18 April 2019, Holy Thursday, Zimbabwe Independence (1980)

I have longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. (Luke 22:14)

In Exodus 12, which we read tonight, we see the sign of the lamb, the first Passover, where God in his great love for us promises to lead us out of sin into life with him. The symbolism is truly heightened in the second reading , from 1 Corinthians 11, where Jesus takes some bread and some wine to express this commitment even to the giving of his life; the Lamb of God for us. He has come close to us and, in the third reading from John 13, comes even closer and goes on his knees before us to wash our feet and the feet of all those suffering exclusion and separation.  By this sign he welcomes and gathers us into community with him and one another.