Jesus' sacrifice: far from simple

By SISTER ANNA MARIE MCGUAN, RSM- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

FROM A READING FOR MARCH 18, FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

'Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered; and having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him...' -- Heb 5:8-9

As we approach nearer to Holy Week, the Sunday readings continue to prepare us for the salvation Jesus will win for us.

In Sunday's first reading (Jer 31:31-34), the announcement of the "new covenant" is given. At the Last Supper, when Jesus institutes the Eucharist as the memorial that will make present His sacrifice on the cross, He calls it a "covenant."

This is the fulfillment of the new covenant foretold in Jeremiah. There are three elements given by Jeremiah which will be fulfilled in Jesus:

• The first is that the law will be written upon our hearts. This happens when we are baptized and the Holy Spirit is given to us. The new law of God, the grace of the Holy Spirit, is given to us. We are able to walk in the footsteps of Jesus: to live has He lived, as sons and daughters of God.

• The second element is the knowledge of God. This, too, is fulfilled in Christ Jesus, whose entire mission was to reconcile us to the Father and make us know and love our God.

• The third element given by Jeremiah is the forgiveness of sins, which we know was won for us by Jesus when He laid down His life on the cross.

Sin and salvation

Our second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews (5:7-9) makes that explicit when it says, "Being made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him." This is such a packed statement, but the meaning is clear: Through Christ's obedience and suffering, He gave each of us the possibility of salvation.

Salvation must include the forgiveness of sins, because sin is what separates us from God. Jesus bridges the gap; He is the mediator between us and God. He saves on a universal scale, meaning His sacrifice reaches to every time and place, to every man, woman and child. Everyone who is saved is saved through Him.

This sacrifice was by no means easy for Jesus. In Sunday's Gospel (John 12:20-33), Jesus says that His "glorification" will be through His being lifted up on the cross -- not exactly what we think of when we think about glory!

But Jesus' glory is to love on the deepest level. Out of love for His Father and for us, He will die on the cross. He is so clear about His mission, too! He never hesitates! He says, "And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour?' No, for this purpose I have come to this hour."

The result

Jesus has come to the hour of his condemnation and execution for us. He dies and goes into the Earth, like the seed, so that He can bear much fruit. Bear fruit He does, every time you or I make an act of faith, hope, or love. Anytime someone is baptized, goes to confession or worthily receives the Eucharist, the death of Jesus bears fruit. Every time you do something "beautiful for God," as Mother Teresa would say, Jesus' death is bearing fruit.

It is through His death that Jesus draws us to Himself and, through Himself, to the Father. That is where He wants take us all, in the end: before the Father. The Father confirms this desire of Jesus when He speaks from heaven (the third and last time the Father's voice is heard in the Gospels): "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."

The glorification of the Father's name is done first and foremost by Jesus, and then by us, living the Christ-life here and now.[[In-content Ad]]