At this time of Lent when we Catholics prepare for the great feast of Easter, we also, of necessity, dwell upon the Passion of Our Lord. For us, the sufferings of Christ are a necessary antecedent to the resurrection. Jesus “was handed over for our sins but raised up for our justification” (Rom 4:25).

A great many people this year will be fixated upon the physical sufferings of Jesus. I have no doubt that the film by Mel Gibson will cause millions to experience the Passion in a new way.

However, I would like to share a deeper spiritual meaning of the sacrifice of Jesus. To do that, if I am permitted, I will let you see my own inner understanding of what took place on “Good” Friday.

Because of my association with wonderful Scripture scholars over the years, I have come to believe that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John left us not just an historical account of the suffering and death of the Messiah but also a “liturgical” account of the events of Holy Week. I cannot lay out everything I see and feel, but I will give you a general concept. Perhaps it will help you in your own meditation.

Every single day at Holy Cross Church, I go out before the Mass and genuflect at the altar. There on the marble façade of that altar is carved a beautiful lamb. Each day I gaze at this image, then raise my eyes and see the golden crucifix just behind the altar.

Every day, without fail, before I celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, I am reminded that Christ is the true Lamb slain for our sins. I recall the words, “Though He was harshly treated, He submitted and opened not His mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter, or a sheep before the shearers, He was silent and opened not His mouth” (Is. 53:7).

It is not by accident that we see Jesus as the Paschal Lamb. St. John absolutely intended for us to see Him as the Paschal Lamb.

John knew the time frame of the other Gospels. But he deliberately chose to have Jesus sentenced to death at the exact same time that, over in the Temple, thousands of sheep were beginning to be slaughtered for the Passover. The historians Josephus and Philo describe the scene. St. John explicitly states the day and the time. It was the “Preparation Day for the Passover and the hour was about noon.” That was lamb-killing time in the Temple.

Moreover, St. John tells us that at the cross hyssop was used to touch the lips of Jesus. In Exodus 19:36, hyssop was used to sprinkle the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of the Israelites to protect them from the avenging angel. And the prescription of the law in regard to the Paschal Lamb was fulfilled. “Break none of His bones” (Ex 12:46). No bone of Jesus was fractured.

At Mass I am forced to cry out mentally, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” And I am forced to admit with John, “The blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all evil” (1Jn 1:7).

O Jesus, Lamb of God, how gentle and quiet You were as You stood before Pilate. How willing You were to give Your life for me. And, O what a wonder to be able to recreate Your sacrifice each day of my life during the Holy Liturgy. Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us all.

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