Good Friday: Purified by the blood of the Lamb

Today we stand before the cross. Mary is there with us. So is the sole apostle, John. And some other faithful women. We feel alone in bearing the grief of what has happened. The soldiers are callous and uninterested. There are the implacable opponents of Jesus pleased to see that he has been humiliated and defeated. And then there are the curious onlookers wondering why this man deserved such a fate.

And what is it? It is an execution. It is a manifestation of Roman control. It is a human being subjected to a most painful and ignominious end.

Is it simply just another human tragedy? There are so many injustices. So much seemingly pointless suffering. Is this just one more example of the terrible pain that can mark human existence?

We get hints that there is more at stake here. The powerful prophesy of Isaiah which we read speaks of God sending one who would be a suffering servant of God’s purposes. In graphic detail we read words written centuries before which are being literally fulfilled in what has happened to Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus has become “a thing despised and rejected by men”. Looking on him he has become so disfigured that the crowds were appalled at looking at him.

But then there is a hint of a greater play taking place. The Prophet says, “And yet ours were the sufferings he bore, ours the sorrows he carried”. We are told that this suffering servant was pierced through for our faults, crushed for our sins.

We move now to another plane. What we are beholding is not just the tragic end of the life of a good man. We are being asked to understand that he is being punished not for what he did, but that he is carrying our sins.

Isaiah says that the wounds of the suffering servant are actually the source of our healing. Later he adds that he is offering his life in atonement, and “by his sufferings shall my servant justify many taking their faults on himself”.

His sufferings, his dying, is for us. He is depicted as a lamb being led to the slaughter-house. We recall John the Baptism saying, “There is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”. (Jn 1:29). St Peter declares in his first letter that we have been saved by “the precious blood of a lamb without spot or stain, namely, Christ”. (I Pet 1:19)

Then we can recall the words of Jesus at the Last Supper: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood which will be poured out for you”. (Lk 22:20) And it was poured out – completely. When the centurion pierced the heart of Jesus blood and water flowed out, all the blood was drained from the heart of Jesus.

Jesus is the sacrificial lamb whose blood redeems us. This is the testimony of Sacred Scripture. St Paul declares: “through his blood we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins”. (Eph 1:7) St John says, “the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin”. (1 Jn 1:7) The book of Revelation says, “He loves us and has washed away our sins with his blood”. (Rev 1:5)

Jesus was the sacrificial lamb whose blood has washed away our sins. It was the perfect sacrifice. It was a once and for all event. As St Paul says in his letter to the Romans, “Christ Jesus .. was appointed by God to sacrifice his life so as to win reconciliation through faith”. (Rom 3:24)

So, brethren, what must we do? – today, before the cross of Christ, on this Good Friday afternoon?

In a few moments we will have the opportunity to venerate the cross. What can be in our hearts as we approach the cross this afternoon?

St Paul offers us a possible response in his Letter to the Romans. He says offer “your living bodies as a holy sacrifice, truly pleasing to God”. (Rom 12:1) Offer ourselves as a “living sacrifice”. He has given all for us, we now offer all to him. A living sacrifice. We will no longer live for ourselves but for him. We will no longer seek our own comfort, our own satisfaction, our own will. We will make the orientation of our life that of living for Him who died for us.

Today we stand before the cross. In silence. Before the one by whose wounds we are healed.

We do not stand by as a disinterested onlooker. We do not shield our eyes or shrink away into our comforts and securities. Now is the moment, on this most holy day when we look up at the cross.
When we look into the dying eyes of Jesus. When we contemplate what he has done for us. The redeeming sacrifice.

From our heart comes a prayer:

Jesus, I give all of myself to you. Receive me, I am yours. Wash me clean. Let your blood flow over me. Purify my heart, my soul, my mind, my memory. Save me in your merciful love.

Amen.

Archbishop Julian Porteous

Friday, 15 April 2022