and you want to do the desires of

Yesterday's musings on the importance of the cross had me musing today on the Passion of Christ -- not the Gibson flick, but on the term itself. Well before Mel made it famous, Good Friday marathon masses have been based upon the Passion for centuries.

Using the term "Passion" to refer to the Gospel paintings of the crucifixion is interesting. They originate from Middle Age dramas that coined the term, and have since carried through Catholic terminology to modern day usage. If you use a concordance, though, the word "passion" occurs only 10 times in the Word, and all in very negative usages. It is interesting that the church has co-opted liar's word and made it into something critical to faith.

All of us have our own passions. We are passionate about something -- our families, a favorite sports team, a particular movie, a political cause, a favorite food. We understand passion at a very basic level. And the Lord's passion was being obedient to His Father and loving the world on a cross on a hill. To understand passion in that way explains why the cross is so central to all we do and all we are.