From: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
The Institution of the Eucharist
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Commentary:
23-26. These verses clearly bear witness to the early Christians’ faith in the eu-
charistic mystery. St. Paul is writing around the year 57 — only twenty-seven
years since the institution of the Eucharist—reminding the Corinthians of what
they had been taught some years earlier (c. the year 51). The words “received”
and “delivered” are technical terms used to indicate that a teaching is part of
apostolic Tradition; cf. also 1 Corinthians 15:3. These two passages highlight
the importance of that apostolic Tradition. The words “I received from the Lord”
are a technical expression which means “I received through that Tradition which
goes back to the Lord Himself.”
There are three other New Testament accounts of the institution of the Eucharist
(Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:16-20). This account, which is most
like St. Luke’s, is the earliest of the four.
The text contains the fundamental elements of Christian faith in the mystery of
the Eucharist: 1) the institution of this Sacrament by Jesus Christ and His real
presence in it; 2) the institution of the Christian priesthood; 3) the Eucharist is
the sacrifice of the New Testament (cf. notes on Matthew 26:26-29; Mark
14:22-25; Luke 22:16-20; 1 Corinthians 10:14-22).
“Do this in remembrance of Me”: in instituting the Eucharist, our Lord charged
that it be re-enacted until the end of time (cf. Luke 22:19), thereby instituting the
priesthood. The Council of Trent teaches that Jesus Christ our Lord, at the Last
Supper, “offered His body and blood under the species of bread and wine to God
the Father and He gave His body and blood under the same species to the Apos-
tles to receive, making them priests of the New Testament at that time. [...] He
ordered the Apostles and their successors in the priesthood to offer this Sacra-
ment when He said, “Do this in remembrance of Me”, as the Catholic Church has
always understood and taught” (”De SS. Missae Sacrificio”, Chapter 1; cf. Canon
2). And so, Bl. John Paul II teaches, the Eucharist is “the principal and central
reason-of-being of the Sacrament of the priesthood, which effectively came into
being at the moment of the institution of the Eucharist, and together with it” (”Let-
ter To All Bishops”, 24 February 1980).
The word “remembrance” is charged with the meaning of a Hebrew word which
was used to convey the essence of the feast of the Passover — commemoration
of the exodus from Egypt. For the Israelites the Passover rite not only reminded
them of a bygone event: they were conscious of making that event present, revi-
ving it, in order to participate in it, in some way, generation after generation (cf.
Exodus 12:26-27; Deuteronomy 6:20-25). So, when our Lord commands His
Apostles to “do this in remembrance of Me”, it is not a matter of merely recal-
ling His supper but of renewing His own Passover sacrifice of Calvary, which al-
ready, at the Last Supper, was present in an anticipated way.
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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.
From: John 13:1-15
Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet
[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 for you? [13] You call
Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. [14] If 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 for you.”
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Commentary:
1. Jewish families sacrificed a lamb on the eve of the Passover, in keeping with
God’s command at the time of the exodus from Egypt when God liberated them
from the slavery of Pharaoh (Exodus 12:3-14; Deuteronomy 16:1-8). This libera-
tion 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 resur-
rection 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. Surroun-
ded 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 center of the life
of the Church. “He Himself wished to give that encounter such a fullness of mea-
ning, 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 im-
mensely sad, and at the same time a mysterious revelation of divine promises,
of supreme visions. Death was imminent, with silent omens of betrayal, of aban-
donment, of immolation; the conversation dies down but Jesus continues to
speak in words that are new and beautifully reflective, in almost supreme intima-
cy, 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. John 15:13); but this love does not stop with His death, for Christ lives
on and after His resurrection 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).
2. The Gospel shows us the presence and activity of the devil running right
through Jesus’ life (cf. Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 22:3; John 8:44; 12:31; etc.). Sa-
tan is the enemy (Matthew 13:39), the evil one (1 John 2:13). St. Thomas Aqui-
nas (cf. “Commentary 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 good-
ness of Christ, which reaches out beyond Judas’ malice by washing his feet al-
so and by treating him as a friend right up to the moment when he betrays Him
(Luke 22:48).
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...” (Phi-
lippians 2:6-7).
Christ had said that He came to the world not to be served but to serve (Mark
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. Gala-
tians 6:2; Philippians 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’ (John 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. J. Escriva, “Friends of God”,
103).
Peter understands particularly well how thoroughly our Lord has humbled Him-
self, and he protests, in the same kind of way as he did on other occasions,
that he will not hear of Christ suffering (cf. Matthew 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” (St. Augustine, “In Ioann.
Evang.”, 56,1).
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. Matthew 16:22 ff). 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, con-
sists in giving “His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28; Mark 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’ (Isaiah 1:16).... Therefore, since they had rooted evil from
their souls and were following Him with complete sincerity, He declared, in ac-
cordance with the Prophet’s words: ‘He who has bathed is clean all over’” (St.
John Chrysostom, “Hom. on St. John”, 70, 3).
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 sa-
crifice), 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 am-
bition, any desire to dominate; and peace and joy will reign around us and within
us, as a consequence of our personal sacrifice” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Pas-
sing By”, 94).
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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.