Easter Thoughts + For KING & COUNTRY Video

by interlinc · April 12, 2022

Rob Brower • Editor, interlinc • Nashville, Tennessee

When Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ came out in theaters, a group of us decided to catch it at our local mall. We bought tickets to a later showing but decided to go early and grab a bite at the food court so we could get decent parking and be first in line for our showing to ensure we got the best seats.

As I was walking by a line of people queued up for the earlier showing I jokingly said to one random guy in the crowd, “You here for Passion of the Christ? Well, I read the book and the main character dies in the end.”

“Oh great!,” he shouted, “Every time I go to watch a new movie some jerk has to ruin it!”

At first, I thought he was just playing along with my joke but after his facial expression and body language told me that he wasn’t, I quickly came back with, “Hey, don’t worry, man, at the very end there’s a surprise twist!”

Unbeknownst to me, I had inadvertently picked on who had to be the one and only person in line for that movie who actually hadn’t ever read the Bible and had no clue what I was talking about. As it turns out, some of his church-going friends had invited him to the movie as an evangelistic outreach effort.

Later that night as we sat in our primo seats I remember thinking just how breathtaking the cinematography was and what an amazing and believable job Jim Caviezel was doing portraying our Savior, Jesus Christ. There was so much attention to detail. Especially in the trial scene where Jesus is whipped. It was gruesome. I began to weep.

For the first time, it had become all too real to me, what Jesus had suffered for us. For me! The shame. The humiliation. The torture. None of which He deserved.

Even as I type this, I’m tearing up.

The love that Jesus showed by enduring the cross is the most powerful thing I know. As a youth pastor, I tried to impress this onto my students.

The sacrifice that Jesus made for us would be a wasted effort if He did not emerge from that grave – alive again! His victory over death proves His claims of deity and confirms that He can rescue us from our sin.

The resurrection of Christ is a historical event that cannot be explained in any way other than He came back to life. That event is a rock-solid foundation for our faith – and a truth that your young friends can cling to when they face the storms of doubt and questioning that they will encounter.

That’s why these resources will be so valuable for you. Use them in whichever way is best for your situation. We are praying for you!

Your brother in Christ,