So great was this divine love that it led to an extraordinary act: God himself stepped into human history as Jesus Christ took on our mortal flesh and united it with his divine nature. This wasn't merely a brief visit or partial gesture of love. Jesus gave himself completely, transforming our story forever.

By walking into any Catholic church, we are reminded of the extent of this self-gift when we see the crucifix. Jesus not only lives for us; he also suffers (hence the word “passion”) and dies a violent death at the hands of the Romans for us. The dynamic that begins at the Incarnation is taken to its fullest extent in Jesus’ passion. His complete gift of himself embraces all that it means to be human, including betrayal, sorrow, suffering and death. This is why Christ’s passion and death are so worthy of contemplation and meditation and yield so much fruit.

Paschal mystery

The passion and death of Christ, along with his resurrection and ascension, comprise what we call the Paschal mystery. The term paschal comes from the Hebrew pesach (חַסֶפ), or Passover. The original Passover is described and prescribed in the Book of Exodus as part of the Lord’s saving action on behalf of the people of Israel. God delivers them from slavery in the land of Egypt, where the climactic moment sees the Israelites spared from the plague of the death of their firstborn by the blood of a lamb. Only after this cataclysmic event does Pharaoh let Israel leave (Ex 12:31-36).

The Passover is then established as the celebration of God’s deliverance of his people from slavery, the defining event of the history of Israel. For Christians, this Passover is a foretaste, the preview of what happens in Christ, the climactic and defining moment in all human history. Christ’s salvific act is the new Passover.

Sacrifice is one of the important parallels with the first Passover. The Passover lamb is sacrificed and becomes the means of deliverance for God’s people, both by its blood on the lintels of their doors, and as a preparation meal for the journey ahead. We are reminded at every Mass that the passion and death are an offering of Jesus; we hear this in the Words of Institution (or consecration) in the eucharistic prayer. We even refer to Christ in the Mass as the Lamb of God.

This sacrifice of Christ fulfills every sacrifice within the Old Testament.  It is the “once and for all” sacrifice (see Heb 10:9). There is nothing greater that can be offered than Jesus, who is, at once, the best of humanity and God. And it is through this sacrifice that the Christ delivers his people.

Real good news

As we journey to our next installment, the wonder of the Paschal mystery is not simply found in the intensity of Jesus’ passion and death. Rather, it comes in what Christ does with this profound suffering and dying and how he transforms suffering and death for us.

Before we proceed to Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, it is important to reflect and remember that there is something very real about the Good News we proclaim. Our proclamation does not pretend that suffering does not exist or that somehow we won’t experience suffering and death. Quite the contrary! Suffering and death remain a part of human experience. Yet, God himself has embraced these in the humanity of Christ and has reshaped them into a means for our salvation.

A resurrection without a cross would be too good to be true — a victory without cost, triumph without trial — but our history tells a deeper story. Through the cross, we encounter both pain and hope and discover something profound: God’s love isn’t abstract or distant. In the crucified Christ, we find a God who enters fully into human suffering, transforming it into the proof of love’s power to redeem our deepest wounds.