I remember the first time I watched the Passion of the Christ movie, and I remember the first time I watched the Matthew movie. In fact both movies bring me to tears when I see the crucifixion of Christ. And yet, I have watched many a movie whereby people have suffered and died and never once have I cried for the people.
So why here? I believe that it is two fold:
1. Christ is not a ficticious character in a movie. He actually lived and died. When we watch these events on a movie screen they are re-enactments of actual events, not just a movie to move you emotionally. When I see Jim Caviezel in the Passion of the Christ or Bruce Machiano in the Matthew movie, I see past them and I see the man Jesus (thats what great actors have the ability to do). But I am reminded that this is an actual event playing out in front of me, not entertainment.
2. He is not a random character, He is my friend. The second reason I am brought to tears is because I see my friend suffering. The one who has comforted me, the one who has saved me, the one who has been there all of my days, the ups and downs. And when I have seen His goodness and experienced His kindness, then I weep even more when I see what He went through.
The silver lining in all of this is that we all know Sunday is coming and that He is a victorious God, but in the moment, for me anyway, this day is one day a year I meditate and focus on the pain, suffering and sadness of the darkest day this earth has ever experienced. The day we killed the Son of God.
So today I thank you again, my saviour. I am blown away by who you are and what you did for me, and I pray that I will never forget that or become so numb to it that I no longer weep.
