With the arrival of the Easter season, we are called to rejoice in Jesus’ resurrection—and for good reason. The miracle of the resurrection marks Christ’s triumph over sin and death, and it is foundational to our Christian faith. But to focus only on the resurrection would give us an incomplete perspective. The entirety of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, points towards Christ, so we must explore salvation through a holistic lens to fully understand the glory of His resurrection. An essential component of this divine miracle is Christ’s passion on Good Friday. Without a fully human death, Jesus couldn’t have a true resurrection. As we celebrate Easter, we can receive greater spiritual fruits by diving deeper into the ultimate sacrifice of the Passion, and by learning what it means for our own lives.
The passion encompasses the final period of Jesus’ life, following him from the agony in the garden to His eventual crucifixion and death. However, the bodily suffering Jesus endured does not encompass the entirety of the sacrificial act. We must also contemplate the gravity of the Passion, and why it was perfect and necessary for our salvation. We know that “no word shall be impossible for God” (Luke 1:37), so why couldn’t God have delivered mankind in a simpler way, devoid of suffering? In short, He could have. But St. Thomas Aquinas notes in his Summa Theologiae that the Passion was “necessary from necessity of the end proposed” (ST III. Q46. A1). God could have chosen other plans for salvation, but His perfect plan was necessary to achieve the perfect end. Furthermore, once God selected His plan for salvation, it became the necessary reality because, “supposing God’s foreknowledge and ordinance regarding Christ's Passion, it was not possible at the same time for Christ not to suffer, and for mankind to be delivered otherwise than by Christ's Passion” (ST III. Q46. A2). Aquinas is pointing out that God revealed signs of the Passion throughout salvation history, so it was necessary due to God’s omniscience.
We know that God is infinitely good, so any plan He chooses for salvation must be perfect. Why, then, is the Passion the perfect solution? To better understand, we must look at the transgression that it redeems. Adam and Eve, through original sin, committed a crime that is most fittingly atoned for by the Passion. There are many parallels between original sin and the Passion that I encourage all Christians to explore, but at the most basic level, Aquinas explains that “as man was overcome and deceived by the devil, so also it should be a man that should overthrow the devil; and as man deserved death, so a man by dying should vanquish death” (ST III. Q46. A3.) Only God can deliver mankind from sin, and only man can fittingly pay for mankind’s transgression, so God, by taking on full humanity in Jesus, delivered justice to mankind through Himself. In doing so, God bridged the infinite chasm created by original sin and allowed us to enjoy the rewards of Heaven.
With the help of Aquinas, we gain a deeper knowledge of how God displayed His abundant love for mankind through the Passion. Scripture calls us to understand this reality by explaining that God gave the ultimate gift of His only son (John 3:16) to a world of sinners (Romans 5:8). However, the Passion does not stop there. Jesus himself exhorts us to deny ourselves and take up our crosses (Matthew 16:24), and St. Peter writes, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21). Many Christians dedicate their lives to imitating Christ, and Scripture reminds us that our imitation should also include suffering.
This may seem confusing at first. If Jesus made the perfect sacrifice, shouldn’t the work already be done for us? Fr. William G. Most, in an article titled “How the Redemption Operated,” breaks down Christ’s redemption into two parts: objective and subjective. Objective redemption is the “once-for-all” forgiveness and grace that Christ purchased for mankind, but subjective redemption is “the process of giving out that forgiveness and grace to men through all subsequent ages, including our own.” God has gifted us forgiveness, but it is our job to participate in His grace by following the steps of Christ.
Does this mean we are all meant to die on the cross as Christ did? Certainly not. Jesus says to take up your cross, which will contain suffering unique to your life. Jesus experienced human suffering throughout His entire life, which culminated with the Passion. Thus, by sharing in Christ’s suffering and offering it to God, we can also share in His glory (Romans 8:17). This concept is known as redemptive suffering. Whether involuntary, such as experiencing grief after the loss of a loved one, or voluntary, such as fasting, any suffering we experience can, and should, be glorified through God—and Scripture ensures us that our rewards will be great, both on Earth and in Heaven.
But for some Christians, the rewards of our redemptive suffering do not stop at the individual level. In Catholic theology, suffering can be offered up for others, both living and dead, just as prayers can be. By enduring our suffering with an intention in mind, our suffering becomes a form of intercession. The letter to the Colossians touches on this, saying, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church” (1:24). We already understand that the Passion was perfect—it lacks nothing—so “Christ’s afflictions” refers to man’s mission to spread the gospel and the struggles that come with it. We can interpret this verse as a call to use our suffering to participate in the subjective redemption of the Church. By uniting our sufferings to Jesus and His mission, we can participate in God’s saving grace and continue to build His Church on Earth.
The Passion of Christ reveals much about God’s plan for mankind. It at once saves us while also teaching us how to participate in that salvation, all through a generous act of perfect, infinite love. As we celebrate this Easter season and rejoice in Christ’s resurrection, let’s remember the price paid by God through the Passion and live our lives participating in His glory.
Works Cited
Aquinas, Thomas, and Fathers of the English Dominican Province. The Summa Theologica. 1485. Second and Revised Edition ed., 2017, www.newadvent.org/summa/. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
Most, William G. “How the Redemption Operated | EWTN.” EWTN Global Catholic Television Network, 2025, www.ewtn.com/catholicism/teachings/how-the-redemption-operated-121. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.