March 25, 2024
Monday, March 25, 2024:
Read: Acts 1:2-3 The Passion of Christ
…to the apostles whom he [Jesus] had chosen:
To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion [suffering] by many infallible proofs,
being seen of them forty days,and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
(Acts 1:2-3, KJV)
One of my favorite sweets as a child was a Tootsie Roll Pop. I had a passion for the chocolatey center and only tolerated the hard candied exterior I went through to get to it. Eventually I had the bright idea of having Dad just buy me Tootsie Rolls instead. Skip the hard stuff; get right to joy and pleasure.
This week Holy Week, also known as Passion Week, is like my Tootsie Roll Pop. It’s the time we move from Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the sufferings he endured for our redemption and restoration. It’s a week I’d prefer to skip the hard stuff and move right to the joy of Easter morning. You, too?
The problem: passion is synonymous with suffering. Passion refers to those strong and barely controllable emotions one has with respect to a particular person or thing. Surprisingly, it comes from the Latin pati, meaning to suffer or endure. Suffering powers passion. Suffering empowers our movement toward satisfying those barely controllable emotions.
But it hurts so much. True, but attempts to push through or avoid suffering is like what one author described as trying to take wetness out of water. The only way to avoid it is to numb my senses to it. However, that has consequences, too, because resisting suffering means we never quite get to the full joy on the other side. All our energy is spent on denying and erasing the suffering.
Remember the wisdom of Ecclesiastes 3:1-10? Every arrival of a good thing contains an eventual departure. Every ending implies a beginning. To resist suffering is to resist the wholeness of life’s experiences, to miss out on the fullness of the love, mercy, and grace of God that awaits on the other end.
On that note, I hope you’ll join me this week in encountering again the barely controllable and painful emotions of Christ as he traveled to Calvary. That you will let the experience of his suffering, the depth of his passion to endure it all for you, to live in you.
Be Still and Reflect: How does this perspective of passion change your understanding and approach to Passion Week? In what areas of your life do you find yourself wanting to skip the “hard stuff” and go straight to the pleasure? What might you be missing out on by doing so?
Pray: Heavenly Father, as I enter Holy Week and reach toward the fullness of Easter, grant me the grace and courage to not shy away from encountering the suffering and painful emotions Christ experienced on his journey to Calvary. Help me embrace the reality that both joy and suffering are intertwined and essential in drawing closer to You. May this week be a time of reflection, transformation, and a deepening of my relationship with You. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
By His Grace,
Gloria