Behold the Lamb of God, Who Takes Away the Sins of the World”

Good Friday Readings

So much could be said about the readings we find in today’s liturgical celebration. They are so rich, and relate so well to one another. If I had to summarize the message of the readings for today in one word, I would use the word “love.” The sufferings we read described in today’s readings are a reflection of God’s love for each and every one of us. We attach the modifier “Good” to today, Good Friday, precisely because of the love we see Jesus pour out for us on the cross. Today’s reading from John’s Gospel depicts Jesus as many things, for example: our King ruling from the cross and our high priest who offers the sacrifice from the cross. The high priestly status of Jesus is alluded to in John by Jesus’ seamless garment which the soldiers divide (19:23), which is the description elsewhere of the garment of the high priest offering sacrifices. This identification is made explicit in today’s reading from the Letter to the Hebrews (4:14-15).

But above all, Jesus is depicted in John as the Passover Lamb of God Who is willingly sacrificed for our sake. Already in John 1:29 we here Jesus identified as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” And later in John, around the time of the Passover (6:4), we discover that Jesus’ flesh is meant to be eaten, just like the Passover lamb (6:51, 53-58). In today’s passage from John, we see that Jesus is sent to be slaughtered at the precise moment when the Passover lambs began to be slaughtered, at noon (19:14). Furthermore, just as the Israelites spread the lamb’s blood on their doorposts with hyssop branches on the eve of the first Passover, so Jesus drank sour wine lifted up to him on a hyssop branch (19:29). Finally, just as none of the Passover lamb’s bones were to be broken, so none of Jesus’ bones were broken (19:33, 36).

I want to propose two actions for us to take today and also tomorrow, as we prepare ourselves for the joyous celebration of Easter. The first is that I think we need to really contemplate the sadness and loss represented by Jesus’ death. This is Good Friday, but that does not make Jesus’ death any easier to accept. It is Good, but it is terrible at the same time. This is part of the paradox of the Christian faith. By His wounds we are healed, as the Prophet Isaiah tells us in today’s first reading (53:5). But He was wounded, fatally wounded. Perhaps we should imagine ourselves standing beside Jesus’ mother Mary, at the foot of the cross (John 19:25). Mary suffered greatly, as she watched her Son die on the cross. Let us prepare ourselves for the wonderful joy of the risen Christ at Easter by entering into, even if only using our imagination, Jesus’ suffering on Good Friday.

The second action I think we should attempt is to love others today and tomorrow in light of the love God has shown to us today. Try to focus on the love of God for us such suffering shows. Jesus loves us so much that He died a horribly painful and humiliating death, naked and bloody upon the cross. He submitted Himself to this, to the passion of Good Friday, for us. Let us then love others with this kind of love. As Christians, we should be a people of love. In coming to grips with the powerful, wonderful, and even terrifying love of God, we should be more motivated than anyone, to love others with abandon. Let us go then to live lives overflowing with love for others. And let us await with hopeful anticipation, for the transformative joy that Easter will bring us.

- Jeff Morrow