From KHouse.org
THE
HEART OF THE PASSIONAnd I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all [men] unto me. –
Jesus Christ (John 12:32)Some came to find a deeper appreciation for the suffering of Jesus
Christ, others out of curiosity, and others to judge the movie for
themselves. The Passion Of The Christ came out on at least 4000 screens
in over 3000 theaters this last week, and has now officially beat out
The Return Of The King as the top 5-day grossing movie for a film
released on a Wednesday. Shows across the United States were sold out,
while ticket lines stretched down many city streets.Leaving the movie theaters, most people remained quiet. “It was moving,
very emotional,” said one woman tearfully, “I don’t have any other
words to say. That’s the way it was.”“It’s beyond description,” said Pete Charbonneau, a Messianic Jew. “I
am at a loss for words. The suffering is beyond anything.”There were no previews and the movie, co-written and directed by Mel
Gibson, drew the audience into the world of 1st century Judea from the
very beginning. While some had thought Mel Gibson foolish to create his
film with characters speaking Aramaic, Hebrew, and Latin, the
ancient languages gave an added authenticity to the movie, making the
viewers feel they were actually there in the streets of Jerusalem. From
the emotional anguish of Jesus in the Garden to his death two hours
later, the movie gripped its audience with his constant, brutal, heart
wrenching beatings and torture.“I yelled, ‘Stop it. Stop it. Stop it,'” said Kristi Adams of Coeur
d’Alene, Idaho. “That was too much.”The movie is extremely violent, from the very beginning when the Roman
soldiers batter Jesus on his way to his trial before the Sanhedrin to
the agonizingly long scourging scene, from the long walk from Pilate’s
judgment hall up to the hill of Calvary to the graphic crucifixion. It
accomplished Gibson’s goal of realistically portraying what Jesus
suffered under the hands of his experienced, callused Roman torturers.
Yet, rarely, if ever, has a movie portrayed such terrible violence in a
way that breaks its viewers’ hearts and makes one
intimately identify with the tortured person.The purpose of this film was to bring the simple Gospel accounts of
Christ’s last hours to life, and in doing so, has generated more
controversy than Gibson ever expected. One of Israel’s two leading
rabbis called for a boycott of the film, saying that it “incites hatred
against the Jews and raises again accusations of ritual crime.”
Reviewers have called the film “relentlessly savage” and “almost
pornographic.” There were rumors that the film would not be shown in
France, for fear of an anti-Semitic backlash. However, a French
distributor has been found, and the movie will be shown in that country
in April, prior to Easter. In spite of the uproar in the Israeli Jewish
community, a cinema club in Tel Aviv wants to show the film – with
discussion and debates following.At first it did appear that the movie credited the Jews for Christ’s
crucifixion. While a few Jewish leaders objected to the shady trial –
in the middle of the night – the majority stood against Jesus, and the
mob went along with the high priest as he called for Jesus’ death. Yet,
that was just the mob linked to the jealous Jewish leadership. The rest
of Jewish Jerusalem seemed shocked and saddened as Jesus was driven
through the streets with his cross.The Romans were portrayed
as brutes who savagely beat and
torment Jesus at Pilate’s order. They mercilessly drove him
up toward Calvary until they were finally ordered to find somebody to
bear his cross, when it had long been obvious that Jesus could barely
hold the thing up anymore. There were hateful Jews
and compassionate Jews, cruel and sadistic Romans and less
inhumane Romans. In the end, all those involved ceased to be Jews or
gentiles. They all became simply people, some grieving, some mocking,
all the way to the very thieves who hung on crosses on both sides of
Jesus.Those who accuse the film of anti-Semitism do so from fear, with eyes
unable to see anything else. The heart of the movie, its central
message, is that Jesus did not lose his life because he was murdered.
He died willingly. He laid his life down. At one point, the
movie leaves the torn body of Jesus and flashes back to a moment when
Jesus was teaching out on a hillside – an excerpt from John 10:14-15,18
in which Jesus alludes to Ezekiel 34:23. “I am the Good Shepherd,”
Jesus says, “And I lay down my life for the sheep. No man takes it from
me. I lay it down willingly.” This attitude, in obedience to God his
Father, remains consistent in Jesus throughout the movie and is
remarkable even as he lies down on the cross to have his hands nailed
in place.Nobody attacked Francis Ford Coppola for being Anti-Italian when he
brought to life Mario Puzo’s The Godfather. There were no fears of
Sioux or Pawnee tribesmen beating up white Americans after Dances With
Wolves came out in 1990. Yet, those who have hated the Jews through the
centuries have unjustly used Christ’s death against them, leading to
the outrage that many Jewish groups now feel. Yet, anti-Semitism is not
the greatest concern that some of today’s Jewish leaders have. Many are
fearful that some Jews will identify with Jesus in his sufferings and
will be drawn to him.Jesus knew that his life and death would cause division (Matt
10:34-38), that even families would be split because of the controversy
he would cause. That’s what happens when human nature collides with
Truth. In the end, however, The Passion of the Christ is about the
sacrifice that Jesus made for all people, for Jews and gentiles, Greeks
and Romans, Pakistanis and Vietnamese. It should draw all of us into a
deeper understanding of what he did on that Passover nearly 2000 years
ago, and cause us to seek him and to live our lives according to his
words with more honor and love than ever before.