passion

Sunday at church my pastor went through the events of Passion week. Having just come back from Israel a month ago, it gave me a fresh look on these events. He discussed the Gethsemane experience which is mentioned in all four gospel accounts (John 14:1-18:12; Mark 14:26, 32-52; Matthew 26:30, 36-56; and Luke 22:39-53). He pointed out how Jesus' humanity was showed at this moment. Jesus was 100% God and 100% man, and at this moment that was revealed. The Bible says He sweat drops of blood as He prayed “Let this cup pass from me.” This was not because He was afraid of what was to happen. He did not fear the upcoming torture and death. No, it was the stress caused from becoming sin. He became sin so that we could have life. He didn't just take on the sin of the worst sinners. He took on every sin that had ever been committed or ever will be committed. He took on my sin. He did it because He loves us, because He is passionate towards us.

Today in chapel, they played a clip from the Passion of the Christ. It was like being forced to watch a horror show. You want to look away. You want to run away from it, from the truth. No one wants to think about what actually happened on the day that Jesus became sin. No one wants to take the blame for that. The truth is though, that it was my sin that did that.

Sometimes in my head I romanticize the cross. It's like I'm saying in my head, “He died for me. Yay!” I choose not to think about the reality of His death and all that happened to Him on that day. When the clip from the movie first started, it began at the part where He comes through the gate with the cross. The man, Joseph, was already helping Him at this point in the movie. Jesus had been brutally beaten and scourged to the point of death (Mark 15:16-23; Matthew 27:27-34; Luke 23:26-33; John 19:16-17). I was reminded again of all He suffered through. Last Sunday at church when we were going through this, someone pointed out that He held His life in. It was as if at any moment during all that happened to Him that day He could have died, but He held off His death to endure more. In the book of Isaiah, it says that He would be marred more than any man. He was unrecognizable. He could have just given up and died and He didn't (Mark 15:24-46; Matthew 27:35-60; Luke 23:33-56; John 19:18-42).

Throughout the rest of the clip we watched, I just kept thinking about all the things I gloss over in my life. I justify the things I do. I don't consider all He did for me. My sin is an offense to Him and what He went through that day. What's really sad is the fact that I only dwell on these things at Easter. Why do we get so caught up in our lives that we forget what He's done?

The last thing my pastor said on Sunday before closing in prayer was “When all seems lost, all is gained.” I can't live my life feeling guilty about what I have done or chosen not to do in the past. What Christ did on the cross gives me the grace to make it right today and the next day. May we face the truth of what He did for us on the cross and not take it for granted any longer. There is so much to gain.