“This is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”
The gospel phrase today is one of the phrases we repeat in the Eucharist right before we receive Holy Communion.
The giving of self that Jesus does for all human beings, has it’s ending in every Mass where He gives Himself out as food, as nourishment to everyone who believes in him.
John gives testimony of who Jesus is. He said: “He is the lamb of God”. John the Baptist remembers the lambs that were offered daily, every morning and every evening in the temple of Jerusalem.
He also refers to the Passover lamb whose blood saved the Israelites’ first-born from death which was carried out by the Exterminator Angel.
I have a feeling that many Christians are still not aware of Jesus’ great sacrifice. I would like for each person to meditate, how it will feel to have someone give his life for you.
I think, that since we hear talk about the event of the cross in a very simple way, we have definitely forgotten what it is really all about, it is not simple to say, “Jesus died on the cross for me”, all that needs to be said is “AND ?” we don’t accept the depth and reality of this sacrifice.
Spain is the number one country in the world in organ donations for transplants. But the majority of the transplants are no longer news.
Transplants has gotten to be such a natural thing, that it is as any other surgical intervention. What joy, how grateful we are to the donor and the family that was able to allow a miracle to happen, saving lives by donating organs.
Jesus donated His life for the salvation of all human beings. How grateful we should be for His surrender and sacrifice.
What did Jesus do for us?
As Christians we understand very clearly who is the Lord. We know of His surrender and capacity to redeem someone who has fallen.
We have experienced His death and resurrection. But, how can someone understand the person of Jesus, when he has never experienced Him? It is possible that the terminology used by John is not too understandable for someone who today, is apart, who is not close. Today Jesus is our Passover, being aware of the Passover lamb (Ex 12,1-13), a substitute for our sins (IS 53,7) maybe has little meaning to the people who are just being initiated in our faith.
Whoever is just beginning, must start to experiment the whole process of the Salvation Story.
He has to go back to the beginning of the world, from Genesis to the resurrection, passing thru earthly paradise and the dessert, and everything else, in the company of people who have already gone thru this journey, (the Church).
The lamb is a symbol of innocence, someone who can do no harm to anyone, but only welcome.
Our world today, so full of innocent pain, should serve us to discover the multitude of people who is suffering and dying at the hands of the wicked and evil one.
Depressions, all kinds of mental illnesses, are destroying, devastating these contemporaneous societies.
Seeing this situation, many would ask themselves, was it worth the death of Jesus? Christians proclaim that yes, it was worth it. His death has redeemed us. His death has saved us. Saved us from what, you may ask?
First of all, His death saved us from ourselves, has saved us from our limitations and our sins. If spiritual limitations and moral limitations always accompany us, sin is the free acceptance of them.
Christ cleaned and erased with His blood my personal sins but also the personal sins of all humanity, thus, the look of the Christian to the world is always generated from mercy and hope.
A Christian does not give up easily because he knows he has been bought at a very high price. In the deep surrender of Jesus there is the immense love thru which God loves each one of us.
A Christian may be a crook, a thief, a liar and he will struggle to be better with the help of God, but one thing a Christian cannot do, is to be proud of his mediocrity and his sins.
The death of Jesus reminds us that our life has been called to change constantly to follow the path of God.
Jesus gave himself for you and me. To be with Him is to discover the deep love of God for all of us, for every human being, especially for the poor , the needy and the promise of eternal life forever.
Amen!
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