What is the passion of Christ?

from the old testament

• Isaiah 53 prophesied the passion of Christ: “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5).
• Psalm 22:16-18 details some of the suffering during Christ’s passion: “For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

from the new testament

• The Gospels depict Jesus’ passion as a focused time of obedience, where He willingly endured the last day of foretold sorrow, betrayal, violence, and crucifixion (Matthew 26:36-27:50; Mark 14:32-15:37; Luke 22:39-23:46; John 18:1-19:30). Matthew notes Jesus saying, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death,” highlighting how real His distress was (Matthew 26:38). Still, that sorrow did not turn Him away from the Father’s will.
• The passion began at Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed that the Father might provide an alternative to the suffering He was about to face: “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36). The “cup” refers to drinking judgment. In His humanity Jesus was rightly repulsed by the thought of dying, but He submitted to the Father. Paul later remarked, “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). Jesus’ passion night began with willing surrender to and trust in the Father’s plan.
• The betrayal happened swiftly afterward. Judas arrived with a crowd to arrest Jesus, kissing Him like a friend as a signal to the soldiers (Luke 22:47). Jesus revealed his treachery, saying, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Luke 22:48). The disciples, who just hours earlier had said they would stand by His side (Matthew 26:35), fled, just as Jesus said they would (Matthew 26:31, 56).
• Peter followed at a distance, but out of fear for his life, he denied ever being with Jesus. At Peter’s third denial, “the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:61-62).
• Entirely alone, Jesus then stood before the council, Pilate, and Herod. He was accused, spit on, beaten, and mocked (Matthew 26:67; 27:26-31; Luke 22:63-65; 23:6-12). John records Pilate saying, “I find no guilt in him,” highlighting Jesus' innocence despite the sentence (John 19:6). This unjust condemnation demonstrated that Jesus suffered as a perfectly righteous person. This set the ground for Him to die as a sacrifice for others since He Himself had no guilt.
• As Jesus was too weak to carry His cross, soldiers pulled a man from the crowd to carry it the rest of the way (Luke 23:26).
• When they finally arrived at Calvary, Jesus was nailed to the cross to die. Crucifixion was a slow, painful death, and as He hung there, he was barraged by insults (Matthew 27:39-40; Mark 15:29-32).
• While dying on a cross was a horrible experience, it was nothing compared to the Father turning His back on Jesus: “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Matthew 27:45-46). For the first time, the eternal Son of God and the Father were separated because the Father placed the sins of the world on Jesus and treated Him as if He were deserving of death for others’ sins.
• The passion ended when Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). The word He used is a financial term meaning that the cost for sin had been paid in full. Jesus then died. The soldiers confirmed His death with a spear (John 19:34) before He was buried in the tomb (John 19:40-42).
• The apostles explained what these events meant. Paul wrote, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). Peter said, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Hebrews emphasized that His offering was once for all, bringing forgiveness and access to God (Hebrews 9:26-28; 10:10, 19-22). The passion of Christ was not just a historical event; it was the start of mankind’s salvation.

implications for today

The passion of Christ shows how far God was willing to go to save you. Jesus faced real fear, loneliness, injustice, pain, and death, and He did so willingly so that He could pay for the sins of others. Jesus’ passion calls for a response. What will your response be? ?

While He died for sins, the Father only saves those who repent and believe in Him (Romans 10:9). Turn from sin and believe that Jesus died for you and rose again to give you life. Ask Him to forgive you and make you new. Those who come to Him are received, cleansed, and brought into the Father’s family because the Son finished the salvation work at the cross.

For the believer, Jesus’ suffering teaches us how to face suffering and pain in our lives. He prayed sincerely, yet He did not demand that God change His situation. He asked for it but submitted fully to whatever the Father decided. In that case, the Father wanted Jesus to die because He had a greater plan in mind that required Jesus’ death, namely, the salvation of men and women. Let Jesus’ example guide you in your suffering. Pray honestly, but remember that God has a purpose for your suffering. Indeed, James taught that believers should expect suffering and that God uses it to make them better Christians (James 1:2-4). As you trust the Father through your pain, you are acting like Jesus.