the passion, death, and resurrection of christ:

the passover

“This one carries our sins and suffers pain for us, and we regarded him as one who is in difficulty, misfortune, and affliction. But he was wounded because of our sins, and he became weakened because of our lawless acts. The discipline of our peace was upon him; by his bruise we were healed. We all have been misled like sheep, each person was misled in his own path, and the Lord handed him over for our sins. And because he was afflicted, he does not open his mouth; like a sheep is led to slaughter, and like a lamb is voiceless before the one who shears it, so he does not open his mouth. His judgment was taken away in humiliation; who will describe his family? For his life was taken from the earth; he was led to dearth because of the lawless acts of my people” (Isaiah 53:4-8).

In anticipation of the promised Messiah, God established the feast of the Passover among the ancient Hebrews during their rescue from slavery in Egypt, when he sent his destroying angel to strike down all the firstborn of Egypt. “When you depart, take to you yourselves a sheep according to your lineage and sacrifice the Passover. And take a bundle of hyssop and, when you have dipped it from the blood that is beside the door, you shall daub the lintel and both of the doorposts with the blood that is beside the door; as for you, each of you shall not go out the door of his house until morning. And the Lord will pass by to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on both doorposts, the Lord will pass your door by and will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses to strike” (Exodus 12:21-23).

Jesus Christ is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), the perfect Passover sacrifice. He is the first-born Son of God, whose blood marks the lintels of the Church, protecting all who take refuge inside.

the agony in the garden

When the time for his life-giving passion had come, Jesus entered into the royal city of Jerusalem (Matthew 21) to celebrate the Passover with his disciples. He ate the Passover with them in the upper room (Matthew 26), then retreated to the Garden of Gethsemane where his sufferings began. “Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here, while I go over there and pray.’ And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.’ And going a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will’” (Matthew 26:36-39).

Betrayed into the hands of the Jewish religious authorities by his apostle Judas Iscariot, Jesus was arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin for trial (Matthew 26). “Now the chief priests and the whole council sought testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. For many bore false witness against him, and their witness did not agree. Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?’ And Jesus said, ‘I am; and you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.’ And the high priest tore his clothes, and said, ‘Why do we still need witnesses? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?’ And they all condemned his as deserving death” (Mark 14:55-56, 61-64). “And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him to Pilate”, the governor at the time (Mark 15:1), who condemned Jesus to death and handed him over to be crucified (Mark 15:15).

the crucifixion

“So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote a title and put it on the cross; it read, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.’ But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold you son!’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home” (John 19:17-19, 25-27).

“And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God!’ (Mark 15:33-34, 37-39). “But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water” (John 19:34).

the burial and the harrowing of hades

“Now there was a man named Joseph from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who has not consented to their purpose and deed, and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud, and laid him in a rock-hewn tomb, where no one had ever yet been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning” (Luke 23:50-56).

When Christ descended into death, he destroyed the realm of death and the devil, and freed all those righteous souls who had been imprisoned there since the beginning of time, so that they might receive the Gospel as well. “For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead, that though judged in the flesh like men, they might live in the spirit like God” (I Peter 4:6). “The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (John 5:25).

the resurrection

On the third day after his crucifixion, Christ rose from the dead, fulfilling his own prophecy: “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (John 10:17-18).

“Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; and stooping to look in, he saw the linin cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which has been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not know the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes. But Mary [. . .] turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have lad him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and you God.’ Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her’ (John 20:1-10, 11, 14-18).

Over the next forty days, the risen Jesus appeared to his disciples and apostles and ministered to them, teaching to them everything they would need to bring the Gospel to the nations. As St. Paul testified, Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures then appeared to Peter, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time (I Corinthians 15).