Compare and Contrast

First of all, you should know that I, as a rule, don’t talk about religion or spirituality with many people and especially not in the workplace. If someone wants to talk about it, I will listen, but I will generally not bring the subject up. But in the instance that brought about this post, I have no idea how the subject came up. I was talking with a colleague about a case and suddenly she’s talking about the movie “The Passion of the Christ” and the crucifixion sequence. I don’t know if I fell asleep or just how it happened but there it was. Thinking about that conversation lead me to this…

I did see the movie, “The Passion”, in the theater. I remember sitting there in the dark theater (with no popcorn…somehow it didn’t seem right to munch on popcorn in this movie…but I digress). I remember watching the beating and crucifixion scenes and listening to the people around me sniffing, sobbing, and outright weeping. The images of what Christ went through were physically graphic and bloody. I remember not being moved by these scenes at all, thinking people are this brutal to other people all the time, everyday…even worse. Now before you rise in protest and label me a heretic, read the next bit.

Now compare this to the scenes in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”. C.S. Lewis’ novel has always been compared to the crucifixion. In the movie they show the death of Aslan. The movie shows Aslan trading his life for the life of Edmund, walking to the Stone Table with a heavy heart, willing turning himself over to the enemy, suffering the humiliation of being sheared, and being killed. This sequence brought me to tears and does every time I see it. There was no blood and gore to distract me from the truth of the sacrifice. This movie made it very personal…one innocent life for the life a one sinner. I need that personal context.

To me, the crucifixion of Christ is not about the brutality as shown in the “Passion”. It is about the emotional surrender and sacrifice that Christ made for each single person. This makes much more of an impact on me than showing the brutality that is replayed every day.