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.’

The Passion of Christ

 

Passion of Christ Part V

We all will suffer death in our body, but God will raise us on the Last Day in body and soul.  

 The Psalm 88, the church is identified them as anticipating the kind of suffering that Christ endured. There are other two Psalms(22, 69) also mentioned about the sufferings and afflictions Jesus to be faced before his death on the Cross. Psalm 88:1–4 (NJB): Yahweh, God of my salvation, when I cry out to you in the night, 2 may my prayer reach your presence, hear my cry for help. 3 For I am filled with misery, my life is on the brink of Sheol; 4 already numbered among those who sink into oblivion, I am as one bereft of strength. This Psalm is very closely related to Jesus' punishment of being thrown into the dungeon, as ordered by High Priest Khaiaphas. That is why pilgrims visiting the Holy Land travel to this deep well to experience Jesus' agony. Many visitors to the dungeon read this Psalm and ponder on Christ's sufferings. We might ponder on the aforementioned verses and reflect on them. Jesus cried out to his Father for rescue while he lay in this hole for one day and one night. He lost all of his power since he was alone in the dungeon, which was full of darkness. There was no one to help him, and no light could penetrate the dungeon. We know how much he suffered before his death on the Cross.

  Matthew 16:21 (NJB): From then onwards Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day. Then, throughout his ministry to his apostles and disciples, he made it obvious to them that he would suffer for the salvation of the entire world. He never hides anything from his apostles, who he considers friends and brothers. Jesus always made it plain that his suffering and death on the Cross were a sacrifice according to the desire of the Father in Heaven. He stated that after death, he will be revived on the third day to defeat Satan and the death of souls permanently. In this way, we have hope in Christ Jesus, who will redeem us and bring us eternal life in its fullness. Matthew 16:22–23 (NJB): Peter started to rebuke him. ‘Heaven preserve you, Lord,’ he said, ‘this must not happen to you.’ 23 But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because you are thinking not as God thinks but as human beings do.’ When Jesus revealed the sufferings and death on the cross to the apostles, Peter was not ready to accept the reality of this mystery. Peter said, this should not happen to Jesus. Jesus rebuked Peter and called him Satan, because Peter was not thinking in Godly perspective but with the human standard.