When does the Passion of Christ Start?

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Does the Passion of Christ begin once he enters Jerusalem or does his Passion begin at the Garden of Gethsemane? Or is there another specific part of his life that marks the beginning of his Passion? Thank you (:
 
It depends on what you mean by the Passion. I think Raymond Brown decided to begin his commentary on the Passion after the Last Supper, but there was the pragmatic reason of separating commentary on the Eucharist for separate consideration.

I think it should start with the Anointing of Jesus “for his burial” in Mark 14, Matthew 26 and John 12. That would be the earliest it could start. I do not remember how Luke’s Passion starts.
 
I think the Passion begins with the Last Supper. John says this is when Jesus’s “hour had come.” There are a number of things that happen in the intervening days between his entrance into Jerusalem and the Last Supper that aren’t immediately connected with his suffering, so I think the Last Supper is a good place to say it starts. The entry into Jerusalem and the intervening events are a prelude, but “the hour” definitely begins then.

This, of course, is a matter about which reasonable men of good faith may differ. There isn’t a single right answer, and you could advance any number of theories, depending upon what and how you were trying to study.

-Fr ACEGC
 
There isn’t a single moment that is officially designated as the beginning of the Passion. Prior to Vatican 2, there was a period named “Passiontide”, lasting two weeks and running from Passion Sunday (the Sunday before Palm Sunday) to the morning of Holy Saturday. In the West, the first of those two weeks was called Passion Week, but in the East (so I have read) the name Passion Week designates the second of those two weeks, which in the West we call Holy Week.

And then, as Fr. @edward_george1 notes, the Passion itself may be said to begin with the Last Supper, though in some Bibles the editors place the heading “The Passion” at a later point, when Jesus and the disciples leave the Upper Room to make their way to Gethsemane (Matt 26:30, Mark 14:26, Luke 22:39, John 18:1).
 
Chapter 26 of Matthew and chapter 14 of Mark are the Passion according to, at least in liturgical readings for Holy Week before 1955. The chapter divisions are 13th century, so they probably represent what was read as the Passion. Both of these start with Jesus being anointed for burial or a brief mention of a conspiracy against Jesus.

The Anointing in John 12 was read on Palm Sunday, leading up to the entrance into Jerusalem.

These are about as close as you can get to an actual designation of the beginning of the Passion, though I guess you could just look at the lectionary. Matthew’s readings for Palm Sunday do not include the Anointing, though Mark’s do.

When we hear the Passion according to Mark on Palm Sunday next year, it will be the only time in the 3 year lectionary we will hear “Wherever in all the world the Gospel is proclaimed, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
 
Seen the 2004 Mel Gibson movie? That follows the generally accepted Passion. The agony in the garden is a “hard point” of the passion event. It is easily nailed down, but one could stretch this back to the point where Jesus had His face set like flint to go to Jerusalem. Or, His entry to the city, where He wept over it.

In the grand scheme of things, it could be traced back to His birth. Archbishop Fulton Sheen taught that Christ was the only baby born specifically to die.
 
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I would suggest it begins with the betrayal of Jesus by Judas on Spy Wednesday.

This is the reason both Wednesdays and Fridays are days of fasting in the East. All year long.

I will not betray you with a kiss as did Judas, but like the thief I confess to you,
Deacon Christopher
 
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