A Passionte Response

From the first moment I heard about this movie several months ago, I knew it was going to be something different. I wasn’t wrong. It hasn’t only been different it has been a phenomenon – well BEFORE it was even released.
One is inclined to wonder why, whenever the name of Jesus Christ is mentioned, the name has the power to generate such controversy. Over 2000 years later, the name of Jesus still stirs up people, especially when the focus is the release of a major motion picture depicting the last 12 hours of His life.
I know why. Those last 12 hours are the reason He came to this earth in the first place. He came to redeem us back to God the Father by willingly laying down His life for us. By taking the punishment we deserve for our sin and thereby granting us a pardon from God the Father. Yes, I said He laid down His own life. Not one human being on this earth had the power to take the life of Jesus. He gave us His life so that we might have eternal life in Him.
You say, but the movie depicts Him being brought up on false charges by the Pharisees, and wrongly and savagely beaten and scourged by Roman soldiers. As if that wasn’t enough to kill someone, he was then forced to carry a cross weighing 300 pounds up a hill. Granted he had help from Simon of Cyrene, but could you have even been able to lift YOURSELF up after enduring such torture and carry a 300 pound cross as far as he did ALONE? All the while being continually pushed, hit, spat upon, and whipped by the soldiers and for what? For us, humankind. Yes, humans did that to Him. However, they could not have, had the power not been given to them from God the Father AND Jesus’ obedience to the Father and willingness to do so.
Some have said this movie is anti-Semitic and they said that BEFORE even seeing it. In fact that was said BEFORE the movie was even released. Some have said it depicted the Roman soldiers as ruthless and brutal. Guess what? The soldiers WERE ruthless and brutal. The whole human race is and can be ruthless and brutal. Anti-Semitic? No, it is not. How can I say that? Because, first of all Jesus was a Jew. So was His mother. So were the apostles and most of His followers. The first Christians were Jews.
Some have said that Christians, and I am one, are promoting anti-Semitism by supporting and promoting this movie. You see, that is just not possible because those who ARE truly Christian, cannot be anti anyone. It would be a complete oxymoron to say I am a Christian and then be a racist. Anyone who is truly a Christian and abides in Jesus Christ will not and cannot be against any race. Like Bill Gallatin, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of the Fingerlakes, NY said, there aren’t any races other than the human race, just different nationalities. No, neither Jews, nor Romans put Jesus on the cross. Our sin was the reason He willingly laid down His life for us ALL. Why? Because He loves us, that’s why and He wants us with Him for eternity. He became the perfect, sacrificial Lamb who laid down His life for our transgressions.
The movie shows Jesus finally making it up that rocky, craggy hill to Calvary. He is swollen, torn, and bleeding over his entire body. He has already lost massive amounts of blood due to the horrendous beating and scourging He endured. He had to have been in unbelievable agony and yet He is shown lying down on the cross of His own accord. He did not struggle and fight as all the others who were crucified. Your reply might be, “How could He, he was already almost dead by then!” Then tell me, if that is so, how did He live yet another six hours hanging on a cross? He WILLED it, that’s how!
Many have said how unbelievably violent this movie is. Hmmm, funny thing to be said when most of the movies, video games, and television programs coming out these days are extremely violent; not to mention the Internet. Such as? Movies: Pulp Fiction, Bad Boys II, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Kill Bill, True Romance -the list is endless. Video games: Carjacked, Assassins, Hitman, to name just a few of the endless supply there. Television: Third Watch, NYPD Blue, CSI, etc., and that is just on regular channels – cable and satellite have endless violence, explicit sex, etc., and that is okay with most people!
Yes, the movie is violent but I don’t think that is why so many are coming out of the movie in shock, sobbing, and reeling from an experience unlike any other movie they’ve seen. It is because we know in our souls, that our sin caused this horrifying torture and death to be necessary. Mel Gibson makes us feel as though we are actually in ancient Jerusalem watching this event unfold before our very eyes.
Was it bloody? You bet it was – that’s the point: the shed blood of Jesus for us all.
It may have been extremely difficult to watch, but the ending gives us all eternal hope in Jesus Christ.
Will I see this movie again? Yes, but not yet. It’s too soon but someday, yes I will.
Does this movie leave people with questions? For those who don’t know the scriptures, I hope so. I hope so enough that they will seek out the answers in the only place they’ll find them – the Bible.
Thank you Mel Gibson, for being faithful unto God and fulfilling the mission of “The Passion”.