Good Friday

When the movie The Passion of The Christ came out, Christians flocked to it and many, including me, saw it as a “magic bullet” which would lead people to Christianity and energize our own faith. If only people really understood what Jesus went through – if we could grasp the magnitude of His sacrifice – it would change everything. Right?

Wrong. In the first and second centuries people knew exactly what crucifixion was like. They could see it in person. And yet not every soul was saved. The real obstacle is not that we don’t see Jesus’ sacrifice clearly (that’s why we avert our eyes), the problem is that we too often fail to see the need for the sacrifice.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die– but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
(Romans 5:6-11)

We really don’t think we’re that bad.

This medical description of Jesus’ physical death is shocking and sobering. But it’s not the whole picture. Today of all days, we should reflect on that death and ask ourselves why. Trying to grasp the magnitude of His sacrifice is impossible without contemplating the other side of that coin – the magnitude of our sin.
photo credit: Paysage du temps