To listen to this homily, click here.
There is a story told of a German artist who, centuries ago, was working on the roof of a monastery chapel in Werden, Germany, which is in the Western part of God’s country. While he was working, his safety belt snapped and he plummeted towards his sure and certain death. Due to Murphy’s Law, the area to which he was falling was not only far below, but also filled with large, jagged rocks. But this man must have been saying his prayers each night and putting something in the collection every week. As Providence would have it, there was also a lamb, who at that moment made the fateful decision to graze on the grass which grew between the rocks. How it happened, nobody knows, but the artist miraculously fell on the lamb, which died instantly, but saved the artist’s life. When he recovered from his shock and bruises, he sculptured a lamb and placed it on the church roof in gratitude. That lamb still stands there to this day.
This crazy story helps us to understand the Gospel reading today, the story of another Lamb who breaks a much more serious fall. John the Baptist's favorite title for Jesus is "the Lamb of God." It became one of John the Evangelist's favorite titles as well. He uses it here in his Gospel, and then he used it again, twenty-nine times, in the Book of Revelation. It brings together three images that would have been familiar to the Jews of that time. And so, by calling Christ the "Lamb of God," St John is telling us those ancient images are fulfilled in Jesus.
So what are the three images? The first takes us back to the Old Covenant and the Book of Exodus where God required the Jews to sacrifice a lamb twice a day to cleanse the sins of the people. In this first image, the lamb symbolized the price that had to be paid for sin. It showed the people how awful and deadly sin truly was. It was not something harmless or minor. The second image was found in the high holy day of Passover. In the Passover ceremony each family sacrifices and eats a lamb to recall their liberation from slavery in the days of Moses. On that night, God allowed the death of all the firstborn children and animals of the Egyptians, but spared those of the Hebrews. In order to indicate which households the angel of death was to skip over, God commanded the Hebrews to sacrifice a lamb and mark their doorposts of their homes with its blood. Because of this saving act, the Passover lamb signified God's merciful and redeeming love. The third and final image is found throughout the prophecies and promises of the Messiah. Again and again, the Savior is described as a lamb going silently and obediently to the slaughter. This Messiah, the Lamb of God, was going to take Israel's sins upon himself and wipe them away through his suffering obedience. His Blood would be the protection from God’s punishment of sin. Anyone who was washed clean in the Blood of the Lamb would be pleasing in the sight of the Lord.
By calling Jesus the "Lamb of God," John reminds us that all of these Old Testament symbols pointed towards Christ, the one and only Savior. Christ's sacrificial love is so central to our faith that the Church reminds us of it every time Mass is celebrated by praying: "Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us." In just a few minutes, when we receive Holy Communion, we will be receiving the Lamb of God, partaking of the saving Lamb, just as the Jews of the Old Covenant shared in the Passover Lamb. And when we receive the Lamb of God with a lively faith, he strengthens us to follow his example: obediently loving God above things and fearlessly giving our lives in service to others.
So, practically speaking, what can each of us take away from this reminder of the importance of the Lamb of God? What can Jesus’ incredible saving gift teach us about our relationship with God? Well, first of all, it shows us that absolutely nothing we do can ever extinguish God’s love for us. He died for us while we were still sinners; therefore we should never doubt his love for us. The Lamb of God loves us even in our sinfulness, no matter how serious or awful. We must never doubt this Divine Love. In those times in our lives when we find ourselves doubting God’s love or goodness, we can be sure that this thought is a temptation from the devil. I have come across many people who doubt the love of God, and if some of you are in this place right now, allow our reflection on the Lamb of God bring you renewed hope and trust in Him. Even though you might not feel his love or sense His Presence, be assured He is there loving and protecting you every moment of every day.
Secondly, by giving himself up for our salvation, Jesus showed us the path to happiness. We will only be happy by imitating the Lamb of God in our own lives. We were not created to indulge ourselves, but to give ourselves in love to both God and neighbor. This is how Christ conquered sin and evil; by loving and giving himself to others. You and I will conquer sin and evil in the same way - by loving, by giving without counting the cost, by forgiving without limits.
As we come to this Eucharist, we are reminded that each of us is like that falling German artist. Each of us has sins and weaknesses that threaten to destroy us and plunge us towards a spiritual death. How blessed we are, that the Lamb of God has decided to break our fall from grace! How incredible that God would send his Beloved Son to sacrifice himself so we might be saved and restored to full spiritual health. All that he asks, is that we receive his love and mercy. And then, having received that amazing love, he asks us to share it with world and to become, with his grace, lambs of God to the world around us. So let us give thanks today for the Lamb of God and not be sheepish. Let us make use of the sacraments he gives to the Church to bring us his grace and strength. Finally, let us not hesitate to offer ourselves back to God in love so he might use us to save those who are falling towards the jagged rocks of despair and sin.
