#4 (9th gr) Jesus' Passion

Jesus' Passion (suffering & sacrifice)

Have you heard the phrase 'The Passion of Christ'?  What does that mean?  Maybe you know what this phrase is in reference to, Christ's suffering and death on the cross, maybe you don't know that, that's okay, too.  In this session we'll look at what the phrase of Jesus' Passion really means and why YOU need to care.  

First, let's look at the words in the phrase:

Jesus - 100% man & 100% God (I know the math doesn't compute correctly, God doesn't do math like us. :) )

Go to your YouCat pg. 18 and read the quotes in the margin about Jesus and the definition for the word Incarnation.

Question 1:  According to Pope Benedict XVI what did God do in Jesus Christ?

Now, let's look at the next word:

Passion - in Latin passio means sickness, suffering

Go to you YouCat pg. 66 and again read the quotes in the margin.

Question 2:  According to Pope Benedict XVI what is the most 'radical form' of love?

So then, according to the definitions we just looked at Jesus' Passion refers to the suffering of the being who was 100% man and 100% God.

Does that even make sense?  I mean, why would God suffer?  And suffer willingly for that matter.....

The answer is simple:

Love, plain and simple.  God loves us all so much He died for us and took our place.

Why?

Please read in your YouCat 94-103 p.61-68 (quotes in margins, too). Take your time and really read the questions and answers slowly.  Think about what you're reading.

The answers to the following questions can all be found in your YouCat readings.

Question 3:  Did Jesus know He was going to die?

Question 4:  Jesus never sinned or committed any crimes, why was He sentenced to death, in the most painful and tortuous way imaginable? (hint: YouCat 96)

Question 5:  Did Jesus experience any fear?

Question 6:  If someone said to you, "If God is so loving, why would He let His Son be tortured and killed", how would you answer?

This clip from now Bishop Robert Barron is a little long, but helps explain why Jesus had to suffer so much in His death (Passion).  There were other ways to kill criminals at this time, why was Jesus sentenced to such a horrific punishment?

What Bishop Barron is saying can be described with the picture of the balance below.  Pretend Jesus' goodness is on one side of the balance and the world's sinfulness is on the other side of the balance.  Jesus was SOOOOOO good that His Passion had to balance His goodness.

Question 7:  Explain one idea (nugget of information) you got from Bishop Barron's video.