The Passion of Christ in Three Days and Three Nights

Happy and holy Good Friday everyone! I pray this season has been a blessing to all. This is the time when we reflect on the longsuffering of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, His love and passion for us. Here I am going to reflect on the passion of Christ during His final hours here on earth.

Nissan 13: Jesus is having supper in the home of Simon the leper, and a woman enters in and anoints Him with a very expensive aromatic oil (Mark 14: 1-3).

What a gesture of giving and the receiving of love, that Jesus showed. While others were indignant about this "lavish" gesture of love, Jesus showed His willingness and grace to accept grateful love and affection from His followers. This shows us that He has a heart of love for feeble humanity.

Nissan 14: This was the day in which the Passover lamb must be killed according to Jewish law, and the lamb must be killed in the evening hours (Exodus 12: 3-6).

This was a busy day. People were in a hurry making last minute preparations for Passover. Jesus also was very busy. On the night before His death, He instituted the Last Supper and Foot washing. Throughout the whole meal sat Judas, the one who would betray Him. Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him, but He did not let anyone know about it. He kept that information to Himself. He knew it, but Judas did not know that He knew. Yes, Christ knew about it, because after all, He was God, and He knows everything! In His final hours He had sat down and eaten with a traitor. He did not try to destroy this traitor or embarrass Him in front of everyone. He did not call out Judas in front of everyone; instead, He quietly bore the hurt knowing that someone who was close to Him, someone who was privy to all the secrets of the kingdom, someone who witnessed His miracles, His joy and pain, would turn against Him. He put up with it, because He was determined that He was going to pay the penalty for sin, no matter how hurtful it was going to be, whether physically or emotionally.

After a night of being tortured, beaten, and mocked, Jesus was hung on a cross in the evening hours, where He died. He became the sacrificial passover lamb on that Passover day. He also became the sin offering for the evening sacrifice. His death atoned for our sins. He died so that we would not have to pay the penalty for our sins.

Nissan 15: Passover feast celebration (Exodus 12:8).

While others were celebrating the Passover feast by eating roasted lambs, Jesus laid dead in a cold tomb. It was one of the worst Passover feast days ever for His disciples, for they mourned the passing of their Lord. He gave His life so as to pay the penalty for our sins. This is what He had come to do, so that we might live eternally. Only the sinless One could have done this for us, for if we paid our own penalty, then we would die eternally. Now that He had paid the price for us, we have hope for life in eternity.