lamb-of-god

“Behold the Lamb of God.” He who was born and died for us.

John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29).

The only one who can take away sins is God. The unblemished lamb is the animal that is sacrificed at the Passover meal, commemorating when the angel of death passed over the Hebrews whose doorposts were marked with the blood of the lamb. The next day they were freed from their slavery under pharaoh, and the exodus event began culminating in their passing through the Red Sea to freedom.

The Son of God became human to become the Lamb of God. He experienced laughter, pain, suffering, love, tears, and all of our human condition even temptation, but he did not sin. The Son of God became human so that what he assumed in his human condition, he could redeem. As the Lamb of God, Jesus approached John for baptism, he took upon himself the sin of the world and submitted his divinity to his human condition and was willing to be baptized for repentance not because he sinned, but so that he could take upon the sin of the world upon himself. This act was also a foreshadowing of his crucifixion on the cross.

The Incarnation, the Son becoming fully human while remaining fully divine, was the premiere act of mercy, in that Jesus entered the chaos and woundedness of our lives. His allowing himself to die on the cross the greatest expression of his love. The same love that he shares with his Father, his receiving and returning all that he received to the Father and holding nothing back, we can see him doing so visibly when we look upon a crucifix. He was born and died, he gave everything, including his life for each and every one of us.

Alone we cannot be redeemed, we cannot be fully healed or restored to who we have been created to be. We need a savior. Jesus is, while at the same time, more than a model to follow or a teacher to guide us, he became one with us in our humanity to lead us up out of our brokenness and sin. In saying yes to his invitation, we can say with Paul, “yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20). This is the gift we have received again this Christmas, a reminder that when enter into a relationship with Jesus, he grants us the grace to access and share in the divine power of the Love experienced between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Jesus holds his hand out to each one of us today. May we receive his hand in our own, and as our fingers touch his palm may we feel the wound there, embrace the remembrance of the nail that pierced his flesh, the pain that he endured, so we could have this very moment with him. Even in our brokenness, anxiety, confusion, fear, and sin, may we resist pulling away. May we feel the warmth of his hand grip ours. Let our gaze be drawn up to see his face, his smile, his forgiveness, and experience his infinite love for us.

I am blessed at each Mass as I hold up the consecrated host to be able to say, “Behold, the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sin of the world.” May we see, believe, and receive the Body and Blood of Christ. Amen.

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Photo: Christmas Morning Mass, Holy Cross Catholic Church, Vero Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, January 3, 2025

144,000 + 2 = faith + trust

Our readings today hold up those who are faithful to God and his the covenant he has made with them. They have resisted the temptations of the world and given all to follow Christ, the Lamb who was slain. The Lamb, who though slain, rose again and as we celebrated yesterday is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. 

The 144,000 from our first reading from Revelation represent those who were “undefiled” from worshipping idols. The worship of any other gods, or the the beast as shared in the Book of Revelation, was considered to be adultery. Those numbered were faithful to the covenant they had made with Jesus. Throughout Revelation, John equated a covenant between God and his people. The imagery he uses is the Church as the bride of the Lamb.

In the Gospel of Luke, we return to the widow we read about recently. She came to the Temple in Jerusalem as others came to share their offerings. These offerings were placed in the Shofar-chests in the Temple. Scholars recognize that there were thirteen chests in the Temple and each one for a specific offering that ranged from annual dues, sacrificial offerings, and freewill offerings. 

As Jesus pointed out, most of those who were giving, gave out of their excess, but this widow, who most likely had no support as her husband had died, gave all that she had in giving her last two coins. What she gave an offering too we do not know, but she showed a radical trust in God. She did not even hold back one of the coins. She instead gave all. 

The widow, like the 144,000, represent those who have trusted in and been faithful to God throughout the ages. They followed the commandment of Jesus to love God with their whole heart, mind, soul, and strength and their neighbor as themselves. They resisted the temptations that could have lead them astray and instead placed all their trust and faith in God. 

There are many distractions and diversions that can lead us astray, temptations from without and within. Jesus remains faithful to us and the covenant that he made with us. We, as his bride, are invited to remain faithful to and trust in him. May those who have gone before us, the triumphant saints who now reign with Jesus the Lamb, who is seated at the right hand of the Father, intercede for, guide, and empower us in our lives to trust and be faithful as they were. May we be willing to be led by the tender chords of the love of the Holy Spirit into a deeper communion with God and one another.

Photo: “God, our supreme good, is the source of all good things. I hope that you will all be ‘good’, that is, faithful witnesses to the love of our heavenly Father who fills us with so many gifts” – St. John Paul II, Audience, February 5, 1997.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, November 25, 2024