The Eucharist: Jesus the True Sacrificial Lamb

Another in the series of bulletin inserts featuring excerpts from Sacramentum Caritatis that have been running weekly. I'm way behind in sharing these with you. This is #6.

The new and eternal covenant in the blood of the Lamb

9. The mission for which Jesus came among us was accomplished in the Paschal Mystery. On the Cross from which he draws all people to himself (cf. Jn 12:32), just before “giving up the Spirit,” he utters the words: “it is finished” (Jn 19:30). In the mystery of Christ’s obedience unto death, even death on a Cross (cf. Phil 2:8), the new and eternal covenant was brought about. In his crucified flesh, God’s freedom and our human freedom met definitively in an inviolable, eternally valid pact. Human sin was also redeemed once for all by God’s Son (cf. Heb 7:27; 1 Jn 2:2; 4:10). As I have said elsewhere, “Christ’s death on the Cross is the culmination of that turning of God against himself in which he gives himself in order to raise man up and save him. This is love in its most radical form.” (18) In the Paschal Mystery, our deliverance from evil and death has taken place. In instituting the Eucharist, Jesus had spoken of the “new and eternal covenant” in the shedding of his blood (cf. Mt 26:28; Mk 14:24; Lk 22:20). This, the ultimate purpose of his mission, was clear from the very beginning of his public life. Indeed, when, on the banks of the Jordan, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming towards him, he cried out: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29). It is significant that these same words are repeated at every celebration of Holy Mass, when the priest invites us to approach the altar: “This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper.” Jesus is the true paschal lamb who freely gave himself in sacrifice for us, and thus brought about the new and eternal covenant. The Eucharist contains this radical newness, which is offered to us again at every celebration. (19)

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It is a sobering thought that Jesus came to us specifically with a mission to die. Unlike the rest of us, who wonder about vocations, marriage, and what to do with our lives in general, Jesus always was headed for one specific purpose ... to give himself in complete sacrifice for our sins.

Perhaps Jesus’ time among us has become so familiar in the retelling of the Gospel stories that the edges have been worn off. It is easy to not stop to really consider just how radical and complete Jesus’ sacrifice was, as Pope Benedict says, “that turning of God against himself in which he gives himself in order to raise man up and save him. ”

In this we see the true meaning of covenant. Unlike a contract in which often each party seeks to protect his own interests, in a covenant each party gives of self without condition on the other person. In his sacrifice Jesus the Lamb of God surrendered his will and laid down his life, securing the covenant and redeeming us from sin. Contemplating the Eucharist we are allowed to see God steps out of himself, going to extraordinary lengths for our sakes. How could we neglect, how could ignore, how could we not be happy to be “called his supper”?
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(18) Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est (25 December 2005), AAS 98 (2006), 228.
(19) Cf. Propositio 3.

This is one of a weekly series of excerpts from Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis. You encouraged to read the entire document. The Vatican link document as well as to Pope Benedict’s first encyclical can found on the website, www.stthomasaquinas.org.