tonight, i watched "the Passion of the Christ" with my small group. it is life-changing. the whole time i was watching Christ be beaten, flogged, spit on, mocked, bruised, broken, and so much more, i couldn't stop thinking, "this is what MY sin did to Him. this is my SAVIOR and my KING that is being broken...and He did it just for ME." He did not come to save me like a mythic hero or prince charming. Instead, He came humbly, and He died a humble and embarrassing death for me. the people doing this to Him thought that THEY were the ones in power and they thought THEY had control of Him and that is the way it looked, but that is all wrong. I believe that Jesus suffered WILLINGLY for me. He had a chance to run away before the soldiers got to Him on the Mount of Olives. He knew what was coming...He had warned the disciples at supper only a few hours before. As i watched Him progress through the suffering and get even more and more hurt and bloody, i wondered why He didn't just call on an angel to come save Him from it. He knew it was God's will that He die. He knew that His death would save us. I heard someone once say something like this:
Why do we always try to take the easy road? what if Jesus had taken the easy way out? where would we be now?
let's talk a little bit more about humility. my calculus teacher told my class that no matter how long you talk or what you say, people always leave you remembering the very last thing you said. The Last Supper was one of the last chances Jesus had to teach them before He died. and what did He talk about? not how great He would be for taking the punishment for all of our sins, not how scared He was about suffering and dying; He didn't complain to them about how He wouldn't have to do this if we hadn't ever sinned. Instead, He talked about humility. He says,
"The kings of the gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? BUT I AM AMONG YOU AS ONE WHO SERVES." Luke 22:25b-27
I can't even begin to imagine what this was truly like for Jesus. I complain about paper-cuts...this suddenly seems extremely minor and worthless. Comparing a paper-cut to Jesus' pain is like comparing the size of a speck of dust to the size of the Golden Gate Bridge...maybe more so. During one scene, i had to blink almost every time He was lashed because it was almost too unbearable just to watch...I cannot even come close to imagining that agonizing pain.
I am in awe of the fact that God loves me so much that He willingly let His only Son, Whom He loved immensely, to suffer unbearable pain for ME, just for little ol' me. I think that's one of the things i love most about "the passion of the Christ"...how it shows me a little better how much my Heavenly Father really loves me. I still cannot fathom all of His love for me, though!!!
As i watched one of the scenes as Jesus suffered, i remembered the title of the movie: the PASSION of the Christ. Passion is an intense word. it means "strong amorous feeling or desire; love; ardor." God DESIRES you. think about that...GOD, the Maker of everything, the Creator of the universe, the One who provides salvation for the world, the One greater than everyone put together, the One powerful enough to do anything He wants to, powerful enough to not need me or you...He DESIRES you.
God desires YOU!!!
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