The Passion of Christ is a subject usually discussed in the spring, during the Easter season. There is a good reason for that, which I’ll get into, but the Passion of Christ is not just for Easter alone. Christmas provides us with a wider view, and therefore another reason to discuss this important subject. To understand what the Passion of Christ is, we’ll look at three different views of it.
The Passion of Christ is associated with Easter due to its religious celebration. The term “the Passion of Christ” in that context is referring to the week of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. It’s remembering the events of the week beginning with Palm Sunday when Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem and culminating in His suffering.
This is due to the original meaning of the word passion:
Although Jesus did suffer and suffer greatly, I believe that we do Him a disservice by focusing on His suffering alone. This misdirected focus can cause us to:
However, there is more to the Passion of Christ than the celebration of Easter.
Another thing we think of when we ask what is the Passion of Christ, is the epic film, The Passion of the Christ (2004) by Mel Gibson. This movie depicts the extreme suffering and crucifixion of Jesus and was controversial with many people.
There was a lot of hoopla in the media, and in some churches as well:
One thing that’s interesting about the movie is the lack of screen time given to depict the resurrection. It was so short that some people didn’t even notice it. I had a pastor tell me the movie left that part out. Although he was not correct, I understood how it could’ve been missed because the scene was only one and a half minutes long. The resurrection deserves more than a minute and a half. There is more to the Passion of Christ than the movie.
Although the Easter view and the movie view aren’t incorrect, they need a larger view. To begin this larger view, I’d like to take a look at what the words passion and Christ actually mean.
Passion means more than just suffering. Over the years the definition has come to mean strong emotion, both good and bad. Sometimes even referred to as uncontrollable. But digging a little deeper I found that passion originally meant, “A willingness to suffer for what you love.”
Christ is not Jesus’ last name and isn’t simply referring to a person. The word means the anointed one and identifies Jesus as the Messiah prophesied from the book of Genesis.
These definitions speak to the “why.” Why is there the Passion of Christ? The Passion of Christ is the unfailing, everlasting love of the Almighty Triune God, miraculously confined in a human body, suffering of His own volition for His beloved creation.
In a shorter sentence, the Passion of Christ is unconditional love on display in living color:
Jesus did what we could not do, and He did it all because of love. The Passion of Christ is God’s love for you and me. Merry Christmas.
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