The Passion of Christ

Passion of Christ Part X

‘A sword will pierce your soul too’ 

  The prophecy of Simeon, Luke 2:34–35 (NJB): 34 Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘Look, he is destined for the fall and for the rise of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is opposed— 35 and a sword will pierce your soul too—so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’ I was just reflecting about Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary. How Mother Mary waited all these years to allow her son to be sacrificed. Simeon prophesied that the sword would pierce Mother Mary's heart. She was expecting this and spiritually preparing to accept Jesus' death on the Cross according to Heavenly Father's plan. 

  I went to Mount Malayatoor in 2010 for a personal retreat to be alone with Jesus Christ. While hiking the mountain in one day, during the meditation on the Way of the Cross. I paused near the 13th Station on this mountain. The lifeless body of Jesus lay on Mother Mary's lap, and I glanced at her face. I sensed she was quite relaxed since her Son had fulfilled His task, which Heavenly Father had endured for the sake of all humanity, namely the salvation of all humanity.

  After Jesus' death, Mother Mary was overjoyed when she accepted his dead corpse on her lap with the assistance of John and other female friends. Pieta, a stunning sculpture by Michelangelo, commemorates this incident. The torment of passion was ended according to Heavenly Fathers' plan; otherwise, Salvation and the Most Holy Sacrifice were completed, and she is now enjoying the heavenly happiness that she was experiencing with angels and saints by defeating Satan and his companions by shedding Jesus' own blood; not only her son, but also Heavenly Fathers' own Son. A few minutes before, in a human way, I was thinking about the sorrowful element of Christ's passion on the cross. The world was thinking differently, as they imagined how Christ would die on the Cross, maybe saving himself and avoiding the death penalty. Matthew 16:22 (NJB): Then, taking him aside,  Peter started to rebuke him. ‘Heaven preserve you, Lord,’ he said, ‘this must not happen to you.’ Even Peter also does not understand the redemptive value of this Eternal Sacrifice at first sense the death of Jesus on the Cross. Matthew 16:23 (NJB): 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.’ The passion and death of Jesus Christ have the greatest redemptive value for the past, present, and future of all living beings. It was the Heavenly Father's plan, which He determined after Adam and Eve committed sin. He was also happy with Abraham's offering of his own son as a living sacrifice, as he had asked for. Abraham gained God's heart, which strengthened God's desire to bring His only Son to the earth and offer him as a live sacrifice for our sins. 

   Mother Mary, who was uniquely chosen by God the Father to be the Mother of His only begotten Son, must endure all of Christ's passions and our Lord's redemptive plan as part of this redemption. She is a co-redemptorist in the mystery of salvation. She was aware of all of the Heavenly Father's mysteries and plans, and she carried the sorrow and suffering from the birth of Child Jesus until his death on the Cross. Let us fulfil Jesus Christ's mission, which he has explicitly given to all of us. 

The Passion of Christ

Passion of Christ Part IX

If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. 

  John 12:5–8 (NJB): Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’  6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he was in charge of the common fund and used to help himself to the contents. 7 So Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone; let her keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You have the poor with you always, you will not always have me.’ Here, Judas Escariot complains about the ointment with which St Mary Magdalene anointed Jesus. He is questioning why spending so much money to show respect to Jesus when you might sell it and donate it to the poor. His purpose was not to give this money to the impoverished, but to keep a portion of it for personal use. Jesus foresaw his suffering and death on the Cross, therefore he told let her use it for his burial. What a wonderful devotion and love he showed this unfortunate person for her deed of love and respect.

  Is 50: 7-9, Lord Yahweh comes to my help, this is why insult has not touched me, this is why I have set my face like flint and know that I shall not be put to shame. 8 He who grants me saving justice is near! Who will bring a case against me? Let us appear in court together! Who has a case against me? Let him approach me! 9 Look, Lord Yahweh is coming to my help! Who dares condemn me? Look at them, all falling apart like moth-eaten clothes! Jesus is requesting his Father for help, and he is confident that his Father would not abandon him. There was no evidence that he deserved punishment. Jesus is suggesting that everyone will break apart on their own due to their improper vices, unclean practices, and wicked ways. 

  Matthew 16:24–25 (NJB): If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. Jesus is calling us to follow him by carrying our own crosses, surrender ourselves, and abandon all the conveniences of our modern world. Even if we sacrifice our life for Christ, it is a blessing. You are aware that the 21 Egyptian martyrs killed in Libya by the Islamic State were all willing to accept the cross for the sake of Jesus. They never lose trust in Jesus our Lord. The persecutors asked them to abandon their Christian beliefs and convert to Islam. They accepted death for the sake of God and became martyrs. What a magnificent faith these victims possessed, which we can all experience in this twenty-first century. Their example of the martyrdom makes us to keep our enthusiasm for the faith in Jesus and sacrifice ourselves for his kingdom. 

  

The Passion of Christ

 

Passion of Christ Part VIII

Jesus was never turned away from the insults and spitting

  Jesus was rejected by everyone, and he thought he had been removed from the Father's presence. Jesus' passion began at birth, and he thought he was finished, with no more power to bear all of his afflictions alone. The adversary floods around him all day and night, stabbing him with whips and lances to give him the maximum punishment on earth than anybody else in this world..  Psalm 88:14–18 (NJB): 14 why, Yahweh, do you rebuff me, turn your face away from me? 15 Wretched and close to death since childhood, I have borne your terrors—I am finished! 16 Your anger has overwhelmed me, your terrors annihilated me. 17 They flood around me all day long, close in on me all at once. 18 You have deprived me of friends and companions, and all that I know is the dark. Jesus was taken away from all his friends and companions. A great passion and death is very inevitable for him. He felt the darkness everywhere as the heavenly light has taken away from him as a fulfillement of the will of Heavenly Father.  Psalm 38:9–10 (NJB): Lord, all my longing is known to you, my sighing no secret from you, 10 my heart is throbbing, my strength has failed, the light has gone out of my eyes. 

  Isaiah 50:4–10 (NJB): Lord Yahweh has given me a disciple’s tongue, for me to know how to give a word of comfort to the weary. Morning by morning he makes my ear alert to listen like a disciple. 5 Lord Yahweh has opened my ear and I have not resisted, I have not turned away. 6 I have offered my back to those who struck me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; I have not turned my face away from insult and spitting. Jesus received all of the invisible and visible virtues, nature, and qualities of the Heavenly Father. The soldiers struck Jesus and plucked his beard till blood flowed down his cheeks. He never turned away from all of the punishments and persecutions. Jesus never turned away from the presence of the Heavenly Father.