The Passion of Christ

Passion of Christ Part VII

‘The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’

While we meditate these verses from Psalm 88, here Psalmist is explaining how Jesus was left alone in the dungeon like among the dead. Psalm 88:5–9 (NJB): left alone among the dead, like the slaughtered lying in the grave, whom you remember no more, cut off as they are from your protection. 6 You have plunged me to the bottom of the grave, in the darkness, in the depths; 7 weighted down by your anger, kept low by your waves. Pause 8 You have deprived me of my friends, made me repulsive to them, imprisoned, with no escape; 9 my eyes are worn out with suffering. I call to you, Yahweh, all day, I stretch out my hands to you. Jesus was placed in the pit like a butchered animal, without God's protection. All of his friends and relatives abandoned him, as if they would no longer be with him. He felt like he was in a graveyard where the dead are buried. Jesus sensed that Heavenly Father was furious with him. Jesus felt he had been buried in the grave forever, with no chance of ever living again. But Jesus trusted His Father and was obedient to Him. 

Psalm 49:7–9 (NJB): But no one can ever redeem himself for pay his own ransom to God, 8 the price for himself is too high; it can never be 9 that he will live on for ever. Only Jesus can become the ransom for many of us. What a magnificent sacrifice he made by offering his own life as the greatest sacrifice on earth and in heaven. Another method Christ teaches us how to be leaders is to serve others.When aspiring to be a leader, we must first serve those to whom we belong. Matthew 20:26–28 (NJB): Among you this is not to happen. No; anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave, 28 just as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ 

Matthew 20:18–19 (NJB): Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man is about to be handed over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn him to death 19 and will hand him over to the gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified; and on the third day he will be raised up again.’ I was so moved by hearing on this Antiphone, Communion Antiphon for today on 28th Feb: ‘The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’