The Passion of Christ {Luke 22}
12:00 AM
Have
you ever truly wondered what the “Passion of Christ” really is? If you were like me, you grew up and lived
your parent’s faith and didn’t truly grasp the enormity of Lent, Holy Week and
Easter.
As
a young adult, I recall standing during Palm Sunday and listening to “The
Passion” being read. Palm Sunday became
so incredibly significant to me that day.
It occurred to me that I nail Christ to the cross!
This
year, I seemed to withdraw a bit more during Lent and became silent and
reflective as I wanted to better understand “The Passion of Christ”.
St.
Augustine said, “A single tear shed at
the remembrance of the Passion of Jesus is worth more than a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem, or a year of fasting on bread and water.”
A
good way to connect with Christ’s Passion during this time of year is to begin
by focusing on the empathy we have for the people we know best. Christ was torn away from family and friends
in the prime of life to be unjustly executed.
If this were to happen to someone in our circle, it would leave us
reeling!
Now,
consider that Christ laid down His life in order to connect with us in our
suffering. This can be very difficult to
comprehend, but simultaneously Christ loved ALL of mankind and each one of us
individually so as to become the best friend we could possibly have.
On
Good Friday, as I read Psalm 145-147, I could not help but feel the connection
to Jesus. Tears streamed down my face as
I read, “Your kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in ALL He promises
and faithful in ALL He does. The LORD
upholds all who fall and lifts ups all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them
their food at the proper time.”
145:13-16,
and
then, “His pleasure is not in the
strength of the horse, nor His delight in the legs of the warrior; the LORD
delights in those who fear HIM, who put their hope in HIS unfailing love.” 147:10-11
Have
you ever felt the sweetest embrace ever and physically, no one was there? Well, Friday morning I did and I could hardly
contain myself.
How
should we feel about our best friend being crucified to save us? In that moment, when the world despised our best
friend enough to put Him to a brutal death, we would be one of the few who knew
how truly good He was and we would be anguished to see Him so misunderstood and
mistreated. Would we be sad to lose Him and
want to put ourselves in His place?
What Christ accomplished is not something we could accomplish because He was the only One pure enough to offer a sacrifice to God that would redeem the world!
What Christ accomplished is not something we could accomplish because He was the only One pure enough to offer a sacrifice to God that would redeem the world!
But the perfect nature of Christ’s sacrifice has made it possible for us to unite ourselves to His suffering. Something miraculous happens when we allow our lives to be unified to Christ on the cross.
Have
you thought that Christ died for;
Herod
Pontius
Pilate
Judas
Saul
Attila
the Hun
Adolf
Hitler
Joseph
Stalin
The
girls you have always thought were laughing at you
The
boss who fired you
The
boss who keeps insisting you do the one task you know is wrong
The
teacher or coach who is unfair to your child/grandchild
The
driver who just cut you off
The
clerk who was extremely rude
Your
best friend who simply doesn’t understand your faith and mocks you
Your
wayward child
One
of the most miraculous revelations we have ever received is when Jesus cried “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are
doing.” Luke 23:34
Those
words go on and echo the profound truths revealed to us in the moment of Christ’s
redemptive sacrifice.
Just
because we’ve celebrated Easter, let us not forget the Passion of Christ. Remember the amazing life He lived and all He
gave up. Weep for His loss, offer up
your own sufferings with His perfect sacrifice, forgive those who have wronged
you, and you will experience the miraculous power of God’s love.
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