I can't argue with this

I have yet to see The Passion of the Christ, but Susanna's description pretty much matches my expectations. I certainly can't argue with this:

But one consequence of growing up studying the Bible, of talking about Christ’s death, of hearing the terms “scourging”, “mocking”, and “beaten” repeated over and over in the cool brightness of a comfortable church auditorium, is that the true horror of what Jesus Christ suffered as a man in the process of dying is lost. It becomes iconic, distant. We hear the words, we eat the communion bread, drink the communion grape juice, sing a sad song, pray, chat with our fellow congregants, then head off to Taco Bell or Wal-Mart. Those things aren’t bad, but a deep connection we need is too easily missed. That’s where The Passion of the Christ comes in.

I think Susanna makes a good point. For people who grew up in an established church and have been hearing the events of the crucifixion all their lives, the words often lose their meaning. I preached a sermon last December (Well, I preached part of it. The sermon was actually in 4 parts and I did 2.) At one point I described, in detail, just what exactly crucifixion means. I can't tell you how many people told me later that they'd never really thought about it like that.

Well, folks, we need to think about it like that. We need to understand just exactly what we did to the Son of God. We have to understand the sacrifice. If we don't, it's very hard to come to repentance. If we understand what He went through, then (at least to me) it's easier to turn from our sins. Especially if we ask ourselves, "Can he still feel the nails?"

Comments

[Henry IX]

I believe one of the reasons the Lord told His disciples to "do this in remembrance of Me" is that He remembers it, with His perfect recollection, and He wants His people to have it fresh and refreshed in their minds. I doubt that it can be as fresh and real to us as it is to Him, so His command to do it repeatedly. "As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death until He comes."
I am glad that the congregation where I am in fellowship observes the Lord's Supper every week. I know that some think it would get stale, but it hasn't done so for me, after 42 years.

[Jeffrey Collins]

I don't find it stale while doing it every week either. I know that the fear of it becoming a simple habit is often used to argue against having the Lord's Supper offered every week, but I've always felt that ritualization was fairly easy to overcome. Any time I have trouble connecting emotionally to what we're doing, I find that reading John 18-20 or Isaiah 53 solves that problem pretty quickly.