passion death and resurrection of jesus essay

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The Resurrection of Christ and Salvation

Other essays.

Because of our union with Christ, we share in his justification; his resurrection-approved righteousness is reckoned as ours, imputed to us.

This essay examines the relation of the resurrection of Christ to the salvation he provides. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the ground of the believer’s standing before God and of the hinge of transformed life.

Introduction

In making use of the Nicene Creed in our worship, we confess in part about the Lord Jesus Christ that he

for us and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried; and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father; and he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

Together with the rest of the “one holy catholic and apostolic” church down through the centuries, we affirm what has achieved and continues to secure our salvation: the death, resurrection, ascension, and heavenly session of the incarnate Son, the eternal Son of God become man.

This confession prompts the question I want to consider here. How specifically is the resurrection “for our salvation”? What in particular is the saving efficacy, or “efficiency,” of the resurrection? Or, to ask the question negatively, without the resurrection, what would become of our salvation?

To the question of how Christ’s death is for our salvation, virtually every Christian will likely have a ready and heartfelt answer: he died that my sins might be forgiven, to bear in my place the eternal punishment my sin deserves. Most if not all believers grasp in some measure the saving truth of penal substitution, of Christ’s “once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God” (Westminster Shorter Catechism, 25). At the same time, however, it seems fair to say that in general Christians are not as clear about the answer to our question about the saving efficacy of the resurrection.

No Resurrection, No Salvation

It should be immediately apparent that the death of a dead Christ, a Christ who remains dead, achieves nothing for our salvation. Paul makes that clear in 1Cor 15. If Christ hasn’t been raised, then our faith is “futile” or “useless,” and we are “still in [our] sins” – entirely – and our situation all told is “most to be pitied” (vv. 17, 19). Minus the resurrection, death continues with unabated, invincible finality, and it does so as “the wages of sin” we so justly deserve (Rom 6:23).

Certainly without the death of Christ there is no salvation, but then neither is there any salvation without the resurrection. His resurrection, no less than his death, is at the heart of the gospel (Rom1:3-4; 1Cor 15:3-4). The resurrection is often viewed primarily as the awesome miracle that validates the truth of Christianity and the gospel. But it is more than such crowning evidence – much more.

Sin, Salvation, and the Resurrection

Salvation on its negative side is salvation from sin. All too evidently the destructive consequences of sin are virtually incalculable, its misery untold. At the same time, those innumerable consequences are basically twofold. First, sin affects our standing before God; it renders us guilty, liable to his just judgment and condemnation. Second, it affects our condition, in that it leaves us thoroughly corrupt and enslaved to Satan and sin as the power that dominates our lives. The depth of sin’s effects is such that, left to ourselves, apart from God’s saving grace, we are nothing less than “dead in … trespasses and sins” (Eph 2:1, 5). Sin leaves the sinner both inexcusably guilty and helplessly enslaved.

“But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (Rom 5:20; NKJV). As the effects of sin, in its abounding, are either one of two basic kinds, so too, in countering and alleviating these effects, grace – manifold, superabounding in its effects – is basically twofold. Grace is either judicial or renovative, reversing either our guilt-ridden standing before God or our corrupt, sin-enslaved condition. The role of the resurrection in bringing about that reversal can be seen here by focusing on justification and sanctification.

The Resurrection and Justification

For justification, a key text is Rom 4:25: Jesus “was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” Earlier in Romans, Paul has said that Christ’s death was a propitiatory sacrifice, so that God might be “just and the justifier” of believers (3:25-26). Later he says that “we have now been justified by his blood” (5:9). In 4:25, however, justification is connected specifically with Christ’s resurrection in distinction from his sacrificial death.

How are we to understand that connection? On the basis of his life of obedience, culminating in his death as the representative sin-bearer and righteous substitute for sinners (Phil 2:8; Rom 3:25; 8:3; 2Cor 5:21), Christ’s resurrection is his own justification. This is so in the sense that the action of God in raising him from the dead – that enlivening act itself – vindicates him in his obedience and effectively demonstrates his righteousness. The resurrection, then, is a de facto declaration of his righteous standing before God. As an event, Christ’s resurrection “speaks,” and it does so judicially, in a legal manner.

First Timothy 3:16 confirms this. There Christ is described as “manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit” (NKJV). This almost certainly has in view the Holy Spirit’s action in raising Jesus from the dead (Rom 8:11). This response by the Spirit was justly warranted by the righteousness manifested in Jesus’ obedience “in the flesh,” that is, during his life on earth prior to the resurrection.

But the justification of Christ in his resurrection was not just for his own sake, apart from us; it was also for us, “for our justification.” Our justification flows from our union with him, by Spirit-worked faith, along with the other benefits of salvation manifested by that union (Westminster Larger Catechism, 69). Because of our union with him, then, we share in his justification; his resurrection-approved righteousness is reckoned as ours, imputed to us.

At the same time, this union preserves a key difference – a gospel difference – not to be missed. Christ’s justification, unlike ours, does not involve the imputation to him of the righteousness of another. Unlike us, he is declared righteous on the ground of his own lifelong, blood-bought righteousness.

Calvin has beautifully captured this reality:

Therefore, that joining together of Head and members, that indwelling of Christ in our hearts – in short, that mystical union – are accorded by us the highest degree of importance, so that Christ, having been made ours, makes us sharers with him in the gifts with which he has been endowed. We do not, therefore, contemplate him outside ourselves from afar in order that his righteousness may be imputed to us but because we put on Christ and are engrafted into his body-in short, because he deigns to make us one with him. For this reason, we glory that we have fellowship of righteousness with him (Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3.11.10).

The Resurrection and Sanctification

How then is the resurrection essential for our sanctification – for the renovative side of salvation, for lives pleasing to God and marked by holiness? That question can be answered along a number of lines, including the one we will follow here.

Again, as with justification, union with Christ is crucial. We are united with him in his death and resurrection, signified and sealed to us in baptism, “in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4). Here the resurrection of Christ is linked specifically with the newness that marks the Christian life. That newness surely has in view Christ’s life as resurrected, the resurrection life he shares with those who are united to him.

The source and quality of this life are further clarified in Romans 8:11: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” What God the Father did in raising Jesus from the dead he will also do for believers. The controlling thought here is the tie or unity that there is between the bodily resurrection of Christ and that of Christians.

The intrinsic nature of that unity is made most explicit in 1Cor 15:20, 23. There Christ is described as “the firstfruits” of the resurrection. To extend the metaphor as Paul surely intends, his resurrection and ours are the beginning and the end of one, single harvest.

Christ’s resurrection is, as is often said, the guarantee of ours, but we should appreciate that this is so because his resurrection is nothing less than “the actual beginning of this general epochal event” (Geerhardus Vos, Pauline Eschatology, p. 45).

As believers, we can be sure of our own resurrection, not only because God has decreed it and promised it (which would surely be enough for us!), but because he has done more: that decree has been realized, that promise has already been fulfilled, in history; the resurrection harvest in which believers will share bodily at the end of history, when Christ returns, has already begun. It has entered history and become visible in his resurrection.

The Resurrection, the Holy Spirit, and the Christian

Romans 8:11, as it highlights this resurrection unity, brings into view the activity of the Holy Spirit. God will resurrect us bodily, as he did Jesus, through the enlivening action of the Spirit. But more is said here than what will be true in the future. The Spirit of resurrection is the indwelling Spirit; he is already present in believers. This points us to a fundamental truth about the Christian life: life in the Spirit is sharing in the resurrection life of Christ.

That comes out clearly in the verses that immediately precede (vv. 9-10). Four combinations are present there: (1) “you … in the Spirit,” (2) “the Spirit … in you,” (3) to “belong to him [Christ]” – equivalent here to “you … in Christ,” and (4) “Christ … in you.” These expressions hardly intend to split the believer’s life into four different sectors; together they provide a unified, overall perspective on that life.

In this mutual indwelling, Christ and the Spirit are one. In their presence and activity, the Spirit is “the Spirit of Christ” (v. 9). There is no relationship, no union with Christ, that is not at the same time fellowship with the Spirit. There is no work of the Spirit in our lives that is not also the presence of Christ at work in us (see Eph. 3:16-17).

This inseparable bond between Christ and the Spirit does not begin with our experience; rather, it rests on what is first of all true in the experience of Christ. In 1Cor 15, we are told that Christ, the last Adam, as the “firstfruits” of the resurrection harvest, became the “life-giving Spirit” (v. 45). At his resurrection, he was not only glorified by being transformed in his human nature by the enlivening power of the Spirit. He also came into a possession of the Spirit that was so climactic, so unprecedented, so overflowing, that it is properly captured by calling him the “life-giving Spirit.”

Note that this in no way compromises the personal distinction between Christ and the Spirit. The eternal, essential distinction and equality between the second and third persons of the Trinity remain unchanged. But because of who Christ, in his human nature, has become in his state of exaltation, he and the Spirit are now one in their work of giving life. This life is nothing less than resurrection life in the Spirit. As we have seen, this is not only a future hope, but already a present reality for believers.

Of course, the bond between Christ and the Spirit did not begin at the resurrection. Christ was conceived by the Spirit (Luke 1:35), and the Spirit later descended on him at his baptism by John (Luke 3:21-22).

The difference, the momentous difference, is this: At his baptism, Christ received the Spirit as an endowment to carry out the messianic task before him, the task that ultimately led to the cross. But in his exaltation, in his resurrection leading to his ascension (Acts 2:32-33), he received the Spirit as the consummate reward for having completed that assigned kingdom task. And he does not keep this reward for “his own private use” (Calvin); the Spirit becomes the consummate gift that he shares permanently with his people at Pentecost.

So, Jesus Christ – the resurrected, life-giving Spirit – has promised us: “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20). He is with the church to stay, indwelling believers as he provides every spiritual blessing and resource that we need to carry out our church-building and kingdom-expanding task of discipling the nations. So, too, as the life-giving Spirit, he is present with us in a special, sacramental way when he invites us to commune with him at his table.

Even More Than That

How, then, was Christ resurrected “for us and for our salvation”? I have done little more here than to begin considering the answer. I have not yet taken note of what is as important as anything: Christ, “who died – more than that, who was raised,” intercedes for us at God’s right hand (Rom 8:33-34). And that intercession of Christ, resurrected and ascended, as gracious as it is hardly gratuitous, refutes any and every charge that would call into question the justification of God’s elect. Moreover, it insures, with an infallible efficacy, that “they can never fall from the state of justification” (Westminster Confession of Faith, 11.5).

Finally, consider Rom 8:29. God’s predestinating purpose for believers centers ultimately in their being “conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” This “image” is the Son’s as he is resurrected, specifically in his now-glorified human nature. He is “the firstborn among many brothers” only as he is “the firstborn from the dead” (Col 1:18).

Our privilege, great beyond our comprehension, is this: we have been chosen in Christ “before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4) to the ultimate end that we be like Christ. This conformity to his image, already being worked in us by the sanctifying power of the Spirit (2Cor 3:18; Gal 4:19), will be fully realized when, like him, we are raised bodily.

But there is more to this than what is ultimate for us. Even more ultimate in God’s predestinating purposes is what is at stake for the Son personally in our salvation, what he has invested for himself. This, as much as anything, is why from all eternity the Son willed, together with the Father and the Spirit, to become incarnate, to suffer and die. He did so, so that, having been resurrected triumphant over sin and death, he might have brothers like himself – brothers glorified not because of anything in themselves, but entirely because of his saving mercy. They will share with him in this triumph and magnify forever his own preeminent exaltation glory. And so his “kingdom shall have no end.”

Surely there can be no more ultimate perspective on Christ’s resurrection “for us and for our salvation” than this.

Note: This essay first appeared in New Horizons, April, 2017, under the title, “For Us and For Our Salvation.” Used here with permission.

Lesson 8: On Our Lord's Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension

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"Behold the Lamb of God"

An easter celebration, richard neitzel holzapfel , frank f. judd jr. , and thomas a. wayment , editors, the lamb of god: unique aspects of the passion narrative in john, eric d. huntsman.

Eric D. Huntsman, “The Lamb of God: Unique Aspects of the Passion Narrative in John,” in Behold the Lamb of God: An Easter Celebration , ed. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, Frank F. Judd Jr., and Thomas A. Wayment (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2008), 49–70.

Eric D. Huntsman was an assistant professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University when this was published.

Although different than the synoptic Gospels through much of its narrative, the Gospel of John, in chapters 12–20, joins the other Gospel accounts for the basic sequence of events of Jesus’s last week, from the Triumphal Entry through the Resurrection. In particular, the similarities among the four Passion narratives (see Matthew 26–27; Mark 14–15; Luke 22–23; John 13–19) have led scholars to postulate the existence of a primitive Passion narrative source, whether oral or written, that John and the other Gospel authors may have drawn from in crafting their accounts of the pivotal events from the Last Supper through Jesus’s death on the cross. [1] Nevertheless, despite the basic correspondence in events and sequences, the Johannine Passion narrative still exhibits some surprising differences, notably, the timing of the Last Supper and the Crucifixion, which John actually places before the Passover; the omission in the account of the Last Supper of the institution of what we would call the sacrament ; the addition of the practice of the washing of feet and the long discourses at the Last Supper; the omission of any report of Jesus’s suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane; the portrayal of Jesus’s carrying His own cross all the way to Golgotha without any reference to Simon of Cyrene; and the words “It is finished” before Jesus expires upon the cross.

Two features of John’s Gospel seem particularly important for explaining the difference in how John chose to portray these events. The first is John’s unusually high Christology. Christology focuses on the person and work of Jesus by explaining what it means for Jesus to be the Son of God and emphasizing what He did for the salvation of mankind. The different themes and perspectives of each Gospel author result in slightly different Christological emphases. For instance, while all four Gospels agree on the work of Jesus—namely that He died for the sins of the world and conquered death through the Resurrection—they focus on different aspects of His role as the Son of God. Mark, for instance, focuses on Jesus’s authoritative ministry, beginning his account with God recognizing Jesus as His son at Jesus’s baptism and demonstrating through Jesus’s miracles and teaching authority that He is God’s Son. Matthew and Luke go back further, showing that Jesus is indeed the Son of God because of His divine conception and miraculous birth. [2] John, however, exhibits a preexistence Christology, teaching that Jesus was the Divine Son “in the beginning” (John 1:1) and revealing that His divinity continued, barely hidden, throughout His mortal ministry. [3] This Christological stance led John to portray Jesus differently than the other Gospels, emphasizing His strength, downplaying His suffering, and focusing on how Jesus accomplished His atoning mission alone. The second feature of John’s Gospel that substantively affected his Passion narrative is the thematic symbolism of Jesus as the Lamb of God. [4] Jesus is explicitly identified as the Lamb of God at the beginning of the Gospel, and this symbolism reemerges implicitly at the end of the Gospel, where the focus is on Jesus’s sacrificial death, where Jesus, like a Paschal Lamb, sheds His blood so that death—spiritual as well as physical—may pass over His people.

The Divine Word Made Flesh

The high Christology of John’s Gospel is established in the prologue of the work, the so-called Logos Hymn of John 1:1–18. Translated most simply as “word,” logos in Greek has a broad range of semantic meaning, representing not only spoken words but also the ideas behind the words and hence the means by which one person conveys his thoughts to another or puts his ideas into effect. [5] In this broader sense, Jesus is the Word of God because He is the means by which God’s ideas were effected, both in creation and in the ongoing governance of the universe. For John, however, Jesus was not only the Word with God, He was Himself God (see John 1:1). Thus with the first verse, the Gospel establishes the divinity of Jesus. According to John 1:14, this Divine Word, the source of life and light, “was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” The word translated “dwelt,” eskēnōsen , literally means “pitched his tent,” conjuring up the image of Jehovah dwelling in the midst of Old Testament Israel in the wilderness tabernacle. [6]

This single phrase, “and the Word was made flesh,” takes the place of the infancy narratives of Matthew 1–2 and Luke 1–2, but symbolic allusion to Jesus’s divine conception and miraculous birth may in fact be found in John’s account of the miracle at Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine (see John 2:1–11). [7] Although often seen in Latter-day Saint interpretation as a sign of Jesus’s mastery of the elements, and thus a sign that He was in fact their creator, [8] the symbolic equation of water with eternal life—and hence divinity—together with the association of wine with both blood and mortality presents another layer of possible meaning. In one of only two scenes in John’s Gospel in which Jesus’s mother is present, water becomes wine, perhaps indicating that the Divine Word became the man Jesus through the intermediate agent of Mary. [9] Nevertheless, while veiled in flesh, the Johannine Jesus continues to be the powerful Divine Word who knows all things beforehand (see John 13:1, 18:4) and whose human side only rarely peeks through, such as when Jesus grew tired and thirsty as He traveled through Samaria (see John 4:6–7). [10] This patent divinity, established in the prologue and asserted throughout the Gospel, affects how John portrays Jesus during the Passion.

John’s Jesus even speaks differently than normal, mortal men and women, as evidenced by what has been termed the semipoetic “divine speech” of Jesus. While the historical Jesus may not have spoken Aramaic any differently than other effective teachers of His time, the teachings of Jesus in John—particularly in the great discourses such as His dialogue with Nicodemus (see John 3:1–21), His discourse on the water of life with the Samaritan woman at the well (see John 4:4–42), His discourse on the Divine Son (see John 5:17–47), and His discourse on the Bread of Life (see John 6:26–59)—are rendered in Greek in an elevated style that reflects some of the elements of Hebrew poetry such as parallelism. The elevated style causes readers to esteem Jesus’s words even as the discourses themselves reveal how the divine Jesus was also the mortal Lamb who would be sacrificed so that they could have new life. [11]

The Lamb of God

Twice John recounts that John the Baptist identified Jesus by saying, “Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:29, 36). Although Jesus is not explicitly identified as such again in the Gospel, the Baptist’s testimony explicitly associated Jesus with the Paschal Lambs whose blood at the first Passover saved the children of Israel. While remaining the Divine Word that is the source of life, Jesus’s incarnation, perhaps symbolized by the miracle at Cana, veiled Him in flesh that He could sacrifice for His people. As the blood of the Paschal Lamb was put on the doorposts and lintels of each Israelite home on the first Passover, so would Christ’s blood be shed upon the cross. Christ on the cross is foreshadowed in the early chapters of the Gospel by repeated references to Jesus being lifted up. The first of these occurs during the dialogue with Nicodemus in chapter 3, when Jesus teaches Nicodemus that while Jesus is the one who brings eternal life through birth of the water and of the spirit, and though He came down from heaven, He must nonetheless be lifted up as the serpent in the wilderness (see John 3:14–15; see also 2 Nephi 25:20; Helaman 8:14–15). [12] Other references to Jesus being lifted up include one in John 8:28 during the Light of the World discourse and two in John 12:32–34 as Jesus reflects on the coming hour shortly after His Triumphal Entry to Jerusalem.

In addition to the blood of the Paschal Lamb being put on the doorway at the first Passover, an essential part of the Passover ceremony, at least until the destruction of the temple, was the consumption of the lamb’s meat in the Passover meal. The synoptics do not associate Jesus’s flesh with that of the Paschal Lamb until the institution of the sacrament at the Last Supper, where the broken bread represents the body of Christ. John instead introduces the image much earlier in the ministry during the pivotal Bread of Life discourse, when Jesus declares that He is the living bread from heaven and that anyone who eats His flesh will live forever (see John 6:51). Significantly, John notes that this discourse took place near the time of Passover (see John 6:4), foreshadowing what would actually happen during the final Passover of Jesus’s mortal ministry. [13]

The Timing of the Last Supper and the Crucifixion

The timing of Jesus’s last Passover, however, presents one of the most significant differences between John’s Passion narrative and that of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Whereas the synoptic Gospels clearly state that the Last Supper was a Passover meal (see Matthew 26:17–20; Mark 14:12–17; Luke 22:1, 7–14), John never explicitly identifies the Last Supper as a traditional seder or Passover meal. On the contrary, the narrative of John seems to suggest that the Passover actually began at sunset on the day that Jesus was crucified—in other words, according to traditional reckoning on Friday evening rather than Thursday evening (see John 18:28; 19:31, in which the preparation day was likely the day when the Passover was prepared). [14] This timing appears to have been significant for John because of its connection to the slaying of the Paschal Lambs before the Passover festival. According to Josephus, on the preparation day leading up to Passover, lambs were slaughtered in the temple beginning at the ninth hour and continuing until the eleventh hour, [15] so the sacrifices would be completed before the festival began at sundown. While John does not give an actual time for Jesus’s death on the cross, the synoptics indicate that He died at or near the ninth hour (see Matthew 27:46–50; Mark 15:34–37; Luke 23:44–46). In other words, Jesus, the Lamb of God, died as a sacrifice on the cross at the moment that the priests of the temple began slaughtering the Paschal Lambs.

Reconciling John’s timing with the synoptics’ is difficult. On the one hand, they may be correct, and John has altered the timing for theological and literary reasons to illustrate vividly that Jesus was the Lamb of God slain for the world. On the other, John may be correct, and the synoptic authors have altered the account’s timing to emphasize that the Last Supper was a Passover meal. A possible support for this idea is the fact that no lamb is mentioned as part of the Last Supper meal in the synoptics, even though the eating of the lamb on that occasion would have been a powerful image. Since neither of these options is completely satisfactory for those who want to preserve the integrity of all four Gospel accounts, various suggestions have been made to explain how both could be correct. Propositions include the possibility that Sadducees and Pharisees might have celebrated the festival according to a slightly different calendar, or that Galileans and Judeans used a different calendar. [16] Perhaps a more satisfactory explanation might be that Passover actually began the evening after Jesus was crucified, but Jesus, knowing that He would not be alive then to celebrate it with His disciples chose to celebrate it early (see Luke 22:15, “With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer”). [17]

Omission of the Institution of the Sacrament

While this scenario might explain why John never referred to the Last Supper as a Passover meal, it does not satisfactorily explain one of the surprising omissions of the Gospel of John, namely the institution of the ordinance of the sacrament. [18] Even if the Last Supper had, in fact, been an early celebration by a group of friends of a seder without a lamb (which could not be sacrificed early or outside of the temple), there is little doubt that at this last meal Jesus used bread and wine to help teach His disciples, then and now, the significance of His sacrificial act. Nevertheless, scholars have noted that sacramental imagery is not absent from the Gospel of John. Rather the images of wine and bread are woven throughout the narrative, as in the miracle of Cana and the Bread of Life discourse. [19] While it is true that John thus does not lack the imagery of the sacrament, this does not completely explain his failure to recount or explain it at the time of its institution. Perhaps for John, who focused so single-mindedly on the death of Jesus as a sacrifice, the symbolism of the sacrament, which is above all commemorative, was not as significant until Jesus was actually sacrificed. [20]

The Washing of Feet and the Long Discourses at the Last Supper

While John’s account of the Last Supper thus lacks a crucial element, it nonetheless contains unique elements recorded nowhere else. John’s account, without noting any other details of the meal itself, begins by stating: “Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end” (John 13:1). This verse establishes the emphasis of chapters 13–17, in which is found the loving service of Jesus, given with His coming sacrifice at Golgotha firmly in mind. The washing of the disciples’ feet, while no doubt connected with other higher ordinances, is used here as a paramount example of service. When Jesus teaches, “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14), the image of the greatest serving the least here is significant given the clearly stated divinity of the Johannine Jesus. [21]

The discourses of chapters 13–17 that Jesus delivers to His disciples, both at the Last Supper and along the way to the garden that would be the scene of His arrest, are unique to the Gospel of John. Here Jesus taught His followers, both then and now, fundamental principles of love and service, all firmly focused on His own role as Savior and friend. Chapters 14 and 16 form a recognized doublet, in which Jesus teaches the necessity of His departing (see John 14:1–14; 16:4–7, 16–24), beginning with the well-known pronouncement, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:2–3). In both chapters, Jesus balances the disciples’ sorrow at His departure with promises of the coming of a “helper” or “advocate” ( paraklētos , King James Version “Comforter”; see John 14:15–26; 16:8–15) as well as with an assurance of the continuing peace and love of the Father that will remain with them (see John 14:27–31). Chiastically placed between the chapters is Jesus’s allegory of the vine: even while He is not physically present with them, they can nonetheless abide in Him, drawing sustenance and life from Him as branches do from the main stem of a vine (see John 15:1–17).

All of these teachings focus squarely on Jesus. Even the five so-called Paraclete Sayings, which focus on the Holy Ghost as Comforter, or helper, identify His role not just as advocate but also as teacher, witness, prosecutor, and revealer (see John 14:15–18, 25–26; 15:26–27; 16:7–15). Jesus suggests that the Comforter is sent to do these things for believers because of Jesus’s absence (see John 16:7). [22] Indeed, the first of these sayings is actually about Jesus Himself and about the Holy Ghost only by comparison, [23] since another Comforter by definition suggests a first Comforter:

If ye love me, keep my commandments.

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter , that he may abide with you for ever;

Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. (John 14:15–18)

Remembering that the root meaning of paraklētos is “one who is called to someone’s aid,” [24] the suggestion is that the Holy Ghost is an advocate or helper in the absence of Jesus. That yet another helper will come to our side, not just to advocate our cause in heaven before God (see D&C 45:3–5) but actually to come to us, is a point made clear by John 14:23 and Doctrine and Covenants 130:3. Furthermore, “comfortless” in John 14:18 is a translation of the Greek orphanous , literally “orphans,” [25] suggesting that the Lamb of God will not leave believers fatherless—that is, devoid of comfort or the means of life—but that He, after His sacrificial death, will come and be a father to them through the gift of eternal life.

Eternal life, the kind of life that the Father and now Christ have, enjoyed in their presence is the subject of chapter 17, which is, in fact, a prayer rather than a discourse. Commonly known as the Intercessory Prayer, since in it Jesus prays that believers may be one with Him and the Father as He and the Father are one, it is also appropriately called “the Lord’s High-Priestly Prayer.” [26] As the high priest under the Mosaic order represented the people before God, interceding for them before sacrificing, so here Jesus intercedes for His people before His own sacrificial death. While the word atonement (Greek katallagē ) does not appear in this chapter, His prayer for the eternal union of disciples with Him and the Father represents the very essence of being at one with God. As He rose from that prayer, He went forth to perform the very Atonement that would make that unity possible. [27]

Omission of the Suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane

For this reason, the lack of any account of what happened in Gethsemane in John’s Gospel is striking, especially to Latter-day Saints who have a deeper understanding of the significance of this first step in the atoning journey that ended on the cross (see Mosiah 3:7; D&C 19:16–19). The synoptics testify that in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed in great agony (see Matthew 26:37–39; Mark 14:33–36; Luke 22:41–42), but John simply states that Jesus crossed the brook Cedron and came to a garden, not even mentioning the names Gethsemane or Mount of Olives (see John 18:1). While the received text of Luke 22:43–44 provides important evidence including Jesus’s sweat being “as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” and an angel appearing to strengthen Him, [28] for John the garden is simply the scene of Jesus’s betrayal and arrest (see John 18:2–12).

What is most surprising is the fact that of the four Gospel authors, John was the only one who was one of the three near witnesses to Jesus’s ordeal in the garden. Matthew would have been one of the eleven brought to the garden, but he would have been directed to sit apart as Jesus took Peter, James, and John not far from where He prayed (see Matthew 26:36–37; Mark 14:32–33). While the disciples were, according to the synoptic accounts, overwhelmed and slept during Jesus’s experience, there is no doubt that John himself later learned of the details. It is not clear whether John passed over these details out of reverence or whether such plain and precious parts were later lost from his record. An additional possibility, however, is that because the theological focus of John’s Gospel is on the death of the Lamb of God rather than on His suffering, he omitted the suffering in the garden for literary reasons. Perhaps the divine Johannine Jesus, who rarely even grew tired or thirsty, could not easily be depicted as suffering.

Jesus’s Carrying His Own Cross to Golgotha

Some other unique features of John’s Passion narrative, such as the addition of a private interview with and discourse to Pilate during the Roman trial, [29] are beyond the scope of this study of the Johannine Jesus. One detail before the actual Crucifixion, however, that illustrates how John chose to portray the consistent divinity of Jesus is the omission of any reference to Simon of Cyrene. The synoptic Gospels recorded that a passerby, one Simon of the North African city of Cyrene, was pressed into service, carrying the cross for Him to Golgotha (see Matthew 27:32; Mark 15:20–21; Luke 23:26). The Johannine Jesus, however, does not need any help, bearing His own cross the entire way (see John 19:17) and accomplishing His atoning sacrifice completely on His own. [30]

Other Crucifixion Details in John

Mark records that Jesus was crucified at the third hour, about nine in the morning (see Mark 15:25). John, either recollecting differently or perhaps realizing that this did not provide enough time for all the activities involved in the trial and abuse of Jesus, states instead that Pilate did not even present Jesus to the hostile crowd and deliver Him over for crucifixion until the sixth hour, or about noon (see John 19:14). [31] One other result of this altered timing, however, is that in John’s account Jesus hangs—and suffers—for a shorter period of time.

All four Gospels note that prior to nailing Jesus to the cross, the soldiers who were crucifying Him divided His outer garments ( ta himatia ) into four parts and distributed them among themselves but that they cast dice for His inner tunic ( ton chitōna , King James Version “coat”), thus fulfilling the prophecy of Psalm 22:18 (see Matthew 27:35–36; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; John 19:23–24). Only John, however, notes that his coat “was without seam, woven from the top throughout” (John 19:23). Commentators have observed that this may suggest that it may have represented the priestly garment, reinforcing the image of Jesus not only as the Paschal Lamb being offered but as the high priest who made sacrifice for His people. [32] One of the final activities at the cross reinforces this imagery. Shortly before He expired, Jesus announced that He was thirsty, leading a soldier to offer Him cheap wine (King James Version “vinegar”) on a sponge (see Matthew 27:48–49; Mark 15:36; John 19:28–30). While Matthew and Mark record that this sponge was placed on a reed ( kalamō ), John portrays it as being put on a hyssop branch ( hyssōpō ). [33] A short shrub, the hyssop’s branches would probably not have been long enough to reach the lips of a man suspended on a cross, even if the cross was relatively short, and its stalk would have been too flimsy to bear the sponge. Nevertheless, the hyssop was the plant mandated by the law of Moses not only for certain purification rituals but also for spreading the blood on the doorposts at the first Passover (see Exodus 12:22). [34]

“It Is Finished” (John 19:30)

Only Matthew and Mark recount that Jesus cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” shortly before He expired (Matthew 27:46–47; Mark 15:34–35). They also record that He cried out before He died, while Luke says that instead He commended His spirit into the hands of His Father. John, on the other hand, has Jesus straightforwardly declare, “It is finished” (John 19:30). His mission then accomplished, Jesus on His own “gave up the ghost” (John 19:30). [35] While Jesus may, in fact, have done all of these—crying out in agony and making both the Lucan and Johannine utterances—the significance of John’s choice is that Jesus is portrayed in a manner consistent with His image elsewhere in this Gospel: strong, in control, and divine.

Indeed, earlier in the Gospel Jesus had taught: “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (John 10:17–18). [36] This constitutes a unique insight on the part of John. In all other accounts of Jesus’s death and Resurrection—including those in the other Gospels, the speeches of Peter in Acts, and the writings of Paul—Jesus is slain by His enemies and raised by God. John understood, however, that Jesus was not just the Lamb of God, but he was also the incarnate Divine Word. No one could take His life from Him; rather He voluntarily lay it down, performing as priest the final paschal sacrifice. Likewise, He had within Himself power to come forth from the grave.

Bones, Blood, and Water

The final images of Jesus as the Lamb of God are found after He voluntarily surrendered His spirit. When the Jewish leadership asked the Roman authorities to break the legs of those being crucified so that their bodies would not desecrate the Sabbath—and in John, the Passover itself—the soldiers first broke the legs of the two insurgents or revolutionaries ( lēstai , King James Version “thieves”) who had been crucified with Him. When they came to Jesus, however, and found that He was already dead, they did not break Jesus’s legs “that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken” (John 19:31–33, 36). While this was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Psalm 34:21, not breaking any bones was a particular requirement of the Paschal Lamb, one that was as significant as the prerequisite that the Paschal Lamb, like Jesus, be without blemish (see Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12). [37]

When John recorded the preservation of Jesus’s bones, he also recorded what he felt was one of the most important signs of who Jesus was and what He did: “But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water . And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe” (John 19:33–35; emphasis added). Treatments of this symbol have rightly noted that the blood represents the humanity—and the mortality—of Jesus, but they often differ on the significance of the water. Because the flowing of water from Jesus’s side is reminiscent of the streams of water that Jesus proclaimed would flow from His belly (see John 7:37–39), some have seen it as representing the promised spirit that would flow from Jesus to His believers. While being hanged on a tree was a sign that one was accursed by God (see Deuteronomy 21:2–23), the flowing water, necessary for purification under the Mosaic system, was a sign that rather than being a curse Jesus was in fact a source of blessing, and this water resonates with the water used in both baptism and the washing of feet. [38]

Perhaps more consistent with the symbolism elsewhere in John is the idea that water represents life, and not just mortal life but everlasting life (see John 4:14; 7:37–38). In this case, the flowing of blood and water from Jesus’s side powerfully represents not only what Jesus did— the blood atoning for sins while the water purifies or cleanses the sinner—but perhaps even more significantly who He was . Due to His mortal inheritance from His mother, Mary, represented by the flowing blood, Jesus was able to lay down His life as a sacrifice for sin. Because of His divine, immortal inheritance from God, His Father, represented by the stream of water, He was able to take His life up again and become a source of eternal life. [39] Just as Old Testament visions featured rivers of healing, life-giving water issuing from millennial Jerusalem and its temple, or the place of sacrifice (see Ezekiel 47:1–12; Zechariah 14:8), so now living waters flow from Jesus on the cross. In this view, the cross, a dead tree and sign of cursing, becomes a source of blessings as a new Tree of Life, as it was sometimes depicted in later Christian art—an image consonant with Book of Mormon visions of the love of God, best manifest in Christ and His sacrifice, portrayed as a fountain of living waters and a tree of life, the fruit of which was eternal life, the most precious of the gifts of God (see 1 Nephi 11:22–25; 15:36; D&C 14:7).

The sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb differed from many other sacrifices in that it was not explicitly an offering for sin—rather it was intended to ward off death, perhaps explaining in John the emphasis not just on forgiveness of sins but on new life. [40] But while those who placed the blood of the lambs on their doorposts on the first Passover were spared, they continued not with new life but with the same kind of life that they had before. Significantly the blood of the Lamb of God on the cross was accompanied by water, suggesting the new life that would come to the believers. As Jesus had taught, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). While Jesus certainly deepens and enriches mortality for those who follow Him, a deeper significance to this passage lies in seeing it as a reference to the eternal life—knowing and living eternally with God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent (see John 17:3)—that comes from the Lamb of God.

“Even So Must the Son of Man Be Lifted Up” (John 3:14)

When Joseph of Arimathaea received permission to bury the body of Jesus, he was joined by Nicodemus, who brought a kingly amount of spices to honor the man he now recognized as the Christ (see John 19:38–39). In introducing him again here, John reminds the readers that before Nicodemus had come to Jesus at night. Now, with the fulfillment on the cross of the prophecy that Jesus had made to Nicodemus that he would see the Son of Man lifted up (see John 3:14; 8:28), Nicodemus comes into the light as one who loved Jesus, eager to honor Him in death. [41] In recognizing Jesus as both the Lamb of God and as the Divine Word, Nicodemus and believers in all ages come to know both who He truly was and what He did for us.

Shortly before the Passion, Jesus had testified that “And I, If I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32). Then, after His resurrection, He confirmed to the Nephites, “my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father” (3 Nephi 27:14). Thus the cross and Jesus’s sacrificial death were the means by which the Divine Word, who had come down from heaven, returned there again (see John 4:13, 6:62). On that cruel instrument of death the blood of the Lamb of God flowed, but in being so lifted up, with streams of flowing water Jesus promised that we, too, would be lifted up to everlasting life.

[1] See Raymond E. Brown, The Death of the Messiah , 2 vols. (New York: Doubleday, 1993), 53–93.

[2] For an overview, see Gaye Strathearn and Frank F. Judd Jr., “The Distinctive Testimonies of the Four Gospels,” Religious Educator 8.2 (2007): 59–85.

[3] While many scholars see these different Christologies as the result of an evolution in early Christianity’s understanding of who Jesus is and what He did (for instance, see Raymond E. Brown, Introduction to New Testament Christology [New York: Paulist Press, 1994], 121–24, 136–41, 196–213), recognizing that Mark’s “low” Christology emphasizes God proclaiming Jesus as His son at baptism does not necessarily mean that Mark did not know that Jesus was divinely conceived, nor does it necessarily demonstrate that he knew nothing of Jesus’s premortal role (see Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, Eric D. Huntsman, and Thomas A. Wayment, Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006], 10–11, 132–33).

[4] See Craig R. Koester, Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel , 2nd ed. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), 216–24.

[5] See Walter Bauer, F. W. Danker, W. F. Arndt, and F. W. Gingrich, “logos,” in A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature , 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 598–601.

[6] Bauer et al., “skēnos” and “skēnoō,” in A Greek-English Lexicon , 929; see also Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John , volumes 29–29A of the Anchor Bible Series (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1966), 29–35; F. F. Bruce, The Gospel of John (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1983), 37–42; Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John: The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995), 82–93; Holzapfel, Huntsman, and Wayment, Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament , 133.

[7] For theological aspects of the miracle, see Brown, The Gospel According to John , 103–110; see also Bruce, The Gospel of John , 68–72; Morris, The Gospel According to John , 153–64; Koester, Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel , 82–86.

[8] See, for example, James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1982), 136–38; and Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah: From Bethlehem to Calvary (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1979), 1:453–54.

[9] See Holzapfel, Huntsman, and Wayment, Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament , 133–34.

[10] See Bruce, The Gospel of John , 102; Morris, The Gospel According to John , 228.

[11] See Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the Gospel of John , ed. Francis J. Moloney (New York: Doubleday, 2003), 284–87.

[12] See Brown, The Gospel According to John , 132–33, 144–46; Bruce, The Gospel of John , 87–90; Morris, The Gospel According to John , 184–86, 197–201.

[13] See Brown, The Gospel According to John , 263–67 for Passover background of Bread of Life sermon, 269–303 for sermon itself. See also Bruce, The Gospel of John , 158–61; Morris, The Gospel According to John , 311–15, 327–37; Koester, Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel , 99–104; Eric D. Huntsman, “The Bread of Life Sermon,” in From the Transfiguration to the Triumphal Entry , ed. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Thomas A. Wayment (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006), 261.

[14] See Brown, The Gospel According to John , 555–58, 578–79; Morris, The Gospel According to John , 684–695; David Rolph Seely, “The Last Supper according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke,” in From the Last Supper to the Resurrection: The Savior’s Final Hours , ed. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Thomas A. Wayment (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book: 2003), 64–67; Holzapfel, Huntsman, and Wayment, Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament , 137–38.

[15] Josephus, Wars of the Jews 6.9.3, line 422–27.

[16] See Seely, “The Last Supper,” 67–74.

[17] See Holzapfel, Huntsman, and Wayment, Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament , 138.

[18] See Morris, The Gospel According to John , 542–43; Holzapfel, Huntsman, and Wayment, Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament , 138.

[19] See Brown, The Gospel According to John , 272–74, 284–93; Morris, The Gospel According to John , 311–15; Koester, Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel , 301–9.

[20] Huntsman, “The Bread of Life Sermon,” 277–82.

[21] See Talmage, Jesus the Christ , 595–96; McConkie, The Mortal Messiah , 1:708–11; see also Brown, The Gospel According to John , 558–59, 563–72; Bruce, the Gospel of John , 280–84; Koester, Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel , 130–34; Morris, The Gospel According to John , 543–54.

[22] See Holzapfel, Huntsman, and Wayment, Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament , 138–40.

[23] See McConkie, The Mortal Messiah , 1:734–37.

[24] Bauer and others, “paraklētos,” in A Greek-English Lexicon , 766.

[25] Bauer and others, “orphanos,” in A Greek-English Lexicon , 725.

[26] Talmage, Jesus the Christ , 609–610.

[27] See Brown, The Gospel According to John , 768–81; Bruce, The Gospel of John , 335–37; Morris, The Gospel According to John , 648–53.

[28] See Holzapfel, Huntsman, and Wayment, Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament , 123. For the textual issues involved, see Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament , 2nd ed. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2001), 151. Nevertheless, for reasons for retaining these verses as authentic (or at least ancient), see Raymond E. Brown, The Death of the Messiah , 2 vols. (New York: Doubleday, 1994), 179–90.

[29] See Eric D. Huntsman, “Before the Romans,” in From the Last Supper to the Resurrection , 296–99; see also Brown, The Gospel According to John , 843–72; Bruce, The Gospel of John , 352–54, 361–62; Morris, The Gospel According to John , 678–84, 704–7.

[30] See Brown, The Gospel According to John , 897–99, 910–18; Brown, The Death of the Messiah , 913–17; Bruce, The Gospel of John , 366–67; Morris, The Gospel According to John , 710–12.

[31] See Brown, The Death of the Messiah , 958–60.

[32] See Brown, The Gospel of John, 902–04, 920–22; Brown, The Death of the Messiah , 955–58; Bruce, The Gospel of John , 369–70; Morris, The Gospel According to John , 715–16.

[33] One late-eleventh-century manuscript reads “javelin” ( hyssō ) rather than “hyssop,” but the reading of hyssop is considered secure (see Metzger, Textual Commentary , 217–18).

[34] See Brown, The Gospel of John , 907–10, 927–31; Brown, The Death of the Messiah , 1074–77; Bruce, The Gospel of John , 372–74; Morris, The Gospel According to John , 718–21; Koester, Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel , 218.

[35] See Brown, The Gospel According to John , 930–31; Bruce, The Gospel of John , 374; Morris, The Gospel According to John , 720–721.

[36] See Talmage, Jesus the Christ , 418; and McConkie, The Mortal Messiah , 1:486–87. See Brown, The Gospel According to John , 399; Bruce, The Gospel of John , 228–29; Morris, The Gospel According to John , 456–57.

[37] See Koester, Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel , 219.

[38] See Brown, The Gospel According to John , 933–37, 944–56; Bruce, The Gospel of John , 375–77; Morris, The Gospel According to John , 721–28; Koester, Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel , 200–203.

[39] To be sure, ancient physiology posited that in addition to blood, the body contained other important fluids or humors, including a clear liquid called ichōr . A divine form of this fluid, however, was also believed to be the special substance of the gods, which flowed in their veins instead of blood (see Homer, Iliad , 5.340; Plutarch, Moralia , 180E, 341B; and the brief discussion of Koester, Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel , 203). Given that resurrected bodies are bodies of flesh and bone and not flesh and blood, if symbolically water equals spirit, the flowing water could, in fact, represent the quickening spirit that animates immortal beings (see Joseph F. Smith, in Conference Report, April 1917, 63).

[40] See Koester, Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel , 220–21.

[41] See Brown, The Death of the Messiah , 1258–68; Holzapfel, Huntsman, and Wayment, Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament , 133.

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What Does the Passion Death and Resurrection of Jesus Means?

The Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ are the most significant events in Christian history. Understanding the meaning behind these events is essential to understanding the foundation of the Christian faith.

Passion: The Passion refers to the final days of Jesus’ life, from his entry into Jerusalem to his crucifixion. During this time, Jesus was betrayed by one of his disciples, arrested, and tried before Pontius Pilate. He was brutally beaten, mocked, and ultimately sentenced to death by crucifixion.

Significance: The Passion represents Jesus’ sacrifice for humanity’s sins. By taking on the punishment that we deserved for our sins, Jesus demonstrated God’s love for us and provided a way for us to be reconciled with God.

After his crucifixion, Jesus was buried in a tomb. His followers were devastated and afraid that their movement had come to an end.

Significance: Jesus’ death represents the finality of our sin’s punishment and reminds us that death is a reality for all people. However, as Christians, we believe that death is not the end but rather a transition into eternal life.

Resurrection:

Three days after his death, Jesus rose from the dead. He appeared to his followers and showed them that he was truly alive.

Significance: The resurrection is the centerpiece of Christian belief. It represents victory over sin and death and provides hope for eternal life with God. As Christians, we believe that through faith in Jesus Christ’s resurrection, we too can have eternal life with God.

The Passion shows us God’s love through sacrifice.
The Death reminds us that sin has consequences.
The Resurrection provides hope for eternal life.

Conclusion:

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The Passion and Death of Jesus

by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.

Although the Passion Narratives of all four Gospels are similar in many ways, there are also significant differences among them. In many respects, the three Synoptics agree with each other (since Matthew and Luke are almost certainly based on Mark), while John's account is quite different, especially in matters of chronology. In other respects, while Matthew and Mark are nearly identical, Luke may differ from them and be much closer to John's account. Moreover, some well-known details, or even whole episodes, are found in only one of the four Gospels.

OVERALL EMPHASES: What does each of the four Evangelists STRESS the most in the Passion narrative?

Mark: the suffering of Jesus, how he was tragically rejected, unfairly condemned, viciously beaten, horribly insulted, and cruelly mistreated by multiple groups
Matthew: the kingship of Jesus, how the de-facto ruling powers (esp. Pilate & Caiphas) conspired to get rid of someone they saw as a political threat
Luke: the innocence of Jesus, how Pilate said he did not deserve death, and others (Herod Antipas, centurion, repentant thief) also recognized his innocence
John: the exaltation of Jesus, how he remains in charge, driving all the action, completing the will of the Father, and being glorified as he is lifted up

OPPOSITION TO JESUS: WHY did the authorities find Jesus to be such a great threat?

In Matthew’s Infancy Narrative, King Herod already plots to destroy Jesus, the newborn “king of the Jews” (Matt 2:13-18).
Opposition against Jesus arises early in the Gospels, mostly since he breaks the Sabbath laws (Mark 3:6; Matt 12:14).
Just after the incident in the Jerusalem Temple, the chief priests attempt to kill Jesus (Mark 11:18; Luke 19:47; cf. Matt 21:15).
The authorities want to kill Jesus again after tells the parable of the wicked tenants (Mark 12:1-12; Matt 21:33-46; Luke 20:9-20).
The chief priests plot how to arrest and kill Jesus secretly before the Passover Feast (Mark 14:1-2; Matt 26:1-5).
During Jesus’ first visit to Jerusalem, he alludes to how the Jewish authorities will destroy the “temple of his body” (John 2:19).
The authorities want to kill Jesus not only for breaking the Sabbath, but also for calling God his own Father (5:18; cf. 7:1, 19-25).
The Jews try to stone Jesus when he says, “I am” (applying God’s name to himself; 8:59; cf. 8:37-40) and when he says, “The Father and I are one,” which the authorities consider “blasphemy” (10:31-39; cf. 11:8).
The Sanhedrin (high priestly council) opposes Jesus because he performs many “signs,” and they fear the reaction of the Romans; Caiaphas says it is better for one man to die than for the whole people to be destroyed (11:48-53).
The chief priests plan to kill Lazarus as well, since many people were believing in Jesus after he raised Lazarus (12:10-11).

EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE PASSOVER FEAST: What happened shortly BEFORE Jesus died?

The Synoptic Gospels all show the Jewish authorities (chief priests, elders and/or scribes) plotting to kill Jesus, but hesitant of people's reactions, esp. due to the nearness of Passover (Mark 14:1-2; Matt 26:1-5; Luke 22:1-2). Mark and Matthew say it was two days before Passover , while Luke less precisely says that the Passover "was near."
John's Gospel similarly tells of the authorities' plotting, but highlights the leading role of Caiaphas , the high priest (John 11:47-53).
Jesus is Anointed by a Woman:
In all four Gospels, a woman anoints Jesus during a meal; but the woman's identity and the time and location of the event are very different.
In Mark 14:3-9 and Matt 26:6-13, two days before the Passover, in the house of Simon the leper in Bethany (near Jerusalem), an anonymous woman ( not called a "sinner") anoints Jesus' head with expensive ointment. Some people complain about the waste, saying the ointment could have been sold and the money given to the poor; but Jesus commends the woman, saying the anointing was a preparation for his burial.
In John 12:1-8, the anointing also takes place in Bethany, but six days before Passover, and in the house of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus . It is this Mary of Bethany (not Mary Magdalene, and again not called a "sinner") who anoints Jesus' feet and wipes them with her hair. Judas Iscariot is singled out as the one who complains about the waste, but Jesus' reaction again makes reference to his upcoming burial.
The only anointing story in Luke is not part of the Passion Narrative, but much earlier (7:36-50), while Jesus is still up in Galilee. An anonymous but sinful woman anoints Jesus' feet while he is eating in the house of an anonymous Pharisee , who complains not about the waste of the ointment, but that Jesus allows a sinful woman to touch him. In response, Jesus talks about love and forgiveness, not about his own death.
In all three Synoptics, Judas Iscariot agrees to betray Jesus to the chief priests (Mark 14:10-11, par.); but only Matthew specifies that it was for "thirty pieces of silver" (Matt 26:15; cf. 27:3, 9), and only Luke mentions the influence of Satan on Judas (22:3-6).
John's Gospel also mentions Satan's influence on Judas (6:70-71; 13:2, 27), but does not say that Judas ever met with the high priests.

THE LAST SUPPER: WHAT is the significance of Jesus' last meal with his disciples?

The Synoptic Gospels:
Jesus sends some disciples (only Luke says it was Peter and John) into Jerusalem to prepare for his last meal; in all three Synoptics, it is clearly a Passover Meal , which commemorates the Exodus of the Jews (Mark 14:12; Matt 26:17; Luke 22:7-8, 15).
All three Synoptics show Jesus speaking the blessing prayers, and saying the bread and wine is his own body and blood (Mark 14:22-25; Matt 26:26-29; Luke 22:15-20; also 1 Cor 11:23-25).
Only Luke (and Paul) has Jesus explicitly say, " Do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19b; cf. 1 Cor 11:24, 25).
Only Luke gives evidence of the Passover tradition of blessing multiple cups of wine (Luke 22:17, 20).
Luke also has much more dialogue during the Last Supper, including Jesus' prediction of Peter's denial (Luke 22:31-34; cf. John 13:36-38).
In Mark and Matthew, Jesus' prediction of Peter's denial takes place just after the supper, as they are on their way to Gethsemane (Mark 14:26-31; Matt 26:30-35).
The Fourth Gospel:
Jesus' Last Supper is not a Passover Meal, but takes place just before the Feast of Passover (John 13:1); in John, Jesus will die on the same afternoon that the Passover Lambs are slaughtered (cf. 19:31-37).
The "Eucharistic" words of Jesus are not recorded in John 13, but were already spoken earlier (6:22-59).
During this final meal in John's Gospel, Jesus washes all of his disciples' feet (John 13:2-16).
Then he tells them, "I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you" (13:15).
During the meal, Jesus foretells Judas' betrayal (John 13:21-30) and Peter's denial (13:36-38).
During the meal, Jesus also gives a "Farewell Discourse" (13:31—16:33) and addresses a long prayer to God (17:1-26).

THE AGONY AND ARREST IN THE GARDEN: WHERE and HOW was Jesus captured?

After the Passover meal, Jesus and his disciples go out to the "Mount of Olives" (Mark 14:26; Matt 26:30; Luke 22:39).
The place where Jesus prays is called "Gethsemane" (Mark 14:32; Matt 26:36), but it is not explicitly called a "garden."
Luke greatly shortens Jesus' prayer and his challenges to the disciples (11 verses in both Mark & Matt; only 6 verses in Luke).
In all three Synoptics, Judas identifies Jesus with a kiss (Mark 14:43-46; Matt 26:47-50); but in Luke, Jesus interrupts this action by asking, "Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?" (Luke 22:48).
After Jesus finishes his discourses and prayer, they go "across the Kidron Valley" and enter a "garden," but this is not explicitly identified as "Gethsemane" (John 18:1).
There is no "agony" or any prayer of Jesus in this garden; it is only the scene of Jesus' arrest (18:2-12).
Jesus remains in control of the scene; the soldiers hesitate to arrest Jesus when twice he says, "I am" (18:6, 8).
All four Gospels say that one of Jesus' disciples cut off the ear of the high priest's slave; but only in John are these two individuals explicitly named: Simon Peter and Malchus (18:10).

THE ACCUSATIONS AND CHARGES: WHY was Jesus condemned to death, and BY WHOM?

The Religious Inquest: The Jewish High Priest and Sanhedrin (council of elders) find Jesus guilty of blaspheming God.
Mark 14:61-64 and Matt 26:63-66 explicitly use the word "blasphemy," while Luke 22:67-71 and John 18:19-23 use slightly different expressions.
The word " blasphemy " in ancient Greek literally means "insulting or saying bad things about God."
The punishment prescribed in the Hebrew Bible for blasphemy is to be stoned to death (Lev 24:10-23).
Jesus directly admits/agrees that he is "the Christ , the Son of the Blessed One " in Mark (14:61-62), while his answer is slightly vaguer in the other Gospels (Matt 26:64; Luke 22:67-68; cf. Mark 15:39; John 19:7).
The Political Trial(s): The Roman procurator of Judea (Pontius Pilate) finds Jesus guilty of sedition, rebellion, or treason.
Pilate was the Roman ruler ("prefect" or "governor") of Judea from AD 26 to 36; he is also mentioned by the Roman historian Tacitus, Annals 15.44 (below).
"Pilate" is named 55 times in the New Testament, but his full name " Pontius Piltate" is given only three times (Luke 3:1; Acts 4:27; 1 Tim 6:13).
Luke's Gospel describes the nature of the charges against Jesus in the greatest detail (Luke 23:2, 5, 14).
Jesus is accused of calling himself and/or letting others call him "King of the Jews" (Mark 15:2, 9, 12, 18, 26, 32, and parallels; cf. also John 18:33-37; 19:12-15).
Only in Luke, Pilate interrupts the trial by sending Jesus to Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee, who was also in Jerusalem for the Passover (Luke 23:6-12).
In Matthew and Mark, Pilate fairly quickly agrees to the Jewish authorities' request to have Jesus condemned (Mark 15:2-15; Matt 27:24-26).
In Luke and John, Pilate repeatedly asserts Jesus' innocence (Luke 23:4, 13-15, 22; John 18:38b; 19:4, 6, 12; cf. Matt 27:24-25).

THE CRUCIFIXION AND DEATH: HOW was Jesus executed?

Condemnation to Death:
In lands occupied by the Romans, the death penalty could only be carried out with the approval of the local Roman governor (cf. John 18:31).
Mark and Matthew explicitly say Jesus was handed over to Roman soldiers to be crucified; but Luke and John (using ambiguous pronouns) make it seem like Pilate handed Jesus over to the Jewish authorities to carry out the crucifixion (Luke 23:25; John 19:16).
Beatings and Scourging:
Before being crucified, condemned prisoners were often beaten, scourged, mocked, and mistreated in other ways.
Prisoners might already die from this maltreatment, so Jewish law limited floggings to thirty-nine lashes (cf. 2 Cor 11:24).
Since Jesus was condemned for claiming to be "King of the Jews," the soldiers mock him with the symbols of royal power and authority, including a scarlet (or purple) cloak, a crown (of thorns), and a reed (instead of a scepter).
Road to Golgotha:
Condemned persons would usually be forced to carry their own cross beams to the place of their crucifixion (as Jesus does in John 19:17); in contrast, Simon of Cyrene is compelled to help carry Jesus' cross in the Synoptics (Mark 15:21; Matt 27:32; Luke 23:26).
Only Mark 15:21 identifies Simon of Cyrene as "the father of Alexander and Rufus"; the sons were evidently known to Mark's audience (see Rom 16:13 - is it the same "Rufus"?).
Only Luke tells of Jesus speaking with women along the way to the cross (Luke 23:27-31), but none of the Gospels contains the full fourteen "Stations of the Cross" that later became popular in Christian devotions.
Golgotha , meaning "Place of the Skull" (Mark 15:22, par.) was probably an abandoned stone quarry just outside of the walled city of Jerusalem; however, the city was enlarged and new walls built to the North and West shortly after the death of Jesus.
Thus, the site of Jesus' crucifixion and burial has been inside the city of Jerusalem since the late first century (at the location of the 4th-century Church of the Holy Sepulchre); in contrast, some people propose that the actual site of the crucifixion is at the so-called "Garden Tomb" (slightly North of the Damascus Gate).
Manner of Crucifixion:
The cross was usually T-shaped , with the cross beam placed on top of an upright post already set in the ground.
The victim might be tied and/or nailed to the cross beam and to the upright post; only John explicitly mentions "nails" and "nail marks" (John 20:25; cf. Col 2:14), while Jesus may well have been tied to the cross, based on the Synoptics (cf. Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; which use the phrase "hang on a tree"; cf. also Deut 21:22; Gal 3:13).
Crucified persons had to be guarded by soldiers, to prevent family or friends from rescuing them before they died.
Only John gives this full inscription, and says it was posted in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek; it is briefer in the Synoptics ("This is Jesus the King of the Jews" in Matt 27:37; "This is the King of the Jews" in Luke 23:38; only "The King of the Jews" in Mark 15:26).
Cause of Death:
Some victims might bleed to death fairly quickly, but some could survive for several days before succumbing to a combination of dehydration and asphyxiation.
To prolong the victims' agony, their feet would be tied or nailed to the post, so that they could push themselves up to breathe.
To hasten the victims' deaths, their legs might be broken, so that they could no longer breathe (cf. John 19:31-36).
"Seven Last Words of Christ":
Traditional Good Friday devotions recall the seven "utterances" (Greek logos = "word, phrase, sentence, speech") that Jesus spoke while hanging on the cross; none of the Gospels contain all seven phrases, however, but only one, or at most three of them:
Re. those crucifying him: " Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing ." (Luke 23:34)
To his mother: " Woman, here is your son "; and to the beloved disciple: " Here is your mother . " (John 19:26-27)
To the repentant thief: " Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise . " (Luke 23:43)
At the ninth hour: " Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani ? " which means, " My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? " (Mark 15:34; Matt 27:46)
In order to fulfill scripture: " I am thirsty . " (John 19:28)
After receiving a drink of vinegar: " It is finished . " (John 19:30)
As Jesus is dying: " Father, into your hands I commend my spirit . " (Luke 23:46)
The Witnesses to the Crucifixion:
In the Synoptics, many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee were "looking on from afar" (Mark 15:40; Matt 27:55; cf. Luke 23:49).
Mark names three women (Mary Magdalene; Mary the mother of James and Joses; and Salome); Matthew names the same three (?) slightly differently (Mary Magdalene; Mary the mother of James and Joseph; and the mother of the sons of Zebedee); but in Luke the women remain anonymous (until 24:10).
A Roman centurion who witnessed the scene declares, “Truly this man was the son of God ” (Mark 15:39; Matt 27:54), or “…was innocent ” (Luke 23:47).
In John 19:25-26, three or four women (his mother; his mother's sister; Mary the wife of Clopas; and Mary Magdalene--since probably #2 = #3) as well as "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (not named, but called "son") are "standing beside the cross" (i.e., very close to it).

THE BURIAL: BY WHOM and WHEN and HOW and WHERE was Jesus buried?

A certain Joseph, from the Judean town of Arimathea (exact location unknown); he is called a "respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God" (Mark 15:43); "a rich man" and "also a disciple of Jesus" (Matt 27:57); "a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their purpose and deed " (Luke 23:50); and "a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews" (John 19:38).
Only John mentions that Nicodemus, who had previously encountered Jesus, also helped with Jesus' burial (19:39; cf. 3:1; 7:50).
After Joseph secures permission from Pilate to retrieve Jesus' body (Mark 15:43 & par.). After Pilate was assured that Jesus was dead, based on the testimony of a centurion (Mark 15:44-45) and/or the piercing of Jesus' side (John 19:31-37).
On Friday afternoon just before sundown [when the Sabbath begins], so the burial was done hurriedly (Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:42).
By wrapping Jesus' body in a linen cloth (Mark 15:46 & par.), placing it in a rock-hewn tomb, and rolling a large stone against the entrance (Mark 15:46 & par.).
In John 19:40, they also wrap the body with a large mixture of spices (myrrh & aloes), according to Jewish burial customs.
But in the Synoptics, they do not use spices right away (evidently for lack of time before sunset); rather, the women prepare spices after going home (Luke 23:56) and intend to embalm the body properly after the Sabbath (Mark 16:1).
The Synoptics do not mention the location of the tomb, but only say that it was hewn out of rock (Mark 15:46 & par.).
Luke 23:53 and John 19:41 add that no one else had been buried in this tomb before, while Matt 27:60 claims that it was Joseph of Arimathea's own new tomb.
Only John 19:41-42 says that the tomb was in a "garden" near the place where Jesus had been crucified.
Only Matt 27:62-66 says that some soldiers were stationed to guard Jesus' tomb, lest the disciples steal his body (cf. 28:11-15).

A Comparative Overview of the Events of the Passion:

Note: Scripture references in square brackets indicate passages out of chronological sequence, in contrast to the other Gospels.

Color highlighting indicates episodes found in only one (two) of the Gospels, or significantly different in those Gospels, when contrasted with the others. Click here for further explanation of the Color Analysis used above.

See also my comparison of The Death of Jesus in Mark vs. John .

Continue with The Resurrection of Jesus in the Four Gospels

References to Jesus' Passion and Death in Non-Christian Sources:

Possible old testament allusions:.

Deuteronomy 21:22-23 - "When someone is convicted of a crime punishable by death and is executed, and you hang him on a tree , / his corpse must not remain all night upon the tree; you shall bury him that same day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you for possession." (cf. Acts 5:30; 10:39; Gal 3:13-14)
Psalm 2:1-2, 6-7 - "Why do the nations protest and the peoples conspire in vain? / Kings on earth rise up and princes plot together against the LORD and against his anointed one : 6 “I myself have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” / I will proclaim the decree of the LORD, he said to me, “ You are my son; today I have begotten you ." ( quoted in Acts 4:25-26 )
Psalm 22:1-31 - " My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? " (v. 1; also read the entire Psalm 22 )
Psalm 31:1-24 - " Into your hands I commend my spirit " (v. 6; also read the entire Psalm 31 )
Lamentations 4:19-20 - "Our pursuers were swifter than eagles in the sky, In the mountains they were hot on our trail, they ambushed us in the wilderness. / The LORD's anointed —our very lifebreath!—was caught in their snares, He in whose shade we thought to live among the nations."
Isa 42:1-7 - "Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased..." ( quoted in Matthew 12:18-21 )
Isa 49:1-6 - "Hear me, coastlands, listen, distant peoples. Before birth the LORD called me, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name..." (cf. Acts 13:47)
Isa 50:4-9a - "The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue..."
Isa 52:13 — 53:12 - "See, my servant shall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted..."
Daniel 9:25-26 – "Know and understand: From the utterance of the word that Jerusalem was to be rebuilt until there is an anointed ruler , there shall be seven weeks. In the course of sixty-two weeks it shall be rebuilt, with squares and trenches, in time of affliction. / After the sixty-two weeks an anointed one shall be cut down with no one to help him . And the people of a leader who will come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. His end shall come in a flood; until the end of the war, which is decreed, there will be desolation ."

Early Jewish Sources:

Josephus, Antiquities 18.63-64 : "About this time arose Jesus, a wise man , [ if indeed it be lawful to call him a man, for ] he was a doer of wonderful deeds and a teacher of men who gladly received the truth. He drew to himself many of both Jews and Gentiles. [ He was the Christ. ] And when Pilate, on the indictment of principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross , those who had loved him at the first did not cease to do so [ for he appeared to them alive on the third day, the divine prophets having foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things about him ]. And even to this day the race of Christians , who are named from him, has not died out." [ Note: Most scholars believe the italicized words in brackets above are not originally from Josephus but are later Christian insertions .]

Greco-Roman Sources:

Tacitus, Annals 15.44: After Nero burned a large part of Rome, he blamed the Christians, whose name was linked to Christ: "Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus , from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate , and a most mischievous superstition thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular."

Some Recommended Publications:

Raymond E. Brown , SS. The Death of the Messiah . 2 Volumes. The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library. Yale University Press, 1998. – most comprehensive & scholarly work
Raymond E. Brown , SS. A Crucified Christ in Holy Week: Essays on the Four Gospel Passion Narratives . Liturgical Press, 1986. – in a series of shorter, more popular works
Raymond E. Brown SS. A Risen Christ in Eastertime: Essays on the Gospel Narratives of the Resurrection . Liturgical Press, 1991. – in a series of shorter, more popular works
Donald Senior , CP. The Passion of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (or Mark, Luke, John). 4 volumes. Michael Glazier, 1985. – shorter works designed for educated non-specialists
People of the Passion . 2004.
The Tragic and Triumphant Cros s . 2005.
The Resurrection and the Life . 2006.
Amy-Jill Levine . Entering the Passion of Jesus: A Beginner's Guide to Holy Week . Abingdon, 2018.
Amy-Jill Levine . Witness at the Cross: A Beginner's Guide to Holy Friday . Abingdon, 2021.

Triumph through Death? Reflection on the Passion of Jesus

Triumph through Death?

On Palm Sunday, the Church recalls the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. However, Jesus approached the holy City not just as a Jewish pilgrim. Also, he entered Jerusalem as the triumphator. Yet, his triumph is achieved not through power, but through his obedient death on the cross. It sounds very strange, doesn’t it?

To us, death is the ultimate defeat! Of course, it is if there is nothing beyond death. Hence, death is an unwelcome event that needs to be avoided at any cost. Nobody wishes to endure pain. Often people argued that one should have the freedom to end death. In one of my many writings on dying and death, I argued that death is the end of everything, including the end of freedom [see Joseph Lam Cong Quy, ‘Euthanasia-the right to die well and beautifully?: A theological plea’, in The Australasian Catholic Record (2017)].

If the fear of pain or if the dying is confronted with terminal illness, then the argument of freedom of death is ambiguous since whatever choice the dying will make, the dying cannot avoid death. This means that our freedom is conditioned by death which is inescapable for us. Whatever is conditioned is never fully free! Whether we call it euphemistically “a beautiful death” or “dying with dignity”, the beauty or dignity is already shattered by the experience of suffering. And suffering is never beautiful or is there any dignity to be found in suffering. Rather, this kind of freedom is perceived from the perspective of individuals, and less from social-relational perspective.

When facing the end of his life, Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, said: “No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it, and that is how it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It’s life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.”

As far as I know, Steve Jobs did not believe in Christ, even he held the view that there exists a somewhat higher consciousness. It is no surprise to me because Jobs is familiar with artificial intelligence or a higher cosmic energy. How could he believe otherwise since he is the maker of many digital and smart devices?

Like any person, Jesus suffered, died, and was buried. More, the Scripture tells us that he died through torture and death on the cross. He also experienced loneliness and abandonment. For the wise of this world, Jesus’ death just manifests God’s foolishness and powerlessness. For Paul, it is quite the contrary since he argued: “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” (1 Cor 1:18-19) For sure, those who have no hope, death means the destruction of everything, including the wisdom that attempts to justify the freedom from death.

For us Christians: What then is death? Our belief said that death leads to transformation! The process of transformation is not just a process peaking in the resurrection. The love and grace from God are freely given and we must also “make of ourselves a free gift to others,” Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said. “In this way we know God as we are known by Him, … and we pass from death to life like Jesus Christ, who defeated death with His resurrection thanks to the heavenly Father’s glorious power of love.”

Hence, Christians see in death a transformation that the wise of this world cannot grasp, unless the wisdom of the Crucified Christ penetrates the hearts and minds. The freedom that God gives is not a negative freedom (a freedom forced on individuals because of the inescapability of death), but a positive freedom, a freedom that does not ignore the reality and gravity of suffering and death but chooses to live for others because suffering and death are understood as opportunities of transformation. The Letter to the Galatians 5:17-18 calls it a life according to the Spirit: “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

Fr Joseph Lam is the parish priest of St Finbar’s Parish, Glenbrook.

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Chapter 6: The Passion and Resurrection Narratives

The modern reader's guide to the gospels by william hamilton.

This final section is the most coherent and flowing in the whole of Mark's gospel, and this material was probably the first to be committed to writing. Only by such a detailed narrative could the pressing questions be answered: How did Jesus die, and why?

1. events leading up to the arrest, 14:1-52

a. The plot, 14:1-2

It is now Wednesday of holy week, and the priests and scribes decide to take Jesus at once, and privately, in view of the crowds gathering for the passover celebration. Jesus had many sympathizers, and a public arrest might cause an uprising.

b. The anointing at Bethany, 14:3-9

This strange story has two difficulties. First, what is the meaning of "For you always have the poor with you" in verse 7? This verse, taken out of context, has been put to irresponsible use in the history of Christianity, as if it were a divine sanction on poverty and a discouragement to all attempts to fight against it. The saying here must be understood as part of Jesus' commendation of the uniqueness of the woman's act. You are always commissioned to serve the poor, Jesus is Saying. But this woman's act expresses a unique insight into my ministry and God's purpose, and therefore it is a worthy and beautiful thing. Second, what was there in the act that merited such praise from Jesus? Two things, the jar was broken, and Jesus was anointed. The word "Messiah" means "anointed one," and so the woman is confessing Jesus as the Messiah or Christ. But the breaking of the jar suggests that she knows the deeper meaning of his messiahship, that suffering and death await him. The disciples had not yet come up to this level.

c. Judas' betrayal, 14:10-ti

What did Judas betray and why? These two questions have been the subject of endless debate. Perhaps he told the priests of Jesus' messianic claims; more likely (as is hinted here) he told them where and how they could find Jesus so that he could be arrested without a public commotion. (See John 11:57.)

But why? Whether he did it for the money, or to force Jesus into a situation where he could display his divine power and so bring in the kingdom by force, or out of personal disappointment at the apparent failure of the mission, or because he was evil from the beginning (but then why did Jesus call him in the first place?) -- we simply do not know. (See John 13:2.)

d. Preparing for the Passover, 14:12-16

It is now the next day, Thursday, and the disciples ask about preparations for the Passover meal that evening. Jesus' answer indicates that he has already made arrangements with some friend in the city, and he directs two of the disciples to the place.

e. The betrayal predicted, 14:17-21

Jesus has discerned the character of Judas, and announces the betrayal without pointing him out. Verse 21 indicates the divine necessity of the death, but also serves as a solemn warning to Judas.

f. The last supper, 14:22-25

In I Corinthians 11:23-26, we have an independent account of this incident which is remarkably similar. Only Paul mentions the commandment to repeat the rite, though (since Paul's letter is some years earlier than Mark's gospel) by Mark's time it has doubtless become so customary that it didn't need to be mentioned. The words over the bread and the wine differ slightly.

In reading this, recall three facts. (1) Jesus had compared the kingdom of God to a banquet (Luke 14:15-24), and this meal can be seen as a foretaste or a rehearsal of the full messianic banquet in heaven at the end of time (verse 25 here hints at this, too). (2) The Passover, which Mark relates to this supper (the trial and death take place on Passover in Mark, though not in John), commemorated the election by God of Israel as his special people, but Jesus had already made clear that the Jews were forfeiting this status in rejecting the Messiah. A new people is being formed; a new covenant, a new election, is being offered by God. (3) Jesus had already spoken of giving his life for "many" (Mark 10:45), and had described his suffering as a "cup" (Mark 10:38, and see also 14:36).

So this rite portrays the new life of the kingdom of God, pointing forward to the death and resurrection. He is doing here symbolically what he was to do the next day in fact. Standing before them, breaking the bread, he says, "This means my body." Pouring and distributing the wine, he says, "This means my life (the blood is the source of life in Hebrew thought), given to you."

The actions of breaking and pouring, therefore, are just as important as the words Jesus speaks. And when Christians, in many different ways, gather together to celebrate the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, Holy Communion, Eucharist, or Mass, the words and gestures together form the total meaning. We, like the disciples in the upper room, need something more than mere words about God and Christ. We need gestures to see; tangible things, like bread and wine, to touch and taste. This is one of the meanings of the Christian sacraments.

g. Prediction of Peter's denial, 14:26-31

About the traditional passover hymn (part of Psalms 115-118), the group leaves the upper room and goes out to the evening Jesus has been reflecting on the effect his death will have on disciples, and he tells them they will all flee away. He is shortly proved correct. Verse 28 indicates that only after the resurrection will they be reassembled. Impetuous Peter protests his loyalty, and denial is predicted. (As an example of the kind of interesting you can discover if you turn to the commentaries, note that "cock crow" is the name of the Roman trumpet call announcing beginning of the fourth watch at 3:00 A.M.)

h. Gethsemane, 14:32-42

This scene needs little comment. Even at this late hour, Jesus asks that his time of suffering ("the hour") might pass by, that he not have to drink the cup of suffering, death, and even judgment (15:34 suggests something of what this "cup" really involves). After this bold request (there is no premature acquiescence in Jesus' prayer), he submits his will to God's. And the disciples sleep through it all.

1. Arrest, 14:43-52

The priests, along with a hired gang led by Judas, appear. Judas identifies his master with the traditional kiss of the pupil for his teacher.

The little picture in verses 51-52 is odd. Some have thought that Mark is describing himself here; some consider that it is a detail suggested by Amos 2:16; others simply say it is a genuine, if irrelevant historical detail -- genuine, for there seems to be mo reason why the early church would have made it up.

2. The trial, crucifixion, and burial, 14:53-15:47

a. The trial before the high priests, 16:53-65

The trial of Jesus is in two parts: the ecclesiastical trial before Caiaphas and the civil trial before Pilate.

It is midnight now, and a group is hastily assembled to hear the evidence. Witnesses can't seem to agree-not even on the supposed prediction of the destruction of the temple. Jesus answers the high priest, declaring himself to be the Messiah and Son of God. The quotation from Daniel 7:13 in verse 62 is not a statement about the second coming, but about Jesus' ascension to God with power.

Verse 63 presents the priest responding in the prescribed way to an act of blasphemy. The charge is blasphemy, but the Jewish courts probably do not have the power of capital punishment (see John 18:31).

b. Peter's denial, 14:66-72

The vivid details here suggest that this story is a reminiscence of Peter. He moves from the courtyard to the front porch of the high priest's palace to avoid the girl's questions, but she talks to some of the bystanders who apparently recognize Peter's Galilean accent.

c. The ecclesiastical trial is ratified, 15:1

Meetings of the Sanhedrin after sunset being unofficial (14:53-65), they assemble again in the morning (Friday) to confirm the charge of blasphemy. Since they apparently cannot put him to death, they take Jesus off to Pilate, hoping to establish a charge of treason from his claim to be king of the Jews, and so to convince the governor that he is dangerous to law and order.

d. tTe civil trial before Pilate, 15:2-15

Pilate's first question indicates that the priests have been stressing the political aspects of Jesus' guilt. The answer in verse 2 is probably a "yes," but with the implication: "That is not my way of putting it, for I have no political or nationalistic pretensions." In any case, Pilate remains unconvinced by Jewish charges (verses 5,10). Perhaps he was inclined at first to release Jesus, and certainly he considered him harmless. But the priests have brought a mob of supporters into the courtyard, and they are pressing for the release of Barabbas and the conviction of Jesus. Pilate is reluctant, but he is unwilling to risk a disturbance and is anxious for his popular reputation, so he finally gives in.

The relative guilt of Roman and Jew in all this has been much discussed. Certainly Mark lays the blame pretty heavily on the Jews, and is almost sympathetic to the weak and vacillating Pilate. And the other gospels give even more sympathetic accounts of the Roman judge. Perhaps Mark is interested in suggesting to whatever Roman officials who might read his gospel that the Roman power was relatively guiltless in the affair. But doubtless both groups, along with the crowd itself, are equally implicated.

e. The soldiers mock Jesus, 15:16-20

The soldiers' barracks were in Herod's palace, and here they bring Jesus.

f. Crucifixion and death, 15:21-41

In Roman crucifixion, which was the penalty for slaves, the victim was compelled to carry the crossbar to the site. Then, his outstretched arms were tied or nailed to the crossbar, the crossbar attached to the upright, the feet fixed to the upright, and the cross then set in the ground and raised aloft. Death ordinarily was slow, taking as long as two or three days, and was usually caused by exposure.

Golgotha was apparently a skull-shaped hill outside the city, but its location cannot be identified today. Simon is chosen from the crowd to carry the piece when Jesus falters. The mention of Simon's sons suggests that they were known to Mark and to the church at Rome (see Romans 16:13).

Jesus refuses the drug, wishing to die with an unclouded mind (and remember 14:25). His clothing becomes the property of the executioners, and the soldiers throw dice for it (see Psalm 22: 18). He is crucified -- that is, nailed to the cross -- at 9:00 A.M. The superscription, giving the offense, was on a chalked board over his head. The charge as written shows that Jesus was officially executed by the Romans, and on the charge of claiming to be king -- of course a distortion of the true messiahship as Mark and Jesus himself understood it.

As he hung there, some of the crowd, the chief priests, and even the robbers on either side joined in the general mockery. Of course, the Jewish taunt is true: he did save others, and he did not save himself, for his whole conception of the suffering Messiah meant that in order for others to be saved, he must not consider his own fate.

From noon until 3:00 P.M., it grew dark. This may be a symbolic touch, related to the portents often associated in the ancient world with the death of heroes (see Julius Caesar, Act 1, scene 3), or it may refer to an actual dust storm to which Mark gives a deeper significance. At 3:00 P.M., the terrible cry from Psalm 22:1 is uttered. Mark gives the Aramaic version, and translates it for his readers. This cry presents a problem too deep to be fully understood, but we can begin to grasp it if we find here a genuine, if temporary, feeling of desolation and separation from God. For Christians it is a pointer to the reality and the cost of Jesus' bearing the sin of the world, and even to the cost to God of his gift of salvation. The onlookers misunderstood, and think Jesus is calling for Elijah. At 3:00 P.M., after a cry of victory, he dies.

The curtain of the temple is torn (verse 38)-either a symbol of the destruction of Jewish religion and the temple itself, or of the breakdown of the barriers between the presence of God and men. The curtain mentioned served in the temple to shut off the Holy of Holies (where God was supposed to be specially present) from the sight of the congregation. Only the priest could ever enter the place. This curtain is torn at the moment of death.

The centurion heard the final cry of victory, and is impressed by the manner of Jesus death. His remark, though not a full Christian confession, is at least a mark of admiration. Verses 40-41 serve as a transition to the burial and resurrection stories, and also they may suggest Mark's sources for the crucifixion story itself.

g. Burial, 15:42-47

It was against Jewish law to leave bodies hanging overnight, and especially on a Sabbath. (It was now perhaps 4:00 P.M., just a few hours before sunset and the beginning of the Sabbath and Passover.) Joseph, a member of the Sanhedrin (probably in Arimathea, not the Jerusalem group that tried Jesus), asks Pilate for the body.

The close of the story seems to be unrelieved tragedy. No disciple is present; only a few sympathetic women look on from a distance; the last acts of piety are performed by a respectable Jew who probably never knew Jesus.

3. The resurrection, 16:1-8

Saturday at sunset, when the Sabbath is officially over, the women collect spices to anoint the body in the tomb. (Matthew and John say that the women merely go to see the body; Mark and Luke, that they go to anoint it.) Early the following morning they go to the tomb. They find the large stone rolled away and a young man (explicitly called an angel in Matthew 28:2-5, but only indirectly here) tells them that Jesus has risen from the grave. They hear that he is to appear in Galilee; and they rush out of the tomb in astonishment and fear. Mark makes no attempt to say how the stone was moved; doubtless he thought it was the work of God or of the risen Christ.

With the words in verse 8, "for they were afraid," the true text of Mark comes to an end. The Revised Standard Version includes, in the footnotes, both a longer ending (which appears in the King James version as part of the text) and a shorter ending which appears in some manuscripts. But it is agreed that neither of these endings is Mark's. Some feel that the ending (with verse 8) as it stands is what Mark intended, that it is effective and dramatic; some feel that the original ending has been lost, either because Mark was interrupted in his composition (the persecutions?) or because the manuscript became torn off at the end.

When one compares the five different accounts we have of the resurrection (this, Matthew 28:1-10, Luke 24:1-11, John 20:1-10, and I Corinthians 15:3-7) there are a number of details that are impossible to harmonize. Mark may have allowed himself some imaginative freedom in depicting the scene-the story of the young man, for instance. What can hardly be called legendary or imaginative, however, is the double fact that the tomb was empty and that Jesus appeared to his followers after his death.

How can we interpret the fact of the empty tomb? If we say that the Jews or Romans stole the body, it would have been simple for them to put a stop to the preaching of the resurrection simply by producing it, but this they did not do. If we say that the disciples stole and hid the body, we have a picture of the whole origin of the Christian movement based on a piece of crude deception. Even Jewish commentators on this material find this hypothesis incredible.

Our remaining alternative is to say that God in fact did raise Jesus from the dead, changing his "physical body" into a "spiritual body," and in this latter form he appeared to his followers.

The transformation of the dispirited and cowardly disciples into forthright evangelists, the very existence of the church and the New Testament -- these facts receive an adequate explanation only when we go beyond the general statement, "Jesus conquered death," to the explicit and factual remark that God raised Jesus Christ from :he dead. This is scarcely an easy statement for any of us to make, for we are all modern men. And yet -- though there is room for openness and even agnosticism on some of the details of the resurrection narrative -- it seems certain that no qualification can be accepted of the actual, historical fact of the resurrection as a decisive and mighty act of God for man's salvation and eternal life.

THE PASSION, DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST

Back to: CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS STUDIES JSS2

Welcome to Class !!

We are eager to have you join us !!

In today’s Christian Religious Studies class, We will be discussing The Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We hope you enjoy the class!

The Passion, Death and Resurrection Of Jesus Christ

The triumphant entry (matt 21:1-11, mark 11:1-11, luke 19: 28-44).

The triumphant entry into Jerusalem marked the beginning of the last week of Jesus on earth. When He saw that His time to die was near, He went down to Jerusalem where He prepared Himself for the sufferings ahead of Him.

As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. At the mount Olives, He said to two of His disciples, “Go into the village over there, and you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie him and bring him here. If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘the Lord needs him,’ and he will immediately send him.”

The two disciples did as Jesus said. They brought the animal to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it. Others spread leafy branches on the road as Jesus rode on the colt. A colt signifies peace.

The entire crowd that followed Him cried out saying, “Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming. Hosanna in the Highest”.

Some of the Pharisees among the crowd were not happy with the way the people hailed Jesus as the Messiah. They asked Jesus to silence His disciples and the crowd. But He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out”.

The triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is celebrated today among Christians as the Palm Sunday during Easter. His triumphant entry proves that Jesus is the Messiah and the saviour of the world.

The Last Supper (Mathew 26: 17-30)

On the first day of the feast of the unleavened bread, Jesus disciples came to ask Him where they should prepare for the Passover feast. He sent them to a certain man’s house to prepare the place for their celebration of the Passover feast. The disciples did as they were told.

In the evening, Jesus sat at the table to eat with His disciples, and when they were eating at the table Jesus told them that one of them would betray Him. The disciples were sorrowful and asked Him who it was. Judas, who betrayed Him, said, “Is it I, master?”. Jesus said to him, “You have said so”.

After that, Jesus took bread and gave it to His disciples after blessing it, saying that it is His body. He also gave them wine from a cup to drink, saying it is His blood which is poured out for the forgiveness of sins. He also said He would not drink such wine again with them until some times in His father’s kingdom. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

The celebration of the last super among Christians today is known as the Lord’s Supper, the Holy Communion or Eucharist. The Passover feast was a celebration among the Jews to mark their liberation from political bondage in Egypt (see Exodus chapter 12). But Jesus gave it a new meaning when He celebrated it with His disciples. It signifies the spiritual liberation from sin for all who believe in Him.

The celebration of the last supper stands for the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross to save us from sins.

Moral Lesson

Jesus Christ showed humility by riding on a colt instead of a horse. Like Jesus, we should be humble no matter our status, gifts and position in life.
We must accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah just as the people proclaimed Him to be.
Jesus Christ obeyed and observed the Jewish Passover feast. This teaches us that we must obey the laws of our land and the rules in the church as Jesus did.
We must be willing to give ourselves and our possession for service to God just as the householder gave his house for the celebration of the Passover to Jesus and His disciples.

The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus Christ (Mark 14: 43-52, Matt 26:47-56)

betrayal and arrest of jesus crs classnotesng

While Jesus was still speaking to His disciples, Judas came with a crowd of people from the chief priest and others to arrest Jesus. Judas greeted Jesus and kissed Him as a sign for His arrest. Immediately Jesus was arrested, Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s slave. But Jesus rebuked him and told him to keep his sword back. Jesus said further that His arrest was for the fulfilment of the scriptures.

Jesus also rebuked the crowd for coming to arrest Him with swords and clubs as a robber and not in the day time when He preached to them openly in the temple. When He was arrested, His disciples left Him and ran away. But a young man believed to be John Mark followed Him. He later ran away when he was almost arrested leaving his linen cloth behind.

The Trial of Jesus (Matt 26:57-68)

From the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus was arrested, He was taken to the high priest named Caiaphas. Peter followed Jesus at a distance to the high priest’s place where the council members had gathered to try Him.

The chief priest and all the members of the council were present to try Jesus. They sought for false accusations from people against Jesus but found none. Two men accused Jesus of saying that He would destroy and rebuild the temple in three days. But Jesus said nothing to all the accusations made against Him. When He was asked if He was Christ the Son of God, Jesus replied, “Yes, it is as you say. And in the future you will see me, the Son of Man, sitting at God’s right hand in the place of power and coming back in the clouds of heaven.”

Thus, the council accused Him of blasphemy and He was condemned to death. The people spat on Jesus, struck and mocked Him, saying “prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is he that struck you?”

Peter’s Denial of Jesus (Matt 26: 69-75)

Peter was sitting in the courtyard while Jesus was being tried. A maid identified Peter as one of the followers of Jesus but Peter denied it. This happened a second time and at the third time, Peter still denied Jesus. Then the cock crowed and Peter remembered what Jesus told him that “Before the cock crows you will deny me three times” and he went out and wept bitterly.

Instances/Situations that could make a Christian Deny Christ or Deny His/Her Neighbour

Persecution and death.
Family pressure.
Peer pressure.
Life situation.
Love of money and pleasure of life.
Loneliness or absence of friends or a companion.
Mockery from friends and associates.
Poor Christian foundation.
Unholy ambitions.
Fear of punishment.
Tell lies to escape punishment or get a favour.
Swearing in the name of God, to tell the truth then proceed to tell lies.
When we are attacked by non-Christians.

The main message is for us not to deny Christ no matter the situation or circumstances we find ourselves.

THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF JESUS CHRIST

The crucifixion (matthew 27:32-44).

Then they led him away to be crucified. As they were on the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and they forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. Then they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means Skull Hill).

The soldiers gave him wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it. After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there. A signboard was fastened to the cross above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against Him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

Two criminals were crucified with Him, their crosses on either side of His. The people passing by shouted, abused, and shook their heads in mockery. “So! You can destroy the Temple and build it again in three days, can you? Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”

The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the king of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross, and we will believe in him! He trusted God, let God show his approval by delivering him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.'” And the criminals who were crucified with him also shouted the same insults at Him.

We must not devise evil against others as a result of envy or hatred, as the chief priests and other members of the Jewish council did.
We must not be part of those who delight in persecuting the righteous, bringing down others and spreading rumours against them.

We have come to the end of this class. We do hope you enjoyed the class?

Should you have any further question, feel free to ask in the comment section below and trust us to respond as soon as possible.

In our next class, we will continue our discussion and insight into The Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ. We are very much eager to meet you there.

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The Passion and Death of Jesus, by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D

https://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Passion.htm

This essays examines what each of the four evangelists most stresses in the Passion narratives.

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The Passion, Death, and Resurrection: Cornerstones of Christian Faith

October 5, 2023

Unravel the profound depth of Christian faith as we explore “The Passion, Death, and Resurrection: Cornerstones of Christian Faith”. Witness how these three pivotal events have shaped Christian beliefs and practices, fostering an unshakeable faith that has inspired millions worldwide.

Table of Contents

Introduction

As dawn breaks on the horizon of understanding, we are about to embark on a journey that transcends time and space. It’s a story as old as the Christian faith itself, yet its echoes can still be heard today. At the heart of this tale lies “The Passion, Death, and Resurrection: Cornerstones of Christian Faith”, three transformative episodes that have given this religion its character, its soul, and its enduring legacy.

The Passion: A Tale of Unfathomable Love and Sacrifice

Let’s dive right in, starting with The Passion of Christ. This isn’t a gentle introduction, but then again, faith doesn’t often come wrapped in a soft, comfortable blanket. The Passion of Christ recounts the final days of Jesus on Earth, a period marked by immense suffering, culminating in his crucifixion. But through this harrowing experience, there’s a subtle message of love and sacrifice that resonates throughout time.

The Death: The Ultimate Sacrifice

Death is often perceived as the end, but for Christians, it symbolizes the beginning of a transformation. Christ’s death on the cross was the ultimate sacrifice for mankind’s sins, an act of love that showed how far God was willing to go to save his children. This theme of death as a path to life is a potent paradox that shapes Christian understanding of mortality and the afterlife.

The Resurrection: The Victory over Death

Resurrection isn’t merely an event; it’s a revelation, a manifestation of the divine power that defeated death . This triumphant event signifies the hope of eternal life and God’s promise to humanity. The story doesn’t end at the cross, and neither does the journey of faith for Christians. The Resurrection fuels the conviction that life prevails over death, love over hatred, and faith over despair.

The Passion, Death, and Resurrection: In Scripture and Liturgy

Passion in scripture: the sorrowful mysteries.

The Passion of Christ, as recorded in the Gospels, depicts Jesus in his final hours. The gripping narrative, replete with dramatic encounters and heart-wrenching episodes, invites us to reflect on the depth of Christ’s sacrifice and love.

Death in Scripture: The Crucifixion

The story of Christ’s death, as detailed in the Scriptures, is a poignant account of sacrifice. It paints a vivid picture of Jesus’s last moments on the cross, his final words, and the profound silence that followed, casting a long shadow of mourning and introspection.

Resurrection in Scripture: The Glorious Mysteries

The Resurrection, described with powerful imagery and inspiring narratives in the Gospels, unfolds like a sunrise after the darkest night. The empty tomb, the astonished disciples, the incredulous joy, and the reignited hope all make for an uplifting and transformative tale.

The Liturgical Celebrations

In Christian liturgy, the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ are commemorated annually during the Holy Week. These ceremonies, filled with symbolism and ancient rituals, serve as an embodied recollection of these cornerstones of faith.

The Passion, Death, and Resurrection: Reflections in Christian Life

Living the passion: embracing suffering with faith.

In the Passion, Christians find an inspiration to accept suffering with grace and trust in God. It reminds us that just like Christ, our own trials and tribulations can lead to transformative experiences.

Contemplating Death: Understanding Sacrifice and Redemption

Reflecting on Christ’s death encourages Christians to understand the significance of sacrifice, humility, and redemption in their lives. It’s a stark reminder that our actions carry a deep and lasting impact, shaping not only our lives but also our eternal destinies.

Celebrating Resurrection: Reveling in Hope and Eternal Life

The Resurrection infuses Christian life with a hopeful spirit. It embodies the promise of victory over death, leading Christians to celebrate life, live with purpose, and cherish the promise of eternal life.

FAQs about The Passion, Death, and Resurrection

1. Why are The Passion, Death, and Resurrection considered cornerstones of Christian faith?

2. How do The Passion, Death, and Resurrection influence Christian practices?

3. What can Christians learn from The Passion, Death, and Resurrection?

These events offer profound lessons about love, sacrifice, forgiveness, faith, and the promise of new life. They teach that suffering is temporary, that death is not the end, and that life in its fullest sense is eternal and filled with hope.

As our journey reaches its end, we find ourselves at the crossroads of comprehension and reflection. The Passion, Death, and Resurrection aren’t mere events, but transformative experiences that shape and guide Christian faith. They instill in believers a sense of profound love, sacrifice, and hope that shapes their understanding of life, death, and the divine promise of resurrection. After all, faith is more than just a belief; it’s a way of life.

How to be saved according to the Bible In order to understand how to be saved, we first need to understand what salvation is. Salvation is when God forgives our sins and gives us eternal life. It's a free gift from God that we can't earn on our own. So how do we receive this gift? The Bible tells us that there are six steps: hearing, believing, repenting, confessing, repenting again, and believers baptism. Let's break each one of these down. Hearing - The first step is hearing the gospel. The gospel is the good news that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again. This news must be heard in order for us to believe it. Believing - Once we hear the gospel, we must believe it. This means that we trust that Jesus is who He says He is and that He can save us from our sins. Repenting - Once we believe the gospel, we must repent of our sins. This means that we turn away from our sin and start living for God. Confessing - After we repent of our sins, we need to confess them to God. This means that we tell God all of the sinful things we have done and ask Him for forgiveness. Believers Baptism - The final step is believers baptism. This is when a person who has already believed and repented is baptized in water as an outward sign of their inward decision to follow Christ. Baptism doesn't save us, but it's an important step of obedience for every Christian. Discipling others - Finally, once we have received salvation through these steps, it's important that we continue to grow in our faith and share the gospel with others so they too can be saved. These are the six steps required for salvation according to the Bible: hearing, believing, repenting, confessing, repenting again, and believers baptism. If you have never done these things or if you're not sure if you've done them correctly, I encourage you to talk to a pastor or other Christian friend who can help guide you through these steps. Salvation is a free gift from God, but it's one that we need to take intentional steps to receive. Don't wait another day - start your journey towards salvation today!

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Apologetics
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Why the Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ Matters

Theology for life.

A s we begin the new year, let’s start out by focusing on Jesus. After all, there is no Christianity without him. Theology–what we believe about God–matters. Why? Because it shapes our life.

If we as Christians want to have the courage to stand in our post-Christian culture we need to become more theological–not less.

Now is not the time for a failure of nerve on our part. Now is the time for courage. To know what we believe and why. And then train others to do the same (2 Tim.2:2). In that spirit, let’s reflect on the Great love of God in which we now stand (see Romans 5:1-11).

The Great Love of God Our Father in Jesus

God, being great in mercy and love, did not abandon us in our helpless state. The Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to become our legal substitute. Jesus, who became like us in every respect but without sin, lived the perfect life we could not live and died the death that was ours to die, so that we might be reconciled to God. Jesus as fully human identified with our offense against God, and Jesus as fully God could satisfy the Father’s wrath (a human being should have died for sin, but only God could have).

Christ’s Work at the Cross

As a result of Christ’s work at the cross, the wrath of God has been satisfied (i.e., propitiation). Moreover, Jesus Christ made atonement (i.e., cover- ing) for the sins of the whole world so that whoever places their trust in Him can be redeemed, forgiven, declared righteous (i.e., justified), and adopted into the family of God forever.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

The resurrection of Christ and His subsequent ascension into heaven is God the Father’s vindication (or amen) that Jesus accomplished salvation once and for all. It is finished.

Passages to Explore:

John 1:1–14, 29; 3:16; Romans 4:24–25; 5:1–11; 1 Corinthians 15; 2 Corinthians 5:17–21; Philippians 2:5–11; 1 Timothy 2:3–6; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:2.

Has God Spoken? Listen Here…

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Hour Of Mercy
Way To Calvary
Carrying Our Cross
Spiritual Reflections

SPIRITUAL REFLECTIONS

The passion, death and resurrection of our lord jesus christ.

Before you read this reflection, I encourage you to bow your head and pray for God’s grace. Pray that Jesus will allow you to enter into the mystery of His Passion more deeply than you have before so that you can treasure the greatness of His love and courageously respond to His call to assist Him in His plan of salvation. Jesus loves you so much!

Why meditate on the Passion of Our Saviour Jesus Christ?

“Nothing could be as beneficial as contemplating what Jesus endured for our sakes upon the Cross. No remedy could be as effective for the healing of our wounded souls as the continuous contemplation on the suffering of Christ.” St. Augustine

“Our contemplation on the suffering of Christ makes us grieve our sin so God can forgive us and preserve us from it. Our regret will also help us not to revert to it.” Fr. Manasseh Youhanna, author of the book “The Crucified Jesus”

The Virgin Mary said to St. Faustina, “Be courageous. Do not fear apparent obstacles, but fix your gaze upon the Passion of My Son, and in this way you will be victorious.” (Source: Diary of St. Faustina 449)

Come with me then on the Way to Calvary and let us fulfill this Scripture through solemn, quiet contemplation: “They shall look on Him whom they have pierced.” John 19:37

The Way to Calvary

The Passion journey begins in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Jesus enters a dark garden requesting that His apostles, Peter, James and John stay awake, except they fall asleep as Jesus becomes deeply distressed contemplating the great suffering He would have to endure to redeem His people.

Our Holy Lord is in anguish sweating drops of blood as He calls out loudly to the Father: “Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt.” Mark 14: 36 “Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:40-41

As we contemplate the suffering of Our Lord in the garden the Holy Spirit will reveal to each of us some special spiritual treasure that we must hold in our heart and reflect upon. As I enter the garden of Gethsemane with Jesus I wonder how many times and in how many places Our Holy Lord suffers alone. We are supposed to be the disciples of Jesus, His Body on earth, yet how often are we asleep to the suffering of our neighbours around the world? Our neighbours in need, like Jesus, must be praying for their suffering to pass. In some cases we are in a position to alleviate their pain, but what prevents us from doing that?

As ONE Body of Christ we are called to help carry one another’s burdens. Souls that are in a state of grace because they are penitent and striving to do God’s will, must help souls who are not in a state of grace because they are wounded by sin and need to repent to access God’s forgiveness. The healthy soul must carry/assist the soul broken by sin. Souls are waiting for assistance. Are you willing to help them through your good will, your prayers and your good deeds.

In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is preparing to carry all our sins on His tender shoulders. Jesus was in distress contemplating the horror of the sins of every generation. Imagine Him seeing the future, the wars, the violence, the oppression, the corruption, the impurity of man and the grave injustice. The humanity of Our Lord called out for comfort and consolation while the divinity of Our Lord resolved to prove to us how much He loves us. An angel from heaven comes to console Jesus. What can we do to console God and one another? Are we resolved to do all we can to prove to Jesus we love Him by our choices?

How much I want to console You Holy Lord by helping You in every way possible!

As I continue my walk to Calvary, I see Our Holy Lord being arrested, innocent of any crime, yet treated like a criminal. I see Jesus waiting in a prison alone, knowing that in the morning He would be crucified. How long and lonely that night must have been. “He was harshly treated, yet he submitted and did not open his mouth. He was silent like a lamb led to the slaughter…” Isaiah 53:7

Jesus is scourged for our sins. What horrible brutality! I see Our Holy Lord with tears in His eyes enduring this torture for our salvation! Consider this …“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering , and familiar with pain . Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem . Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. ” Isaiah 53:3-5

How can it be that mankind despised and rejected Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, True God, True Man? How can it be that we held Him in low esteem?

How can we not adore Him NOW for the suffering He endured to set us free? How will we prove our love to Him?

I grieve my sins Holy Lord and the pain they have caused You! I want to honour You and help You to save souls. As I stand with You at the pillar meditating upon this brutal scourging and torture I grieve my sins and all the sins of mankind and I pray that all my Christian brothers and sisters will join me in reflecting daily on Your Passion, praying for the redemption of all souls as we strive to embrace Your Holy Will.

As I continue my Walk to Calvary I see Jesus, the Prince of Peace, being crowned with thorns, mocked and spat upon. What horrible humiliation! What pain! “His appearance was so marred beyond human semblance, and His form beyond that of the sons of men—so shall He startle many nations; Kings shall shut their mouths because of Him…” Isaiah 52:14-15

What courage you had Holy Lord and what infinite love You demonstrated! Please forgive me for the times I have been so impatient enduring humiliation. I offer You my life, my suffering, my joy, my resolve to do all things for Your glory. Please help me to make choices that honour You.

When you see the scourged, beaten, disfigured Jesus carrying His Cross up the hill to Calvary and when you see His pain and realize He is doing all of this for you, to create a place for you in Paradise, you will be changed!

I see the Blessed Virgin Mary in my contemplation suffering with tears in her eyes as she watches her Holy Son, Our Saviour, carrying the heavy weight of the Cross. “Come all you who pass by along the road, look and see whether there is any pain like my pain.” Lamentations 1:12 How much she suffered to watch her Son Jesus, the Living God, be tortured and murdered for our salvation!

“And after they had mocked Him, they took His robe off and put his garments on him, and led him away to crucify him. And as they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, who they pressed into service to bear His Cross.” Matthew 27:31-32 Let us recall the words of Jesus, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine you did for me.” Matthew 25:40

I see Our humble Lord Jesus lying down on the Cross to be crucified and profound silence, reverence and sorrow comes over me. The crowd was chanting “Crucify him!” and these are the words Jesus prayed: “Father forgive them for they do not know what they do.” Luke 23:34

I hear the blows of the hammer nailing Our precious Saviour to the Cross and I cannot stop my tears from flowing for we have all caused Jesus so much pain by our sins! Yet tears are NOT enough, we must PROVE our LOVE TO HIM.

“WE LOVE BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US!” 1 John 4:19

Jesus loves you this much!

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13

I see Our Holy Lord hanging on the Cross in agony struggling to breathe, praying for our redemption and my heart is pierced by His love. I love YOU my God!

“My strength is trickling away like water, and all my bones are dislocated. My heart has turned to wax and melts within me. My mouth is as dry as clayware and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you have laid me down in the dust of death.” Psalm 2:15 “They have pierced my hands and my feet; I can count all my bones.” Psalm 22:17

“This is how God showed his love: he sent his only Son into the world…as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:9 “Beloved if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” John 4:11

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:16-17

Reparation to Divine Justice

On the Cross Jesus pays the price of divine justice. God’s work of salvation is consummated on the Cross. The merits of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ are infinite and make full reparation to God’s divine justice, i.e., Jesus pays the price of all our sins, all we need to do is REPENT.

The problem is many souls are not turning to Jesus for salvation, i.e., souls are NOT repenting. The Body of Christ must continue to prove our love to God, by denying ourselves, doing penance for our sins, serving God and praying for God’s grace upon all.

St. Paul said, “ Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” Colossians 1:24

St. Paul was not ‘atoning’ for sin for Jesus paid the full price of our sins, but St. Paul was doing God’s will and suffering to try to bring more souls to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, thus building up the Body of Christ, the Church.

God’s work of salvation continues as His Body on earth, His disciples, do good works, evangelize and pray that all souls turn to Jesus for redemption. We must repent of our sins and dedicate our lives to doing the Holy Will of God as we pray for God’s Holy Spirit to heal our broken world, to silence the forces of evil, to end violence and wars and to save all souls.

We must remember the instructions of Our Lord Jesus

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” Luke 6:35

We must forgive as Jesus forgave us!

Christianity was built on the Sacred Blood of Our Lord Jesus and on the blood of many holy martyrs. When St. Stephen was stoned to death he “cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he fell asleep.” Acts 7:60

St Paul said, “… When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world–right up to this moment.” 1 Corinthians 4:12-13

The apostles persevered in spite of the hardships because they believed in the promise of eternal life and so too must we.

Jesus Prayed for All Believers that we may all be ONE!

On the night before Jesus died He prayed for His apostles and all future believers:

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me— so that they may be brought to complete unity . Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17: 20-23

The Resurrection of Our Lord is the promise of eternal life in which we hope!

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11: 25-26

“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” John 11:27

“Christ…was raised to life on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:4

LET US BE AS ONE AND FULFILL THE PRAYER JESUS PRAYED!

Join the Peaceful Revolution in the Name of Jesus Christ this Easter!

As Disciples of Our Lord Jesus we have a responsibility to pray for one another that we may honour God and fulfill His Holy Will. The responsibility of believers to help fallen souls is GREAT! Let us believe in the power of prayer. Prayer is the key that opens the heart of God and the Passion of Christ is the key that opens the human heart to understanding the greatness of God’s love.

Please join the global prayer movement that is uniting believers every day at the foot of the Cross of Jesus to pray for all souls. We stop at 3pm (in our local time zones – or a time zone that is convenient for prayer) because 3pm is the time Jesus died for us on the Cross.

We are calling this movement A Peaceful Revolution in the Name of Jesus Christ because we know that Jesus will revolutionize the lives of all those who come to Him with true faith. Pray for the mercy of Our Holy Lord upon all souls. Thank Jesus for loving us so much that He would die for us. Pray that Jesus will send His Holy Spirit upon our broken and suffering world so that we may all repent and give God the glory He so deserves as we commit to loving God and one another.

Jesus can provide us with answers to our many problems. With God all things are possible! Let us unite as ONE Body of Christ and turn to Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, with trust, with hope and with love! Stand at the foot of the Cross of Jesus every day at the time He died for you, 3pm, and you will fall in love with Your Saviour and then temptation will lose its grip on you and you will be filled with holy desire to please Our Redeemer Jesus Christ, True God, True Man.

MAY THIS EASTER SEASON FILL YOU WITH DESIRE TO GIVE GOD GLORY!

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A Personal Reflection of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

31 Mar A Personal Reflection of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

Mark 15:34 …at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” For the Lord Jesus, it was a cry of deep pain. But for us, it was a cry of God’s love for us – for a humanity separated from God, but not forsaken by Him. I could not but feel deeply emotional as I reflected on this over the course of the Holy Week.

It was an incredibly quick turn of events. Only days earlier, the crowds feted his entry into Jerusalem. His disciples argued among themselves about who is greatest, oblivious to the events, pain, and confusion that will unfold. He had his last meal with them, followed by that agonizing time of prayer in Gethsemane; his disciples still not knowing any better.

The next morning – the crowd turned against him, choosing a criminal over him. At 9.00 am, they nailed and hung him on the cross. At 12 pm, the skies turned dark. At 3.00 pm, he uttered that cry. Shortly after, he breathed his last with the final words, “it is finished!”

If this is a script for a movie, it is likely that many will ask, “Are you serious? Is this actually believable?” But incredible as it appears to the vast majority in our world, it is real. I remain in awe; understanding, but also knowing that I will never fully grasp all of that it means, nor all that it took for the Lord Jesus, the Heavenly Father, and the Holy Spirit.

Yet, the events that unfolded are the source and bedrock of our faith as Christians. Everything we do and live for; they rest on the death and resurrection of Christ. There are so many implications, touching every sphere of our lives.

Particularly for all of us involved in God’s mission to the world, two things come to my mind.

Gratitude. We can never repay the Lord Jesus Christ for what He has done. Where would I be if it were not for Christ coming, suffering, and dying for me? Coming from a non-Christian background, I always had a deep consciousness of life before knowing Him, and life after knowing Him. There is nothing more precious than the gift of salvation. It involves the gift of the Holy Spirit coming into one’s heart, convicting of sin, and making one alive unto God.

I am also deeply grateful to the Christians and missionaries who gave and brought the gospel to our shores. They sacrificed and left the comforts of home so that we may hear the gospel of Christ. Many of us also received a good education through their legacies of education, hospitals, and other social endeavours. Obviously, there are debates over specific aspects of past missionary endeavours and history will reveal some dubious motives and even abuses on the part of missionaries.

But viewed as a whole, we still owe a debt of gratitude. I give myself to God’s mission that others may experience His love and know Him. First and foremost, it is because I am grateful to God for His gift to me. Second, I am grateful to Christians who have gone before me. They gave of themselves so that we may experience God in different ways.

Compassion and Mercy. Why did He do what He did? Why the humiliating of self to take on human form, a life of servanthood, and agonizing death? Compassion and mercy – that’s God’s love demonstrated. He does not owe it to us nor are we in any position to repay it.

Many of us are not paragons of compassion and mercy in our natural selves. But, if we have tasted His compassion and mercies, how can we not but do the same to others. For all of us involved in God’s mission and seek to be His salt and light, we are merely following in the footsteps of a long line of Christians who ‘freely they received, freely they gave.’

As you reflect and worship through this holy week and season, may your life with God be enriched.

Rev. Chan Nam Chen (Ph.D.) Executive Director

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54 Free Paintings of the Passion, Death & Resurrection of Jesus Christ
54 Free Paintings of the Passion, Death & Resurrection of Jesus Christ
54 Free Paintings of the Passion, Death & Resurrection of Jesus Christ
54 Free Paintings of the Passion, Death & Resurrection of Jesus Christ
54 Free Paintings of the Passion, Death & Resurrection of Jesus Christ
54 Free Paintings of the Passion, Death & Resurrection of Jesus Christ

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Topic 13: The Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ
Jesus freely accepted the physical and moral sufferings imposed by the injustice of sinners. The Cross of Christ is, above all, the manifestation of the generous love of the Trinity for mankind, a love that saves us. The mystery of the Cross, present in the sacraments, leads us to a new life. Through the resurrection of Jesus, God inaugurated a new life, the life of the world to come, and made ...
The Resurrection of Christ and Salvation
The Resurrection and Justification. For justification, a key text is Rom 4:25: Jesus "was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.". Earlier in Romans, Paul has said that Christ's death was a propitiatory sacrifice, so that God might be "just and the justifier" of believers (3:25-26).
The Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus
The Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. Satisfactory Essays. 1955 Words. 8 Pages. Open Document. In all four gospel accounts, the evangelists paint a vivid depiction of Jesus' crucifixion, placing women gazing upon his scourged and fragile body and weeping at the foot of the cross. Jesus not only was a great speaker, miracle worker ...
The Unparalleled Passion of Jesus Christ
The Christian answer is that the passion of Jesus Christ was absolutely unique, and his resurrection from the dead three days later was an act of God to vindicate what his death achieved. The uniqueness is not necessarily in the length or intensity of the physical pain. That was unspeakably terrible.
PDF Matthew 26-28: The Death and Resurrection of Jesus
Matthew 26-28: The Death and Resurrection of Jesus The final three chapters of Matthew's gospel follow Mark's lead in telling of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. At each stage Matthew adds to Mark's story material that addresses concerns of his community. The overall story will be familiar to most readers. We shall focus
Lesson 8: On Our Lord's Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension
A. The seven last words or sayings of Jesus on the Cross are: 1. (1) "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," in which He forgives and prays for His enemies. 2. (2) "Amen, I say to ...
PDF The Passion and Resurrection Narratives of Jesus
The Passion and Resurrection Narratives of Jesus 5 9. All of the events described in Matthew's gospel as occurring immediately after the death of Jesus (the earthquake, the resurrection of the dead, and the appearance of the saints of Israel) have an apocalyptic element and are meant to announce that the death
The Lamb of God: Unique Aspects of the Passion Narrative in John
The second feature of John's Gospel that substantively affected his Passion narrative is the thematic symbolism of Jesus as the Lamb of God. [4] Jesus is explicitly identified as the Lamb of God at the beginning of the Gospel, and this symbolism reemerges implicitly at the end of the Gospel, where the focus is on Jesus's sacrificial death ...
PDF The Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Christ's espousal to the Cross of Redemption. Christ with the Cross on His shoulder on the way up to Calvary. 1. When Our Lord Jesus Christ received the Cross in front of Pilate's praetorium, He knelt down; and in sublime contemplation, embraced the Cross, kissed it and espoused Himself to it in true espousal.
PDF The Death of Jesus As a Historical and Theological Problem
Jesus: Memory, Typology, and the Son of David (Waco: Baylor, 2009), 13. On the Markan passion narrative as (liturgical) "scripturalization," see Mark Goodacre, "Scripturalization in Mark's Crucifi xion Narrative," in G. van Oyen and T. Shepherd (eds.), The Trial and Death of Jesus: Essays on the Passion Narrative in Mark (CBET
What Does the Passion Death and Resurrection of Jesus Means?
The Passion Death and Resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of Christianity. It is a story that has been retold for centuries, and its message remains as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago. At the heart of this story is a message of love, sacrifice, and redemption. The Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ are central to the ...
The Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ Ii
The Role of Women in the Resurrection of Jesus. These women, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome were the first to get to the tomb, to embalm the body of Jesus; they were the first to know of the empty tomb. It was from the women disciples that Peter and the rest of the disciples got to know about Jesus' resurrection from the ...
The Passion and Death of Jesus
A Risen Christ in Eastertime: Essays on the Gospel Narratives of the Resurrection. Liturgical Press, 1991. - in a series of shorter, more popular works ; Donald Senior, CP. The Passion of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (or Mark, Luke, John). 4 volumes.
Triumph through Death? Reflection on the Passion of Jesus
He also experienced loneliness and abandonment. For the wise of this world, Jesus' death just manifests God's foolishness and powerlessness. For Paul, it is quite the contrary since he argued: "For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Chapter 6: The Passion and Resurrection Narratives
The centurion heard the final cry of victory, and is impressed by the manner of Jesus death. His remark, though not a full Christian confession, is at least a mark of admiration. Verses 40-41 serve as a transition to the burial and resurrection stories, and also they may suggest Mark's sources for the crucifixion story itself. g. Burial, 15:42-47
THE PASSION, DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST
The Passion, Death and Resurrection Of Jesus Christ The Triumphant Entry (Matt 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19: 28-44) The triumphant entry into Jerusalem marked the beginning of the last week of Jesus on earth. When He saw that His time to die was near, He went down to Jerusalem where He prepared Himself for the sufferings ahead of Him.
The Passion and Death of Jesus, by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D
This essays examines what each of the four evangelists most stresses in the Passion narratives.
The Passion, Death, and Resurrection: Cornerstones of Christian Faith
The Passion, Death, and Resurrection are central to Christian faith because they encapsulate the core tenets of love, sacrifice, redemption, and hope for eternal life. These events define the essence of Jesus Christ's life and mission and the promise of salvation for all believers. 2. How do The Passion, Death, and Resurrection influence ...
Why the Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ Matters
The Great Love of God Our Father in Jesus. God, being great in mercy and love, did not abandon us in our helpless state. The Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to become our legal substitute. Jesus, who became like us in every respect but without sin, lived the perfect life we could not live and died the death that was ours to die, so that we ...
Passion Of Christ » The Passion, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord
The Passion, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 25 Mar 2024. Before you read this reflection, I encourage you to bow your head and pray for God's grace. Pray that Jesus will allow you to enter into the mystery of His Passion more deeply than you have before so that you can treasure the greatness of His love and courageously ...
The resurrection of Jesus Christ Free Essay Example
Download. Essay, Pages 5 (1142 words) Views. 4120. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the central aspect of more than two billion Christians in this world and billions more who have since put their faith in Jesus these last two thousand years. The Christian religion is unique in the fact that its founder proclaimed that he is the son of God ...
A Personal Reflection of Jesus' Death and Resurrection
31 Mar. A Personal Reflection of Jesus' Death and Resurrection. Mark 15:34 …at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?". For the Lord Jesus, it was a cry of deep pain. But for us, it was a cry of God's love for us - for a humanity ...
PDF 15. Jesus Passion, Death and Resurrection
testimony concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (c) Identify six factors which hinder the people from accepting the call to salvation. 11. In what ways does the church prepare Christians for the second coming of Jesus 12. Explain five reasons why the resurrection of Jesus is important to Christians. 15. Jesus Passion, Death and ...

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The Resurrection of Christ and Salvation

Introduction

No Resurrection, No Salvation

Sin, Salvation, and the Resurrection

The Resurrection and Justification

The Resurrection and Sanctification

The Resurrection, the Holy Spirit, and the Christian

Even More Than That

Further Reading

Lesson 8: On Our Lord's Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension

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What Does the Passion Death and Resurrection of Jesus Means?

Resurrection:

Conclusion:

The Passion and Death of Jesus

OVERALL EMPHASES: What does each of the four Evangelists STRESS the most in the Passion narrative?

OPPOSITION TO JESUS: WHY did the authorities find Jesus to be such a great threat?

EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE PASSOVER FEAST: What happened shortly BEFORE Jesus died?

THE LAST SUPPER: WHAT is the significance of Jesus' last meal with his disciples?

THE AGONY AND ARREST IN THE GARDEN: WHERE and HOW was Jesus captured?

THE ACCUSATIONS AND CHARGES: WHY was Jesus condemned to death, and BY WHOM?

THE CRUCIFIXION AND DEATH: HOW was Jesus executed?

THE BURIAL: BY WHOM and WHEN and HOW and WHERE was Jesus buried?

A Comparative Overview of the Events of the Passion:

References to Jesus' Passion and Death in Non-Christian Sources:

Early Jewish Sources:

Greco-Roman Sources:

Some Recommended Publications:

Triumph through Death? Reflection on the Passion of Jesus

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Chapter 6: The Passion and Resurrection Narratives

THE PASSION, DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST

The Passion, Death and Resurrection Of Jesus Christ

The Last Supper (Mathew 26: 17-30)

Moral Lesson

The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus Christ (Mark 14: 43-52, Matt 26:47-56)

The Trial of Jesus (Matt 26:57-68)

Peter’s Denial of Jesus (Matt 26: 69-75)

THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF JESUS CHRIST

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The Passion and Death of Jesus, by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D

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The Passion, Death, and Resurrection: Cornerstones of Christian Faith

Introduction

The Passion: A Tale of Unfathomable Love and Sacrifice

The Death: The Ultimate Sacrifice

The Resurrection: The Victory over Death

The Passion, Death, and Resurrection: In Scripture and Liturgy

Death in Scripture: The Crucifixion

Resurrection in Scripture: The Glorious Mysteries

The Liturgical Celebrations

The Passion, Death, and Resurrection: Reflections in Christian Life

Contemplating Death: Understanding Sacrifice and Redemption

Celebrating Resurrection: Reveling in Hope and Eternal Life

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