The Passion of Christ

God means what He says and says what He means! My hermeneutics are “literal”, however, that being said…study the scriptures yourself and make up your own mind! Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit…

Nisan 14 – the Passover lamb is Sacrificed

It was the custom since Moses gave the law and the statutes that 3 in the afternoon is the time of the day that the Jewish Priests sacrificed the Passover lamb. It’s no coincidence that this is the time that Jesus – Yeshua said “it is finished” and died on the cross. Nisan 14 is preparation day for the High Sabbath which is the 1st day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, commemorating the time of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.

John 19:28-30 After this, when Yeshua knew that all things were now completed, to fulfill the Scripture He said, “I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine was sitting there, so they put a sponge soaked with the sour wine on a hyssop branch and brought it to His mouth. ³⁰ When Yeshua tasted the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

All four of the Gospels in the New Testament give an account of the time from the arrest to the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Messiah – Yeshua Ha Mashiach: Matthew 26:36—27:56, Mark 14:32—15:41, Luke 22:39 – 23:49, and John 18:1—19:37.

I’ll be taking scriptures from all 4 Gospels to paint a picture of what happened, but equally important is why…

The passion of the Christ was prophesied by Isaiah in the Old Testament:

Isaiah 53:4—12 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our pains. Yet we esteemed Him stricken, struck by God, and afflicted.⁵ But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities. The chastisement for our shalom was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.⁶ We all like sheep have gone astray.Each of us turned to his own way. So Adonai has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.⁷ He was oppressed and He was afflicted yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter, like a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.⁸ Because of oppression and judgment He was taken away. As for His generation, who considered? For He was cut off from the land of the living, for the transgression of my people—the stroke was theirs⁹ His grave was given with the wicked, and by a rich man in His death, though He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth.¹⁰ Yet it pleased Adonai to bruise Him. He caused Him to suffer. If He makes His soul a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the will of Adonai will succeed by His hand. ¹¹ As a result of the anguish of His soul He will see it and be satisfied by His knowledge. The Righteous One, My Servant will make many righteous and He will bear their iniquities.¹² Therefore I will give Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoil with the mighty—because He poured out His soul to death, and was counted with transgressors.For He bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.

Here’s the WHY:

Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities. The chastisement for our shalom (peace) was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Scriptures from the TLV – Tree of Life Version (TLV is a new Bible translation produced by Messianic Jewish and Christian Scholars.) I have just recently become acquainted with the Tree of Life Version, so far what I appreciate the most is that is that Jesus is called by His Hebrew name Yeshua.

Here’s what Happened:

John 3:19-20 “Now this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world and men loved the darkness instead of the light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed.

Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour, darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.

Mark 15:33 When the sixth hour had come, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.

Luke 23:44-45 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, ⁴⁵ for the sun died out.

I marvel at the miracle of darkness that covered the land (earth). It became dark at noon and it wasn’t an eclipse (The darkness cannot have been a solar eclipse, because the full Passover moon is always on the wrong side of the earth for that to be possible). After solemn thought, I recognized that there can only be one reason for the darkness. Jesus – Yeshua is the Light of the world and when He became sin for us and He bore the weight of the sin of the entire world as he hung on the cross, His light was momentarily gone as he was clothed in our dark hideousness called sin. Throughout the Bible, we are told that Sin is darkness and the only light in this world is found in Christ.

Doesn’t it chill you to think of what this world will be without the Light of Christ?

1 John 1:5 Now this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you – that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.

He endured the wrath of God:

2 Corinthians 5:21 He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Because of our sin, the Father couldn’t even look upon His own Son! However, thankfully for us, Jesus’s death on the cross satisfied the wrath of God. He swathed Himself in our sin and paid the price in full! When we believe that He’s the Son of God, we are covered in His blood – His righteousness and Heavenly Father can’t see our sin! In order to continue in His light, we must all repent (turn away from) our sin and trust in the blood of Christ. In Christ we can truly see the light and there is NO darkness anymore…that is unless we seek it out!

Matthew 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?

Doesn’t the pain of Jesus’ anguish when He cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” cause you to fall to your knees and beg forgiveness? Doesn’t it make you want to Live for Jesus – Yeshua because HE died for you?

Before the trial and His crucifixion:

Luke 22:44 And in His anguish, He was praying fervently; and His sweat was like drops of blood falling down on the ground.

Matthew 26:39 Going a little farther, He fell face down and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me! Yet not as I will, but as You will.”

In the beginning Jesus – Yeshua and the Father, who are one, agreed on this plan, because They are “ALL KNOWING”, and They new that man would be tempted and therefore fall away. Jesus – Yeshua had walked this earth as a human and he fully understood what lie before Him! It wasn’t that His pleas fell on deaf ears, it was that once God says this is how it’s going to be, he doesn’t change his mind.

Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades.
But the word of our God stands forever.”

Malachi 3:6 “For I am Adonai. I do not change, So you, children of Jacob, are not consumed.

John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ All things were made through Him, and apart from Him nothing was made that has come into being. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it.

Hebrews 13:8 Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The new man who lives for Yeshua:

Romans 6:6-8 knowing our old man was crucified with Him so that the sinful body might be done away with, so we no longer serve sin. ⁷ For he who has died is set free from sin.⁸ Now if we have died with Messiah, we believe that we shall also live with Him.

Romans 12:1–2 I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice—holy, acceptable to God—which is your spiritual service. ² Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Galatians 2:20 and it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me. And the life I now live in the body, I live by trusting in Ben-Elohim—who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Ephesians 4:24 and put on the new self—created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.