This evening we went to an Easter musical at a local AG church to see our friend perform in one of the leading roles. He was the best singer in the group, if you must know, so it was good that he had the best part. Here were a few of our thoughts as we drove home:

Why do the antagonists in the play have to be so bad? We're talking 100% bad--no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and no allowance for the fact that at least some of their intentions may have been good, if misguided. Maybe this is a question for the Gospel writers?

Related to the first point, Satan was portrayed as a hideously ugly, terrifying monster bent on challenging the power of Jesus. This Satan is easy to reject as evil. But what about the Satan I more often see, the one who is alluring and deceitful? The one who parades around as an angel of light?

Why do we see the need to be immediately okay with Jesus on the cross? It seems to me to be an awkwardness about suffering in general. In the play, one of the disciples sings a song of thanks about Jesus being on the cross in his place. I agree that this is part of the meaning of the cross (although there is much more needing to be said), but this is not a genuine reaction of a disciple watching his master perish.

And when Jesus emerges from the tomb, why is he clean? Was there a shower in the cave? He stepped out of the grave to the loud applause of the audience. Again, this is fine, since the resurrection belongs to that great climax of our faith. But it is fine only if we recognize that we are not actually experiencing the event as the disciples did.

Some of the most powerful moments were the healings that Jesus performed, and the way that the people responded. There was real amazement and joy on their faces, and I felt it with them. Why, then, allow me (as the audience) to feel the joy, but not the pain? Why undercut the disorienting power of the cross? Why at that point stop and wink to the audience and say, "Oh, we know better than the disciples did"?

I know that we benefit from their later reflections and the way that they began to work out the meaning and even the beauty of the cross, and I am not even sure that we could encounter the cross with anything like the horror, frustration, or hopelessness that they may have felt. But I think it is important that we try, otherwise we will lose faith in our moments of horror, frustration, and hopelessness.