9781644135945

The Light of the World
Meditation
“Judge me O God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy. Deliver me from
the unjust and deceitful man; for Thou art God my strength” (Introit). “Deliver me, O Lord,
from my enemies. . . . Often have they fought against me from my youth. . . . The wicked have
wrought upon my back. They have lengthened their iniquities; the Lord who is just will cut the
necks of sinners” (Gradual, Tract). Thus the Church prays from the depths of her heart, feeling
the anxiety and suffering of her bridegroom.
“Brethren: Christ being come, an high priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not of this creation; neither by the blood of goats
or of calves [as the high priest of the Old Law], but by His own blood, entered once into the
Holies, having obtained eternal redemption” on the cross (Epistle). The animal sacrifices of the
Old Law could not work justification; but “the blood of Christ . . . shall cleanse our conscience
from dead works [the works of sin] to serve the living God. And therefore He is the Mediator
of the New Testament, that by means of His death, for the redemption of those transgressions
which were under the former Testament, they that are called may receive the promise of eternal
inheritance, in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Epistle). The high priest of the Old Law took the blood of
animals into the holy of holies of the temple at Jerusalem; he himself suffered no harm through
the offering of the sacrifice. Not so with Christ. He offers His own blood to the last drop. He
endures shame and pain, indescribable humiliation and torture; He suffers in the garden, at
the pillar of the scourging, on the way to Calvary, and on the cross. He took upon Himself this
suffering to purchase for us freedom from sin and an eternal inheritance.
“They took up stones therefore to cast at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of
the temple” (Gospel). The Jews were unable to seize Him, for He was more powerful than
they. They were burning with hatred, and they misconstrued His words; yet He assures
them, “I do know [the Father] and do keep His word. Abraham your father rejoiced that
he might see My day; he saw it and was glad.” This assertion drives the Jews to distraction.
“Thou art not yet fifty years old; and hast Thou seen Abraham?” He answers them; “Amen,
amen I say to you, before Abraham was made, I am.” At this point they took up stones to
cast at Him. But His time is not yet come, and they cannot injure Him. He quietly leaves
the temple, for they will apprehend Him, judge Him, and put Him to death only when He
has determined to permit it, for He is to undertake His passion and death freely. “He was
offered because it was His own will” (Is 53:7). His power is supreme, and He knows the
desires and the intentions of His enemies. His knowledge is infinite, and He knows all the
details of His coming passion. He knows that by submitting to the defeat of the cross He
will be victorious. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34). Christ
faces His passion as a conqueror.
The passion and death of our Lord on the cross is not merely a human sacrifice, but a manifestation
of the divinity through the sacrifice of the crucified body of the Savior. His death is not
marked by groaning, hatred, or self-pity; there is only the quiet and peaceful assurance of His
victory over the blindness, weakness, and passion of men. The heart of the Savior overflows
with love. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The divinity achieves victory
through the death of the God-man. “Indeed this man was the Son of God” (Mk 15:39).
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