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Passion (Christianity)
Encyclopedia
The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus
in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion. The Crucifixion of Jesus
is an event central to Christian beliefs.
The etymological
origins of the word lie in the Greek verb paschō, to suffer, from passages such as Matthew
(and parallel passages in Mark and Luke) and . The Latin
word passio is used with reference to Christ's mortal suffering in the Vulgate
. The term first appears in 2nd century Christian texts precisely to describe the travails and suffering of Jesus in this present context. The word passion has since taken on a more general application and now also describes the accounts of Christian martyrs
.
The term the Agony of Jesus is more specifically applied to the Agony in the Garden
, Jesus' action (Greek agon) praying before his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane; similarly to passion, agony has been extended to denote a frame of mind.
Those parts of the four Gospel
s that describe these events are known as the "Passion narratives". The non-canonical Gospel of Peter
is also a Passion narrative. In the liturgical calendar, the Passion is commemorated in Holy Week
, beginning on Palm Sunday
and ending on Easter Saturday
.
, Mark
, Luke
and John
. Three of these, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, known as the Synoptic Gospels
, give very similar accounts. The Gospel of John includes additional details.
The Passion begins at Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22 and John 12 with the conspiracy against Jesus by the Jewish chief priests and the teachers of the law, and unfolds in the following events:
A meal a few days before Passover. A woman anoints Jesus
. He says that for this she will always be remembered.
In Jerusalem, the Last Supper
shared by Jesus and his disciples. Jesus gives final instructions, predicts his betrayal, and tells them all to remember him.
On the path to Gethsemane
after the meal. Jesus tells them they will all fall away that night; after Peter
protests he will not, Jesus says Peter will deny him three times before the cock crows.
Gethsemane, later that night. As the disciples rest, Jesus prays; then Judas Iscariot
leads in either "a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees" (accompanied according to Luke's Gospel by the chief priests and elders), or a "large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and elders of the people", which arrests
Jesus; all his disciples run away.
The high priest's palace, later that night. The arresting party brings Jesus to the Sanhedrin
(Jewish supreme court); according to Luke's Gospel, Jesus is beaten by his Jewish guards prior to his examination; the court examines him, in the course of which, according to John's Gospel, Jesus is struck in the face by one of the Jewish officials; the court determine he deserves to die (see Sanhedrin Trial of Jesus
). According to Matthew's Gospel, the court then "spat in his face and struck him with their fists". They then send him to Pontius Pilate
.
The courtyard outside the high priest's palace, the same time. Peter has followed Jesus and joined the mob awaiting Jesus’ fate; they suspect he is a sympathizer, so Peter denies he knows Jesus. Suddenly the cock crows and Peter remembers what Jesus had said.
The governor's palace, early morning. Pilate, the Roman governor, examines Jesus, decides he is innocent; the Jewish leaders and the crowd demand Jesus’ death; Pilate gives them the choice of saving Barabbas
, a criminal, or saving Jesus. In response to the screaming mob Pilate sends Jesus out to be crucified. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Judas, the betrayer, is filled with remorse and tries to return the money he was paid for betraying Jesus. When the high priests say that that is his affair, Judas throws the money into the temple, goes off, and hangs himself.
Golgotha, a hill outside Jerusalem, later morning through mid afternoon. Jesus is crucified and dies.
During the arrest in Gethsemane, someone (Peter according to John) takes a sword and cuts off the ear of the high priest's servant, Malchus. According to the synoptic gospels, the high priest who examines Jesus is Caiaphas
; in John, Jesus is also interrogated by Annas
, Caiaiphas' father-in-law.
The Gospel of Luke
states that Pilate sent Jesus to be judged by Herod Antipas
because as a Galilean he was under his jurisdiction. Herod was excited at first to see Jesus and hoped Jesus would perform a miracle for him and asked Jesus several questions but Jesus did not answer. Herod then mocked him and sent him back to Pilate after giving him an "elegant" robe to wear.
All the Gospels have a man named Barabbas
released by Pilate instead of Jesus. Matthew, Mark and John have Pilate offer a choice between Jesus and Barabbas to the crowd; Luke lists no choice offered by Pilate, but represents the crowd demanding his release.
In all the Gospels, Pilate asks Jesus if he is King of the Jews
and Jesus replies So you say. Once condemned by Pilate, he was flogged
before execution. The Canonical Gospels, except Luke, record that Jesus was then taken by the soldiers to the Praetorium
where, according to Matthew and Mark, the whole contingent of soldiers was called together. They placed a purple
robe
on him, put a crown of thorns
on his head, and according to Matthew
, put a rod
in his hand. They mocked him by hailing him as King of the Jews
, paying homage
and hitting him on the head with the rod.
According to the Gospel of John, Pilate had Jesus brought out a second time, wearing the purple robe and the crown of thorns, in order to appeal his innocence before the crowd, saying "Ecce homo
", "Behold the man". But, John represents, the priests urged the crowd to demand Jesus' death. Pilate resigned himself to the decision, washing his hands (according to Matthew) before the people as a sign that Jesus' blood would not be upon him.
Mark and Matthew record that Jesus was returned his own clothes, prior to being led out for execution. According to the Gospel accounts he was forced, like other victims of crucifixion, to drag his own cross to Golgotha, the location of the execution. The three Synoptic Gospels
refer to a man called Simon of Cyrene
who is made to carry the cross , while in the Gospel of John Jesus is made to carry His own cross. The Gospel of Mark
gives the names of Simon's children, Alexander and Rufus. However, the Gospel of Luke refers to Simon carrying the cross after Jesus, in that it states: "they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus".
Luke adds that Jesus' female followers were following him, and mourning his fate, but that he responded by quoting .
The Synoptic Gospels state that on arrival at Golgotha, Jesus was offered wine
laced with myrrh
to lessen the pain, but he refused it. Jesus was then crucified, according to Mark, at the third hour (9 AM) the morning after the Passover meal, but according to John he was handed over to be crucified at the sixth hour (noon) the day before the Passover meal, though many resolve this by saying that the Synoptics use Jewish time, and that John uses Roman time. Pilate had a plaque
fixed to Jesus' cross inscribed, (according to John) in Hebrew, Greek and the Latin - Iesu Nazarenus Rex Iudeorum, meaning Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Mark has the plaque say simply, King of the Jews. The Gospels then state that they divided Jesus' clothes between the soldiers except for one garment for which they cast lots
. The Gospel of John claims that this fulfills a prophecy from .
Some of the crowd who had been following taunted Jesus, saying "He trusts in God; let God deliver him now!", and suggested that Jesus might perform a miracle
to release himself from the cross.
According to the Gospels, two thieves
were also crucified, one on each side of him. According to Luke, one of the thieves reviled Jesus, while the other declared Jesus innocent and begged that he might be remembered when Jesus came to his kingdom (see Saint Dismas
).
John records that Mary, his mother, and two other women stood by the cross as did a disciple, described as the one whom Jesus loved
. Jesus committed his mother to this disciple's care. According to the synoptics, the sky became dark at midday
and the darkness lasted for three hours, until the ninth hour when Jesus cried out Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? (My God, why have you forsaken me?) The centurion standing guard, who had seen how Jesus died, declared Jesus innocent (Luke) or Son of God (Matthew, Mark).
John also says that, as was the custom, the soldiers came and broke the legs of the thieves, so that they would die faster, but that on coming to Jesus they found he had already died. A soldier pierced his side with a spear
.
The various words of Jesus during the Crucifixion are collected from the different Gospel accounts as the Last Words of Christ.
, long known to scholars through references, and of which a fragment was discovered in Cairo in 1884.
The narrative begins with Pilate washing his hands, as in Matthew, but the Jews and Herod refuse this. Joseph of Arimathea
, before Jesus has been crucified, asks for his body, and Herod says he was going to take it down to comply with the Jewish custom of not leaving a dead body hung on a tree overnight. Herod then turns Jesus over the people, who drag him, give him the purple robe, crown him with thorns, and beat and flog him.
There are also two criminals on each side of him and, as in Luke, one begs Jesus for forgiveness. The writer says Jesus was silent as they crucified him, "...as if in no pain." Jesus is labeled the King of Israel
on his cross and his clothes are divided and gambled over.
As in the canonical Gospels, darkness covers the land. Jesus is also given vinegar to drink. Peter has "My Power, My Power, why have you forsaken me?" as the last words of Jesus, rather than "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" as quoted in Mark. He is then "taken up", possibly a euphemism
for death or maybe an allusion to heaven
. Peter then has a resurrection, also somewhat the same but somewhat different from the other books.
Serapion of Antioch
urged the exclusion of the Gospel of Peter from the Church because Docetists
were using it to bolster their theological
claims, which Serapion rejected. Many modern scholars also reject this conclusion, as the statement about Jesus being silent "as if in no pain" seems to be based on Isaiah's description of the suffering servant, "as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth." .
The first and most obvious is the one from (either 8th or 6th century BC). This prophetic oracle describes a sinless man who will atone for the sins of his people. By his voluntary suffering, he will save sinners from the just punishment of God. The death of Jesus is said to fulfil this prophecy. E.g., "He had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed" .
The second prophecy of Christ's Passion is the ancient text which Jesus himself quoted, while he was dying on the cross. From the cross, Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani? which means, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" These words of Jesus were a quotation of the ancient . King David, in Psalm 22, foretold the sufferings of the messiah. E.g., "I am a worm and no man, the reproach of men and the outcast of the people. All who see me, laugh me to scorn, they draw apart their lips, and wag their heads: ‘He trusts in the Lord: let him free him, let him deliver him if he loves him.’ Stand not far from me, for I am troubled; be thou near at hand: for I have no helper… Yea, dogs are round about me; a company of evildoers encircle me; they have pierced my hands and feet – I can count all my bones – they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my raiment they cast lots" . The words "they have pierced my hands and feet" are disputed, however.
The third main prophecy of the Passion is from the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon
. Protestant Christians place it in the Apocrypha
, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox among the deuterocanonical books. But it was written about 150 BC, and many have understood these verses (12-20 of chapter 2) as a direct prophecy of Jesus’ Passion. E.g., "Let us lie in wait for the just, because he is not for our turn… He boasteth that he hath the knowledge of God, and calleth himself the son of God…and glorieth that he hath God for his father. Let us see then if his words be true… For if he be the true son of God, he will defend him, and will deliver him from the hands of his enemies. Let us examine him by outrages and tortures… Let us condemn him to a most shameful death … These things they thought, and were deceived, for their own malice blinded them" (Wisdom 2:12-20).
In addition to the above, it deserves to be mentioned that at least three other, less elaborate messianic prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus’ crucifixion. Namely, the following Old Testament passages.
"Many are the afflictions of the just man; but the Lord delivers him from all of them. He guards all his bones: not even one of them shall be broken" .
"And they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink" .
"And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for an only son; and they shall grieve over him, as the manner is to grieve for the death of the firstborn" .
"So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with Jesus; but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water… For these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘Not a bone of him shall be broken.’ And again another scripture says, ‘They shall look on him whom they have pierced’" .
In the Gospel of Mark
, Jesus is described as prophesying his own Passion and his Resurrection three times:
Christians argue that these are cases of genuine and fulfilled prophecy
and many scholars see semitic
features and old tradition in . Skeptics argue they are cases of postdiction
(prophecy after the events have already occurred).
After the third prophecy, the Gospel of Mark states that the brothers James and John
ask Jesus to be his left and right hand men, but Jesus asks if they can drink from the cup he must drink from. They say that they can do this. Jesus confirms this, but say that the places at his right and left hand are reserved for others. Many Christian see this as being a reference to the two criminals at Jesus' crucifixion, thus relating to the Passion. The cup is sometimes interpreted as the symbol of his death, in the light of Jesus' prayer at Gethsemane "Let this cup be taken from me!"
, especially on Good Friday
. In the Roman Catholic church, a large cross depicting the crucified Christ is brought out into the church and each of the faithful come forward to venerate the cross. Rather than having the Gospel read solely by the priest, whole Roman Catholic congregations participate in the reading of the Passion Gospel during the Palm Sunday
Mass and the Good Friday service. These readings have the Priest read the part of Christ, a narrator read the narrative, other reader(s) reading the other speaking parts, and either the choir or the congregation reading the parts of crowds (i.e.: when the crowd shouts "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!")
In the Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Churches, the Matins
service for Good Friday is called Matins of the Twelve Passion Gospels, and is remarkable for the interspersing of twelve readings from the Gospel Book
detailing chronologically the events of the Passion—from the Last Supper
to the burial in the tomb—during the course of the service. The first of these twelve readings is the longest Gospel reading of the entire liturgical year
. In addition, every Wednesday and Friday throughout the year is dedicated in part to the commemoration of the Passion.
During Holy Week
/Passion Week Congregations of the Moravian Church (Herrnhut
er Bruedergemeine) read the entire story of Jesus' final week from a Harmony of the Gospels prepared for that purpose since 1777. Daily meetings are held, some times 2 or 3 times a day, to follow the events of the day. During the course of the reading, the Congregation sings hymn verses to respond to the events of the text.
Most liturgical churches hold some form of commemoration of the Crucifixion on the afternoon of Good Friday. Sometimes, this will take the form of a vigil
from noon to 3:00 pm, the approximate time that Jesus hung on the cross. Sometimes there will be a reënactment of the Descent from the Cross
; for instance, at Vespers
in the Byzantine (Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic) tradition.
The Roman Catholic tradition includes specific prayers and devotions as acts of reparation
for the sufferings and insults that Jesus endured during His Passion. These Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ
do not involve a petition for a living or deceased beneficiary, but aim to repair the sins against Jesus. Some such prayers are provided in the Raccolta
Catholic prayer book (approved by a Decree of 1854, and published by the Holy See
in 1898) which also includes prayers as Acts of Reparation to the Virgin Mary
.
In his encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor
on reparations, Pope Pius XI
called Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ a duty for Catholics and referred to them as "some sort of compensation to be rendered for the injury" with respect to the sufferings of Jesus.
Pope John Paul II
referred to Acts of Reparation as the "unceasing effort to stand beside the endless crosses on which the Son of God continues to be crucified".
For a full list of the subjects forming narrative works of art on the Passion, or episodes from it, see Life of Christ
. Each episode, such as the Flagellation of Christ
or Entombment of Christ
, has been represented thousands of times and has developed its own iconographic
tradition; the Crucifixion is much the most common and important of these subjects. The Passion is often covered by a cycle of depictions; Albrecht Dürer
's print
cycles were so popular that he produced three different versions. Andachtsbilder
is a term for devotional subjects such as the Man of Sorrows
or Pietà
that may not precisely represent a moment in the Passion but are derived from the Passion story. The Arma Christi
, or "Instruments of the Passion" are the objects associated with Jesus' Passion, such as the cross, the Crown of Thorns
and the Spear of Longinus
. Each of the major Instruments has been supposedly recovered as relics
which have been an object of veneration among many Christians, and have been depicted in art. Veronica's Veil is also often counted among the Instruments of the Passion; like the Shroud of Turin
and Sudarium of Oviedo
it is a cloth relic supposed to have touched Jesus.
In the Roman Catholic Church
(and some Anglo-Catholic and Western Rite Orthodox churches), the Passion story is depicted in the Stations of the Cross
(via crucis, also translated more literally as "Way of the Cross"). These 14 stations depict the Passion from the sentencing by Pilate to the sealing of the tomb, and since the 16th century representations of them in various media have decorated the nave
s of most Catholic churches. The Way of the Cross is a devotion practiced by many people on Fridays throughout the year, most importantly on Good Friday
. This may be simply by going round the Stations in a church, or may involve large-scale re-enactments, as in Jerusalem. The Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy are similar schemes on a far larger scale than church Stations, with chapels containing large sculpted groups arranged in a hilly landscape; for pilgrim
s to tour the chapels typically takes several hours. They mostly date from the late 16th to the 17th century; most depict the Passion, others different subjects as well.
The main traditional types of church music
sung during Holy Week are "Passions", musical settings of the Gospel narratives, both a Catholic and Lutheran tradition, and settings of the readings and responses from the Catholic Tenebrae
services, especially those of the Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet. The many settings of the Stabat Mater
or The Seven Last Words of Christ
are also commonly performed.
The reading of the Passion section of one of the Gospels during Holy Week
dates back to the 4th century. It began to be intoned (rather than just spoken) in the Middle Ages, at least as early as the 8th century. 9th-century manuscripts have "litterae significativae" indicating interpretive chant, and later manuscript begin to specify exact notes to be sung. By the 13th century different singers were used for different characters in the narrative, a practice which became fairly universal by the 15th century, when polyphonic settings of the turba
passages began to appear also. (Turba, while literally meaning "crowd", is used in this case to mean any passage in which more than one speaker speak simultaneously.)
In the later 15th century a number of new styles began to emerge:
In the 16th century, settings like these, and further developments, were created for the Catholic Church by Victoria
, William Byrd
, Jacobus Gallus
, Francisco Guerrero, Orlando di Lasso, and Cypriano de Rore.
Martin Luther
wrote, "The Passion of Christ should not be acted out in words and pretense, but in real life." Despite this, sung Passion performances were common in Lutheran churches right from the start, in both Latin and German, beginning as early as Laetare Sunday
(three weeks before Easter) and continuing through Holy Week. Luther's friend and collaborator Johann Walther wrote responsorial Passions which were used as models by Lutheran composers for centuries, and "summa Passionis" versions continued to circulate, despite Luther's express disapproval. Later 16th-century passions included choral "exordium" (introduction) and "conclusio" sections with additional texts. In the 17th century came the development of "oratorio
" passions which led to J.S. Bach
's Passions
, accompanied by instruments, with interpolated texts (then called "madrigal" movements) such as sinfonia
s, other Scripture passages, Latin motet
s, chorale arias, and more. Such settings were created by Bartholomeus Gesius and Heinrich Schütz
. Thomas Strutz wrote a passion (1664) with arias for Jesus himself, pointing to the standard oratorio
tradition of Schütz
, Carissimi
, and others, although these composers seem to have thought that putting words in Jesus’ mouth was beyond the pale. The practice of using recitative
for the Evangelist (rather than plainsong) was a development of court composers in northern Germany and only crept into church compositions at the end of the 17th century. A famous musical reflection on the Passion is Part II
of Messiah
, an oratorio by George Frideric Handel
, though the text here draws from Old Testament prophecies rather than from the Gospels themselves.
The best known Protestant musical settings of the Passion are by Johann Sebastian Bach
, who wrote several Passions, of which two have survived, one based on the Gospel of John
(the St John Passion), the other on the Gospel of Matthew
(the St Matthew Passion). His St Mark Passion was reconstructed in various ways. The Passion continued to be very popular in Protestant Germany in the 18th century, with Bach's second son Carl Philipp Emanuel
composing over twenty settings.
In the 19th century, with the exception of John Stainer
's The Crucifixion
(1887), Passion settings were less popular, but in the 20th century, they have again come into fashion. Two notable settings are the St. Luke Passion
(1965) by Polish
composer Krzysztof Penderecki
and the Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem
(1982) by Estonia
n composer Arvo Pärt
. Recent examples include The Passion According to St. Matthew (1997), by Mark Alburger
, and The Passion According to the Four Evangelists, by Scott King. Andrew Lloyd Webber
's Jesus Christ Superstar
(book and lyrics by Tim Rice
), and Stephen Schwartz
's Godspell
both contain elements of the traditional passion accounts. See also Passion cantata
.
Non-musical settings of the Passion story are generally called Passion play
s; these have been very widely performed in traditionally Catholic countries, often in churches as liturgical drama
s - for versions with musical settings, see the previous section. One famous cycle is performed at intervals at Oberammergau
Germany, and another in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco
uses what is considered the largest open-air theater
in the world. The Passion figures among the scenes in the English mystery play
s in more than one cycle of dramatic vignettes. In the Chester Mystery Plays
' portrayal of Christ's Passion, specifically his humiliation before his sentence to crucifixion, the accounts of the Gospels concerning the physical violence visited on Jesus during his trial before the Sanhedrin, and the humiliating crowning of thorns visited upon him in Pilate's palace (or by Herod's soldiers, according to Luke), is further confused by showing both actions as being carried out by jeering Jews.
Processions on Palm Sunday
commonly re-enact to some degree the entry of Jesus to Jerusalem; traditional ones often using special wooden donkey
s on wheels. Holy Week in Spain
retains more traditional public processions than other countries, with the most famous, in Seville
featuring floats with carved tableaux showing scenes from the story.
There have also been a number of films telling the passion story, with a prominent recent example being Mel Gibson
's The Passion of the Christ
.
A tradition linked to icon
s of Jesus holds that Veronica
was a pious woman of Jerusalem who gave her kerchief
to him to wipe his forehead. When he handed it back to her, the image of His face was miraculously impressed upon it.
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion. The Crucifixion of Jesus
Crucifixion of Jesus
The crucifixion of Jesus and his ensuing death is an event that occurred during the 1st century AD. Jesus, who Christians believe is the Son of God as well as the Messiah, was arrested, tried, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged, and finally executed on a cross...
is an event central to Christian beliefs.
The etymological
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
origins of the word lie in the Greek verb paschō, to suffer, from passages such as Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
(and parallel passages in Mark and Luke) and . The Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
word passio is used with reference to Christ's mortal suffering in the Vulgate
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
. The term first appears in 2nd century Christian texts precisely to describe the travails and suffering of Jesus in this present context. The word passion has since taken on a more general application and now also describes the accounts of Christian martyrs
Christian martyrs
A Christian martyr is one who is killed for following Christianity, through stoning, crucifixion, burning at the stake or other forms of torture and capital punishment. The word "martyr" comes from the Greek word μάρτυς, mártys, which means "witness."...
.
The term the Agony of Jesus is more specifically applied to the Agony in the Garden
Agony in the Garden
The Agony in the Garden refers to the events in the life of Jesus between the Last Supper and Jesus' arrest. Jesus' struggle praying and discussing with God, before accepting his sacrifice, before his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane also denotes a state of mind - agony.-Scriptural...
, Jesus' action (Greek agon) praying before his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane; similarly to passion, agony has been extended to denote a frame of mind.
Those parts of the four Gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
s that describe these events are known as the "Passion narratives". The non-canonical Gospel of Peter
Gospel of Peter
The Gospel According to Peter , commonly called the Gospel of Peter, is one of the non-Canonical gospels which were rejected by the Church Fathers and the Catholic Church's synods of Carthage and Rome, which established the New Testament canon, as apocryphal...
is also a Passion narrative. In the liturgical calendar, the Passion is commemorated in Holy Week
Holy Week
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
, beginning on Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four Canonical Gospels. ....
and ending on Easter Saturday
Easter Saturday
Easter Saturday, or Bright Saturday, is the Saturday following the Christian festival of Easter. In the liturgy of Western Christianity it is the last day of Easter Week, sometimes referred to as the Saturday of Easter Week or Saturday in Easter Week. In the liturgy of Eastern Christianity it is...
.
Gospels
The accounts of the Passion are found in the four canonical gospels, MatthewGospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
, Mark
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
, Luke
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
and John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
. Three of these, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, known as the Synoptic Gospels
Synoptic Gospels
The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in the same sequence, and sometimes exactly the same wording. This degree of parallelism in content, narrative arrangement, language, and sentence structures can only be...
, give very similar accounts. The Gospel of John includes additional details.
The Passion begins at Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22 and John 12 with the conspiracy against Jesus by the Jewish chief priests and the teachers of the law, and unfolds in the following events:
A meal a few days before Passover. A woman anoints Jesus
Anointing of Jesus
The anointing of Jesus is an event reported by each of the Canonical gospels, in which a woman pours the entire contents of an alabastron of very expensive perfume over the head or feet of Jesus....
. He says that for this she will always be remembered.
In Jerusalem, the Last Supper
Last Supper
The Last Supper is the final meal that, according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "communion" or "the Lord's Supper".The First Epistle to the Corinthians is...
shared by Jesus and his disciples. Jesus gives final instructions, predicts his betrayal, and tells them all to remember him.
On the path to Gethsemane
Gethsemane
Gethsemane is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem most famous as the place where, according to Biblical texts, Jesus and his disciples are said to have prayed the night before Jesus' crucifixion.- Etymology :...
after the meal. Jesus tells them they will all fall away that night; after Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
protests he will not, Jesus says Peter will deny him three times before the cock crows.
Gethsemane, later that night. As the disciples rest, Jesus prays; then Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...
leads in either "a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees" (accompanied according to Luke's Gospel by the chief priests and elders), or a "large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and elders of the people", which arrests
Arrest of Jesus
The arrest of Jesus is a pivotal event recorded in the Canonical gospels. The event ultimately leads, in the Gospel accounts, to Jesus' crucifixion...
Jesus; all his disciples run away.
The high priest's palace, later that night. The arresting party brings Jesus to the Sanhedrin
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...
(Jewish supreme court); according to Luke's Gospel, Jesus is beaten by his Jewish guards prior to his examination; the court examines him, in the course of which, according to John's Gospel, Jesus is struck in the face by one of the Jewish officials; the court determine he deserves to die (see Sanhedrin Trial of Jesus
Sanhedrin Trial of Jesus
The Sanhedrin trial of Jesus refers to the Canonical Gospel accounts of the trial of Jesus before the Jewish Council, or Sanhedrin, following his arrest and prior to his trial before Pontius Pilate...
). According to Matthew's Gospel, the court then "spat in his face and struck him with their fists". They then send him to Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilatus , known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate , was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus...
.
The courtyard outside the high priest's palace, the same time. Peter has followed Jesus and joined the mob awaiting Jesus’ fate; they suspect he is a sympathizer, so Peter denies he knows Jesus. Suddenly the cock crows and Peter remembers what Jesus had said.
The governor's palace, early morning. Pilate, the Roman governor, examines Jesus, decides he is innocent; the Jewish leaders and the crowd demand Jesus’ death; Pilate gives them the choice of saving Barabbas
Barabbas
Barabbas or Jesus Barabbas is a figure in the Christian narrative of the Passion of Jesus, in which he is the insurrectionary whom Pontius Pilate freed at the Passover feast in Jerusalem.The penalty for Barabbas' crime was death by crucifixion, but according to the four canonical gospels and the...
, a criminal, or saving Jesus. In response to the screaming mob Pilate sends Jesus out to be crucified. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Judas, the betrayer, is filled with remorse and tries to return the money he was paid for betraying Jesus. When the high priests say that that is his affair, Judas throws the money into the temple, goes off, and hangs himself.
Golgotha, a hill outside Jerusalem, later morning through mid afternoon. Jesus is crucified and dies.
During the arrest in Gethsemane, someone (Peter according to John) takes a sword and cuts off the ear of the high priest's servant, Malchus. According to the synoptic gospels, the high priest who examines Jesus is Caiaphas
Caiaphas
Joseph, son of Caiaphas, Hebrew יוסף בַּר קַיָּפָא or Yosef Bar Kayafa, commonly known simply as Caiaphas in the New Testament, was the Roman-appointed Jewish high priest who is said to have organized the plot to kill Jesus...
; in John, Jesus is also interrogated by Annas
Annas
Annas [also Ananus or Ananias], son of Seth , was appointed by the Roman legate Quirinius as the first High Priest of the newly formed Roman province of Iudaea in 6 AD; just after the Romans had deposed Archelaus, Ethnarch of Judaea, thereby putting Judaea directly under Roman rule.Annas officially...
, Caiaiphas' father-in-law.
The Gospel of Luke
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
states that Pilate sent Jesus to be judged by Herod Antipas
Herod Antipas
Herod Antipater , known by the nickname Antipas, was a 1st-century AD ruler of Galilee and Perea, who bore the title of tetrarch...
because as a Galilean he was under his jurisdiction. Herod was excited at first to see Jesus and hoped Jesus would perform a miracle for him and asked Jesus several questions but Jesus did not answer. Herod then mocked him and sent him back to Pilate after giving him an "elegant" robe to wear.
All the Gospels have a man named Barabbas
Barabbas
Barabbas or Jesus Barabbas is a figure in the Christian narrative of the Passion of Jesus, in which he is the insurrectionary whom Pontius Pilate freed at the Passover feast in Jerusalem.The penalty for Barabbas' crime was death by crucifixion, but according to the four canonical gospels and the...
released by Pilate instead of Jesus. Matthew, Mark and John have Pilate offer a choice between Jesus and Barabbas to the crowd; Luke lists no choice offered by Pilate, but represents the crowd demanding his release.
In all the Gospels, Pilate asks Jesus if he is King of the Jews
Jesus, King of the Jews
In the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as the King of the Jews both at the beginning of his life and at the end.Both uses of the title lead to dramatic results in the New Testament accounts. In the account of the Nativity of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, the three wise men In the New...
and Jesus replies So you say. Once condemned by Pilate, he was flogged
Flagellation of Christ
The Flagellation of Christ, sometimes known as Christ at the Column or the Scourging at the Pillar, is a scene from the Passion of Christ very frequently shown in Christian art, in cycles of the Passion or the larger subject of the Life of Christ. It is the fourth station of the modern alternate...
before execution. The Canonical Gospels, except Luke, record that Jesus was then taken by the soldiers to the Praetorium
Praetorium
- Etemology :The praetorium, also spelled prœtorium or pretorium, was originally used to identify the general’s tent within a Roman Castra, Castellum, or encampment. The word originates from the name of the chief Roman magistrate, known as Praetor...
where, according to Matthew and Mark, the whole contingent of soldiers was called together. They placed a purple
Purple
Purple is a range of hues of color occurring between red and blue, and is classified as a secondary color as the colors are required to create the shade....
robe
Robe
A robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. A robe is distinguished from a cape or cloak by the fact that it usually has sleeves. The English word robe derives from Middle English robe , borrowed from Old French robe , itself taken from the Frankish word *rouba , and is related to the word rob...
on him, put a crown of thorns
Crown of Thorns
In Christianity, the Crown of Thorns, one of the instruments of the Passion, was woven of thorn branches and placed on Jesus Christ before his crucifixion...
on his head, and according to Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
, put a rod
Sceptre
A sceptre is a symbolic ornamental rod or wand borne in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia.-Antiquity:...
in his hand. They mocked him by hailing him as King of the Jews
Jesus, King of the Jews
In the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as the King of the Jews both at the beginning of his life and at the end.Both uses of the title lead to dramatic results in the New Testament accounts. In the account of the Nativity of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, the three wise men In the New...
, paying homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
and hitting him on the head with the rod.
According to the Gospel of John, Pilate had Jesus brought out a second time, wearing the purple robe and the crown of thorns, in order to appeal his innocence before the crowd, saying "Ecce homo
Ecce Homo
Ecce Homo are the Latin words used by Pontius Pilate in the Vulgate translation of the , when he presents a scourged Jesus Christ, bound and crowned with thorns, to a hostile crowd shortly before his Crucifixion. The original Greek is Ἰδοὺ ὁ ἄνθρωπος . The King James Version translates the phrase...
", "Behold the man". But, John represents, the priests urged the crowd to demand Jesus' death. Pilate resigned himself to the decision, washing his hands (according to Matthew) before the people as a sign that Jesus' blood would not be upon him.
Mark and Matthew record that Jesus was returned his own clothes, prior to being led out for execution. According to the Gospel accounts he was forced, like other victims of crucifixion, to drag his own cross to Golgotha, the location of the execution. The three Synoptic Gospels
Synoptic Gospels
The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in the same sequence, and sometimes exactly the same wording. This degree of parallelism in content, narrative arrangement, language, and sentence structures can only be...
refer to a man called Simon of Cyrene
Simon of Cyrene
Simon of Cyrene was the man compelled by the Romans to carry the cross of Jesus as Jesus was taken to his crucifixion, according to all three Synoptic Gospels...
who is made to carry the cross , while in the Gospel of John Jesus is made to carry His own cross. The Gospel of Mark
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
gives the names of Simon's children, Alexander and Rufus. However, the Gospel of Luke refers to Simon carrying the cross after Jesus, in that it states: "they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus".
Luke adds that Jesus' female followers were following him, and mourning his fate, but that he responded by quoting .
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
laced with myrrh
Myrrh
Myrrh is the aromatic oleoresin of a number of small, thorny tree species of the genus Commiphora, which grow in dry, stony soil. An oleoresin is a natural blend of an essential oil and a resin. Myrrh resin is a natural gum....
to lessen the pain, but he refused it. Jesus was then crucified, according to Mark, at the third hour (9 AM) the morning after the Passover meal, but according to John he was handed over to be crucified at the sixth hour (noon) the day before the Passover meal, though many resolve this by saying that the Synoptics use Jewish time, and that John uses Roman time. Pilate had a plaque
Titulus (inscription)
Titulus is a term used for the labels or captions naming figures or subjects in art, which were commonly added in classical and medieval art, and remain conventional in Eastern Orthodox icons...
fixed to Jesus' cross inscribed, (according to John) in Hebrew, Greek and the Latin - Iesu Nazarenus Rex Iudeorum, meaning Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Mark has the plaque say simply, King of the Jews. The Gospels then state that they divided Jesus' clothes between the soldiers except for one garment for which they cast lots
Sortition
In politics, sortition is the selection of decision makers by lottery. The decision-makers are chosen as a random sample from a larger pool of candidates....
. The Gospel of John claims that this fulfills a prophecy from .
Some of the crowd who had been following taunted Jesus, saying "He trusts in God; let God deliver him now!", and suggested that Jesus might perform a miracle
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
to release himself from the cross.
According to the Gospels, two thieves
Theft
In common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...
were also crucified, one on each side of him. According to Luke, one of the thieves reviled Jesus, while the other declared Jesus innocent and begged that he might be remembered when Jesus came to his kingdom (see Saint Dismas
Saint Dismas
The Penitent thief, also known as the Thief on the Cross or the Good Thief, is an unnamed character mentioned in the Gospel of Luke who was crucified alongside Jesus and asked Jesus to remember him in his kingdom....
).
John records that Mary, his mother, and two other women stood by the cross as did a disciple, described as the one whom Jesus loved
Disciple whom Jesus loved
The phrase the disciple whom Jesus loved or, in John 20:2, the Beloved Disciple is used five times in the Gospel of John, but in no other New Testament accounts of Jesus. claims that the Gospel of John is based on the written testimony of the "Beloved Disciple".Since the end of the 2nd century,...
. Jesus committed his mother to this disciple's care. According to the synoptics, the sky became dark at midday
Crucifixion eclipse
According to the Christian synoptic gospels, on the day Jesus Christ was crucified, darkness covered the land for hours, an event which later came to be referred to as the "crucifixion eclipse". Although medieval writers treated the darkness as a miracle, various Christian historians have...
and the darkness lasted for three hours, until the ninth hour when Jesus cried out Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? (My God, why have you forsaken me?) The centurion standing guard, who had seen how Jesus died, declared Jesus innocent (Luke) or Son of God (Matthew, Mark).
John also says that, as was the custom, the soldiers came and broke the legs of the thieves, so that they would die faster, but that on coming to Jesus they found he had already died. A soldier pierced his side with a spear
Holy Lance
The Holy Lance is the name given to the lance that pierced Jesus' side as he hung on the cross in John's account of the Crucifixion.-Biblical references:The lance is mentioned only in the Gospel of John and not in any of the...
.
The various words of Jesus during the Crucifixion are collected from the different Gospel accounts as the Last Words of Christ.
Gospel of Peter
Further claims concerning the Passion are made in some non-canonical early writings. Another passion narrative is found in the fragmentary Gospel of PeterGospel of Peter
The Gospel According to Peter , commonly called the Gospel of Peter, is one of the non-Canonical gospels which were rejected by the Church Fathers and the Catholic Church's synods of Carthage and Rome, which established the New Testament canon, as apocryphal...
, long known to scholars through references, and of which a fragment was discovered in Cairo in 1884.
The narrative begins with Pilate washing his hands, as in Matthew, but the Jews and Herod refuse this. Joseph of Arimathea
Joseph of Arimathea
Joseph of Arimathea was, according to the Gospels, the man who donated his own prepared tomb for the burial of Jesus after Jesus' Crucifixion. He is mentioned in all four Gospels.-Gospel references:...
, before Jesus has been crucified, asks for his body, and Herod says he was going to take it down to comply with the Jewish custom of not leaving a dead body hung on a tree overnight. Herod then turns Jesus over the people, who drag him, give him the purple robe, crown him with thorns, and beat and flog him.
There are also two criminals on each side of him and, as in Luke, one begs Jesus for forgiveness. The writer says Jesus was silent as they crucified him, "...as if in no pain." Jesus is labeled the King of Israel
Jesus, King of the Jews
In the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as the King of the Jews both at the beginning of his life and at the end.Both uses of the title lead to dramatic results in the New Testament accounts. In the account of the Nativity of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, the three wise men In the New...
on his cross and his clothes are divided and gambled over.
As in the canonical Gospels, darkness covers the land. Jesus is also given vinegar to drink. Peter has "My Power, My Power, why have you forsaken me?" as the last words of Jesus, rather than "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" as quoted in Mark. He is then "taken up", possibly a euphemism
Euphemism
A euphemism is the substitution of a mild, inoffensive, relatively uncontroversial phrase for another more frank expression that might offend or otherwise suggest something unpleasant to the audience...
for death or maybe an allusion to heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
. Peter then has a resurrection, also somewhat the same but somewhat different from the other books.
Serapion of Antioch
Serapion of Antioch
Serapion was Patriarch of Antioch . He is known primarily through his theological writings. Eusebius refers to three works of Serapion in his history, but admits that others probably existed: first is a private letter addressed to Caricus and Pontius against Montanism, from which Eusebius quotes an...
urged the exclusion of the Gospel of Peter from the Church because Docetists
Docetism
In Christianity, docetism is the belief that Jesus' physical body was an illusion, as was his crucifixion; that is, Jesus only seemed to have a physical body and to physically die, but in reality he was incorporeal, a pure spirit, and hence could not physically die...
were using it to bolster their theological
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
claims, which Serapion rejected. Many modern scholars also reject this conclusion, as the statement about Jesus being silent "as if in no pain" seems to be based on Isaiah's description of the suffering servant, "as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth." .
Old Testament prophecy
Christians interpret at least three passages of the Old Testament as prophecies about Jesus’ Passion.The first and most obvious is the one from (either 8th or 6th century BC). This prophetic oracle describes a sinless man who will atone for the sins of his people. By his voluntary suffering, he will save sinners from the just punishment of God. The death of Jesus is said to fulfil this prophecy. E.g., "He had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed" .
The second prophecy of Christ's Passion is the ancient text which Jesus himself quoted, while he was dying on the cross. From the cross, Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani? which means, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" These words of Jesus were a quotation of the ancient . King David, in Psalm 22, foretold the sufferings of the messiah. E.g., "I am a worm and no man, the reproach of men and the outcast of the people. All who see me, laugh me to scorn, they draw apart their lips, and wag their heads: ‘He trusts in the Lord: let him free him, let him deliver him if he loves him.’ Stand not far from me, for I am troubled; be thou near at hand: for I have no helper… Yea, dogs are round about me; a company of evildoers encircle me; they have pierced my hands and feet – I can count all my bones – they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my raiment they cast lots" . The words "they have pierced my hands and feet" are disputed, however.
The third main prophecy of the Passion is from the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon
Book of Wisdom
The Book of Wisdom, often referred to simply as Wisdom or the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, is one of the deuterocanonical books of the Bible. It is one of the seven Sapiential or wisdom books of the Septuagint Old Testament, which includes Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon ,...
. Protestant Christians place it in the Apocrypha
Apocrypha
The term apocrypha is used with various meanings, including "hidden", "esoteric", "spurious", "of questionable authenticity", ancient Chinese "revealed texts and objects" and "Christian texts that are not canonical"....
, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox among the deuterocanonical books. But it was written about 150 BC, and many have understood these verses (12-20 of chapter 2) as a direct prophecy of Jesus’ Passion. E.g., "Let us lie in wait for the just, because he is not for our turn… He boasteth that he hath the knowledge of God, and calleth himself the son of God…and glorieth that he hath God for his father. Let us see then if his words be true… For if he be the true son of God, he will defend him, and will deliver him from the hands of his enemies. Let us examine him by outrages and tortures… Let us condemn him to a most shameful death … These things they thought, and were deceived, for their own malice blinded them" (Wisdom 2:12-20).
In addition to the above, it deserves to be mentioned that at least three other, less elaborate messianic prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus’ crucifixion. Namely, the following Old Testament passages.
"Many are the afflictions of the just man; but the Lord delivers him from all of them. He guards all his bones: not even one of them shall be broken" .
"And they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink" .
"And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for an only son; and they shall grieve over him, as the manner is to grieve for the death of the firstborn" .
New Testament prophecy
The Gospel explains how these old prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus’ crucifixion."So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with Jesus; but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water… For these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘Not a bone of him shall be broken.’ And again another scripture says, ‘They shall look on him whom they have pierced’" .
In the Gospel of Mark
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
, Jesus is described as prophesying his own Passion and his Resurrection three times:
- On the way to Caesarea Philippi, predicting that the Son of Man will be killed and rise within three days
- After the transfiguration of JesusTransfiguration of JesusThe Transfiguration of Jesus is an event reported in the New Testament in which Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels describe it, and 2 Peter 1:16-18 refers to it....
, again predicting that the Son of Man will be killed and rise within three days - On the way to Jerusalem, predicting that the Son of Man will be delivered to the leading PhariseesPhariseesThe Pharisees were at various times a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews during the Second Temple period beginning under the Hasmonean dynasty in the wake of...
and SadduceesSadduceesThe Sadducees were a sect or group of Jews that were active in Ancient Israel during the Second Temple period, starting from the second century BC through the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. The sect was identified by Josephus with the upper social and economic echelon of Judean society...
, be condemned to death, delivered to the Gentiles, mocked, scourged, killed, and rise within three days
Christians argue that these are cases of genuine and fulfilled prophecy
Prophecy
Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...
and many scholars see semitic
Semitic
In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages...
features and old tradition in . Skeptics argue they are cases of postdiction
Postdiction
According to critics of paranormal beliefs, postdiction is an effect of hindsight bias that explains claimed predictions of significant events, such as plane crashes and natural disasters...
(prophecy after the events have already occurred).
After the third prophecy, the Gospel of Mark states that the brothers James and John
John the Apostle
John the Apostle, John the Apostle, John the Apostle, (Aramaic Yoħanna, (c. 6 - c. 100) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of James, another of the Twelve Apostles...
ask Jesus to be his left and right hand men, but Jesus asks if they can drink from the cup he must drink from. They say that they can do this. Jesus confirms this, but say that the places at his right and left hand are reserved for others. Many Christian see this as being a reference to the two criminals at Jesus' crucifixion, thus relating to the Passion. The cup is sometimes interpreted as the symbol of his death, in the light of Jesus' prayer at Gethsemane "Let this cup be taken from me!"
Holy Week
Most Christian denominations will read one or more narratives of the Passion during Holy WeekHoly Week
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
, especially on Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
. In the Roman Catholic church, a large cross depicting the crucified Christ is brought out into the church and each of the faithful come forward to venerate the cross. Rather than having the Gospel read solely by the priest, whole Roman Catholic congregations participate in the reading of the Passion Gospel during the Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four Canonical Gospels. ....
Mass and the Good Friday service. These readings have the Priest read the part of Christ, a narrator read the narrative, other reader(s) reading the other speaking parts, and either the choir or the congregation reading the parts of crowds (i.e.: when the crowd shouts "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!")
In the Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Churches, the Matins
Matins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
service for Good Friday is called Matins of the Twelve Passion Gospels, and is remarkable for the interspersing of twelve readings from the Gospel Book
Gospel Book
The Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament...
detailing chronologically the events of the Passion—from the Last Supper
Last Supper
The Last Supper is the final meal that, according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "communion" or "the Lord's Supper".The First Epistle to the Corinthians is...
to the burial in the tomb—during the course of the service. The first of these twelve readings is the longest Gospel reading of the entire liturgical year
Liturgical year
The liturgical year, also known as the church year, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches which determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and which portions of Scripture are to be read. Distinct liturgical colours may appear in...
. In addition, every Wednesday and Friday throughout the year is dedicated in part to the commemoration of the Passion.
During Holy Week
Holy Week
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
/Passion Week Congregations of the Moravian Church (Herrnhut
Herrnhut
Herrnhut is a municipality in the district of Görlitz, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany.It has access to Bundesstraße 178 between Löbau and Zittau...
er Bruedergemeine) read the entire story of Jesus' final week from a Harmony of the Gospels prepared for that purpose since 1777. Daily meetings are held, some times 2 or 3 times a day, to follow the events of the day. During the course of the reading, the Congregation sings hymn verses to respond to the events of the text.
Most liturgical churches hold some form of commemoration of the Crucifixion on the afternoon of Good Friday. Sometimes, this will take the form of a vigil
Vigil
A vigil is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance...
from noon to 3:00 pm, the approximate time that Jesus hung on the cross. Sometimes there will be a reënactment of the Descent from the Cross
Descent from the Cross
The Descent from the Cross , or Deposition of Christ, is the scene, as depicted in art, from the Gospels' accounts of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus taking Christ down from the cross after his crucifixion . In Byzantine art the topic became popular in the 9th century, and in the West from the...
; for instance, at Vespers
Vespers
Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...
in the Byzantine (Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic) tradition.
Reparation to Jesus
Acts of reparation
In the Roman Catholic tradition, an Act of Reparation is a prayer or devotion with the intent to repair the "sins of others", e.g. for the repair of the sin of blasphemy, the sufferings of Jesus Christ or as Acts of Reparation to the Virgin Mary...
for the sufferings and insults that Jesus endured during His Passion. These Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ
Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ
Roman Catholic tradition includes specific prayers and devotions as Acts of Reparation for insults and blasphemies against Jesus Christ and the Holy Name of Jesus. These include the sufferings during the Passion of Jesus...
do not involve a petition for a living or deceased beneficiary, but aim to repair the sins against Jesus. Some such prayers are provided in the Raccolta
Raccolta
The Raccolta is a book, published from 1807 to 1950, that listed Roman Catholic prayers and other acts of piety, such as novenas, for which specific indulgences were granted by Popes...
Catholic prayer book (approved by a Decree of 1854, and published by the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
in 1898) which also includes prayers as Acts of Reparation to the Virgin Mary
Acts of Reparation to the Virgin Mary
Roman Catholic tradition and Mariology include specific prayers and devotions as acts of reparation for insults and blasphemies against the Blessed Virgin Mary...
.
In his encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor
Miserentissimus Redemptor
Miserentissimus Redemptor is the title of an encyclical by Pope Pius XI, issued on May 8, 1928. This encyclical deals with the concepts of Acts of Reparation and atonement...
on reparations, Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
called Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ a duty for Catholics and referred to them as "some sort of compensation to be rendered for the injury" with respect to the sufferings of Jesus.
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
referred to Acts of Reparation as the "unceasing effort to stand beside the endless crosses on which the Son of God continues to be crucified".
Visual art
Life of Christ
The Life of Christ as a narrative cycle in Christian art comprises a number of different subjects, which were often grouped in series or cycles of works in a variety of media, narrating the life of Jesus on earth, as distinguished from the many other subjects in art showing the eternal life of...
. Each episode, such as the Flagellation of Christ
Flagellation of Christ
The Flagellation of Christ, sometimes known as Christ at the Column or the Scourging at the Pillar, is a scene from the Passion of Christ very frequently shown in Christian art, in cycles of the Passion or the larger subject of the Life of Christ. It is the fourth station of the modern alternate...
or Entombment of Christ
Entombment of Christ
The Entombment redirects here. For other uses, The Entombment The Entombment of Christ, that is to say the burial of Jesus Christ, occurred after his death by crucifixion, when, according to the gospel accounts, he was placed in a new tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea.-Biblical account:All four...
, has been represented thousands of times and has developed its own iconographic
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
tradition; the Crucifixion is much the most common and important of these subjects. The Passion is often covered by a cycle of depictions; Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
's print
Old master print
An old master print is a work of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition . A date of about 1830 is usually taken as marking the end of the period whose prints are covered by this term. The main techniques concerned are woodcut, engraving and etching, although there are...
cycles were so popular that he produced three different versions. Andachtsbilder
Andachtsbilder
Andachtsbilder is a German term often used in English in art history for Christian devotional images designed as aids for prayer or contemplation...
is a term for devotional subjects such as the Man of Sorrows
Man of Sorrows
Among the passages in the Hebrew Bible that have been identified by Christians as prefigurations of the Messiah, the Man of Sorrows of Isaiah 53 is paramount - the various theological traditions are discussed at that article...
or Pietà
Pietà
The Pietà is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus, most often found in sculpture. As such, it is a particular form of the Lamentation of Christ, a scene from the Passion of Christ found in cycles of the Life of Christ...
that may not precisely represent a moment in the Passion but are derived from the Passion story. The Arma Christi
Arma Christi
Arma Christi , or the Instruments of the Passion, are the objects associated with Jesus' Passion in Christian symbolism and art....
, or "Instruments of the Passion" are the objects associated with Jesus' Passion, such as the cross, the Crown of Thorns
Crown of Thorns
In Christianity, the Crown of Thorns, one of the instruments of the Passion, was woven of thorn branches and placed on Jesus Christ before his crucifixion...
and the Spear of Longinus
Holy Lance
The Holy Lance is the name given to the lance that pierced Jesus' side as he hung on the cross in John's account of the Crucifixion.-Biblical references:The lance is mentioned only in the Gospel of John and not in any of the...
. Each of the major Instruments has been supposedly recovered as relics
Relics attributed to Jesus
A number of relics associated with Jesus have been claimed and displayed throughout the history of Christianity. Some people believe in the authenticity of some relics; others doubt the authenticity of various items...
which have been an object of veneration among many Christians, and have been depicted in art. Veronica's Veil is also often counted among the Instruments of the Passion; like the Shroud of Turin
Shroud of Turin
The Shroud of Turin or Turin Shroud is a linen cloth bearing the image of a man who appears to have suffered physical trauma in a manner consistent with crucifixion. It is kept in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, northern Italy. The image on the shroud is...
and Sudarium of Oviedo
Sudarium of Oviedo
The Sudarium of Oviedo, or Shroud of Oviedo, is a bloodstained cloth, measuring c. 84 x 53 cm, kept in the Cámara Santa of the Cathedral of San Salvador, Oviedo, Spain. The Sudarium is claimed to be the cloth wrapped around the head of Jesus Christ after he died, as mentioned in the Gospel of...
it is a cloth relic supposed to have touched Jesus.
In the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
(and some Anglo-Catholic and Western Rite Orthodox churches), the Passion story is depicted in the Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St...
(via crucis, also translated more literally as "Way of the Cross"). These 14 stations depict the Passion from the sentencing by Pilate to the sealing of the tomb, and since the 16th century representations of them in various media have decorated the nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
s of most Catholic churches. The Way of the Cross is a devotion practiced by many people on Fridays throughout the year, most importantly on Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
. This may be simply by going round the Stations in a church, or may involve large-scale re-enactments, as in Jerusalem. The Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy are similar schemes on a far larger scale than church Stations, with chapels containing large sculpted groups arranged in a hilly landscape; for pilgrim
Pilgrim
A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...
s to tour the chapels typically takes several hours. They mostly date from the late 16th to the 17th century; most depict the Passion, others different subjects as well.
Music
Church music
Church music may be defined as music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclestiacal liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. This article covers music in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. For sacred music outside this...
sung during Holy Week are "Passions", musical settings of the Gospel narratives, both a Catholic and Lutheran tradition, and settings of the readings and responses from the Catholic Tenebrae
Tenebrae
Tenebrae may refer to:* Tenebrae, a Christian worship service held during Holy Week * Tenebrae , a horror film by Dario Argento* Tenebrae , soundtrack album for the Dario Argento film...
services, especially those of the Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet. The many settings of the Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Roman Catholic hymn to Mary. It has been variously attributed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi and to Innocent III...
or The Seven Last Words of Christ
The Seven Last Words of Christ
The Seven Last Words of Our Saviour On the Cross is an orchestral work by Joseph Haydn, commissioned in 1785 or 1786 for the Good Friday service at Cádiz Cathedral in Spain...
are also commonly performed.
The reading of the Passion section of one of the Gospels during Holy Week
Holy Week
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
dates back to the 4th century. It began to be intoned (rather than just spoken) in the Middle Ages, at least as early as the 8th century. 9th-century manuscripts have "litterae significativae" indicating interpretive chant, and later manuscript begin to specify exact notes to be sung. By the 13th century different singers were used for different characters in the narrative, a practice which became fairly universal by the 15th century, when polyphonic settings of the turba
Turba
' literally means crowd in Latin. It may refer more specifically to any text in the biblical Passion of Jesus which is spoken by any group of people, including the disciples, the Jews, or the soldiers...
passages began to appear also. (Turba, while literally meaning "crowd", is used in this case to mean any passage in which more than one speaker speak simultaneously.)
In the later 15th century a number of new styles began to emerge:
- Responsorial Passions set all of Christ's words and the turba parts polyphonically
- Through-composed Passions were entirely polyphonic (also called motet Passions). Jacob ObrechtJacob ObrechtJacob Obrecht was a Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He was the most famous composer of masses in Europe in the late 15th century, being eclipsed by only Josquin des Prez after his death.-Life:...
wrote the earliest extant example of this type. - Summa Passionis settings were a synopsis of all four Gospels, including the Seven Last Words (a text later set by HaydnJoseph HaydnFranz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
and Théodore DuboisThéodore DuboisFrançois-Clément Théodore Dubois was a French composer, organist and music teacher.-Biography:Théodore Dubois was born in Rosnay in Marne. He studied first under Louis Fanart and later at the Paris Conservatoire under Ambroise Thomas. He won the Prix de Rome in 1861...
). These were discouraged for church use but circulated widely nonetheless.
In the 16th century, settings like these, and further developments, were created for the Catholic Church by Victoria
Tomás Luis de Victoria
Tomás Luis de Victoria, sometimes Italianised as da Vittoria , was the most famous composer of the 16th century in Spain, and one of the most important composers of the Counter-Reformation, along with Giovanni da Palestrina and Orlando di Lasso. Victoria was not only a composer, but also an...
, William Byrd
William Byrd
William Byrd was an English composer of the Renaissance. He wrote in many of the forms current in England at the time, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard and consort music.-Provenance:Knowledge of Byrd's biography expanded in the late 20th century, thanks largely...
, Jacobus Gallus
Jacobus Gallus
Jacobus Gallus Carniolus was a late Renaissance composer of Slovenian ethnicity...
, Francisco Guerrero, Orlando di Lasso, and Cypriano de Rore.
Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
wrote, "The Passion of Christ should not be acted out in words and pretense, but in real life." Despite this, sung Passion performances were common in Lutheran churches right from the start, in both Latin and German, beginning as early as Laetare Sunday
Laetare Sunday
Laetare Sunday , so called from the incipit of the Introit at Mass, "Laetare Jerusalem" , is a name often used to denote the fourth Sunday of the season of Lent in the Christian liturgical calendar...
(three weeks before Easter) and continuing through Holy Week. Luther's friend and collaborator Johann Walther wrote responsorial Passions which were used as models by Lutheran composers for centuries, and "summa Passionis" versions continued to circulate, despite Luther's express disapproval. Later 16th-century passions included choral "exordium" (introduction) and "conclusio" sections with additional texts. In the 17th century came the development of "oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
" passions which led to J.S. Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's Passions
Passions (Bach)
According to his obituary, Johann Sebastian Bach wrote "five passions, of which one is for double chorus". Two works have survived: the St John Passion and the St Matthew Passion , this last using double chorus...
, accompanied by instruments, with interpolated texts (then called "madrigal" movements) such as sinfonia
Sinfonia
Sinfonia is the Italian word for symphony. In English it most commonly refers to a 17th- or 18th-century orchestral piece used as an introduction, interlude, or postlude to an opera, oratorio, cantata, or suite...
s, other Scripture passages, Latin motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
s, chorale arias, and more. Such settings were created by Bartholomeus Gesius and Heinrich Schütz
Heinrich Schütz
Heinrich Schütz was a German composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and often considered to be one of the most important composers of the 17th century along with Claudio Monteverdi...
. Thomas Strutz wrote a passion (1664) with arias for Jesus himself, pointing to the standard oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
tradition of Schütz
Heinrich Schütz
Heinrich Schütz was a German composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and often considered to be one of the most important composers of the 17th century along with Claudio Monteverdi...
, Carissimi
Giacomo Carissimi
Giacomo Carissimi was an Italian composer, one of the most celebrated masters of the early Baroque, or, more accurately, the Roman School of music.-Biography:...
, and others, although these composers seem to have thought that putting words in Jesus’ mouth was beyond the pale. The practice of using recitative
Recitative
Recitative , also known by its Italian name "recitativo" , is a style of delivery in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms of ordinary speech...
for the Evangelist (rather than plainsong) was a development of court composers in northern Germany and only crept into church compositions at the end of the 17th century. A famous musical reflection on the Passion is Part II
Messiah Part II
Messiah , the English-language oratorio composed by George Frideric Handel in 1741, is structured in three parts. This listing covers Part II in a table and comments on individual movements, reflecting the relation of the musical setting to the text...
of Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
, an oratorio by George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
, though the text here draws from Old Testament prophecies rather than from the Gospels themselves.
The best known Protestant musical settings of the Passion are by Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, who wrote several Passions, of which two have survived, one based on the Gospel of John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
(the St John Passion), the other on the Gospel of Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
(the St Matthew Passion). His St Mark Passion was reconstructed in various ways. The Passion continued to be very popular in Protestant Germany in the 18th century, with Bach's second son Carl Philipp Emanuel
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
right|250pxCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and second son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach...
composing over twenty settings.
The Passions of C.P.E. Bach
As Kapellmeister at Hamburg from 1768 to 1788, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach composed 21 settings of the Passion narrative.-History:The tradition of the German oratorio Passion began in Hamburg in 1643 with Thomas Selle’s St John Passion and continued unbroken until the death of Carl Philipp Emanuel...
In the 19th century, with the exception of John Stainer
John Stainer
Sir John Stainer was an English composer and organist whose music, though not generally much performed today , was very popular during his lifetime...
's The Crucifixion
The Crucifixion (Stainer)
The Crucifixion: A Meditation on the Sacred Passion of the Holy Redeemer is an oratorio composed by John Stainer in 1887. It is scored for a SATB choir and organ, and features solos for bass and tenor....
(1887), Passion settings were less popular, but in the 20th century, they have again come into fashion. Two notable settings are the St. Luke Passion
St. Luke Passion (Penderecki)
The St. Luke Passion is a work for chorus and orchestra written in 1966 by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki...
(1965) by Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
composer Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki , born November 23, 1933 in Dębica) is a Polish composer and conductor. His 1960 avant-garde Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra brought him to international attention, and this success was followed by acclaim for his choral St. Luke Passion. Both these...
and the Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem
Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem
Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem is a passion cantata by Arvo Pärt for solo baritone , solo tenor , solo vocal quartet , choir, violin, oboe, cello, bassoon and organ...
(1982) by Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
n composer Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt is an Estonian classical composer and one of the most prominent living composers of sacred music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-made compositional technique, tintinnabuli. His music also finds its inspiration and influence from...
. Recent examples include The Passion According to St. Matthew (1997), by Mark Alburger
Mark Alburger
Mark Alburger is a San Francisco Bay Area composer and conductor. He is the founder and music director of the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra, as well as the music director of the San Francisco Cabaret Opera...
, and The Passion According to the Four Evangelists, by Scott King. Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
's Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
(book and lyrics by Tim Rice
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
), and Stephen Schwartz
Stephen Schwartz (composer)
Stephen Lawrence Schwartz is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over four decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as Godspell , Pippin and Wicked...
's Godspell
Godspell
Godspell is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since, including a 2011 revival now playing on Broadway...
both contain elements of the traditional passion accounts. See also Passion cantata
Passion cantata
A Passion cantata is a cantata that takes as its theme the Passion of Jesus Christ, i.e. the hours, days, or weeks leading up to and including his crucifixion. Some of the larger cantatas have been referred to as oratorios.-English:...
.
Drama and processions
Passion play
A Passion play is a dramatic presentation depicting the Passion of Jesus Christ: his trial, suffering and death. It is a traditional part of Lent in several Christian denominations, particularly in Catholic tradition....
s; these have been very widely performed in traditionally Catholic countries, often in churches as liturgical drama
Liturgical drama
Liturgical drama or religious drama, in its various Christian contexts, originates from the mass itself, and usually presents a relatively complex ritual that includes theatrical elements...
s - for versions with musical settings, see the previous section. One famous cycle is performed at intervals at Oberammergau
Oberammergau
Oberammergau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. The town is famous for its production of a Passion Play, its woodcarvers, and the NATO School.-Passion Play:...
Germany, and another in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco
Pernambuco
Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the...
uses what is considered the largest open-air theater
New Jerusalem theater
New Jerusalem is a city theater founded in 1968, located in city of Brejo da Madre de Deus, in the district of Fazenda Nova, about 180 km from Recife, the capital of Pernambuco - Brazil....
in the world. The Passion figures among the scenes in the English mystery play
Mystery play
Mystery plays and miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song...
s in more than one cycle of dramatic vignettes. In the Chester Mystery Plays
Chester Mystery Plays
The Chester Mystery Plays is a cycle of mystery plays dating back to at least the early part of the 15th century.A record of 1422 shows that the plays took place at the feast of Corpus Christi and this appears to have continued until 1521. Plays on Corpus Christi Day in 1475 included 'The trial...
' portrayal of Christ's Passion, specifically his humiliation before his sentence to crucifixion, the accounts of the Gospels concerning the physical violence visited on Jesus during his trial before the Sanhedrin, and the humiliating crowning of thorns visited upon him in Pilate's palace (or by Herod's soldiers, according to Luke), is further confused by showing both actions as being carried out by jeering Jews.
Processions on Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four Canonical Gospels. ....
commonly re-enact to some degree the entry of Jesus to Jerusalem; traditional ones often using special wooden donkey
Donkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
s on wheels. Holy Week in Spain
Holy Week in Spain
Spain is especially renowned for its Holy Week traditions or Semana Santa. Holy Week, the last week of Lent, which is the week immediately before Easter, sees its most glamorous celebrations in the region of Andalusia, particularly in Seville, while those of Castile see the more sombre and solemn...
retains more traditional public processions than other countries, with the most famous, in Seville
Holy Week in Seville
Holy Week in Seville is one of the most important traditional events of the city. It is celebrated in the week leading up to Easter , and is one of the better known religious events within Spain...
featuring floats with carved tableaux showing scenes from the story.
There have also been a number of films telling the passion story, with a prominent recent example being Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
's The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American drama film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...
.
A tradition linked to icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
s of Jesus holds that Veronica
Saint Veronica
Saint Veronica or Berenice, according to the "Acta Sanctorum" published by the Bollandists , was a pious woman of Jerusalem who, moved with pity as Jesus carried his cross to Golgotha, gave him her veil that he might wipe his forehead...
was a pious woman of Jerusalem who gave her kerchief
Veil of Veronica
The Veil of Veronica, or Sudarium , often called simply "The Veronica" and known in Italian as the Volto Santo or Holy Face is a Catholic relic, which, according to legend, bears the likeness of the Face of Jesus not made by human hand The Veil of Veronica, or Sudarium (Latin for sweat-cloth),...
to him to wipe his forehead. When he handed it back to her, the image of His face was miraculously impressed upon it.
Other traditions
- The sons of Simon of Cyrene are named as if they might have been early Christian figures known to Mark's intended audience (Brown et al. 628). PaulPaul of TarsusPaul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
also lists a Rufus in RomansEpistle to the RomansThe Epistle of Paul to the Romans, often shortened to Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by the Apostle Paul to explain that Salvation is offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ...
16:13. - Most garments of the region were made of woven strips of material that were about eight inches wide and included decorative braids from two to four inches (102 mm) wide. The garments could be disassembled and the strips of cloth were frequently recycled. A single garment might hold sections of many different dates. However, in Damascus and Bethlehem cloth was woven on wider looms, some Damascene being 40 inches (1,016 mm) wide. Traditional Bethlehem cloth is striped like pajama material. It would thus appear that Jesus' "seamless robeSeamless robe of JesusThe Seamless Robe of Jesus is the robe said to have been worn by Jesus during his crucifixion...
" was made of cloth from either Bethlehem or Damascus.
See also
- Acts of Reparation to Jesus ChristActs of Reparation to Jesus ChristRoman Catholic tradition includes specific prayers and devotions as Acts of Reparation for insults and blasphemies against Jesus Christ and the Holy Name of Jesus. These include the sufferings during the Passion of Jesus...
- Jesus at Herod's CourtJesus at Herod's CourtJesus at Herod's Court refers to an episode in the New Testament which describes Jesus being sent to Herod Antipas in Jerusalem, prior to his crucifixion...
- Passion cantataPassion cantataA Passion cantata is a cantata that takes as its theme the Passion of Jesus Christ, i.e. the hours, days, or weeks leading up to and including his crucifixion. Some of the larger cantatas have been referred to as oratorios.-English:...
- Sacri Monti