gives us a share in his divinity.
Tonight is a memorial feast for us – real, present, now. Tonight our doorpost is our lips. The blood of Christ on our lips tonight saves us from death. It is our Passover: death passes us by. Our sins are forgiven in the blood of the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. Christ, the slain Passover Lamb, substitutes for us. To continue this Passover sacrifice as a perpetual institution, he institutes the priesthood that renews his presence in his body and blood in the Eucharist.
Tonight, is one of great consolation for us. We eat the Passover lamb and drink his blood. Our sins are forgiven. Death passes us by. Eternal life is ours.