We are the “Passion” of Christ!

This week most Christians throughout the world are remembering the Passion of Christ, the final hours of His life on earth that brought Him to the Cross, and next Sunday, on Easter day, it will be the celebration of His Resurrection, which took place three days after His death!

About one year ago I published an article, “Easter: Resurrection of your dreams!”, in which  I wrote: “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is at the heart of human history and of our destiny… When things don’t seem to be going in the direction that you were expecting and your dreams are getting shattered, just know that God has wonderful plans for you and that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5 ). If you trust in Him, you will experience the resurrection of your dreams”!

That, however, would not have happened without the the passion of Christ for us!

All through the Gospels, we can clearly see that Jesus’ great passion was His love for souls, whether for individuals (like you and me), or multitudes (all of us) for whom “He was moved with compassion” (Matt. 9:36). His passion was manifested in all that He did throughout His entire life, as well as during the last final hours, up until “He gave up the ghost” (Luke 23:46).

It’s interesting to note some dictionary’s definitions of passion: 1. very strong feeling or irrepressible love 2. particular interest in someone or in something. 3. intense love and keen interest for someone or for something (“the great passion of his life”).

Jesus was driven by a strong passion for us, a feeling of intense love which gave Him the motivation that He needed to overcome the test of the cross and come out of it victorious! The Scripture says that, “for the joy that was set before him, He was able to endure the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

What’s the joy that was set before him? Hundreds of years earlier, the prophet Isaiah explicitly predicted the passion of the Messiah, and wrote that “when His soul will be offered for sin, He shall see His seed, His days will be prolonged, and God’s pleasure will prosper in His hand. He shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied” (Isaiah 53:10).

Jesus had a clear vision that gave Him joy and satisfaction, even in the difficult times when he was mocked, tortured and abused! On that day, Jesus thought about us and our well-being! We are “the seed” and “the fruit” that He saw in His mind, and it was His passion for us that enabled Him to overcome all things, even the cross!

In an interview published (in Italian) on www.aiutofamiglia.it, prof. Luigi De Maio, psychiatrist and psychotherapist, defined “passion” this way: “Passion is striving towards a goal that you intensely desire, whether it’s a person or a thing. It’s an inner boost of energy that gives you enormous force, and sets you off to conquer the loved one, or the top of the Himalayas, or the great medical breakthrough that will save humanity. If you have passion, you will invest your all and believe with your whole heart that you can do it, you can reach that goal. If it were not so, who’s the fool who would embark on a scientific research that seems absurd to everyone else, but that will last for years to come? Or who would begin to climb the highest peak in the world? The same happens when you have passion for someone… “

Jesus knew the purpose of His coming to earth and pursued it with passion! Even when bearing the cross, He was never a victim, but the true Author of His passion! “I am the Good Shepherd who gives His life for the sheep. Therefore does My Father love Me, because I lay down My life that I might take it again. No man takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have the power to lay it down, and to take it again” (John 10:11,17). Jesus chose to give His life for us!

He knew that “up in Jerusalem the Son of man shall be delivered to the chief priests; they shall condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles: these shall mock him, and whip him, shall spit on him, and kill him: and the third day he shall rise again” (Mark 10:33-34). He also knew that “it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead on the third day” (Luke 24:46), and He was driven by His passion to give His life for us.

“He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. On Him was the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, yet He opened not his mouth: He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter and, as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, He opened not His mouth. He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of the people was He stricken” (Isaiah 53: 5-8).

All throughout His ministry on earth, He constantly told His disciples that “the Son of man has come not to be ministered to, but to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10: 45).

Some people might think it absurd that such “a ransom” would be required for the redemption of mankind, but that’s because they don’t understand divine law, which required that “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22).

That’s the reason “Christ died for the ungodly. Hardly anyone would die for a righteous man. Perhaps one would dare to die for a good man, but God shows the greatness of His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5: 6-8).

We are the “Passion” of Christ! What’s yours?

We each have a “passion”! Some have it for music or theater, some for sport or a hobby, some for a political or social cause, some for a person or a group of people that they love intensely, some for the Gospel and the Kingdom of God, but it’s passion that gives us the motivation to achieve our goals, even if it means making sacrifices! If you want to make a difference in this world, as Jesus did, you must live your passion!

The passion of my life is to find those who need to be restored and want to be empowered to help others also! Jesus said: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray that the Lord sends laborers into His harvest” (Matt. 9:37). I will continue to share what I have learned in life and will “commit it to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2Tim. 2:2).

If you are one of these, please write me at: email@renatoamato.com
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