Passion
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- This article describes the Christian Passion. For other meanings, see passion (disambiguation).
Template:Gospel Jesus The Passion is the technical term for the suffering and Agony of Jesus that led directly to the Crucifixion, a central Christian event. The "Passion narratives" tell this story in the Gospels. The etymological origins of this meaning of the word lie in the Latin passio that first appears in the 2nd century, precisely to describe the travails and suffering of Jesus in this present context. All the other meanings of "passion" have been derived from this one.
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"Passion" narratives
The canonical narratives of the Passion are found in the synoptic gospels and in the Gospel of John. These record that once condemned by Pilate, he was first flogged, which according to Conservative Catholics involved being tied to a pillar, and hit with bone or with metal studded whips (Brown et al. 628).
The Canonical Gospels record that Jesus was then taken to the Praetorium, thought to either be the palace of Herod Antipas palace or the Antonia Fortress (Brown et al. 628). Gathering all the other soldiers, who were probably mostly recruits from the area of Palestine or Syria (Brown et al. 628), the soldiers mock, by placing on him a purple robe on Jesus (purple being the symbolic colour of Roman emporers), and put a crown of thorns on his head, and hailing him as King of the Jews. According to the Canonical Gospels, except the Gospel of Luke, they also pay fake homage to him, by hitting him on the head with a staff, which according to the Gospel of Matthew he had first been made to hold. According to some Christians, the Gospels show that, despite the mockery of the Romans, Jesus was being crowned as messiah according to God's plan (Miller 50); though many non-Christian scholars see the event simply as an example of archetypical bullying.
After this episode, the synoptics record that the soldiers returned Jesus to wearing his own clothes, but according to the Gospel of John, they left the purple robe and crown on. John tries to further exonerate Pilate and place the blame on the Jewish crowd, by stating that after this event Pilate brought Jesus back a second time, trying to convince the crowd that he was innocent, but that the crowd still demanded Jesus' death, and so Pilate resigned himself to the decision.
According to the gospel accounts Jesus was forced, like other victims of crucifixion, to drag his own cross to Golgotha (meaning place of a skull), the location of the execution. According to the synoptics (but not John), while on the way to Golgotha, the soldiers force a man passing by, Simon of Cyrene, to carry Jesus' cross for him. The reason is not explained by the gospels, but the Gospel of Mark sees fit to list Simon's children, Alexander and Rufus, as if they might have been early Christian figures known to Mark's intended audience (Brown et al. 628). Paul also lists a Rufus in Romans 16:13. Luke adds that Jesus' female followers were following him, and mourning his fate, but that he responded by quoting Template:Bibleref, essentially stating this might be bad, but that's when the situation apart from this is ok, imagine what things would be like if it was not.
Image:Albrecht Altdorfer 016.jpg When they arrive at Golgotha, the synoptics state that Jesus is offered wine laced with myrrh to lessen the pain, but he refuses. Jesus is then crucified, according to the synoptics at the third hour (9 AM), but according to John at the sixth hour (noon). The gospels add that a plaque had been added to Jesus' cross stating Iesu Nazarati Rex Iudorum, meaning Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews or Jesus the Nazarite, King of the Jews.
The Canonical Gospels then state that Jesus' clothes were taken from him by the soldiers, and they divided them between the soldiers according to lots. The Gospel of John claims that this fulfils a prophecy from Template:Bibleref. Two robbers were, according to the Gospels, also crucified on each side of him, and according to Luke spoke to Jesus during their shared crucifixions. Luke states that one mocks Jesus, the other respects him, and Jesus states that the respectful thief will shortly gain entry to paradise; traditionally the other has been considered to be destined for hell.
Elements from the crowd that had been following are described as taunting Jesus, saying he trusts in God, let God deliver him now, and suggesting that Jesus perform a miracle to release himself from the cross. Some scholars have argued that the Gospels, especially Mark, might be stressing that one can expect help from God in spiritual matters, but not be saved from the pains of this world. After delivering his last words, Jesus dies.
Further claims concerning the Passion are made in some non-canonical early writings. The most detailed claims about the Passion are in the Gospel of Peter. But since this uses My Power, My Power, why have you forsaken me as the last words of Jesus, rather than My God, My God, why have you forsaken me, and since it later describes Jesus' body being dragged by angels from the tomb, it was declared by some ancient Christian writers to be valid, but apt to lead readers into docetism, and consequently was not accepted into the Biblical canon.
Instruments of the Passion
In Christian symbolism the Instruments of the Passion are the objects associated with Jesus' Passion. Each of the Instruments have become an object of veneration among many Christians and have been pictured in icons and supposedly recovered as relics. The Instruments of the Passion are:
- The Pillar or column where Jesus was whipped, in the episode of the Flagellation.
- The Whips that were used.
- The Crown of Thorns.
- The Cross on which he was crucified. See also the True Cross.
- The Titulus Crucis, attached to the Cross, inscribed "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum"
- The Nails, inflicting four wounds.
- The Spear of Destiny by which a Roman soldier inflicted the final of the Five Wounds in his side.
- The Holy Grail, the Chalice that caught his blood and which was used by Jesus at The Last Supper.
Stations of the Cross
In the Catholic Church, the Passion story is depicted in the Stations of the Cross (via crucis, also translated more literally as "Way of the Cross").
Musical settings of Gospel narratives
The reading of the Passion during Holy Week dates back to the 4th century. It began to be intoned (rather than just spoken) in the Middle Ages, at least as early at the 8th century. 9th-century manuscripts have "litterae significativae" indicating interpretive chant, and later manuscript begin to specify exact notes to be sung. By the 1200s different singers were used for different characters in the narrative, a practice which became fairly universal by the 15th century, when polyphonic settings of the turba passages began to appear also. (Turba, while literally meaning "crowd," is used in this case to mean any passage in which more than one speaker speaks simultaneously.)
In the later 15th century a number of new styles began to emerge:
- Responsorial Passions set all of Christ's words and the turba parts polyphonically
- Through-composed Passions were entirely polyphonic (also called motet Passions). Jacob Obrecht wrote the earliest extant example of this type.
- Summa Passionis settings were a synopsis of all four Gospels, including the Seven Last Words (a text later set by Haydn and Théodore Dubois). These were discouraged for church use but circulated widely nonetheless.
In the 16th century settings like these, and further developments, were created for the Catholic church by Victoria, William Byrd, Jacobus Gallus, Francisco Guerrero, Orlando di Lasso, and Cypriano de Rore.
Martin Luther wrote, "The Passion of Christ should not be acted out in words and pretense, but in real life." Despite this, sung Passion performances were common in Lutheran churches right from the start, in both Latin and German, beginning as early as Laetare Sunday (three weeks before Easter) and continuing through Holy Week. Luther’s friend and collaborator Johann Walther wrote responsorial Passions which were used as models by Lutheran composers for centuries, and “summa Passionis” versions continued to circulate, despite Luther’s express disapproval. Later 16th-century passions included choral “exordium” (introduction) and “conclusio” sections with additional texts. In the 17th century came the development of “oratorio” passions which led to J.S. Bach’s passions, accompanied by instruments, with interpolated texts (then called “madrigal” movements) such as sinfonias, other Scripture passages, Latin motets, chorale arias, and more. Such settings were created by Bartholomeus Gesius and Heinrich Schütz. Thomas Strutz wrote a passion (1664) with arias for Jesus himself, pointing to the standard oratorio tradition of Schütz, Carissimi, and (later) Handel, although these composers seem to have thought that putting words in Jesus’ mouth was beyond the pale. The practice of using recitative for the Evangelist (rather than plainsong) was a development of court composers in northern Germany and only crept into church compositions at the end of the 17th century.
The best known Protestant musical settings of the Passion are by Johann Sebastian Bach, who wrote two Passions which have survived intact to the present day, one based on the Gospel of John (the St. John Passion), the other on the Gospel of Matthew (the St. Matthew Passion). In more recent times, the 20th century Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki has written a St. Luke Passion, based on the Gospel of Luke.
A relative of the musical Passion is the custom of setting the text of Stabat Mater to music.
Passion plays
Non-musical settings of the Passion story are generally called Passion plays. One famous cycle is performed at intervals at Oberammergau. The Passion figures among the scenes in the English mystery plays in more than one cycle of dramatic vignettes. There have also been a number of films telling the passion story, with a prominent recent example being The Passion of the Christ.
References
- Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Testament Doubleday 1997 ISBN 0385247672
- Brown, Raymond E. et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary Prentice Hall 1990 ISBN 0136149340
- Kilgallen, John J. A Brief Commentary on the Gospel of Mark Paulist Press 1989 ISBN 0809130599
- Miller, Robert J. Editor The Complete Gospels Polebridge Press 1994 ISBN 0060655879
External link
eo:Pasiono de:Passion fr:Passion he:הפסיון של ישו pl:Pasja (chrześcijaństwo) it:Passione ko:수난곡 sl:Pasijon