«The smoky plates filled with food are on the table; everything is ready for dinner, which will begin very soon. I would love it if tonight we could manage to be, more than ever, a true family. A group of loyal companions, committed to one another, filled with trust in the meaning and beauty of our message. The truth is that very often we do not know how to put our dreams into practice: there are tensions among us. We do not always understand each other, or understand Jesus. Some days the worst in us —envy, competitiveness, our eagerness to shine, the old ideologies that still live in our hearts, and that divide us— takes hold of our minds and then we quarrel, we hurt one another, and it seems that everything that we have built during all these years will fall apart. Tonight, it should not be like that. Let us celebrate Easter, and our friendship, and our faith. Let’s celebrate our hope, with the joy that we have experienced so often, with Jesus».
The teacher and his closest friends have gathered for the Easter dinner. They are in Jerusalem. In the air of the room where now they begin to enter there is a sense of uncertainty, of anticipation, mixed with the cheerful atmosphere of these special days: many suspect that something unusual is about to happen, but they do not know what to expect. The conflict with the leaders of the city, which has been escalating for months, has reached a new high during these last days, especially since Jesus expelled the merchants and money changers from the temple. All this contributes to create a menacing air, which floats above the group. Nevertheless, today they celebrate.
«We eat and drink, our conversation is lively. We laugh. We are well! For a while it really seems as if we have shunned all the bad omens. After two or three glasses of wine, after filling the stomach with cheese, olives, dates and this delicious lamb, even the clash, perhaps unavoidable, with the High Priests does not seem so terrible anymore, or final, or impossible to face. We have always managed to go on, and this time it will not be different. Judas looks like he’s going through something, that’s for sure. He’s so quiet —although he is usually sullen—tonight his eyes have no life. Well, that’s him. What I cannot deny is that this moment, our sharing, is beautiful: our fraternity is priceless».
They have been together for a few years now, walking with Jesus, whom they met in Galilee. These have been some very intense years, without much time for the group to fall into boredom. Travels, encounters will all kinds of people, endless conversations, quarrels, sweet and bitter moments, and the challenges that the teacher offers them daily. The challenge to review their own preconceptions, to learn how to look at life with new eyes. The challenge to see in others what is hidden: the talents that they did not know how to see in those whom they would naturally despise—foreigners, unbelievers, adversaries—and the selfishness that they did not want to see in those who, in theory, were their friends. Jesus has changed the way they see the world.
«What a fine evening. Every difficult moment, all our concerns and anxieties are worth it, if at the end we can experience times like this one: spaces of real fraternity, friendship and joy. Ah. Jesus stands up, perhaps he wants to say something. Wait a second, what is he doing? Why is he taking off his outer robe and picking up a towel? He kneels! Is he going to wash our feet or what?»
A reverential silence has replaced the hubbub that filled the dining room just a second ago. One can only hear the dripping of the lukewarm water, falling from the vessel to the feet of the disciples and from there to the basin that Jesus keeps placing in front of each one of them. He is in no hurry. He washes the feet of his friends slowly, letting them absorb the moment. They are aware of the intimacy that his gesture creates, so delicate, so profound. They are also surprised and uncomfortable, for he is now taking on this action, usually performed by slaves.
«He kneels in front of Peter and Peter, of course —always he, always unable to keep a thought to himself, although today I do not reproach him anything, for it seems to me that we are all thinking the same— argues, objects to what is happening. They talk, they almost quarrel. Jesus insists. Finally he also washes Simon’s feet. And everyone’s. Now he goes back to his chair, sits down and explains the reason for this strange ceremony».
Only the passing of time, and the perspective they would gain with the dramatic events that would unfold a few hours after that dinner, would allow Jesus’ friends to understand the power of that last act. One day, finally, they would accept that the joy of a community that does not know how to serve is always false. And that authentic love always becomes service.
«The washing of the feet has left all of us a bit astonished. Then Jesus and Judas have had a dispute, and the Iscariot has left the house banging the door. Now we walk through the narrow streets of the holy city, under the stars, on our way to the garden of Gethsemane, where we will spend the night. I have to reflect more on what Jesus wanted to show us by kneeling down with his vessel, his towel and his basin. We leave the city. It is cold, the air smells like cypress, rosemary and jasmine. All is well. All will be well».
