Today is Maundy Thursday when Jesus had his final meal — Jewish Passover. The word maundy means “the ceremony of washing the feet of the poor." As an act of humility, Jesus washed the feet of his 12 disciples.
Easter is late this year. Based on the Hebrew calendar, Easter falls on the first Sunday following the full moon after the Spring Equinox, the time of Passover. The earliest possible date for Easter is March 22, and the latest possible date is April 25.
Network TV used to show old biblical blockbusters on Easter, like "Ben Hur." They dragged on all afternoon. I still associate those movies with the relaxing smell of ham baking. I'd jump up and work on dinner during the commercials. The picture wasn't very good and no one has that kind of patience anymore. Now we have "Ben Hur" and several other campy Roman movies on lovely Blu-ray, nice Christmas presents from John over the years.
The chariot race from "Ben Hur" is the most famous scene, but my favorite is when Ben Hur sees Jesus for the first time, especially the expression on the face of the cruel centurion. For a few seconds, he sees inside his own black heart. The novel "Ben Hur" by Lew Wallace was a huge bestseller in the 1950's.
The face of Jesus is never revealed in "Ben Hur" which makes the film more moving. In more recent Biblical movies like the "Son of God," Jesus looks like Brad Pitt. Easy on the eyes, but imagination is better.
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