Sermon for Sunday, April 13, 2025 || Palm/Passion C || Luke 22:39–23:49
At the end of today’s service, we will read the Passion Gospel together. This is the tragic and beautiful story of Jesus’ last hours, one of only a handful of stories that appears in all four accounts of the Gospel. We call this reading the “Passion” Gospel because the word “passion” comes from the Latin “passio,” (and Greek “pathos”) which mean “to suffer.” In English, when we say “passion,” we’re usually talking about a type of overwhelming devotion to something or an intense romantic connection to someone. But both of these English definitions benefit from the word’s origin, for both are things we will suffer for.
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As we hear the Passion Gospel today, I invite you to hold all three of these definitions in your hearts:
- A willingness to suffer for those Jesus loves
- An overwhelming devotion to those Jesus loves
- And an intense connection with those Jesus loves
You’ll see the common theme here – Jesus’ undying love for God’s creation in general and for a lost and broken humanity in particular.
We see the first definition – willingness to suffer – in Jesus when he accepts the cup he soon will drink; when he remains silent during his trial; when he ignores the soldiers’ mocking call to save himself. Why does he choose this suffering? Does he suffer because God needs an atoning sacrifice to be punished for the sinfulness of the world? No. Jesus suffers because suffering is the natural outcome of his staying with his mission to the bitter end – and beyond the bitter end to a glorious new beginning.
And that brings us to the second definition of “passion.” Jesus will not abandon those whom he swore to be with, and this overwhelming devotion stands in direct contrast to the imperial machine that chews people up and spits them out. Jesus’ devotion to his people does not allow him to cut and run. He has a choice, and he chooses to stay. And in each successive moment of decision, he chooses again and again to stay, to bear the weight of the cross, to stretch out his arms of love on its wooden spar.
It is these arms of love that speak to the third definition of “passion” – an intense connection, a deep and abiding relationship that nothing, not even death, can separate. Jesus knows that his agony on the cross is not the end of the story. The resurrection is right around the corner, even if those who return home beating their breasts don’t know it.
There’s a poetic reason why the temple’s curtain is torn in two at the moment of Jesus’ death. The curtain separated the inner sanctum – the Holy of Holies – from the rest of the temple. This inner sanctum was considered so sacred that only a certain special high priest could enter it and then only at certain special times of the year. No one else was allowed access to this place where God’s presence was said to dwell in all its power and immediacy. But when the curtain tears, nothing separates the Holy of Holies from everything else. Nothing separates us from God’s love and presence.
As you listen to the Passion Gospel at the end of the service, I invite you to listen for Jesus’ passion in all its forms. Listen for one moment that shimmers for you and illuminates how Jesus continues to be devoted and connected to you in your own life today. Perhaps that moment will be his promise to the thief that he will be with Jesus in Paradise. Or the moment when Jesus commends his spirit to God’s hands before breathing his last. Or when Jesus looks at Peter after Peter’s denial. Or when Jesus forgives his executioners. Or when the curtain of the temple tears.
Listening to the Passion Gospel is something of a spiritual marathon, which is why I’m encouraging you to listen for a moment that speaks to you and hold onto it. Hold onto it all week as we walk with Jesus towards Easter. Today, listen for a specific moment of passion – a willingness to suffer, an overwhelming devotion, an intense connection – that Jesus displays for those he loves. Because, even though we shout “Crucify him,” we are the ones whom he loves.
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