Today :)

Today is Easter! He is Risen! Today is the day we're always reminded of the whys of Jesus' death- and for good reason. It's the most important fact in all of history. Without it we are the most hopeless of all people; people to be most pitied. living our lives, chasing a fairy tale? That's why the whys are so important. we need to be assured of our faith, of his death, and most importantly of his life. we have to know by hear why it matters, why we have to be willing to live and die, walk and talk, breathe and know, really KNOW, what it is we live for. That's what most people focus on. Because its the perfect picture of love. and we all need a little of that.

I watched the Passion of the Christ all the way through for the first time last night. Which is why i'm going to look at the how.

When we hear the word 'killed,' what do you think of? Most normal people would think of guns, I suppose. shot and killed, just like that. a matter of seconds from living and breathing to not. Or maybe you're a history buff like me. and i automatically think hung. Maybe a little bit longer of a death. but still. in just a short time, they're gone. Over. being murdered seems like a pretty quick thing, right? especially when it's said like that- as a murder. firing squads, guillotines, lethal injection.

Jesus Christ could not be killed that quickly. His captors spent OVER 12 HOURS doing just that- murdering him. it wasn't a matter of seconds, minutes, or even an hour. 12 HOURS. torture. pain. suffering. death. And it wasn't just the Romans and religious leaders punishing him. His own father turned his back on him. his father, his own self in essence. He became sin so we didn't have to. He suffered one of the most brutal deaths known to mankind; for you. Can you imagine? living a life just to die like that? the agony he must have felt in the 33 years before his death! he knew what was coming- his entire life. He lived with that on his heart. No small wonder he sweat blood the night of his arrest. Could you do it? would you? I don't think i could.

Since i just watched the Passion, it's been weighing on my mind a lot. And I know that story might not be historically perfect, but I think God used its closeness to the real events to change a lot of hearts- including my own. And in it, Jesus cries once during his entire death process. of course, he cries out many times during it, but only once does he break down and cry. and he didnt cry for himself. He was crying for his captors; the people who didn't know what they were doing. He cried for us, not himself.

It took me till I watched this movie to realize a mistake i had been making when picturing the Resurrected Savior. It always said he had scars on his hands, so i would think of scars. like when you fall and it leaves a red raised mark. scars like that. But Jesus didn't just have marks on his hard. Think about it. the nails went THROUGH his hands. they weren't just scars, he had holes all the way through his hands and feet. that you could see daylight through. quarter-sized pieces, missing from his body. not scars.

and the title of the movie. the PASSION of the Christ. He let himself suffer that because he was PASSIONATE about saving you. that's what drove his live. Why he lived the way he did. he loved you that much.

 ²⁸ Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

 ¹¹ Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ¹² and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
 ¹³ They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
   “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” ¹⁴ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
 ¹⁵ He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
   Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
 ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
   She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”

love
katie