The images are startling, the portrayal is riveting, the humanity is unmistakable, the symbolism is powerful, the brutality is unimaginable, and the love is inexpressible. Those were words of critique that helped me describe what I saw as I sat in my theatre seat watching "The Passion Of The Christ". It was a night to remember.
As I watched The Passion, I was experiencing the last 12 hours of Christ's life like never before. I have seen many dramatic presentations of the passion week, but this time I felt in a strange way that I wasn't watching a movie; I was walking with the disciples and with Jesus. I trembled in fear and anguish in the garden of Gethsemane. I turned away from the Roman brutality in disbelief as he was mercilessly beaten and scourged beyond recognition. I longed to comfort Mary and assist in bringing water to Jesus on the road to Golgotha. In some ways I put myself in the script. When Jesus looked at Peter, he looked straight into my eyes. When he called to the Father from the cross "Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing" I hung my head knowing I was "They".
The Response
The film was a moving experience for me that day. I will never read Isaiah 53 or the Gospel account with the same eyes. Since seeing the film and talking with many people about it, I have seen a true reflection of Christ's life and times. The different attitudes of people toward the movie in some way reflected the hearts and attitudes of the people who were with Jesus in those 12 hours.
After the movie, I heard people speaking in hushed tones and witnessed the emotion on their faces. Some described a deep spiritual experience and others a good story with great special effects. As I was waiting outside the door of theatre #3, a person called across the hall to an acquaintance, "What did you think?" They responded, "Not very good, I expected a lot better with all the hype."
As I witnessed that exchange, I immediately thought of how the people of Jesus' day responded to him. You had your curious onlookers who at first glance had no idea what this was all about. You had the stern, irritated Roman soldiers who were just doing their job, like it or not. There were the Jewish leaders whose goal was to rid themselves of this trouble maker. There was the angry crowd who had been stirred up into a frenzy. And finally, there were the followers of Christ wondering what this all meant. Each one taking in the events from a different perspective and responding in many different ways.
You can almost imagine an onlooker walking away from the crucifixion shouting across the trail , "What did you think?" And hearing the response. "It wasn't as good as last weeks, not enough screaming, but the earthquake and darkness was a nice touch."
Yes, the responses were very different and in fact they changed from week to week. The disciples must have wondered what was going on. The events of the last few months were so different. They had witnessed the raising of Lazarus, the healing of blind Bartimaeus, the salvation of Zacchaeus and the Jerusalem royal parade complete with Palm branches and shouts of Hosanna. The disciples must have felt that they were on the right team, surely they were following the promised Messiah. As with the film, Jesus was a "box office hit". But Jesus didn't come to earth to be a box office hit, he came to die on the cross. An ending not one disciple had expected. When the tide of popular opinion changed most of them scattered.
Your Passion
So what is your response to following Christ to the cross? Perhaps we have the same response as the disciples did as we think of following Jesus. We like to embrace the wonderful fellowship, the richness of knowing God's love, the gift of eternal life and the benefits of living out Jesus' teachings. But many times we like to ignore the tough teachings that cause us discomfort. Mistakenly, we think Jesus would never want us to struggle and be unhappy.
But following Christ is not without cost. The call of Christ on our life is not just to be awed by the passion of Christ, we are to be passionate about Christ. Many times, following the teachings of Jesus Christ makes life more difficult. The challenge for us is to follow him wherever he leads us. The times in our country seem to be heating up against Christian morals and teaching. Standing strong in your faith will cost more and more. The struggle in our response is that Jesus teaches us both that following him releases us from the burden of sin and gives rest and that following him will cost us our very lives. They are both a part of our faith walk.
Matthew 11:28 Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Luke 9:23 If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet lose or forfeit his very self?
During these last two weeks of Lent, take time to respond with passion to your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You will again see his complete love in action. Get into His word and read the Gospel accounts of the passion, spend time in prayer, look for ways to love your neighbors and seek God's will for your life each and every day.
Pastor Craig
