What do they say?
They say that
they can't believe in a god
who abuses his own son.
They say there is
something wrong
with a god
that would punish his son
for our sins.
If God talks so much
about forgiveness,
why doesn't He just forgive us
rather than allow
Our Lord Jesus
to go through the agonies
of crucifixion
in punishment of our sins?
[PAUSE]
Some people get the idea
that Jesus is punished
instead of us
through the words of St Peter
when he says
that Jesus
"bare our sins in His own body
on the tree" of the Cross.
Some people say
that the prophet Isaiah
sees the death of Jesus
as being wounded
for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities,
bearing our chastisement
and healing us by his wounds.
This certainly sounds
as if God were whipping Jesus
because of our disobedience.
But the Church has a rule
and that rule is
we must the Old Testament
in the light of the New.
St Peter knows Jesus
so well.
Does he say that Jesus
is punished instead of us?
Does Jesus really bear
our sins in His own body
on the tree?
[PAUSE]
Well, he does and he doesn't.
The word St Peter uses
is not "bear" as in simply carry.
He uses a stronger word
which means to lift up
or hold aloft.
It's the same word
that is used
to describe how Jesus
brings Peter, James and John
up to the mountain
of His transfiguration.
It is the same word
that describes how
Jesus ascends into Heaven.
It is the same word
that describes how
priests offer up sacrifices.
Jesus doesn't just
bear our sins in His own body
on the tree,
He offers them up to God
as a priest
making a sacrifice of
atonement
on the altar of the Cross,
through His own blood.
This is why the Cross is a triumph,
this is why Our Lord's
"it is finished!"
is a cry of success
that the sacrifice has been made
through His blood
allowing us to be reconciled
with God.
Once we understand this,
we understand Isaiah's words
as meaning something deeper,
something more profound
than someone else being punished
for our own wrong-doing.
This is not a God
Who distances Himself from sinners.
This is not a God
Who is as enslaved to the law
as to ensure that
must exact every penny
from every transgression
or the universe will fall to bits.
This is a God
Who looks every sinner
full in the face
and opens the way back
wherever that sinner may be.
The Good Shepherd
lays down His life
as the sacrifice
on behalf of the sheep
in His care.
[PAUSE]
The extraordinary thing is
that the Sacrifice of the Cross
is the reason why
the Hebrews have a whole system
of sacrifices
before the Incarnation.
The sin-offerings
of the Jewish Priests
are so that those born before Jesus
can take part in His Sacrifice.
His Sacrifice completes theirs
and His Sacrifice
is brought to us
in the Sacrifice of the Mass.
The Cross may take place
at one point in our History
but it spreads both forwards
and backwards in Time
so that all God's people
receive the benefit of
Our Lord's atoning sacrifice.
[PAUSE]
And we are to be like Our Lord.
We have the ability
to offer up in our suffering
a sacrifice to God
on behalf of all
who are suffering
as we are.
Yes, we must humbly accept
the consequences of our sins.
These consequences
are son's punishment.
But this punishment
ends with our death
and our resurrection
in Christ.
But we can bear
in our sufferings
our illnesses
and life's injustices
the sickness of the world
and through our participation
in the sacrifice of Christ
we bring His life
into a dying world.
That is how a Christian
is to bear punishment.
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