ecce homo

"ut cognoscatis quia in eo nullam causam invenio et purpureum vestimentum et dicit eis  
ecce homo."

"Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! (John 19.4-5 KJV)"

It is that time of the week once more. While we have not yet made it to Good Friday, I have watched The Passion of the Christ this year already. And the above scene is poignantly demonstrated: Christ has been scourged nearly to death (39 times exactly - because it was said 40 would kill a man), a crown of thorns has been rammed down upon his head, a itchy red robe now sticks at his clotting blood, and a layer of Roman soldier spit mixed with cheap wine covers his face. In the midst of all this, he is presented to Pontius Pilate (who for one quick moment, looks in absolute disbelief at this man's appearance). An audible, collective shocked gasp resonates throughout the Praetorium as Pilate brings Christ before the crowd. For one brief moment, the entire mass is shocked by the state of the man before them. And in this fervor, Pilate yells out the words that will go down in history - Ecce homo!

But wait.

This truly is the PG version of this story - at least when it comes to the appearance of Christ. The Passion of the Christ does one thing very well - it makes the Passion very uncomfortable. It leads us on a total departure from the pure icons of Catholic and Orthodox traditions and lack-of-blood films such as King of Kings and Jesus of Nazareth. Even so, and director Mel Gibson will attest to this, The Passion doesn't truly grasp the appearance of Jesus Christ as the Bible described. Isaiah 52.14 describes His appearance during this time as one that "many were astonished at...his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men." The newer Message translation says it like this: "At first everyone was appalled. He didn't even look human—a ruined face, disfigured past recognition." 

Think about that.

Jesus Christ's appearance was so grotesque and horrific that He did not look like a human - and yet He survived for hours after this point. He was so badly beaten, whipped, and bloodied that there was nothing left of Him that resembled a male human being - at all. What did Pilate's face look like when he gazed upon the truly scourged Christ for the first time? What was the original crowd's reaction to seeing this Man for the first time? 

How pertinent then, during this Holy Week and especially on Good Friday that we keep that idea at the forefront of our minds. Christ endured this to set us free. He endured this so that we can live forever. While the thought of what His true appearance may have looked like over 2,000 years ago may never be grasped, the outcome of His death sends shockwaves of conscious repercussions into our lives each and every day. For because of the resurrection we can turn anger into joy through our rejoicing proclamation - Ecce homo!