The Passion of Christ
Philippians 2:8
“And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
Christ’s passion was to complete the work of obedience to the Father and love toward us. There were many individuals who tried to thwart God’s redemptive plan by attempting to cause Jesus to bypass the cross for an easier plan.
Who tried to stop Jesus from going to Calvary?
I. Satan –Luke 4:5-8
(Luke 4:5-8) And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Here we find Satan promising to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if He would simply fall down and worship him. This temptation was actually an attempt by Satan to get Jesus to bypass the cross of Calvary. Heb. 2:9-10 tell us that every knee shall bow to Christ and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. It also tells us that the reason for this is that Jesus humbled himself and became obedient to the plan of Salvation even in His death. If Satan had succeeded in getting Christ to bow to him, there would be no Salvation for sinners. There would have been no Calvary, no resurrection, and no hope for a lost world. Thank God Jesus stayed focused on His reason for coming to earth. He stayed focused on His passion—to redeem the souls of all humankind.
II. Peter –Matt. 16:21-23
(Matthew 16:21-23) From that time forth began Jesus to shew 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. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Peter and the other disciples had great expectations that Jesus would soon overthrow the Roman government and set up a kingdom of His own. When Jesus began to talk about His death, this startled the disciples. Peter spoke up and began to rebuke Jesus saying, “No this will never happen to you.”
Jesus said, “Get behind me Satan.” He pointed out that Peter’s passion was earthly and not of God. Peter’s passion was to have a part in ruling an earthly kingdom. Jesus’ passion was to go to the cross to redeem the souls of sinners.
III. Religious Leaders –Matt. 27:41-43
(Matthew 27:41-43) Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
Here we find the religious leaders mocking Jesus as He hangs upon the cross. They are saying that if Jesus is so powerful he should be able to save Himself from the cross. What they did not know was the fact that Jesus could have easily escaped the cross, but because of His passion to save sinners, he laid down his life on the cross. He refused to bypass Calvary. He knew it was all part of the plan to bring salvation to lost humanity.
IV. The thief on the cross –Luke 23:39
(Luke 23:39) And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
Jesus was crucified between to criminals. As they hung there on those three crosses, one of the criminals began to bitterly say, “If you are really the Christ, then save yourself and save us from these crosses.” Jesus had to power to do just that. The Bible says he could have called twelve legions of angels from Heaven and escaped all of the suffering and all of the pain of Calvary. He was focused once again upon His passion to save the lost.
Why was Jesus so passionate about going to the cross?
I. Jesus was passionate about going to the cross because our sin was exceedingly sinful.
Sin is the breaking of God’s moral law. His moral law is found in the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20.
A. No other gods besides God. Jesus explains this in Mark 12:30. “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”
B. No worship of idols.
C. Do not take the name of God in vain.
1.This command involves our speech. We are not to use God’s name as a curse word.
2. This command also involves our lifestyle. In essence we could say “Live in such a way that you are not an embarrassment to God.” When you see a business advertised as a “Christian business” they had better exercise Biblical principles of honesty and integrity or they are taking God’s name in vain. Sometimes you hear people say that God told them to do something that is obviously against the Bible. They are taking God’s name in vain.
D. Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. In from Exodus 20:9-11 we read, “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
E. Honor your Father and Mother. Respect for parents is a command of God. It is not an optional suggestion.
F. Thou shalt not murder. Jesus said that if a person has hatred in his heart toward another person, he is a murderer.
G. Thou shalt not commit adultery. In Matthew 5:28, Jesus said that whoever looks at another person lustfully has commit adultery.
H. Thou shalt not steal.
I. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
J. Thou shalt not covet.
All of us have broken at least some of these commandments which make up the law of God. The Bible says that breaking the law of God is sin. Sin is what makes it impossible to get to Heaven. So why was Jesus so passionate about going to the cross? His sacrifice was the only remedy for our sin.
II. Jesus was passionate about going to the cross because God’s Grace is greater than all our sin.
(Romans 5:19-21) For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
By definition, grace in undeserved favor. God showed His divine favor and affection to those who deserved His divine wrath. The whole plan of salvation including the life, death, and resurrection of Christ is a vivid demonstration of God’s grace toward an undeserving human race.
III. Jesus was passionate about going to the cross because His love is unconditional.
One song writer said it well when he penned these words, “Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made, were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.
God’s love cannot be measured. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
A story is told about a man in charge of a railroad drawbridge. His duty was to raise the bridge for ocean liners
to pass below through below. Then he was to lower the bridge for trains to cross on it. One day his young son was helping him with the work of the bridge when the son fell into the gears and equipment that controlled the movement of the bridge. As he struggled to free himself, the father noticed his dilemma. Just then he realized that it was time for the next train to arrive at any moment. He saw the train coming down the tracks. He knew he would have to lower the bridge or kill all of the passengers of the train. Lowering the bridge would crush his son in the gears. He had to think fast. At the last moment he made the decision to lower the bridge, saving the lives of all that were on the train. As the train whizzed by, the passengers were looking out the window. Some were laughing, others were eating and drinking. None of them knew what great sacrifice the man had made to save their lives.
Whether or not this story is true, it illustrates to a small degree the sacrifice that was made when God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to be beaten and torn and nailed to a cross for our sins. What a sacrifice! What love! Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends”(John 15:13). For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8).
The passion of Christ is that each of us be saved. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
