Sunday will be Passion Sunday! Jesus, after spending forty days and forty nights in the desert without doubt was prepared to face the world and to particularly submit to what His enemies loved for Him. The fact of the matter is not the suffering He underwent but why he did it. Christ had the option to say no but He rather went on to say yes with an open hand at the end to embrace the whole world especially those who allow Christ to be for them. The Passion of Christ is a reminder for the Christian who has observed penance, fasting and has let go of some ills in his or her life for the past Lenten season. It is also a time for those who do not have the faith worthy of an unbeliever to enable them come to Christ whose open hand remains open on the Cross. Christian Panorama in its weakness goes on to search for the truth about the Passion of Jesus to let others know about our Saviours passion and see if it is our passion, what do you think is it our passion

Six days before the solemn Passover the Lord came to Jerusalem and children waving palm branches ran out to welcome Him. They loudly praised the Lord: Hosanna in the highest. Blessed are you who have come to us so rich in love and mercy.

When they were approaching Jerusalem, in sight of Bethphage and Bethany, close by the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of His disciples and said to them, ‘Go off to the village facing you, and as soon as you enter it you will find a tethered cold that no one has yet ridden. Untie and bring it here. If anyone says to you, “What are you doing?” say, “The Master needs it and will send it back here directly.” They went off and found a cold tethered near a door in the open street. As they untied it, some men standing there said, ‘What are you doing, untying that colt?’ They gave the answer Jesus had told them and the men let them go. Then they took the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on its back and He sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, others greenery which they had cut in the fields. And those who went in front and those who followed were all shouting, Hosanna! Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessing on the coming Kingdom of Our Father David! Hosanna in the highest heavens! (Gospel according to Mark 11:1-10)

The above is a manifestation of how Jesus got prepared for His passion and His subsequent crucifixion to embrace all to Him. Jesus used authority here to send for the colt to ride on to enter Jerusalem. What He thought, happened as He ordered His disciples to go and get the colt for Him to use, above that He ordered for an unused cold that had never been used by anyone. Many people stood before Him, with palm leaves, spreading anything in their reach to spread as their own red carpet. If it were today the best of all should have been spread for this King to walk on. They shouted especially the crowds who had come for the festival, Hosanna in the highest! Blessing on the King of Israel, who comes in the name of the Lord. Scripture had foretold this saying: “Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, mounted on the colt of a donkey.” At a time His disciples did not understand this, but later, after Jesus had been glorified, they remembered that this was in fact how they had received Him.

Today, it is significant for Christians to reflect deeply within and see the reason why Christ had this passion. Did He not hate anybody before going to use the colt to enter Jerusalem. We are following His footsteps but are we really following His passion, is it our passion or Christ’s? The one we are following now is the imitation of Christ’s passion but it is our own passion because we have similar stories in life or even bigger and we pray to God to see us through. Christ’s passion is our passion. Our passion is rooted in Christ’s suffering and subsequent death. But there are those who see Christ’s suffering as Christ’s own not their. He suffered on the Cross for us but mankind has not let go of all the vices Christ died for. A husband may like to forgive his wife for a simple mistake but the wife would rather create more problems or vise visa. There are those Christians whose preoccupation is only to set fire and make life uneasy for others there those who do not see eye to eye for very minute reasons. Children think they are not part of Christ’s passion so they disobey their parents, insult their sisters and brothers and become problems to their parents, insulting them as they like. They leave bruises in peoples’ hearts. Christ did not come to preach such.

Our Christian groups are full of challenges for one another. Jealousy and superiority, George will tell Augustine he no good therefore he deserves death or hatred and unconstructive opposition, this is all leading to tearing Jesus apart because we were all made in the image and likeness of God. Others have permanent hatred for the other. This is the right time for all with sores in their hearts and hatred in one way or the other to show their love for God and appreciate the love Christ portrayed through His passion. The Lord gave Christians, disciples tongue, they are to use it and show the world that they appreciate what Christ went through. Most times the powerful would crush the weak without any sense of remorse; as the winner takes all in the ruthless struggle over economy and political power and consigns the loser to the margins of society, and as the rich exchange the poor for a pair of sandals without looking back, believers must listen to the faint but resolute voices from the other side of Calvary, heralding the death of the dragon that has reigned for so long. Wishing you a blessed Palm Sunday.