Jesus offers himself as a sacrifice for us. He gives himself completely.
"Take it; this is my body."
Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them,
and they all drank from it.
He said to them,
"This is my blood of the covenant,
which will be shed for many.
Jesus is able to fulfill the old covenant promise of obedience where no one else could. He actually does do "everything that the LORD has told us." All of the old sacrifices find their true meaning in the one sacrifice of the obedient Son. He gives his body and blood from the cross for our salvation because it is the Father's will. He brings this sacrifice to the sanctuary of heaven to obtain eternal redemption for us. It was impossible for the old covenant to take away sin. It wasn't meant to. It was meant to reveal our need for Jesus. All the old sacrifices look forward to the feast we celebrate today.
Now that the new and perfect sacrifice has been made it does not mean that things are done and over. Rather, we must keep the feast. We must continue to feast on the sacrificial offerings of flesh and blood. It is precisely in this communion that the fruits of the sacrifice are communicated to us.
For if the blood of goats and bulls
and the sprinkling of a heifer's ashes
can sanctify those who are defiled
so that their flesh is cleansed,
how much more will the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God,
cleanse our consciences from dead works
to worship the living God.
The sacramental life of the Church is how we receive the grace of this new passover. Baptism washes us with the living water that pours from the side of Christ. Communion cleanses our consciences from dead works. It allows Christ's own obedience to be manifest in us by transforming us more and more to be like the one whom we receive. Dead works are vestiges of the old life, habits and tendencies that remain even after baptism. Even after confirmation, even for those who regularly attend confession and are in a state of grace, we all need the grace of the Eucharist to conform our lives to Christ. It is not merely a nicety. It is the bread from heaven that sustains us on our journey.
Though we cannot earn the blessings of the Eucharistic feast it doesn't matter. Jesus earns them for us. He pays the price. He makes the acceptable offering. We not only receive the fruit of it. His Church joins him in offering this perfect sacrifice. We are given grace to give the perfect offering to the Father. This is the grace into which we are invited to enter. It's amazing and inexhaustible. Let us keep the feast.
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
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