The Passion of Christ

Mel Gibson’s Passion of Christ indeed revived in many of us what it means for Jesus to suffer and die for our sins. If God so willed the excruciating sorrows of His only begotten Son for our sake, who are we to complain the little pain that we go through. It is not easy for Christians to go through trials, but we can look up to the Son of God who can relate to our pains because He has been stricken thus before. Reading an article on the post-mortem investigation of the Crucifixion ( by a medical doctor ) made me really sad, not only because a fellow human being was tortured to such degree, but also because it was me who was doing the torturer's part. Yet, I know that the Passion of Christ is the fulfillment of all righteousness. He did not skip any of the requirements, but took them all, bore them all and suffered them all. I was spared because He fulfilled them all.

And then again, the Passion of Christ is not merely the suffering of the God-man, but is the overwhelming love and the great zeal of the Triune God to reach out to man. I particularly like what John Piper wrote regarding the Passion, he said," it relates to all the other passions as well. It deepens sex, inspires music, and carries forward the greatest cause in the world". That is why you and I and many others can appreciate arts ( not only religious ) with such enthusiasm. Christ's Passion sought to infuse into man the lost desire for greater taste. Once, man seeks only the highest things in life, but now we are contented with drugs, money, power, sex etc. How low since the Fall, man had stoop. God wants to raise us up again to that great satisfaction of all the things He had entrusted to our stewardship - be it the fruits of the garden, the beast of the land, the creatures of the sea, the birds of the sky or the marriage He so fitly ordained ( even our studies! ). Above all, He wants the best for us - HIMSELF. It is only fair that a loving Father would give the best to His children and there none other better than He Himself. Happy are we, happy are we, happy are we! Happy are the people whose God is the LORD! ( Ps 144:15 )

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. For God so loved us all, He willed the Passion of Christ, that whosoever would share in that Passion by faith in the Son of God, he shall share also in the greater things; the greatest of all being the divine life, life everlasting.

“In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” ( Psalms 16:11 )

Steven