GOOD FRIDAY .......... 22.04.11

RANDOM REFLECTIONS

GOOD FRIDAY .......... 22.04.11

JOHN 18:1-40, 19:1-42 .... THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO JOHN.

The mass is not celebrated on Good Friday because Christ as  High Priest and Victim offers himself on the cross as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins and also as an atoning sacrifice to reconcile us to God.That is why the curtain in the Temple separating the Holy of Holies is torn into two giving us free access to God. This is symbolised in the church service when the cloth covering the cross is removed in stages during the veneration of the cross. This is again symbolised when Christ is stripped of his garments and is crucified naked on the cross. All these symbols are divine realities.

But the holy communion is distributed to strengthen us during the Passover on the Cross when Christ succeeds in defeating Satan and obtains forgiveness of sins and salvation for all of us believers. The final proof that Christ succeeded in his salvific mission is the event of his bodily resurrection. God the Father hears the plea of our Mediator Jesus Christ approves his sacrifice and raises him to life.

Now we can be well assured of our individual salvation and forgiveness of our sins provided our repentance has been sincere. Christ for our sake becomes the Lamb of God and the Scape Goat which was symbolically sacrificed on the Day of Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is the Day of atonement for the Jews.

God bless