On Dominica de Passione, the Church begins to turn her face more intently toward Calvary. The statues and crucifixes are veiled, not because Christ is absent, but because His Passion must now be contemplated with new depth: hidden, yet approaching its full revelation. In this holy context, the lectionary gives us two profound passages: Hebrews 9:11–15, and John 8:46–59. Together, they place before us both the sacrificial priesthood of Christ and His eternal divinity, scorned by men but exalted in truth.
The Greater and More Perfect Tabernacle (Hebrews 9:11–15)
“But Christ being come an high priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands…” (Heb 9:11)
Here, the author of Hebrews reveals to us the unique High Priesthood of Jesus Christ, not in the line of Aaron, but in the eternal order of Melchisedech, as prefigured in Genesis 14. The Levitical priests entered into the Holy of Holies yearly with the blood of animals, but Christ has entered once for all into the true sanctuary—Heaven itself—with His own Blood, securing eternal redemption.
St. John Chrysostom comments beautifully on this passage:
“He offered not another’s blood but His own. The soul is more precious than the body, and the blood is the life of the body. He gave the more precious for the less. And He entered into heaven itself, not into a man-made sanctuary. He opens the way to the true Holy of Holies for us.”
(Homily on Hebrews 17)
The veiling of the sanctuary during Passiontide reflects this movement from the earthly shadows to the heavenly realities. What was once hidden behind the veil in the Temple—the mercy seat, the place of God’s presence—is now revealed in Christ, but paradoxically, through His suffering and death. The veiling now is not to conceal, but to prepare us to see with spiritual eyes the glory of the Cross.
Before Abraham Was, I Am (John 8:46–59)
In the Gospel, Christ confronts the Jews who seek to stone Him—not for a work of mercy, but for what they perceive as blasphemy. He declares, “Before Abraham was made, I am.” (John 8:58)
This is not poetic license. It is the tetragrammaton, the holy Name revealed to Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3:14): Ego sum qui sum — “I AM WHO AM.” Christ is not merely the Messiah; He is the Eternal Word, consubstantial with the Father.
St. Augustine reflects on this moment:
“As man, He was made; as God, He always was. Before Abraham was, I am—not ‘I was’—but ‘I am.’ For in God there is no past and future, only the eternal present.”
(Tractates on the Gospel of John, 43.16)
The Lord’s divine identity is thus fully revealed, yet it is met with rejection, stones, and hatred. The Cross is already casting its shadow over this moment. And it is fitting that this Gospel is read on Passion Sunday, for it confronts us with the same mystery: Will we believe in the Crucified as the Eternal One?
The Cross: Scandal and Glory
Both readings point us toward a mystery that the human mind, unaided by grace, finds repugnant. The blood of the Cross, the self-offering of the Son, and the eternal pre-existence of the God-man—these are stumbling blocks to the worldly, yet the very foundation of our redemption.
St. Leo the Great declares:
“By dying He destroyed death; by rising He restored life. That we might be justified by faith, He showed forth both His true humanity in suffering and His true divinity in power.”
(Sermon 54, On the Passion)
The Lenten journey now deepens: the veils remind us that something more terrible and more beautiful is coming. We cannot yet behold it fully. Like Moses, we are shielded in the cleft of the rock until the glory passes by (cf. Exodus 33:22). The glory we shall see is a Man on a Cross—God crucified.
A Final Meditation
As we enter Passiontide, let us keep before our eyes these truths:
- Christ is both Priest and Victim, who offers not the blood of goats, but His own, that we might be cleansed even to our consciences.
- Christ is I AM, the Eternal Word, who humbles Himself to suffer at the hands of men.
- The Cross is not an accident, but the chosen altar of divine love.
Let us therefore respond not with stones or indifference, but with adoration and penance, that we may follow Him to Calvary, and through it, to glory.
“We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee, because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.”