“OUR LORD’S PASSION” (Acts 1:3)
April 4th, 2004
Int. This word “Passion” is only found one time in our K. J. V., however the Greek word “Pascho” is found a number of times and is translated, “suffer, suffered, etc.”
1. (Mat 16:21) "From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day."
2. (Mat 17:12) "But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them."
3. (Mat 17:15) "Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is a lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water."
4. (Mat 27:19) "When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him."
5. (Mark 5:26) "And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,"
6. (Mark 8:31) "And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again."
7. (Mark 9:12) "And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought."
8. (Luke 9:22) "Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day."
9. (Luke 13:2) "And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?"
10. (Luke 17:25) "But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation."
11. (Luke 22:15) "And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:"
12. (Luke 24:26) "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?"
13. (Luke 24:46) "And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:"
14. (Acts 1:3) "To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:"
18. (Acts 28:5) "And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm."
19. The word “Pascho” is translated either “suffer or suffered” the rest of the time.
I. OUR LORD’S PASSION WAS EXPERIENCED HIS ENTIRE LIFE.
A. HE WAS KNOWN AS THE MAN OF SORROWS.
1. (Isa 53:3) “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
2. (Jn 5:16) “And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.”
II. OUR LORD’S PASSION WAS VOLUNTARY
A. HE LAID DOWN HIS LIFE
1. (Jn 10:17-18) "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."
III. OUR LORD’S PASSION WAS GUILTLESS
A. HIS PASSION WAS FOR THE GUILT OF OTHERS.
1. (1 Pet 3:18) "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,"
2. (Acts 3:14) "But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;"
3. Even Pilate called him "a just person." (Mt. 27:24)
4. Pilate's wife called him "a just man"
a. (Mt 27:19) "When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him."
B. HE DIED CORPORTLY FOR OUR SINS.
1. (Isa 53:5) "..... The Chastisement of our peace was upon him......"
2. (1 Pet 2:24) "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,..."
3. (1 Cor 15:3) "....Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;..."
4. (Rev 1:5) "....Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,"
5. (Col 1:14) "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:"
6. (Mt 26:28) "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
IV. OUR LORD’S PASSION WAS UNLIKE ANY OTHER MAN.
A. HE WAS THE CHIEF SUFFERER OF ALL TIME
1. (Lam 1:12) "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger."
B. HIS PASSION BEGAN BEFORE HIS BIRTH.
1. He rode seventy miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem in his mother's womb to be born born in a cattle stall.
C. HIS PASSION EXISTED DURING HIS YOUTH.
1. (Psa 129:1-3) "Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say: {2) Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me. {3) The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows."
D. HIS PASSION EXISTED IN HIS EARLY MINISTRY.
1. (Mt. 8:20) "And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”
E. HE SUFFERED IN HIS NAME.
1. They called him a half-breed. (Samaritans were half-breeds)
a. (John 8:48) "Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?"
2. (Mat 11:19) "The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children."
3. They called him an Illegitimate child.
a. (John 8:41) "Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God."
F. HE SUFFERED AT THE EXPENSE OF HEAVEN ITSELF.
1. (Psa 22:1) "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?"
2. (Mt 27:46) "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
a. (1 Pet 2:24) "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,..."
E. HIS PASSION EVEN INVOLVED NATURE.
1. (Mt. 21:19) “And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only,...."
2 . (Jn 4:7) "There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink." (He had to ask a fallen woman for a drink of water).
F. HIS PASSION WAS ON GOING IN THE GARDEN.
1. (Mark 14:33-34) "And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; {34} And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch."
2. Samuel Pierce in Spurgeon's Treasury of David, says: "These words here predicted of him were most expressly realized. Whilst he remained in the hands of the Roman soldiers they stripped him of his raiment; they bound him with cords to a pillar; they flogged him.
"See from his head, his hands, his feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did ever such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?"
VI. OUR LORD’S PASSION EXISTED IN HIS KINGLY OFFICE.
A. HE SUFFERED IN HIS KINGLY OFFICE. (Phrase "King of the Jews" 18 times in N. T.)
1. (Mat 27:29) "And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!"
2. (Lk 23:37) "...if thou be the King of the Jews, save thyself."
3. (Lk 23:38) “And a superscription (='accusation' in (Mt. 27:37) also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS."
4. (Mark 15:17-18) "And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, {18) And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews!"
Well does Bernard sing-
"O sacred Head, once wounded,
With grief and pain weighed down,
How scornfully surrounded With thorns,
Thine only crown; How pale art Thou with anguish,
With sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage languish,
Which once was bright as morn!"
VII. OUR LORD’S PASSION EXISTED IN HIS PRIESTLY OFFICE.
A. HE SUFFERED IN HIS PRIESTLY OFFICE.
1. (Lk 23:11) 'And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate.
a. A gorgeous blue robe, such as the High Priest wore. He deserved such, but not in mockery.
b. This robe was "all of blue" (Ex 28:31)
2. (Mat 27:28) "And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe."
a. Scarlet was the same as "purple" (Jn 19:2) "And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe."
b. Scarlet often refers to sin. (Isa. 1:18).
VII. OUR LORD’S PASSION EXISTED IN HIS PROPHETIC OFFICE.
A. HE SUFFERED IN HIS PROPHETIC OFFICE TOO.
1. (Luke 22:64) "And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?"
a. "BLINDFOLDED": "A sport common among the children of ancient times, in which the blindfolded were struck on the cheek, then asked who had struck them, and not let go until they had correctly guessed. This treatment was accorded Christ by his persecutors"
2. (Mt 26:67-68) “Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?
VIII. HIS PASSION EXISTED IN EVERY MEMBER OF HIS BODY.
A. HE SUFFERED IN EVERY MEMBER OF HIS BODY.
1. He suffered in His sight, by their scoffings and scornful gestures.
2. He suffered in His hearing, by their reproaches and crying, "CRUCIFY HIM, CRUCIFY HIM."
3. He suffered in his smell, by being in that nauseam place of Golgotha.
4. He suffered in his taste, by being offered vinegar mixed with gall.
a. The combination of vinegar and gall mixed formed a drink of poison from a serpent to cause one to be stultified and oblivious to his pain.
b. (Job 20:14) "Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him."
5. He suffered in His feelings, by the thorns on His head, blows to His cheeks, spittle in His face, and spear in His side.
B. HE SUFFERED IN HIS HEAD– WHICH DESERVED A BETTER CROWN THAN THE REST OF THE WORLD.
1. That Head at which Angels fell down before and worshiped.
a. (Rev 7:11) "And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,"
2. Those eves, that were purer than the sun, were put out by the darkness of death.
a. (Mat 27:4) "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour."
3. That face which was faier than all the sons of men, now beaten beyond recognition.
a. (Isa 52:14) "As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:"
Marred! that gracious, loving visage,
By the hands of cruel men,
Spit upon, despised, and hated,
As He worked salvation's plan.
"This is your hour, power of darkness,"
Jesus said to wicked men,
When they taunted and reviled Him,
And they crucified Him then.
Wondrous hours That hour of suffering,
Upon Calv'ry's cruel tree,
There lie paid in full the ransom,
Paid the debt for you and me.
Oh! it cost Him untold suffering,
Cost Him all that He could give,
But He willingly endured it,
Gave His life that we might live.
Love that brought Him down from glory,
When He offered "Lo I come,"
Did His Father's will at Calv'ry,
The atoning work is done.
But the agony and suffring,
None but He will ever know,
All He underwent at Calv'ry,
Judgment's waves did o'er Him flow.
Ohl such love is past conception,
We will never understand;
But we praise Thee for our pardon,
In the pattern Thou bast planned.
And with grateful hearts, Lord Jesus,
We would e'er remember Thee,
As we think of all Thy suffering,
In the pattern Thou hast planned.
And with grateful hearts, Lord Jesus,
We would e'er remember Thee,
As we think of all Thy suff ring,
4. Those hands which ministered only good, now nailed to the tree.
a. (Mk 6:2) ".....what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mi h works are wrought by his hands?
b. (John 20:25) "The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he (Thomas) said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe."
5. And Luke adds: (Lk 22:65) "Many other things blasphemously spake they against him."
a. One writer said: "Jesus suffered so much that one night, that only the day of Judgment will truly reveal how much He really suffered."
b. History says that the night before the crucifixion they cast him into a filthy, dirty puddle, where he stayed the remainder of the night.
c. (Psa 88:6) "Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps."
IX. OUR LORD’S PASSION INVOLVED HIS EMOTIONS.
A. THEY SPIT IN HIS FACE.
1. (Mat 26:67) "Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,"
a. The word "then" refers to after they had blindfolded him.
b. To the Jew, this was considered a matter of great infamy and reproach.
c. (Num 12:14) "And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again. "
B. THEY STRUCK HIM WITH THE PALMS OF THEIR HANDS.
1. (John 18:22) "And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand. saying, Answerest thou the high priest so?"
a. This too, was a sign of great reproach.
2. C. H. S. said: "Oh, ye angels, how could you stay silent? How could they contain their hand, when they saw his hand strike the Son of God.?"
a. What desperate madness? To strike the King of Kings!
3. (Heb 10:29) "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
X. OUR LORD’S PASSION INVOLVED HIS DEATH.
A. HIS DEATH MARCH BEGAN IN EARNEST IN GETHSEMANE
1. (Luke 22:44) "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."
2. Grace Quotes says: "I fear we do not enough Gaze Upon That Face covered with the bloody sweat, for if we did, we would be more like him, we would love him better; we would live more passionately for him, and would spend and be spent, that we might promote his glory."
a. He suffered patiently (1 Pet. 1:23)
b. He suffered without limitation. (Isa 53:5) (known as the man of sorrows).
c. He suffered voluntarily. (Jn 10:17)
d. He suffered innocently. (1 Pet 3:18)
e. He suffered in every way possible. (Body, soul and Spirit).
3. (Lk 22:44) The Greek word for "agony" denotes a striving or wrestling.
a. It was that agony of being separated from the Father. "My God, My God."
b. It was a "bitter death" because He became sin for us. (2 Cor. 5:21)
XI. HIS PASSION INCLUDED A BLOODY DEATH.
A. HE LITERALLY SWEAT GREAT DROPS OF BLOOD.
l. (Luke 22:44) "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his 5 sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."
2. C. H. S. M & E. pg. 166 Evening. March 23rd. "The mental pressure arising from our Lord's struggle with temptation, so forced his frame to an unnatural excitement, that his pores sent forth great drops of blood which fell down to the ground. This proves how tremendous must have been the weight of sin when it was able to crush the Saviour so that he distilled great drops of blood!......
3. It is a scientific fact that one can actually sweat blood.
a. In (In 1:14) "They beheld his glory.....”
b. So, here, they beheld his sweat as it were great drops of blood."
4. (Isa 63:2) "Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?"
5. J. Kent in Gadsby's Hymnal #145
"Peace Made by The Blood of Christ."
Christ exalted is our song,
Hymned by all the blood-bought throng;
To his throne our shouts shall rise;
God with us by sacred ties.
XII. OUR LORD’S PASSION INVOLVED A LINGERING DEATH.
A. OUR LORD SUFFERED ON THAT CROSS FOR THREE HOURS.
1. (Mat 27:45) "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour."
2. This was no ordinary Eclipse for two reasons.
a. It occurred on the full moon (Passover was kept at this time) and the moon was opposite the sun and could not have blotted out its rays.
b. Had it been a natural Eclipse, it would not have lasted three hours.
B. CONSIDER THE MANNER IN WHICH HE WAS NAILED TO THE CROSS.
1. His hands and legs were violently racked and pulled out to the places fitted for his fastenings, and then pierced through with nails.
2. Being nailed to the cross this way, He couldn't move his body at all to get any relief from the pain.
3. The longer he lived, the more he endured; for by the weight of his body, the wounds were enlarged, his nerves and veins were exposed and torn asunder.
4. Here we can see the full meaning of (Rom 8:32): "God spared not His Son." (Rom 8:32
5. Here we can better understand that cry, "My God, My God, Why has Thou forsaken me?"
a. His tongue was now dry, dry spittle on his swollen face, etc.
XIII. OUR LORD’S PASSION WAS SLOW AND AGONIZING.
A. HIS DEATH WAS SLOW AND AGONIZING ON THAT CROSS.
1. He remained on that cross for three agonizing hours.
2. Had He not yielded up the Ghost; it would have been even longer.
a. (Mat 27:50) "Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost."
3. Notice that He cried with a loud voice.. (In full command of His faculties)
a. (John 10:18) "No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I[ 1 ] have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."
4. Our Lord endured the equivalency an "eternal Hell" during this brief span on that cross.
5. Some were left for days to rot on the cross.
a. (Psa 16:10) "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."
1. "Hell" here means: "hades" or the world of the dead.
2. Our Lord's yielding up the Ghost was in fulfillment of (Ps. 16:10)
6. F. B. Meyers says: "This law on the Jewish statute-book hastened the awful tragedy of Calvary. No body must be left to rot on the cross on which it had been impaled. The corpse of the malefactor must be taken down at nightfall. (Being the time of the Passover)
XIV. OUR LORD’S PASSION WAS SHAMEFUL
A. HE WAS HANGED BETWEEN TWO THIEVES. (As if He were the principle malefactor)
1. (Lk 23:33) "And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left."
a. He was hanged in the midst as "the chief of sinner" that we might have place in the midst of the heavenly angels.
b. One of the thieves went railing to hell while the other went rejoicing to heaven.
2. C. H. S. Morning & Evening. April 10th. Evening. The hill of comfort is the hill of Calvary; the house of consolation is built with the wood of the cross; the temple of heavenly blessing is founded upon the riven rock-riven by the spear which pierced his side. No scene in sacred history ever gladdens the soul like Calvary's tragedy.
3. C. H. S. said: "The world's one and only remedy is the cross of Calvary!" "The common place of execution, where the vilest offenders were put to death." “The Cross, a revelation of human sinfulness."
a. "When Socrates entered into prison, they said of it that it was a prison no longer; the dishonor and the infamy had passed away in the presence of such resplendent worth. so, but more memorably, it is at the cross."
B. HANGING WAS A SHAMEFUL WAY TO DIE.
1. (2 Sam 21:6) "Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them. "
2. (Gal 3:13) "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:"
XV. OUR LORD’S PASSION WAS AN ACCURSED EVENT.
A. IT WAS EXPLICITLY CALLED A CURSED DEATH.
I. (Deu 21:23) "His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance."
a. The death of the tree was accursed above all kinds of death; as the Serpent was accursed above all the beasts of the field. (Gen 3:14)
2. This mode of execution was reserved for the very worst kind of sinners. (It was for spiritual whoredom)
a. (Num 25:4) "And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the ople, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel."
Note: Even Adultery only brought "stoning"
3. When this kind of execution was used among the Jews, it was chiefly inflicted upon slaves, that either falsely accused or treacherously conspired their master's death. But on whomsoever it was inflicted, this death in all ages among the Jews has been branded with fiba special kind of ignominy, and so much that Paul describes it in detail:
a. (Phil 2:8). "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
Conclusion: Therefore, let us humbly, but proudly stand and sing:
Oh a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame,
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.
Or another one:
"When I survey the wonderous Cross,
On which the prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride. .
O another one:
Kneel at the cross, Christ will meet you there,
Come while He waits for you.
Listen to His voice, leave with Him your care,
And begin life anew.
Kneel at the cross, leave every care,
Kneel at the cross, Jesus will meet you there. (And no where else!)