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Tuesday, April 23, 2019

The Passion of Christ {Luke 22}



 Image result for luke 22:3

 Please read Luke 22


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!

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

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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.