Passion Sunday 18.3.18 Worth of Christ
People talk of the net worth of millionaires and billionaires.
The ‘worth’ is measured in money, as if
that settles everything.
What then is the net worth of Jesus Christ? It cannot be put
in money terms. He is beyond earthly currencies.
He is ‘above all principality, and power, and virtue, and dominion, and
every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to
come. Ep 1,21.
For in him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers:
all things were created by him and in him. Col 1,16
He is simply God, with all perfection that comes with that
title.
How can it be then that He is so much ignored on one hand, and
despised on another?
How can someone so good be so much disliked. Sin has turned
us sour, and made us resent what should be loved. The fallen angels have spread
their malice, and we have had more than a touch of it.
As we enter these two weeks of Passiontide let us re-affirm
all that we know about Him, and give Him some of the praise and gratitude that
have been so much lacking for 2000 years.
What is His value? Well, even if He had simply stayed on
earth and gone about doing good - He
could heal your sickness, or raise you back to life, or teach you how to live,
or give your life meaning, or give sight to the blind, or set the captives free
(Lk 4, 18-19).
He could have just stayed with us and gone about working
miracles until the present day.
But He did something even more useful for us: He died. He is
worth more to us dead than alive, we could say. We understand that His death
(epistle) releases the power of His Precious Blood into the world, forgiving
sinners, transforming people to be free of sin, and willing to die with Him. We
are made into new people.
His Blood has infinite value, and re-establishes the link
with God which has been broken.
Many do not appreciate the Precious Blood, or God Himself, or
the need to be linked with God. They shrug with indifference, ignorance, and hardness
of heart.
The gift is no less important for being so unappreciated. To
be thankful for that gift, to be in awe of it, this is our task.
What is this man worth? Ecce
Homo. This is the Lamb of God, the Saviour. Bow down before Him. as though
there is nothing else to compare - and there is not!
We do not just fit Him into our schedule, giving Him some
time here and there. We base our lives around Him.
People generally follow the lead of others, so it becomes
the norm to push Him to the side. They will say you are crazy if you do any
more than the average.
Yet to have Him anywhere but at the centre of our lives does
not make sense. Knowing His worth we are drawn to Him, in prayer, sacrament,
and work. All our thoughts, desires, hopes go to Him.
What is His net worth? Alive, He could heal us; Dead, He
could save us; Resurrected, He can heal and save, and not only the Jews but all
peoples. He is worth knowing!
I want nothing but to
know Christ crucified, says St Paul (1 Co 2,2). Apart from Him I count all else as dung…Ph 3,8).
The next two weeks the Church travels through the mysteries
of Our Lord’s death and resurrection. Let us be part of that, and let Him work
in us. If we die with Him we shall live
with Him (2 Tm 2,11).
If we gauge His true worth, we find our own.
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