Greater Love Has No One Than This...

As Easter approaches early this year, my wife and I have been practicing to perform “Carry My Cross” by rock band Third Day on Palm Sunday. As we were practicing with the church band, we all discussed showing some video clips on the altar screen as we perform the song. This brought me to a site called GodTube.com. It’s a Christian version of YouTube. I found several video montages of “Carry My Cross” overlayed with scenes from Mel Gibson’s “The Passion Of The Christ.” It’s been around three years since I’ve seen “The Passion” and I had forgotten how gut-wrenching a film it is. I was abruptly reminded of Christ’s sacrifice for mankind and what a horrific amount of pain he endured.

We call the Friday that marks his crucifixion ‘Good Friday.’ In light of the resurrection, I understand why we call it this. Although, after watching this video, I couldn’t help but think what a horrible Friday it was. Very few men have ever suffered in this way. His torture went on for twelve hours. He wasn’t guilty of any crime.

If you believe what the Bible says, that Jesus is the son of God and that he died for man’s sin, then this video will be very emotionally-draining for you. This video brought tears to my eyes. I guess that’s appropriate at Easter. Would anyone but God’s son willingly endure such punishment? Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).