The Passion

It's become somewhat of a weekly thing to have Sunday movie nights at my apartment this semester, and last night was no different. However, this week instead of watching our usual fare of movies (comedies, musicals, Disney, action...you name it) we decided to watch The Passion of the Christ.

If you've seen the movie, you're probably asking "Why??" about right now. Well first of all, yesterday was Easter so we thought it would be appropriate to watch a movie that details the reason we celebrate Easter in the first place. And to be honest, a few of us wanted to watch it because we hadn't seen it since it was in theaters a few years ago...at least I did. However I haven't had any desire to watch it recently because of the sheer bloodiness of the movie. I can handle war movies, but with Passion, the knowledge that Jesus went through all of that for me makes it harder to watch...or at least it did. (I'll explain in a minute.) It's just an emotional movie. Last night as I was watching, I kept saying over and over again to myself, "Jesus had to go through this because it's what I deserve." It comforted me, to be honest. I know that in reality, what Jesus suffered was much worse than they can show on a movie screen. But seeing the way it was done in the movie just makes it more real than just reading about it in the Gospels.

Now, you may still be wondering why we decided to watch it. "I mean, yeah, it's about the sacrifice our Savior made for us, but how does that make it any easier to watch?" I thought that too, even up until this weekend. There were still some people last night who didn't want to because "it's a sad movie". But the whole reason we celebrate Easter is because Jesus Christ conquered death and the grave and HE ROSE AGAIN. Plain and simple. Jesus is alive today, sitting beside our God in Heaven, after suffering through all of that pain and torture, and worst of all, being forsaken by His Father. He took all of our filthy sin on His shoulders, and carried it to the grave with Him, and then left it behind when He was resurrected. Knowing that He's alive today, I can't be sad about what I watched. Yes, it was horrible, but I should be the one going through that, and because He did it in my place, I don't have to. What about that isn't exciting!? My sins are paid for in full by His blood, and I should rejoice in His suffering because He overcame it and is ALIVE. That's why I was able to watch the Passion last night. Seeing it reenacted makes it that much more real to me, and I am that much more thankful that I serve a God who is willing to put it all on the line so I can spend eternity in His presence someday. Praise God!!!