Easter Cantata

Saturday night I continued a tradition that has been running four years. My friend Jim, with whom I grew up next door to acting out scenes from Star Wars daily, goes to Friendship Baptist Church in Colerain. My other friend Joe, of which I went to high school with also goes to FBC. They both are involved in the church's annual Easter Cantata. They have co-written the scripts in the past, but I think this year Joe wrote it. I have gone to see it four years in a row now. This particular blog is about this year's Cantata. I wrote about last year's here.

My wife and I went on Saturday night. We were actually a little late, but luckily found a seat right before it started. It was jam packed as always. The Cantata started with a video of a man having a heart attack and going to the hospital and nearly losing his life. The video scene was to the piano slow mo dramatic music from the TV show LOST. Bonus points. The live action then started with the dying man praying for "One More Day" to have one last opportunity to talk to his son about Jesus. The dialogue was great between the father and the son going back and forth questioning religion, love, miracles, God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The basis of the story is always about the suffering and death by crucifixion, then rising of Jesus the Christ. Joe masterfully wrote the modern day story which proceeded to tell the story of Jesus through flashbacks similar to LOST. More bonus points.

This year was highly emotional The whole show was about 2 hours long, but felt like 5 minutes. It was never dull, boring, or cheesy as some church productions tend to be, and the cross scene was intense as always. Joe who plays Jesus every year insists that the actors whip and hit him hard so the audience gets just a tiny glimpse of the reality of the events of that day done for us. As always it was a great show full of depth, emotion, and love, and most of all displaying Jesus the Christ arising from the dead at the end with a highly inspiring dramatic musical climax finish.

Bottom Line - Jesus didn't just die on the cross. He rose from the dead.