On Line Bible Study - For the Week September 3-9, 2012

Lesson 552
Passion 1

Christmas is just over 12 weeks away.  There is no doubt that we will be in the thick of our consideration of the Passion and Death of Christ as we move through the celebration of the Birth of Christ.

In the Catholic Church the annunciation of the angel Gabriel to Mary that she would be the mother of the Messiah is celebrated on March 25 - exactly 9 months before we celebrate his birth.  That date also happens to fall within the liturgical season of "Lent" - that period of 40 days when the Christian Church focuses on the Passion and Death of Christ in an intense way.

Three times in the Twentieth Century, the Feast of the Annunciation fell on Good Friday.  It happened again in 2005, and will happen again in 2016.  Then the convergence of those two dates will not happen for over a Century.

The convergence happened in 1608, and the moment was not lost on John Donne, the English poet.  He wrote the poem simply called: Upon the Annunciation and Passion Falling Upon One Day.

Death and conception in mankind is one ...

So writes the poet; and so true it is. 

Jesus is said by John to have spoken the words:

Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies,

it remains only a single seed.

But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

John 12:24

"The Passion Narrative, as it proceeds from arrest through trial to condemnation, execution, and burial, constitutes in each Gospel the longest consecutive action recounted of Jesus."  So writes Raymond Brown in his Commentary, The Death of the Messiah.  He goes on to say that, even more than the Birth Narratives, the Passion has "captured the attention and imagination of dramatists, artists, and musicians."

A number of phrases enter our language by way of the Passion Narrative - such lines as 

• Thirty pieces of silver
• Judas kiss
• Washing one's hands (of blood)

This is the time in Jesus' life when his ministry intersects with historical figures - Caiaphas, Pilate, Annas.  The death of Jesus on the cross is the "key element in God's plan for the justification, redemption, and salvation of all."

Raymond Brown begins the story with the prayer and arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  We are going to back up one step and begin with the meal Jesus shared.

Mark and Matthew introduce the scene simply:

"And when it was evening ..."

Luke puts it this way:  "And when the hour had come ..."

And John - "Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come ..."

Each of the four evangelists bring us to the table with an ominous tone.  The hour has come ...