Good Friday - A Protestant's Review

Growing up a fundamentalist protestant I never gave much thought to Good Friday. I never really knew anyone who celebrated it much. We didn't. Easter was our holiday, the Ressurection being of much greater importance. Once I saw an Easter program on TV that was done by the Catholic Church. How strange it seemed all the fuss and focus on Jesus' suffering and death. I didn't understand the stations of the Cross, and felt uncomfortable with all the focus on Jesus' suffering.

Then, in 2004, The movie, The Passion of the Christ hit theaters. I heard what others were saying about it - some liked it others thought it too Catholic. I expected it to dwell on the suffering and death of Jesus. I was not dissapointed.

But I was a different person now, sitting in the dark watching Jesus die for me. It was powerful, more powerful than I had expected. Tears streamed down my face as I watched them beat Jesus to a bloody pulp. This was not a sanitized portrayal of the facts. It was brutal and earthy. Perhaps we needed a generation raised on movies like 300 and Lord of the Rings for us to be bold enough to show on the screen the reality of our suffering Savior. This Fundamentalist needed the jolt of reality.

Most Evangelical Christians applauded the movie, but cautiously kept younger children away. My wife and I also did not take our young daughter, but did take our teenage son. But most Fundamentalists pointed out that it was a "Catholic" movie and as such should be avoided. The bloody scenes and violence were excessive. I could sense the Catholic undertones in the movie, but could appreciate that everyone everywhere needed to see what really happened on that Good Friday almost 2,000 years ago. The depth of the valley on Good Friday only accentuates the mountain top of Easter morning!

This furious love of God toward me takes my breath away. I continue to remind myself that Jesus suffered because he loves me. That is almost too much to bear. In response I find myself moving more toward a solemn and respectful observance of this day. I may not participate in Lent, or Ash Wednesday, and other observances, but my mind turns toward that day and the blood shed and the life given. It was shed and given, after all, on my behalf.

I never want to forget that.