The Passion of the Christ
Very few times in my life have I seen a movie that was so moving, so painful to watch, and so frustrating all at the same time. Never can I remember crying so hard during a movie. Hollywood has created a lot of movies that were bloody and graphic, but this one was real. My savior actually went through that, and the actual extent of His pain and agony could never be captured on the big screen. If you haven’t see the movie, stop reading here! If you have seen the movie, or care to listen to me talk about it, continue on. There were two things that really stuck out in my mind, well..ok, the whole movie stuck out in my mind, but two parts that I think especially struck me. One was when Peter denies Christ. It’s a part of the story we are all familiar with, yet I think it is often overlooked. Peter is watching Christ get beat for no reason, questioned and lied about, and yet he still denies Christ. And here we are 3000 years later, with a story in the bible and we think that gives us some excuse for denying Christ. But it doesn’t.. I think the part perhaps that made me take a hard look at my life was three little words Christ says on the cross. He’s hanging up there and He says, “Father, forgive them..” Now after watching everything they put Christ through..the beating, the scourging, nailing Him to the cross, laughing at Him and so on, it was hard to hear Him say forgive them. If that had been me, I probably would have commanded fire to come down and burn them to ashes. But not Christ. How often do I refuse to forgive people? How often do I treat others unkindly and unlovingly? It all seems so trivial and meaningless. Nothing anyone could do to me could ever compare with what Christ did for me. The things I get mad over pale in comparasion with Christ’s suffering. I wish I could say that reading the story in the bible had as great an affect on my life, but sadly we live in a culture that thrives on seeing things. While this is a movie I could probably never watch again, it will never be forgotten. It put a picture in my mind so horrific and so grotesque, I will never forget. Isaiah 53:5 says, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” My sin nailed Him the the cross, and His sacrifice paid my debt. Giving Him my whole life and living to worship Him should be natural responses to the gift that has been given to me. I hope and pray that we never get so much in the daily, mundane routine that we let this story lose it’s meaning and it’s power. It is awesome! And we’ve got the book-we can read it any time we want.
