Friday
of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Exodus
11:10-12:14; Matthew 12:1-8)
A simple but
majestic painting by the Spanish master Zurbarán shows a lamb being prepared
for slaughter. The lamb’s feet are bound,
and its facial expression is of passivity.
The painting is entitled “Lamb of God” who, of course, is Jesus
Christ. The idea for the painting finds
its origin in today’s first reading.
The reading
from Exodus tells of God’s ordering Hebrew families to prepare a lamb for
sacrifice. The lamb represents the
people’s prayer for protection as they are being liberated from Pharoah’s slavery. In the gospels Jesus is referred to as the “Lamb
of God” whose death on the cross frees the world of its sins.
Christians
exult in the Blood of the Lamb of God.
By our faith and Baptism we are justified. Living lovingly in accord with Christ’s teachings
we will inherit eternal life.
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