What does the term “the passion of Christ” mean? It refers to the few days or the brief time before His death, burial, and resurrection.
It is about the suffering, torture, extreme pain, and difficulties Christ went through leading up to being hung on the cross and dying for us all.
The passion of Christ is often remembered and commemorated every year during Holy Week – the week leading up to Resurrection Sunday.
One very fruitful discipleship activity a believer and his or her family can do during your celebration of the resurrection is to take time to read and meditate on the passion and resurrection passages in one or all four gospels.
Those passages include Matthew 26–28; Mark 14–16; Luke 22–24 and John 18–20.
There are several reasons to read through the Holy Week narratives.
They paint a fuller, richer, and much more accurate portrait of the suffering, torture, and harrowing treatment Christ endured – all because He loved us. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit loved the world so much that they were willing to endure all of this – so that we could spend eternity with them.
Each gospel shares truths that help us better understand God’s amazing love for us.
Also, it can be very amazing and difficult to comprehend so much of Christ’s sacrifice and endurance.
Consider some of these truths.
The Creator of the universe allowed some of His creatures to arrest Him, unjustly try Him, slap Him, spit on Him, insult Him, and beat Him.
Christ could have chosen to end all of this torture and abuse, but He allowed it to continue.
He further allowed human beings to put nails into His hands and feet and nail Him to a cruel cross. Then He was willing to hang on the cross for many tortuous hours before He died.
Why would our blessed Creator do all of this for sinful human beings? He did it because of His amazing love and grace.
You can listen to the reading of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection on the following broadcast of The Hour of Intercession on AFR.
