Holy Thursday - Once We Were Slaves, but Now We Are Free

 

Homily for Holy Thursday

April 6, 2023

Once We Were Slaves, and Now We Are Free

 

            Every year when our Jewish brethren celebrate Passover, there is a custom for the youngest child in the room to ask a very poignant question: “Why is this night different than all other nights?” The adults then go on to re-tell the story of Passover, and what God did for them thousands of years ago in Egypt. They share the unleavened bread and eat the Passover Lamb, in remembrance of the lamb’s blood that had been put on their forefathers’ doorposts so that the angel of death would pass over them and strike only the Egyptians.

            But when Jesus sat down to this Last Supper, His people were in a much deeper slavery than mere physical bondage in Egypt. Since the ancient curse had fallen upon mankind, we have been slaves to our sin, under the oppression of the Evil One who was the ruler of this present darkness. To embrace an exodus from this darker slavery would take another spotless, unblemished male Lamb – but one that could pay back an ancient debt that had kept us bound. This Lamb of God sat at table with His friends, willing to become the priest and victim – offering Himself in His Body to His Father.

            In the original Passover, the lamb that was sacrificed, whose blood was put upon the Jewish doorposts, was then roasted and eaten, so that the people might partake of the sacrifice. So it is with the New Lamb of God, Whose sacrifice must be received, consumed, and eaten. Hence, He leaves us with the gift of His Body and Blood – that we may apply His Sacrificial death to our souls.

            In fact, the early Church Fathers called the Eucharist the “medicine of immortality.” Just as Adam and Eve’s sin came through eating disobediently, our remedy comes through eating out of obedience – as Our Lord told us to “do this in remembrance of Me.” But this idea of remembrance isn’t just calling to mind a past event. Rather, the word in Greek (anamnesis) means to make present a historical event. Jews to this day believe that they are mystically participating in that first Passover in Egypt every time they celebrate their Passover meal. We, too, believe that every Mass mystically makes present the once and final Sacrifice that saves us – Christ’s death on the Cross. This is why we use an altar, not a table…this is why I’m a priest, not a minister…because what we attend here makes present the sacrifice, in an unbloody way, of Calvary.

            When the Jews celebrate Passover, they drink from the chalice four times, to celebrate the four promises that God makes to the Moses: “I will bring out…I will deliver…I will redeem…I will take.” Jesus chose the third cup to turn into His Blood – the cup that is received with the word, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.” This cup was often known as the Cup of Thanksgiving – the word “Thanksgiving” in Greek is “Eucharistia” – and Christ transformed it from symbolizing redemption to actually causing redemption through its link to His death. But, according to Scripture, Jesus then left the Passover meal unfinished, as He left the Upper Room and went to the Mount of Olives for prayer. Why did He leave it unfinished?

            Because the Passover only began in the Upper Room with the Last Supper. It is finished on the Cross. As He hung upon the Cross, He cried out, “I Thirst” and a soldier offered Him some wine in a sponge – the Fourth Cup, which memorializes God’s promise that “I will take you as My People.” Upon receiving this Fourth Cup, Jesus cries out, “It is finished!” Not just His life – but the Passover, and even more, the entirety of the promises and covenants of Israel are finished on the Cross. He then breathes His last, and from His side comes forth the blood and water which symbolize the Eucharist and Baptism – the two Sacraments that constitute His Bride the Church. Truly “He has taken us as His people” by uniting all of humanity in a bond so strong that it can never be broken. That ancient bondage which held us back from union with God has been destroyed, our slavery has ended, and a new hope has dawned in the sacrifice of this perfect Passover Lamb.

            So why is this night different than every other night?

            Because once we were slaves, but now we are free.