Today’s Daily Encounter is by courtesy of Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts, Pastor, Irvine Presbyterian Church, California
The Paradoxical Horror and Wonder of the Cross
For Christians who tend to romanticize the cross, and that’s most of us, “The Passion of the Christ” will be a sharp slap in our spiritual faces. It forces us to confront the physical torture endured by Jesus. Crucifixion was one of the most terrifying means of capital punishment ever devised. It was so horrible that polite Romans rarely talked or wrote about it. What Jesus experienced, however, was far worse than mere crucifixion. He was beaten terribly in a variety of ways. He endured such savagery that he died after only three hours on the cross—far less than the average duration of crucifixion, which often lasted days.
If you’ve never grappled with the physical horror of the cross, The Passion of the Christ will be a stunning eye-opener. You just won’t be able to think of the cross of Jesus—nor to sing of it, nor to remember it in communion—in the same way again. You’ll realize more profoundly what it cost Jesus to die for the sin of the world—including your sin. I’ve spent a good part of my life studying the crucifixion of Jesus. Nothing in the movie surprised me, but it certainly led me into a more heartfelt experience of what I had known in my head.
Yet there is a danger in being overcome by the physical awfulness of Christ’s death. The danger comes in focusing too much on the physical, while ignoring the spiritual. Yes, Jesus’ execution was horrendous in the extreme. But his even greater sacrifice can’t be filmed. Jesus, the beloved Son of God, experienced the penalty for sin. In the stirring words of the New Testament, God “made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NRSV). On the cross Jesus cries out to his Heavenly Father, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34, quoting from Psalm 22:1). Jesus, the sinless Son of God, was indeed forsaken by God as he bore the penalty for our sin. From a spiritual point of view, this is even more terrible than anything he experienced in the flesh.
And, at the same time, it is wonderful. What Jesus endured, he did out of love for you and me. He became as if he were sin, “so that in him we might become the righteousness of God,” that is, so that we might have a right relationship with God both now and forever. Thus the cross, as horrible as it was, becomes good news for us. The instrument of Roman cruelty becomes, ironically, a symbol of love, forgiveness, and new life.
Our response to the cross of Christ—and therefore to the film, The Passion of the Christ—is one of gratitude, worship, and self-giving commitment. Perhaps no one has put it better than Isaac Watts in his classic hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” Here are his last two stanzas:
See from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.
Amen!¹
If you live in the U.S. you can preorder advance tickets for “The Passion of the Christ” by calling 1-888-269-1878 or clicking on:
http://www.thepassiontickets.com/passionFormStart.asp?ap=P31&rd=
1. Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts. Copyright © 2003 by Mark D. Roberts
For the entire review of Mark Robert’s article “The PASSION of the Christ: An In-Depth Review” go to: http://www.markdroberts.com/htmfiles/resources/passionrev.htm
<:))))><