The sequence of events during the Passion of Christ according to the gospels is:
1. The Agony in the Garden
2. The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus
3. The Inquiry before Annas
4. Peter’s Denial of Jesus
5. Jesus Before the Sanhedrin
6. Jesus Before Pilate
7. Jesus Before Herod
8. The Death of Judas
9. The Sentence of Death
10. Mockery by the Soldiers
11. The Way of the Cross
12. The Crucifixion
13. The Death of Jesus
14. The Burial of Jesus
PREDICTION OF HIS PASSION
OLD TESTAMENT
There are references to the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus in the Old Testament, such as:
1. God had prophesied the unsuccessful attack of Satan on the Messiah and his victory over evil. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; they will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel” (Gen 13:15).
2. Jesus’ own people rejected him (Jn 1:11). “I have become an outcast to my kindred, a stranger to my mother’s children” (Ps 69:9).
3. Psalm 118:22-23 predicted the rejection of Jesus by the Jewish leaders, and God making him the foundation stone of the new Israel. “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.”
4. Zechariah 11:13 predicted the betrayal of Jesus by Judas. “Then the LORD said to me, throw it in the treasury – the handsome price at which they valued me. So, I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the treasury in the house of the LORD.”
5. At the Last Supper, Jesus told his disciples how they would disperse during his passion (Mt 26:31) referring to Zechariah 13:7. “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the one who is my associate – oracle of the LORD of hosts. Strike the shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.”
6. During the crucifixion, the executioners of Jesus gave him wine mixed with gall to drink (Mt 27:34). This was predicted in Psalm 69:22, “Instead they gave me poison for my food; and for my thirst they gave me vinegar.”
7. Psalm 22:19 predicted how the soldiers who guarded Jesus at his crucifixion divided his garments (Mt 27:35). “They divide my garments among them; for my clothing they cast lots.”
8. “But I am a worm, not a man, scorned by men, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they curl their lips and jeer; they shake their heads at me” (Ps 22:7-8) was realized when the chief priests, with the Scribes, mocked Jesus while he was on the cross (Mk 15:29-32).
9. Psalm 22:9, “He relied on the LORD – let him deliver him; if he loves him, let him rescue him” was fulfilled when the chief priests with the Scribes and the elders mocked Jesus saying, “He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he wants to. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ The revolutionaries who were crucified with him also kept abusing him in the same way” (Mt 27:41-44).
10. John, referring to Psalm 22:15, documented, “In order that the scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I thirst’” (Jn 19:28).
11. When Jesus died on the cross (Lk 23:46), he quoted Psalm 31:6, “Into your hands I commend my spirit.”
12. Psalm 22:17 had predicted the nailing to the cross (Jn 19:37). “They have pierced my hands and my feet.”
13. “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor let your devout one see the pit” (Ps 16:10) was a reference to the resurrection of Jesus.
14. Psalm 110:1 predicted the enthronement of Jesus at the right hand of God (Mk 16:19). “The LORD says to my lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, while I make your enemies your footstool.’”
NEW TESTAMENT
According to Luke, the following are the words Jesus spoke about his passion, death, and resurrection:
1. After Peter’s confession about Jesus as “The Messiah of God,” he made the first prediction of his passion. He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the Scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised” (Lk 9:22).
2. After the transfiguration of Jesus on a mountain, followed by the casting out of a demon from a boy, Jesus predicted a second time his passion to his disciples. “Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men” (Lk 9:44).
3. After answering to Peter’s question on what the apostles would gain by giving up their possessions for following Jesus, he gave a detailed prediction of his upcoming passion. “Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and everything written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon; and after they have scourged him they will kill him, but on the third day he will rise’” (Lk 18:31-33).
REFLECTION
Jesus foretold the sufferings he would endure because he came for our salvation through the cross. No one in this world is free from sufferings. However, Jesus gave meaning to the sufferings and showed us how to accept sacrifices for the good of others. Let us learn from the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus and be positive in our sufferings and sacrifices with the hope of our resurrection, leading to the eternal joy with God.