Passion Sunday 3 April 2022 Sacrifice
In His public ministry Christ revealed His high connections gradually and carefully.
He did not want to tax the peoples’ faith unduly.
We can understand why someone who did not know the whole story could be taken aback by Our Lord’s claims.
Many people claim to be something special, even divine. We are not accustomed to people being either that good or that powerful.
We could excuse some initial caution but the Pharisees maintained their hostility all the way, to the point of blind hatred. They should have been more humble and they should have checked their facts. Our Lord’s messiahship was all there in the prophecies if one looked carefully (eg suffering servant, Is 53)
His message is not so hard to believe if we come from the view that God is benevolent and totally in control. He is all-giving, lacks nothing, needs nothing, but likes to give to those who do need it.
He gives to the people at two levels.
One was to give outward signs of salvation, especially in the miracles of healing, and even raising from the dead. This much proves that God is kind and good, and powerful.
The other level was deeper and not so easily understood. It was that He would be the sacrifice for the sins of the world, replacing the previous sacrifices of animals and crops, with the Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice. (cf today’s epistle, Heb 9,11-15)
He could have just gone on at the first level, working miracles left and right. And we would have been happy with that.
But there was a deeper point He was making. He wanted to heal the human heart, not just bodily illnesses, but the way people think, the way they love; to set them free from all that is sinful, or resulting from sin.
By being the perfect sacrifice He was giving the human race a new chance at life. They would no longer need to be punished – because now they have been reconciled with God the Father.
Prison doors could be left open and the prisoners come out, but unless they have changed their ways of thinking they will offend again. It is much harder to change the way someone thinks, but this is what Our Lord was aiming to do.
We offer the Lamb of God in atonement for our sins, and at the same time we are transformed within, and set free from any desire to re-offend.
Like Our Lord we operate at two levels. We do works of charity, and that is good. But we also make ourselves available to share in the Cross of Christ, so that deeper healing can take place. We might even die for the sake of Christ, as many have done.
Perhaps we are not strong enough for this. That strength will come with enough exposure to the influence of Christ.
Thus we help establish the kingdom of God, where His ways are given their due respect.
This life is as hard as it is because sin has made something very hard that should have been very simple. That God loves us enough to take on human flesh and to die for our sins. Our sins not His!
Through the Church and the Sacraments Our Lord can now reach people in every time and place, and anyone can call on His Name.
His perfect offering pleads for us at the throne of God, and God's mercy will change anyone who takes it seriously.
Let us enter the two weeks of Passiontide with humility and gratitude. May Our Lord continue to heal us at all levels.
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