Good Friday is the day Christians the world over, commemorate the death of Jesus on the cross, bringing to a close the 40-day Lenten period of prayer and penance.
Jesus' death on the cross had all the elements of a perfect sacrifice. Just as the early Jewish community considered it essential to celebrate the Jewish Passover by eating the Paschal lamb, Jesus initiated the Holy Eucharist on the night before he died by taking bread and wine, giving it to his Apostles saying "Take and eat for this is my body, and this is my blood. Do this in memory of me".
By dying on the cross, Jesus became the true lamb by shedding his blood in place of the sacrificial rite of the slaughtered lamb. It is for this reason, John the Baptist refers to Jesus as the "lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (Jn 1: 29).
