The Passion of Jesus Christ
TEXT - Acts 1:1-3 1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
The word passion in verse 3 refers to what Jesus went through from the Last Supper to the Cross. From communion to the crucifixion is the Passion of Jesus Christ. What Jesus went through for me and for you is the Passion of Jesus Christ. What caused him to want to go through what He went through was His passion. What enables Him to go through what He went through was His passion. The text also says that Jesus showed Himself alive after His passion. He was exhilarated. He was invigorated. He was stimulated by His passion. Jesus was seen of them for forty days. He had already been through the crucifixion. He had already been through the resurrection. Why did He not go directly to the ascension? It was because of His passion. It was His passion for His people that caused Him to not only want to be seen but to see His friends. His passion for people caused Him to ask for Peter after Peter denied Him three times. His passion for people caused Him to make a special return trip to see Thomas because Thomas said I will not believe until I see the nail prints in His hands and put my hand in His side. What moves Jesus is a passion for the backslider. What moves Jesus is passion for those who want to believe but need to see a sign, a wonder, or a miracle. Jesus had a passion for people. What moves you? Do you have a passion for people like God Who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son? Do you have a passion for people like Jesus Who gave His life not only for His friends but also for His enemies? In order to have a passion for people like Jesus does, you have to spend time with Jesus. His passion is contagious. His passion is infectious. The reason Jesus spent 40 days with His disciples after His passion is so they could catch it. His passion is contagious. After He first rose from the dead Jesus said to His disciple "as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” And when He has said this, He breathed on them and said to them "Receive ye the Holy Ghost” and they didn’t go anywhere. They had just gotten the Great Commission and instead of going fishing for men, they just went fishing. But after 40 days with Jesus after His passion, Jesus had to hold them back. He had to tell don’t go out just yet, don’t go preach just yet, don’t go teach just yet, don’t go reach the world with the gospel just yet. Wait for the promise from the Father. They didn’t want power of the Holy Ghost when He breathed on them but after 40 days with Jesus after His passion, His passion was contagious. They had been infected. They had been injected. The passion that was upon Jesus was now upon them. They wanted the Holy Ghost so much that they waited another 10 days to get it. His passion was contagious! You’ve got to catch it. You’ve got to want it. In order to catch it, in order to want it, you have to spend time with Him. His passion is contagious! It’s spread by contact. You have to touch Him by getting in touch with Him to catch it. His passion is contagious! It’s airborne. You have to talk to Him and He talk to you to catch it. It’s called supplication. It’s talking to Him and waiting for Him to talk to you. It’s praying not my will but Thy will be done and then He’ll tell you His will. His passion is contagious. It’s infectious. Jesus had a passion for people. He saw the multitudes. We’ve got to catch His passion to see the multitudes the way Jesus saw them. He saw them as people who were fainting, as people who were scattered. Jesus saw the multitude as sheep without a shepherd. We have to catch His passion for people through prayer, intercession, and supplication. Jesus looked over Jerusalem and wept. Have we ever cried for the city? Have we ever cried out for the city? We need to cry out for the city and ask God for the heathen. We need to catch his passion for people. It’s contagious. It’s infectious. Not only do we need to catch it. We need to spread it. An infection is most contagious when you first get it. The passion of Jesus Christ is most contagious when you first get it. You need to catch it again. You need to return to the passion you had when you first came into contact with Jesus. Return to your first love, when you first contracted the passion of Jesus Christ. That’s when we were most contagious. We have to go back to spending time with Jesus like when we first got saved. We’ve got to go back to praying like when we first got saved. We’ve got to seek His face to hear His voice like when we first got saved. We’ve got to love Jesus like when we first got saved because that was when we were most contagious. That’s when we were most courageous. That’s when we had the passion of Jesus Christ.
