John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God!," the sacrificial lamb without blemish who will die for us, a sinless sacrifice for the remission of sin. Benedict XVI comments:
Jesus celebrated the Passover without a lamb and without a temple; yet, not without a lamb and not without a temple. He himself was the awaited Lamb, the true Lamb, just as John the Baptist had foretold at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (Jn 1: 29).
And he himself was the true Temple, the living Temple where God dwells and where we can encounter God and worship him. His Blood, the love of the One who is both Son of God and true man, one of us, is the Blood that can save. His love, that love in which he gave himself freely for us, is what saves us. The nostalgic, in a certain sense, ineffectual gesture which was the sacrifice of an innocent and perfect lamb, found a response in the One who for our sake became at the same time Lamb and Temple.
Thus, the Cross was at the centre of the new Passover of Jesus. From it came the new gift brought by him, and so it lives on for ever in the Blessed Eucharist in which, down the ages, we can celebrate the new Passover with the Apostles.
From Christ's Cross comes the gift. "No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord". He now offers it to us.
Yes, in his body and blood, given and shed for us on the Cross, the all sufficient sacrifice made present for us on the Altar. Receive this gift.
Two of John's disciples follow Jesus after the Baptist's witness, they want to know where Jesus is staying. He answers them, "Come and see." They do, and acknowledge him as the Christ, "We have met the Messiah." We ask the same, where does God reside? Not least in his death for us on Calvary, made present in the Mass, from which flows the forgiveness of sins and life itself.
Do not scorn this but instead draw near with faith to Christ and in our communions meet the holy Lamb of God. Then proclaim him as the Spirit anointed Son of God, the Savior.
In Aeternum,
LSP
