Good Friday The Passion of the Christ

If I look back far enough I remember the first time that I 'got' Good Friday. I was 7.

I watched some movie about the life of Jesus at a theater. I don't know know which one it was. I have researched but haven't found the answer. It could have been the 1979 version of the Jesus movie that was updated in 1989.

But it was 1979. Movies were not so easily watched then. It was the days before digital download, itunes, DVDS, and even before VHS, if anyone still remembers that. I know the VHS was invented but it had not become household, at least not for families like mine who had little cash to spare. We had a black & white TV with a large antenna.

I had been to church that morning.

But seeing the crucifixion on the screen...it was nothing like the Passion of the Christ. It was rated PG. There was not that much blood. But I could not believe anyone would do that to my Jesus. Lumps in my throat. Agony. I cried. I shut my eyes. I decided I could not bear to watch something like that again.

Fast forward to 2004. Everyone is raging about the Passion of the Christ. All the staff at my church went to see it the night it came out: Ash Wednesday. I avoided it like the plague.

But I am a Bible professor and of course all my students began questioning me about it. So I went to watch it. Alone.

I was not alone in the theater but the experience itself was surreal. There was a group of women in front of me: about 20 of all ages that cried like the women following Jesus in the film.

The group behind me was eating popcorn, drinking Cokes and even making inappropriate comments.

I sat alone, shaking. Wondering how anyone could eat and watch something so gory at the same time. This is not just a normal movie for your entertainment! I wanted to shriek at them.

About the time they crammed the crown of thorns on his head, I left. I couldn't take it anymore.

There is no way anyone could have survived that loss of blood as long as it took. They went overboard. I understand why. but I can't watch.

Good Friday Reflections on the Stations of the Cross. Station 13.

Station 13 Jesus is taken down from the cross and placed in the arms of his mother

The Scriptures do not tell us that the body of Jesus was laid in the arms of his mother, but Mark 15:47 says that she was there as the body was taken down. Every mother in the world knows that she needed one last time to hold her child, to remember struggle of his birth, to see his life flash before her eyes. There are no words to express the deepest darkest depths of agony that she felt. There are no decibels to register the sound of her wails.

She had watched him die, powerless to stop the machine of religious establishment, of empire, of men’s fears that led to treachery, violence, and now death. Did she remember his promises of rising on the third day? If she did they were forgotten as his blood stained her robe and her mind neared psychosis with pain.

O Lord, your mother symbolizes every mother who has watched her child suffer. May even in this we know your presence and comfort. 

Good Friday: Reflections on the stations of the cross. Station 9

Station 9 Jesus falls the third time

Even though he has been relieved of the burden of the heavy cross, Jesus falls for the third and last time. This time he has reached the place of his death, the hill called Golgotha, the place of the skull. They are now outside the city. The crowds continue to push and yell and scream. He remains on the ground as the soldiers to begin to strip him.

O Lord our hearts ache and we shake as we know how this story continues. We cannot bear the thought of your intense agony. We recoil in horror at the thought of nails into your hands and feet. 

Good Friday: Reflections on the Stations of the Cross. Station 7.

Station 7 Jesus falls the second time

Jesus falls again. He is deeply exhausted from the loss of blood for he has been flogged with a cat of nine tails. The soldier hit him 39 times on the back with the whip.  His knees scrape the ground. He is dehydrated and shaking. Yet the soldiers drag him to his feet. It was their job to get him alive to the place of execution. Yet he forgives even them.

O Lord, may I have the strength to forgive those who have inflicted pain upon me.

Good Friday: Reflections of the Stations of the Cross. Station 6

Station 6 Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

Church tradition tells us that a woman named Veronica offered her veil to Jesus so he could wipe his face. He wiped his face and gave it back and she saved it with his imprint to remember his suffering. A woman, unveiled, was shameful, but her fear of shame left as her compassion for him outweighed social norm. 

O Lord, would I have been willing to risk my own shame and even my own death to offer compassion to you? Let me remember that every suffering person I meet on the road today is you. And let me offer aid.

Good Friday: Reflections on the Stations of the Cross. Station 4.

They are not going to be in order. That's just me. Today I was thinking about Jesus meeting his mother on the via dolorosa.

Station 4 Jesus meets his mother

Jesus meets Mary, his mother. She looks into his eyes. How can she bear this burden of pain? She remembers the prophecy of Simeon who said ‘A sword will pierce your heart.’ The sword has pierced. She feels the pain of the twist. If she could bear this burden for him she would. But she knows it is his. She says nothing, but he knows her love.

O Lord, sometimes it hurts worse when I see the pain in the eyes of others than when I feel it myself. May I never purposely cause pain for those I love and may I always have someone who loves me to look in my eyes and share my pain when I travel in anguish. 

What is the Christian Year?

Christian year no images copyright issues from remythedog

This is how I teach the Christian Year. Feel free to use it in your church settings. All of the images are from microsoft office.

It's Friday. But is Sunday coming?

A popular phrase among American Christians is "It's Friday but Sunday's aComin'"
To embrace the true meaning of Good Friday, we must embrace the pain the disciples felt. They did not know Sunday was coming. Their despair did not include a little note in the back of their heads that said, "Yes, but this sorrow will pass." True sorrow, true despair does not know hope. That is what they felt. Did he tell them he would rise? Yes. Did they listen? No. Would you listen if one of your friends told you they would rise on the third day? It has been a difficult day for me. I need Sunday. But first I must get through Friday and Saturday's pain.

Holy Week is coming

Sorrowful anticipation for Good Friday
Happy anticipation for Easter
Holy Week is coming. Let us remember his Passion.

When I started observing Holy Week as an adult, I couldn't believe the meaning it put into the events of Jesus' last days for me. As I child of 7  I watched a movie about Jesus (can't remember which one) and remember I almost vomited when the whipped and killed him. It wasn't even at the level the "Passion of the Christ."   A teacher of mine read us The Day Christ Died once. I shook the entire time. I don't advise reading that book to children. I know we can't be shielded from the horror of the event. Over the years I have tried to push the feelings down. I avoided Good Friday services and any visual that had to do with the crucifixion. Now I believe  it is best to embrace the feelings of horror. It WAS the worst thing humanity could ever do. It was obscene and horrific and violent and gory. I tried to watch the "Passion of the Christ" when it came out in theaters. My students were asking about it. I felt I owed it to them. I went by myself. I sat behind a group of people that were laughing and joking and eating popcorn. I sat in front of a group who were loudly sobbing. I sat alone. I couldn't cry, the pain was too deep. Finally when they shoved the crowns into his scalp I left. I shook all the way home. I confessed to my class I couldn't get through it. I have never managed to finish it.

Good Friday in Easter Season Oklahoma City Bombing, Virginia Tech

I remember very clearly April 19, 1995. I live in Oklahoma City. The sound of the bomb exploding...the constant jumping at any new reports of friends being found dead, alive, or injured. I was 8 miles away from the Murrah Federal Building.

Yesterday another trajedy struck our nation. How much more can we endure? April 19 was the day after Easter. April 16 was the day after the second Sunday of Easter. I remember my pastor saying that we experienced Good Friday after Easter in 1995. In 2007 we have yet again experienced Good Friday after Easter.

My prayers go out to you experiencing the loss from Virginia Tech directly.

A helpful website for those trying to speak to congregations concerning this event click here

http://www.textweek.com/response/vt.htm

Lent 5C John 12:1-11

John 12:1-11
Mary anoints the feet of Jesus with 12,000 dollars worth of perfume. Where did she get that money? My first response is a feminist one. It is the woman who understands who Jesus is and the man who condemns her. Did she know he would soon die? Is that why she anointed him? Why did she not save it for his burial? Did she not believe what was about to happen. Those in power sought to kill both Jesus and her brother, Lazarus. Some of you reading this may be facing similar persecution. I have no right to say anything to you about such things. Why are there always powers out there ready to condemn anything generous? One of my favorite movies is Pay it Forward….a movie that illustrates what happens when a person decides to live a life of selfless giving. Somehow the world cannot stand that.
This looks forward to Jesus’ washing the feet of the disciples. Did he get his idea from Mary?

Both "prepare" Jesus for burial -- she by the "anointing" and he by the betrayal.