Understanding the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus

Apr 19, 2019

By Anne Marie Yap and Sheila Rose Darmaraj
About 40 parishioners of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (NBVM) and the Church of Sts. Chastan and Imbert (SCIC) attended a Bible Formation on the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ by Fr Ryan Innas, a biblical theologian from College General, on April 6, 2019.

Fr Ryan started with the message of the Pope for Lent 2019 taken from Rom 8:19 For the creation waits in eager longing for the revealing of the children of God. He said that Lent is a joyful season because it gives us time to recall the great events of our salvation history, the creation that was originally good and beautiful but diminished by man’s fall into sin, the priceless gift of God’s mercy and our redemption in Christ through the Paschal Mystery – the passion, death, resurrection and ascension.

Sin, Fr Ryan explained, is a loss of grace. It is a loss of relationship between God and man. Sin prevents us from living as children of God and causes man to behave destructively towards one another and nature. He said that the Greek word for sin is harmatia which means missing the mark or target — missing the perfect stand of God; it is any action or thought that goes against God.

Fr Ryan continued that Lent is the sacramental sign of this conversion. It invites Christians to embody the Paschal Mystery and demands renewal through repentance, conversion and forgiveness. He said we need to be with Jesus, just enjoying his presence so that we can be a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). All of us need healing. It is a season of ‘40 days in the wilderness’ — to restore communion with God to its former beauty and goodness, before man’s fall into sin.

Fr Ryan explained that ‘Paschal’ is a Greek word for ‘Passover’ derived from the Hebrew word ‘Pesach’ which commemorates the deliverance of the Israelites from their slavery and departure from Egypt (Exodus). The Passover foreshadows God’s plan of salvation for all. The Passover tells the story of salvation of the Israelites. The Paschal Mystery fulfills the salvation for all men through the passion, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

The Paschal mystery makes present the saving effects through the sacraments where the once broken relationship with God is restored. Jesus endured suffering to save us. The word ‘Passion’ in Latin is ‘pati’ which means to endure or to suffer. Jesus’ passion began in the Garden of Gethsemane and ended with his crucifixion. The ‘Passion’ is recorded in all four Gospels and also by other non-Christian sources such as Josephus, Cornelius Tacitus and the Jewish Talmud.

On the Sacred Triduum, Fr Ryan explained that it begins with the Last Supper on Holy Thursday and ends on the evening of Easter Sunday. On Holy Thursday, we celebrate the institution of the priesthood, the Eucharist and Jesus’ act of humility through the washing of feet. The act of washing the feet allows us to be compassionate to one another, to forgive, accept and affirm. Good Friday is the climax. Jesus offered His life with a free will and succumbed to darkness. His resurrection, the evidence of the empty tomb, assures us that he conquered sin and darkness.

Fr Ryan said that we too have a choice and a free will. Our lives too have to take the same path of Jesus. As his disciples, we have to carry our cross and suffer for the sake of Christ, to be elevated to new life. Many of those present found the session to be interesting. They were particularly touched that the Paschal mystery is an invitation to restoring relationship with God and one another.