The Passion of Christ

 

Today is Good Friday. It is on this day that we remember the day of Christ’s death. First I would like to share a link: A Medical Analysis of the Crucifixion. The link is a truly moving exposition of the suffering, the passion, of the one that we call Christ and a reminder to all of what he did to save the willing and called among human kind. And I would like to share this vid.

The passages containing the Passion of Christ are Matthew 26:30-27:56, Mark 14:26-15:37, Luke 22:39-23:49, John 18-19:30.

 

The Cross was the culmination of everything Christ did on earth. This was the fulfillment of the promise of a sacrifice, a perfect sacrifice, for the sins of man. In a brief overview the last day of Jesus life was as follows:

(1)Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane [John 17]

(2) Betrayal by Judas and Arrest [Luke 22:47-53]

(3) Examined by Annas [John 18:13-14]

(4) Trial before Sanhedrin [Mark 14:53;55-65]

(5) before Pilate [Matt. 27:2,11-14]

(6) before Herod [Luke 23:6-12]

(7) Before Pilate again, Condemnation [Luke 23:13-15]

(8) Mocked by soldiers [Matt 27:27-30]

(9) Led to Golgotha [Luke 23:26-33]

(10) Jesus on the cross for six hours [John 19:18-30]

I lack the time to make a full and in-depth study of this passage (and at any rate, a full and in-depth study will never be finished as it has been the subject of theologians for 1950 or so years) However, I would like to share the parts of this which are most striking to me.

1. Judas betrayed Christ with the traditional greeting of the time, a kiss. I can only imagine what grief Christ felt. He knew how Judas would betray him in order to fulfill prophesy, yet he always continued to try to be his friend and the end result of his actions were this betrayal. Theologians debate whether or not Judas was saved. Put the debate aside for now and just realize that to varying degrees we may betray Jesus in the same way and imagine the grief he must feel when he has lavished his love upon us.

2. Jesus was tried three times: once by the Sanhedrin, once before Pilate (the first time he sent Jesus to Herod), once before Herod. Each time he was either found innocent or the trial was done in an improper manner.

In the trial before the Sanhedrin, the trial did not even wait for morning as was Jewish law. This alone should invalidate the outcome of the trial, but the leaders ignored the law which they clinged to so desperately in order to condemn an innocent man. They also brought forth many witnesses, all of them false. Jewish law again dictates that two witnesses have to agree on the story. This brings forth another issue, there was no clear reason to arrest and condemn Jesus, not even the Sanhedrin themselves could agree on any one thing to charge Jesus with until the final set of witnesses.

In the trials of Herod and Pilate, Jesus was found innocent in both. However, he was also punished, for nothing, both times before his crucifixion, perhaps in an attempt to placate the leaders who clamored for death. Imagine this happening today. A man is found innocent but he is brutally punished anyway for the sake of pleasing a group of people who call for his death. Jesus was sent to the cross an innocent man. Legally, he should have been free, but to fulfill the promise of God he did indeed die.

3. Just before going out in front of the Jews, Pilots rhetorically asks Jesus “What is truth?” Is is not ironic that truth, which in the Bible is defined as the word, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us in the form of the incarnate son Jesus Christ, was right in front of Pilate. Jesus made no move to answer, and even if he did Pilate was blind to the actuality and hardness of  truth (Romans viewed truth as relative). How often do we do this? We ask “What is truth” and we do not read the God given truth contained within the Bible when we ask it.

4. The pain Christ must have felt when he cried out “Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani?” that being “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” If a best friend suddenly turns his back on you what pain we feel! How much more so when the perfect union between Christ and God is shattered (another mystery of the trinity). This emotional pain was just as great, if not greater, than the physical suffering explained in the link at the top of the article. What great pain Christ bore just to offer us the chance at salvation.

5. The brief statement “It is finished” is so great. It shows the completion of not only his life on earth, but also the fulfillment of millennia of prophesy and waiting for the salvation to come.

These are just a few of the more outstanding parts of the passage. With only a brief glance it is very easy to see how this single event in history has been debated by religious experts for millennia.

There are also parts which I have not been able to quite work out. Perhaps you, the reader, might be able to help me out because my lone mind is incapable of comprehending several things. I will share two: (1) Luke 22:36-38 says that Jesus told his disciples to buy weapons but Matt 26:51-54 shows that Jesus rebuked Peter. why would Jesus say to buy swords only to have them put it away again? (2) A more minor one but one that still intrigues me, What happened to those Jews who died  between the death of Christ and the beginning of the church age (or perhaps even between the death and resurrection). Was there a transition period between works and faith, or was it instantaneous?

 

The death of Christ is both happy and sad. It is the short period of time where darkness triumphs, but it is also the time where everything would be finished. I hope that all Christians may learn from this during this solemn and yet happy time.

Easter Hymns

Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.

Hebrews 9:22

It is Passion week in the Roman Catholic liturgy. During this week we remember the last days and hours of Christ’s ministry and the ending result, our salvation. although with almost 99% certainty the crucifixion did not occur on the day we call “Good Friday,” it is nonetheless the day that we remember the death of Christ and to what some Theologians have postulated, his decent into Hades.

 

It is during this time that a specialized set of songs and hymns are brought out and I would like to share a few of the more touching ones.

 

Concerning his Suffering:

“There is a Green Hill Far Away”

lyrics (5th stanza is Refrain under George C. Stebbins’s musical composition)

Ce­cil F. Al­ex­an­der wrote this hymn as she sat with her sick daughter. The hymn is a great reminder of how we are to love God as he had died for us. It also tells of that incomprehensible suffering that Christ had to endure to ensure us our chance at salvation.

“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”

lyrics

Written by Isaac Watts, this hymn has lasted through the ages until the present day. The words of this hymn cannot help but make any respectable follower of the Christian faith remember the cross. The first two stanzas show how little we think of the Cross and the errors in the ways in which we [usually] continually live out lives. The third stanza which says

See from his head, His hands, His feet,

Sorrow and love flow mingled down;

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet

Or Thorns compose so rich a crown.

These beautiful sounding words arranged in a simple  AbAb rhyme scheme carry so much meaning. Christ was filled with sorrow at seeing our depraved state of sin. It is this sorrow combined with the purest love to be found in the whole universe that is contained in the shedding of blood which has provided for the remission of our sin through the propitiation that was Christ Jesus. In this time in which we directly think of Christ’s death do not these simple and yet beautiful words bring a sense of sorrow and realization as we realize all that Christ has endured that we may be where we are today?

Concerning the Redemption Found in His Blood

“The Old Rugged Cross”

Lyrics

The “Old Rugged Cross,” written and put to music by George Bernard, is a hymn regularly played around Easter. It speaks of the characteristics of that saving cross. It bore our shame, it carried God incarnate, it is hated by the world at large, and it caused the releasing of that saving blood. The cross is a beautiful and yet solemn thing. It was the tool of death for the most shamed of criminals, and yet it bore that which would save the world. This ugly instrument of death has a strange sense of beauty that is unrivaled by anything save the triune God himself. So “cherish that old rugged cross.” until the day of death for it is truly beautiful and the symbol of our salvation and faith.

“Nothing but the Blood [of Jesus]”

lyrics

This simple song is a staple of Sunday schools. I have heard it sung to the wordless book. How fitting this is, the tool of evangelism used with a song that shows how the blood changes a life. “What can wash away our sins?” The answer is and always will be “The blood of Jesus.” The answer to all the questions listed in each stanza will always be “The Blood of Jesus.” However simple these words are, how often do we practice it. How often do we use the given grace to make it though any of those questions? Some of them always, perhaps one or two, never. No matter how simple this song is, no matter how repeated it is, may we always learn from it, may we always grow as we sing it and think on the words.

“There is Power in the Blood”

lyrics (The vid is a fun one . . . you have to love this southern music)

This is a truly fun song to sing (and if you ever watch a gospel choir do this its quite amazing to see how they all move to the music). The song sings of what POWER there is in the blood, power that is found nowhere else. It saves out souls, it gives is victory, it cleanses us and it brings us into communion with God. The song tells of the work of the blood, a reminder of how the work of Christ will never be done until the day of our death, for it is only on our deathbed that we stop growing, and even then only when we gasp our last breath. Let the blood always work in you through the Word. Stay within “The precious blood of the Lamb.”

Concerning the Resurrection Without Which our Salvation Is Incomplete

“Christ Arose”

Lyrics

A favorite of many people, this is another hymn that has been popular throughout the ages. For thee days Christ remained in the ground. He waited for that day, the fulfillment of prophesy, the beginning of the Church Age. This is the first verse. The tune of the hymn corresponds to this attitude. It starts out slow and thoughtful. The somber tone sets for the change in the refrain. “Up from the grave he arose!” Christ lives, he has been resurrected. The hymn moves on to a joyful, fast movement. We are to similarly be joyful that Christ did indeed arise from the dead. “He arose! Hallelujah Christ arose!” Let us always remember this simple and joyful message.

“Because He Lives”

Lyrics

This relatively new hymn (copyright 1971 by William J. Gaither) is a beautiful and simple tune of how through the resurrection of Christ we have obtained salvation; of how through the knowledge of Christ we need not be condemned to a life of moral or existential nihilism. The bible says “we can do all things through Christ.” This song is a reminder of that promise, of how no matter what the problem or struggle is we may gain power and strength through Christ to face these “uncertain days.”

 

These are all but a few hymns which many have composed to remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and the salvation we have received thereof. Others include”O Sacred Head Now Wounded,” “Alas! And Did My Saviour Bleed?”, “Rock of Ages,” “Are You Washed in the Blood?”, “There is a Fountain Filled With Blood,” “Dwelling in Beulah Land,” “Wonderful Grace of Jesus,” and many others. If one has the time, I recommend looking at some of these hymns through the use of Google. Many are spiritually deep and the words alone with usher in a period of quiet contemplation of the subject the poetry of the hymn is on. These hymns provide a great challenge to a life and a reminder of the reason for this season (no pun intended). Always let music bring you closer to an understanding of God.

The News

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m somewhat of a news freak. Name a fairly large event in the world and most likely I would have heard of it through the glory of the internet. Still what remains to be known is what I think of news and its impact. I will now expound on what I think of news for the information of all caring.

News, what is news? News is, simply defined, information about recent events. News is what brings the single human into a greater knowledge of more than what is around them. news is the tool that binds the world beyond familial and familiar ties. A Single person can only gather information with one set of eyes and ears and through the aforementioned ties. However, it is through news that the eyes and ears of many record the voices of thousands, millions of people in a short and informative article. This is the power of news, the power of information. News is a powerful tool but it also brings with is a great uselessness.

News is powerful, there can be no doubt about this. This power of news is shown in the aftermath of decisive battles such as Antietam and other historical events such as the invasion of Korea and the Cuban Missile Crisis. News, which can include everything from a printed paper to the word of the highest power of a nation, is the only tool by which people can gain information of distant (or even sometimes near) places. The power of news is easily exemplified in all these incidents. In Antietam news affected both sides of the civil conflict greatly. The south was demoralized at the first major defeat of the year, the north invigorated. It Kept Lincoln in office and indirectly assured the existence of the Union with Lincoln’s re-election and the new reluctance of European nations to associate with the Confederacy. It was through news that the Cuban missile crisis affected people in America and the world. In the Cuban missile crisis the free world was shocked through the revelation of concrete evidence of missiles in Cuba, evidence which expedited their removal and assured continued human existence past the point of “the closest time to nuclear war.” This is the power of news to change the world. It has affected the course of war and averted and created wars. It has spurred new changes in human rights in nations such as America, France and Numerous other nations. The power of news allows a single journalist or person to affect the lives of thousands, millions, or even Billions of people through the use of the spoken and written word.

The writer Stan Lee once wrote “With great power must also come great responsibility.” This oft quoted saying (mostly as a result of its highly public appearance in numerous media) rings especially true with the great power of news.  News is also a primary source of misinformation. This is especially true on the internet where everything (even this) must be taken with a “grain of salt.” Wikipedia is a prime example of this misinformation, both intentional and unintentional. The British Broadcasting Corporation has reported ”The Conservative Party was caught out last month tampering with an entry on the painter Titian [on Wikipedia]. [1]” For some reason people intrinsically trust Wikipedia, as they do with all other news. In many cases this is true, Wikipedia is right (especially for facts with a valid citation to a respectable source), however vandalism both obvious and unobvious is present in many articles (this is again proven in a graph on the “Evolution” page which has been entirely deleted by a user many times) [2]. While this is a relatively normal and expected example it also shows that no writer is without bias, no source perfect, and that intentional and unintentional errors plague news. No matter how respectable a source is there will always be a point where it errs*. As powerful as news is, it is not perfect and through incorrect facts it may irreparably influence people in a wrong direction.

The greatest danger of news lies not in its truth or power, it lies in the reader him/herself. More news from more sources abound today than any other period in history. In no other period could a single person make a single view known to everyone in the world that reads and cares (an example would be this post on this blog). Information is so plentiful, there is so much of it that people can cease to be moved by it, or be moved by it and not act on it. Almost everyone is guilty of this. Even with news people just do not care about the world. What is one distant but loud voice among hundreds and thousands of closer but softer voices. People usually only care about the center of the world, which to each person is generally the people and locations surrounding them. Foreign news only becomes relevant when it may directly apply to them or if the voice has become so loud it has overpowered other voices. For example the conflict in Darfur, Sudan has been going on for the last 5 years, but only recently have people started caring once the pain of people and the shouting of voices has reached those that finally turn their head to listen. These types of events are few and far between. Who has heard of the selling of children in Tajikistan and Liberia, (outside Canada) of Vincent Li who decapitated a rider on a greyhound bus, of the expulsion of Israeli diplomats from Zimbabwe or of the collapse of Iceland’s government earlier this year. The point is, most people, especially people in America, do not care about the world. This lack of care leads to lack of knowledge, and a lack of knowledge leads to a lack of inaction. The danger lies in all of these “lacks”. what good is the knowledge that affects nothing, What good is no knowledge at all (at least knowledge can lead to action). Just as governments institute educational program to inform people of the wiser decisions similarly news should be made in such a manner that there may be more people that care. Once again, we’re all guilty of not acting on knowledge, even that which we can act on in our local areas.

News is an important and valuable tool. It affects the world though those few people who change the world through affirmative action. However with it also comes danger, the danger of misinformation, the danger of no information, and the danger of not acting on information. News is to be respected and everyone should act in what ways they can or there was no point to the news in the first place. News has, is, and will always affect the world. Now it is our place to let it affect us for the greater good of all that is.

Refs:

[1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7921985.stm

[2]http://s3.amazonaws.com/twittypic/wordpress/cache/4abe322cf0717b0769af0b4c4e89cf78.jpg

*err is not pronounced like error but the -er in hunger. . . look it up in a dictionary if you don’t believe me. This mispronunciation annoys me to no end.

**I don’t really like this since its somewhat hypocritical and not that well thought out but whatever. . .