April 13, 2025

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Today marks the beginning of Passion Week, when the Church commemorates the Triumphal Entry of our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, His death on the cross, and His glorious resurrection from the dead next Sunday.

But what does this mean? On Good Friday, three men were crucified, yet the significance of their deaths could not be more different. For one—our Savior—His death opened the gates of righteousness: “Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the Lord” (Psalm 118:19).

In an extraordinary act, God the Father made His Son, who knew no sin, to bear our sins on our behalf, so that through Christ we might become the righteousness of God. All the sins of those who would believe in Him were laid upon Jesus, nailed to His cross (Colossians 2:13), so that we might be clothed with the righteous merits of Jesus Himself. Our sins became His, and His righteousness became ours. As Scripture says, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

As Peter explains, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18).

Everything Christ endured in His earthly life, especially during Passion Week, He endured for us, on our behalf, to open the doors of heaven for His people. As the angel declared to Joseph long ago, “She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

What an incredible Savior! What a gracious God, who “did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all—how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

May you be filled with joy and hope this Passion Week, resting in the boundless love of Christ. May God’s richest blessings be yours through our Savior’s amazing grace!