Sunday, March 07, 2004

The Passion of Christ, Part Two

My emotions have crystallized around the Messianic passage in Isaiah 53:4-11.

4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.


One thing that I have heard emphasized over and over and even emphasized it in my last post that, even though the Jews were responsible for turning their backs on the Messiah and the Romans were responsible for the actual crucifixion, it was God who orchestrated and even allowed His own Son to die on the Cross. The freedom this brings is SO amazing!

Friday, March 05, 2004

The Passion of Christ, Part One

Going to see The Passion of Christ last night, I really did not quite know how to react. I expected to be reacting much more emotionally then I did. My first thought was, "This reminds me of the way I felt just after the 9/11 attacks." During the time of the attacks, my emotional reaction was to feel no emotion at all for the first two or three days after it happened, and I felt much the same way after seeing the film last night.

John Piper says in his book, The Passion of Christ: 50 Reasons Why Jesus Came To Die,

"For our sake God did the impossible: He poured out his wrath on his own Son -- the one whose submission made him infinitely unworthy to receive it. Yet the Son's very willingness to receive it was precious in God's sight. The wrath-bearer was infinitely loved."

I do not have any understanding of how to react to this paradox. I can only receive the truth of it. In the film, Pilate's struggle with the truth and his wife Claudia's recognition of the truth are a mirror to me of my struggle with God's truth and the paradox of His grace covering the sin in my own life.

Thursday, February 26, 2004

Wanderings & Restlessness

What am I thinking I'll do? Where do I go from here? After discussing with friends last night the meaning of my restlessness. I have found that this particular state of wandering in my life has ultimately been to spur me on to maturity in my relationship as a Christian.

'Not all who wander are lost.' - J.R.R. Tolkien from "The Lord of the Rings"