It will be hard to talk about Passion Sunday this year without thinking of the film "The Passion of the Christ." Today we are confronted by the Passion of the Lord as presented in the New Testament.

In the Gospel, Jesus is betrayed by just about everyone --- his Jewish followers and his Jewish enemies, the Roman military and the Roman politicians. Indeed, his mother and a few other women are all that follow him to the end, and even those follow him at a safe distance. Peter denies him, as do the other disciples. Everyone else seems to shout, "Crucify him!"

Was the Passion of the Christ as depicted in the New Testament violent? Certainly Jesus is beaten ruthlessly. Every attempt is made to humiliate him --- psychologically, physically and spiritually. He is stripped, ridiculed, baited into revenge: "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"

While Pilate wants to cleanse his hands of Christ's blood he cannot. No one can --- not the Jewish leaders, not the Roman authorities, not the disciples, and not the crowds.

And not any of us. For we have all betrayed Jesus in our lives with selfish choices, greedy actions, and misguided decisions. We have all hidden in the shadows when courage is called for; we have all ignored the presence of Jesus Christ when acknowledging him might endanger or inconvenience us.

If you ask me, the real pain inflicted on Jesus in the Passion is not from the whips but from rejection --- especially the rejection of those who have been his closest friends. In my life the pain of broken relationships, of betrayal by someone I trusted, is far worse than any physical pain I have experienced. Even more so, when family members or loved ones are suffering from rejection, I have often found myself thinking I would gladly endure a knife in the gut or some other physical pain if it would relieve them of their torment. A broken heart is vastly more painful than a broken leg.

The point of the Passion, it seems to me, is that Jesus endures the very worst that humans are capable of --- there's not much worse we can do than attempt to murder the author of life --- but this doesn't destroy his love for us. He endures the worst form of our rage, insecurity, jealousy --- the ugliest manifestations of our broken spirits --- and yet he loves us still. "Forgive them, Father," he prays with his last breath, "for they know not what they do." We may not know what we do, but we do it anyway.

In Christ's Passion everything is broken --- his body, his heart --- everything humans can get their hands on is shattered. His spirit, of course, prevails. Because on the cross Jesus emptied himself into God's hands. The one who told us "with faith, all things are possible" is probably the only one who has ever put that theory fully to the test. Because of him, our brokenness can be healed.

Bill Peatman writes from Napa.