From the Abbot

BEHOLD THE LAMB

Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

It was noon when it all began. John does not mention any darkness surrounding the cross. Can we therefore assume the heat of the day? Jesus said to fulfill scripture, “I am thirsty,” a reference to the lament of Psalm 69:21, “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.” Sour wine for the one who turned water to good wine at Cana.  Sour wine for the one who said, “I am the vine.” In heat of the day, the Vine said, “I am thirsty.”  

There more to this than a convenient verse to suggest a mocking satisfaction of thirst in the noon day sun. For Jesus, who seems strangely in control as he speaks from the cross, this is a final entry into the pain of incarnation. Ponder the opening verses of Psalm 69, let them be incarnated into your experiences.

“Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.

I sink deep in mire, where there is no foothold.

I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.

I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched.

My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.”

“When Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’” Upon the cross, the descent of the Word into human flesh has been completed so that the ascent of humankind into God may begin. The ascent into God begins with Christ’s completion of this scripture. In the Psalm, after the offer of vinegar to drink, there are the typical revenge words of a lament psalm, “Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see… Let them be blotted out…” angry words we have formed on own lips in own way. But Jesus does not go there. The lament is completed without words of revenge. Here, at the cross, there are no enemies for Jesus, only those for whom Jesus would die, only those whose sins are taken away. Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

Even though Jesus said, “It is finished,” it wasn’t over. A soldier pierced his side and blood and water gushed out. John remembered the words of Zechariah 12 and 13, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced,” a passage that ends with these words, “On that day, a fountain shall be opened…to cleanse them from sin and impurity.” It is now finished. It has now begun. The fountain begins to flow, gushing, inundating, a sacramental torrent that cleanses the world from sin and impurity. Jesus’ thirst is for you to know that this is for all, and if it is for all, it is for you. You cannot quench your thirst for life, or even your need for revenge, but in the incarnational mystery of the cross, Jesus meets you in your pain and carries you into abundant life. According to John, it is God’s nature to descend into our experience in order that we ascend into God. Again and again the risen Lord then descends into your darkness, into the locked room of your powerlessness, shows you the marks of the nails and the scar of a spear and says, “Peace be with you.” With those words, we are drawn into the oneness that is God.

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, grant us your peace.