Cross

I am probably one of the very few Christians that have yet to see that movie

The Passion of the Christ - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 film co-written, co-produced and directed by Mel Gibson. It is based on the New Testament accounts of the arrest, trial, torture, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus, events commonly known as The Passion. The film’s dialogue is in Aramaic, Latin, and Hebrew, with subtitles. It is the highest grossing non-English language film and the most successful R-rated film in the United States.[2]

There are crucifixes in most Anglican churches. Some of the lower ones might not include them, but most do.

I think what people are getting confused about is the difference between eternal and temporal.

Our God is eternal, and we are temporal. To us, the crucifixion was a one off event in history; as with any other event there was a time before it happened, then it happened, and then it stopped. Those who take the 'empty cross because it is finished' stance, are looking at the crucifixion as a one off event, which happened 2000 years ago, and is no longer happening. But this stance puts God under time, like us.

The Incarnation is far more complex than that; God is eternal and unchanging, and he is not subject to time as we are. The Incarnation as a whole is about God with us, and is therefore not a temporal event, but an eternal one, which means that the crucifixion does not stand in time, but outside time, and for all time. This does not mean that Christ is still on the cross, but rather that we can kneel at the foot of the cross in contemplation and actually experience the reality of being there, just as we can be actually beside Christ at Golgotha, or in the Upper Room, or on the road to Emmaus. In other words, because in Christ we are now eternal beings as well, we too can step outside time in our prayers and meditation, and be alongside him at all stages of his life and his journey, not just figuratively but in reality.

The crucifix reminds us that our place as Christians is at the foot of the cross, worshipping our Lord who has given his life for us, so that we in turn can follow his example and give our lives for him.

Wearing a crucifix is not an attempt to crucify the Lord all over again, as I have been told by Methodists. Rather it is my way of identifying myself with Christ at the most difficult, most painful moment of his life, so that I can understand why my own life will also at times be difficult and painful. When I contemplate the Lord's death, I do not bring that death into today, rather I enter into the reality of his death as he experienced it; I am no longer constrained by time, any more than he is.

The point is, suffering continues on earth today; terrible suffering among millions of people. It is meaningless to say the Lord's suffering ended 2000 years ago; as long as any human being on earth is in pain, he is in pain. As long as anyone is hungry, he is hungry. Is this not what Matthew 25 tells us? Therefore, Christ on the cross is Christ at his closest to our human condition; pain and suffering even unto death.

Why on earth would we want to say, yes he felt that way once, but that was a long time ago? It was not a long time ago; it was eternal because he is eternal.

Eternal does not mean going on forever, because that is a temporal description, from a temporal perspective.
Eternal denotes not subordinate to time. The empty cross is the crucifixion from a temporal, human perspective. The crucifix is the crucifixion from an eternal one; the perspective from which God himself sees.

Your choice.

I haven't either.

In the words of Fr. Benedict Groeshel on why Catholics have the Crucifix:

"All of us has a Cross to carry, none of us knows what it's like to be risen from the dead."

Or something like that.

Are there really no crucifixes in Protestant churches?