Easter Devotional – “He Is Risen”
The Passion

The Passion refers to the lengths Jesus went through to show us God’s love, which began in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prepared Himself for what He was about to face.

“And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:44)

The Garden of Gethsemane was a place where Jesus had come many times before with his disciples and to pray. But this time it was different. This time He was in agony.

What’s interesting is that this is the only time this word, “agony,” is used in the Scriptures.

What we gather from its usage is that its meaning was that of being in anguish, or to struggle greatly. You might say that Jesus was in anguish, that is, a feeling of great physical or emotional pain (Macmillan), or torment (American Heritage).

Jesus knew that He was headed for an excruciating death upon the cross, where He would experience the full weight of God’s wrath that His Father would lay upon Him for all of our sins.

Deep within the soul of Jesus a war was being waged. Jesus was in a battle, a fight, and a struggle, not for His own life, but a battle and a struggle for our eternal lives.

So, in deep agony of the soul Jesus prayed.

“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42)

So powerful was His anguish and the torment His soul was experiencing that the blood capillaries within His forehead burst.

The official medical explanation of this condition is “hematidrosis.”

“An extremely rare condition characterized by the sweating of blood, which is said to occur when a person is facing death or other highly stressful events. It has been seen in prisoners before execution.” (Segen’s Medical Dictionary)

For Jesus it was His passion for you and me.