Although the entire movie is very powerful, there is a scene in The Passion of the Christ that had a great impact on me the first time I saw it. In fact, I use a clip of Jesus’ encounter with Mary in a talk I’ve given often over the years.
If you try to find the exact scene in Scripture, you won’t. Tradition holds that there was an encounter between Mother and Son sometime during Jesus’ long walk towards his cross. Since John’s Gospel puts Mary at actual crucifixion (John 19:26-27), there’s no reason to doubt that she would have followed along with the crowd.
In the movie, John helps bring the two together. Jesus is bloody and beaten. I can’t imagine the pain Mary must have felt seeing her son like this, also knowing what was ahead for him.
As I sat in theater all those years ago, the words Jesus spoke to Mary in the movie touched me deeply. So much so that this scene floated through my mind when I came up with the name of this blog.
Even though we don’t know exactly what was actually said between them, in the movie, Jesus says, see Mother, I make all things new. These words about God making all things new are found in both Isaiah (43:19) and Revelation (21:5).
These words profoundly encapsulate Jesus’ whole life and ministry. He was making everything new, and he still does today. As Isaiah reminds us, in the deserts of our lives, he makes a way. In the wasteland that sums up so many people’s situations today, he makes rivers. He can change anything from bad to good, from old to new.
As we reflect upon the events of Good Friday, I hope you’ll use this scene as a meditation. Close your eyes and imagine that Jesus was speaking, not to Mary, but to you. As he says, see, I’m making something new, he’s talking about you.
What situations/relationships in your life need to be made new? If you let him in, he’ll do just that.
