From Action to Passion

I was invited to visit a friend who was very sick. He was a man about fifty-three years old who had lived a very active, useful, faithful, creative life. Actually, he was a social activist who had cared deeply for people. When he was fifty he found out he had cancer, and the cancer became more and more severe. 

When I came to him, he said to me, “Henri, here I am lying in this bed, and I don’t even know how to think about being sick. My whole way of thinking about myself is in terms of action, in terms of doing things for people. My life is valuable because I’ve been able to do many things for many people. And suddenly, here I am, passive, and I can’t do anything anymore.” And he said to me, “Help me to think about this situation in a new way.

Help me to think about my not being able to do anything anymore so I won’t be driven to despair. Help me to understand what it means that now all sorts of people are doing things to me over which I have no control.” … The central word in the story of Jesus’ arrest is one I never thought much about. It is “to be handed over.” That is what happened in Gethsemane. Jesus was handed over. Some translations say that Jesus was “betrayed,” but the Greek says he was “handed over.” Judas handed Jesus over (see Mark 14:10). But the remarkable thing is that the same word is used not only for Judas but also for God. God did not spare Jesus, but handed him over to benefit us all (see Rom. 8:32). 

So this word, “to be handed over,” plays a central role in the life of Jesus. Indeed, this drama of being handed over divides the life of Jesus radically in two. The first part of Jesus’ life is filled with activity. Jesus takes all sorts of initiatives. He speaks; he preaches; he heals; he travels. But immediately after Jesus is handed over, he becomes the one to whom things are being done. He’s being arrested; he’s being led to the high priest; he’s being taken before Pilate; he’s being crowned with thorns; he’s being nailed on a cross. Things are being done to him over which he has no control. That is the meaning of passion – being the recipient of other people’s initiatives.