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During this Holy Week, we commemorate how Christ was accused of blasphemy and then arrested, mocked, tortured, and crucified. Why did it happen? Why did He allow this to happen? Why would He offer Himself to be killed?
Throughout history, people had been offering animal sacrifices to God to atone for their sins. These sacrifices had to be done repeatedly because sinning against God is a grave matter, and no animal sacrifice could sufficiently repair the damage sin had done to the relationship between God and the people. Jesus, in His love for us, offered Himself to be the perfect sacrifice to restore this relationship. What did this look like?
Recall that, right before His death, Jesus talked about a grain of wheat needing to die in order to bear much fruit (see John 12:24). This is true of other plants, too. Their seeds have to be buried in order to become fruitful plants. Some things, like eggs, peanuts, and sunflower seeds, don’t have to die but do have to be broken open to be useful to us.
Let’s take this imagery and apply it to Christ. Jesus was born fully human and fully God. Being human meant His body was just like ours, and He felt the same emotions we feel. Being God meant He was filled with all divine goodness, including love, joy, peace, hope, and all the other attributes of Love. When Jesus was beaten and crucified, His body was ripped open by the scourging, the crown of thorns, the nails, and the sword. As you picture these events happening, imagine all of His love, joy, peace, and all the goodness of His Spirit escaping the confines of His body and being poured out upon the spectators at Calvary and then the whole world. Similar to how a seed dies so that a tree can grow from it, Christ willingly gave up His body so that His Spirit inside could ‘escape,’ in a sense. In other words, Christ had to be broken open and killed so that the power of God’s Love, and all it contains, could be showered down upon the world.
And it didn’t end there. Because of His resurrection, this ‘showering’ of His love, peace, joy, hope, and all the rest continues today through us, when we let His Spirit, the Scriptures, and the sacraments move us to make our own personal sacrifices to share His Love with others.
As we reflect on the events of this most Holy Week, let’s give thanks to our Lord, Who gave up His life to show us His Way of Love and bring us back to God.
“If he gives his life as an offering for sin… the will of the Lord shall be accomplished through him.” – Isaiah 53:10
Open my eyes, that I may see You. Open my ears, that I may hear You. Open my heart, that I may love You in the people around me.
Thank you for reading my reflection. All thanks to God for giving me the ideas and guiding my words! © 2025 Gina Bedell
Through these reflections, I invite you, the reader, to reflect on a given topic and then seek deeper answers through prayer, additional spiritual reading, and/or consultation with clergy or other qualified persons in order to grow in your faith and understanding of God’s love and will for your life.
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P.S.
Pray for peace at home and around the world. Donate to a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the people around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.
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