Why Passion Week Is Personal

 I'll admit it - Passion Week is a busy time of the year for me: with all of the church activities I'm part of leading up to the Easter celebration, it's easy for me to get caught up in all of the details and miss the most important thing in all this...that Jesus Christ came into this broken world to save sinners, "of whom I am the worst," as the Apostle Paul put it (1 Timothy 1:15). 

 When I think of how many Christians treat the Easter season, I think the one truth that can get lost is the personalization of the act. While we celebrate all things dying and raised to life, all things Spring that remind us Christ is forever restoring buried things, we can sometimes forget that He does all this FOR US! 

 This Passion Week, I have been particularly reminded of this fact as I've been working on the music I will singing in my church's Easter program. The songs have become a part of me as I have breathed the words and praise deep in my soul: "What wondrous love is this, that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul?" "Who is this King that lays aside His crown?" Reminders to wash the dirty feet of the hurting world as Christ kneeled in humility to do the same for His disciples, reminders that "Jesus Is Lord," reminders that "Christ Is Risen From The Dead" - that this fact calls all His followers to sing "Praise To the King."
 But perhaps most striking out of all the reminders I've seen and felt this particular Passion Week is from a poem set to music that I will be singing as a solo on Easter Sunday as part of my church's music program. The words were written by one of my favorite hymn-writers/preachers: John Newton. "Once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he long labored to destroy," as his headstone so plainly states. This man had once taken his company among those like the Apostle Paul who, prior to his conversion actively sought to destroy life and freedom and faith for those innocent ones that happened in their path. Through the personal, active, and rich grace of the Lord Jesus, this man became an outspoken proponent of the Gospel and is most known for one of his hymns, "Amazing Grace." Not so well known as this one, he penned another hymn titled "The Look," which provides the personal outlook on Passion Week, particularly Good Friday, that is often lost in the Easter message. It is from these words that my solo is taken:

"I saw One hanging on a tree, in agony and blood,

Who fixed His loving eyes on me, as near His cross I stood.

And never 'til my dying breath, will I forget that look -

It seemed to charge me with His death, though not a word He spoke.

My conscience felt and owned the guilt, and plunged me in despair;

I saw the blood His wounds had spilt, and helped to nail Him there,

But with a second look He said, 'I freely all forgive;

This blood is for your ransom paid; I died that you might live.'

Thus, while His death my sin displays for all the world to view,

Such is the mystery of grace: it seals my pardon, too;

With pleasing grief, and mournful joy, my spirit now is filled,

That I should such a Life destroy, yet live by Him I killed."

The song continues on to talk of how that look is forever etched upon the mind of the beholder and that one's life who has been touched by such forgiveness should resonate with praise to the One who took their place. From the moment I first heard this song, my soul was gripped. If I'm honest...if you're honest...we nailed Him to that cross. His sacrifice is far more personal than we dare to admit or speak of and, if I've learned anything from Newton's writings, it's that it's pleasing to the Lord to confess one's part in His death. Otherwise, one never learns just how much they owe to His amazing grace. 

 This Passion Week, perhaps we need to take a step back and accept a greater part that we played in His death. To remind ourselves that, as He hung on the cross so innocently and willingly, He was thinking of us! He knew every sin we would ever commit. He knew every evil thought we would ever think. But He loved us enough to pay the penalty for those sins that were not (and never would be) His own. THAT right there is true "wondrous love." That, when we were "sinking down beneath God's righteous frown, Christ laid aside His crown" for our souls. 

 Let that sink in deep...and let this Passion Week drive the realization into your heart that Christ's sinless death wasn't merely for humanity (which does include you) but it was to pay the debt you personally owed to a righteous, holy God for your wickedness. And that, through His resurrection, you are promised new life for eternity if you have accepted His gift of salvation and have acknowledged that guilty you needs a Savior. 

 The cross, the tomb, the rising from the death is a fact that continues to impact history and will until our Savior returns to reign forever. And we can rejoice in that we have been made partners in His on-going mission that began in a manger and led to a cross and now gives us the promise and the hope of a future in Heaven.