Tonight we move into the “passion” of Jesus, the few days that describe the suffering and death of Jesus the Messiah. R.C. Sproul writes “The word “passion” is rooted in the concept of suffering.” That’s not generally how we use the word. When the think of passion we think of something we are invested in, feel strongly about or even love dearly. The passion of Jesus was revealed through His suffering, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” we quote often and we should, but the giving of His Son was a revelation of His commitment to us, His love, His passion was revealed and lived out through His suffering. Sin has caused all suffering but love suffered so that sin could be defeated and destroyed. When we speak of “the passion” of Jesus it’s not merely His story or our salvation, it is His story of suffering for the sake of our salvation, it is nothing but love. Tonight’s passage begins the walk toward the cross, it is filled with Jesus’ passion for His Father’s will and our adoption, with Mary’s passion for Jesus, her worship of Him that was more than she could have ever imagined it could be and then the disciples continued lack of understanding that the passion of Jesus would be expressed through suffering before it could be expressed through victory.