For our sake, he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried.
Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen wrote that Jesus Christ was the only man born to die. The beauty of his birth was marred by the massacre of the infants by Herod. The happiness of his mother was overshadowed by Simeon's prophecy, "and thy own soul a sword shall pierce." (Luke 2:35)
The Son was not made Incarnate to establish an earthly kingdom or simply add to the work of the prophets. He was not merely another Elijah or John the Baptist. Jesus came to fulfill the law and establish a new and lasting covenant - "and this is to them my covenant: when I shall take away their sins." (Romans 11:27) This was not an impersonal contract. The Passion established a relationship built upon love between God and His people.
After coming down from Mount Sinai, Moses had his priests sacrifice to the Lord. He took a bowl of the blood from the victims "and sprinkled it upon the people, and he said 'This is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.'" (Exodus 24:8) Then Moses ascended Sinai once more and received the Ten Commandments, the Law.
The covenant of the Old Testament required the blood of sacrificial victims. Therefore it is fitting that the new covenant require the same. But this time, instead of calves, the victim is the Son of God Himself. A strong King might be able to sacrifice his servants for the good of the Kingdom. He might even be able to sacrifice his friends. But what King would be able to give up his only son, his own blood, for his people? For our sake?
For our sake, Christ yielded Himself to a humiliating death. He died in the most painful way the brutal Romans could devise. Isaiah the prophet describes Christ's noble sacrifice most beautifully.
"Despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity, and his look was as if it were hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed him not.... He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not his mouth: he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth." - Isaiah 53:4,7
Why? Why would the God who made heaven and earth die such an inglorious death? Why would He submit Himself so humbly to the whip and the jeering and the nails?
Because He loves us. Because He wanted to save us from our sins. When He came before the chief priests and the council, they shouted "He deserves to die!" (Matthew 26:66)
But that is not true. He did not deserve to die. As He was without the blemish of sin, there was nothing that justified His execution, no crime He could be convicted of. The truth of it is, we deserve to die. How many times have we fallen? Again and again we succumb to the easy lure of sin and its wages. Look at the world. Look at your own heart. The weight of sin is immense. But Jesus bore that weight on the Cross for us as He struggled for every breath. The blood of the Lamb stormed the pit of hell and thrust open the gates of heaven so that we might be saved. By His passion, though our "sins be as scarlet, they will be made as white as snow." (Isaiah 1:18)
In dying, Christ showed us how to live. With love. In "The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ," Anna Catherine Emmerich wrote that in the Garden, Christ could see the sum of human sinfulness, past, present, and future. He gazed upon every blasphemy, every infidelity, and every act of hatred. And yet His love is so great that He nevertheless accepted the slow and tortuous death on a Cross.
In these days leading up to the Passion, meditate upon this. The outstretched and pierced arms of Christ embraced humanity in our dirty, ugly sinfulness. Remember that the Truth was not meant to fall upon the idle and inactive! Make this Truth a part of your life. Jesus showed us how to love unconditionally, to love without counting the cost. He forgave those men who were even then mocking him and hurting His most blessed Body. Ask yourselves, how can I live out this same love?
The world is mired in sinfulness and injustice. As Christians, doers and hearers of the Word, we are called to bring the light of love to this culture of darkness. May the Body of Christ save us and the Blood of Christ sanctify us as we strive to follow the bloodied footsteps of our Lord as He mounted Cavalry and saved the world.
DEUS VOLT!
The covenant of the Old Testament required the blood of sacrificial victims. Therefore it is fitting that the new covenant require the same. But this time, instead of calves, the victim is the Son of God Himself. A strong King might be able to sacrifice his servants for the good of the Kingdom. He might even be able to sacrifice his friends. But what King would be able to give up his only son, his own blood, for his people? For our sake?
For our sake, Christ yielded Himself to a humiliating death. He died in the most painful way the brutal Romans could devise. Isaiah the prophet describes Christ's noble sacrifice most beautifully.
"Despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity, and his look was as if it were hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed him not.... He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not his mouth: he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth." - Isaiah 53:4,7
Why? Why would the God who made heaven and earth die such an inglorious death? Why would He submit Himself so humbly to the whip and the jeering and the nails?
Because He loves us. Because He wanted to save us from our sins. When He came before the chief priests and the council, they shouted "He deserves to die!" (Matthew 26:66)
But that is not true. He did not deserve to die. As He was without the blemish of sin, there was nothing that justified His execution, no crime He could be convicted of. The truth of it is, we deserve to die. How many times have we fallen? Again and again we succumb to the easy lure of sin and its wages. Look at the world. Look at your own heart. The weight of sin is immense. But Jesus bore that weight on the Cross for us as He struggled for every breath. The blood of the Lamb stormed the pit of hell and thrust open the gates of heaven so that we might be saved. By His passion, though our "sins be as scarlet, they will be made as white as snow." (Isaiah 1:18)
In dying, Christ showed us how to live. With love. In "The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ," Anna Catherine Emmerich wrote that in the Garden, Christ could see the sum of human sinfulness, past, present, and future. He gazed upon every blasphemy, every infidelity, and every act of hatred. And yet His love is so great that He nevertheless accepted the slow and tortuous death on a Cross.
In these days leading up to the Passion, meditate upon this. The outstretched and pierced arms of Christ embraced humanity in our dirty, ugly sinfulness. Remember that the Truth was not meant to fall upon the idle and inactive! Make this Truth a part of your life. Jesus showed us how to love unconditionally, to love without counting the cost. He forgave those men who were even then mocking him and hurting His most blessed Body. Ask yourselves, how can I live out this same love?
The world is mired in sinfulness and injustice. As Christians, doers and hearers of the Word, we are called to bring the light of love to this culture of darkness. May the Body of Christ save us and the Blood of Christ sanctify us as we strive to follow the bloodied footsteps of our Lord as He mounted Cavalry and saved the world.
DEUS VOLT!
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