A blessed and thoughtful Easter to all who are reading this blog. No chocolate eggs in this house (although I’m enjoying a gorgeous ciabatta loaf I baked yesterday) but I’m looking forward to joining the communion of Christians round the world as we celebrate a decisive moment in the narrative that has captured us. King’s X caught it well in Everywhere I Go on their album Faith, Hope, Love:

I read the story
That you died
I turned the page
You were alive

Last night, Jane and I met with a friend and watched Mel Gibson’s 2004 film, The Passion of the Christ. It is a powerful piece of story-telling; rather than presenting a sugar-coated story or a prosaic retelling, Gibson chose a vivid palette and painted with bold, impressionistic strokes.

If there is one thing I wish he had directed differently, it is the very end of the film. Gibson shows the light shining into the tomb and Jesus standing and walking out: “all things made new”. However, if I’d been directing at that point, I’d have had a smile playing across his face (although others claim to have seen the hint of one). Good Friday is a sombre, life-shattering day and, while the details of what God was doing are hidden from us, we’re left broken on Easter Saturday. Easter Sunday, of all days, deserves a smile – resurrection day!

Tags: the passion of the christ, resurrection, easter, jesus, film, smile