54 The Passion of the Christ

I saw the movie Saturday morning with about 1,000 other members of our church and their guests. Was not unlike a worship service in that context. Complete silence as we all left the theater.

Gibson only focused on those 12 hours. People who despair that Christ's teaching about peace or the poor aren't covered, or that it doesn't provide the hope of the resurrection, are missing the point. Have they never been to a "passion play?" My husband said the message he came away with was of forgiveness. The resurrection is beautifully depicted, but for someone unfamiliar with scripture, it would be completely missed because it passes so quickly.

The teachings about the poor in the NT are clearly from the OT--Jesus added nothing to the basic moral and ethical teaching of the Jews. To find what is unique, you have to go to the final week of his life, his death and his resurrection.

I closed my eyes during the most violent parts as I probably would have had I been in the crowd shouting "crucify him." (And in reality, the crowd is us.) Only because I can understand Latin did I know what was going on.

I may actually go again because there are many subtleties and nuances that I missed. For instance, the part of Satan is played by a woman but has a male voice-over. Making Satan genderless, beautiful and eerie, almost irresistible to look at, was brilliant. Mary, Jesus' mother, is the only one in the crowd bold enough to stare down Satan. Having Judas hang himself with the rope tied around the head of a dead, rotting donkey was another one--a flash back to Palm Sunday perhaps? The cheers and accolades are dead and dying and the crowd that praised him now ask for his death.

Every scene had much to ponder. In response to the critics who say the violence isn't depicted that way in the Gospels, I say look at the OT prophecies and do your own research on crucifixions--there were thousands. Read Foxes' Book of Martyrs if you think cruelty of torture shouldn't be any more graphic than what the four gospels depict. Pick up a newspaper and read about African children having their arms and hands chopped off by warring ethnic groups--could words really tell the true horror you would see in person?. The gospels also don't describe clothing or pottery, but that doesn't mean they are left out of the story.

The actor playing Jesus has the initials J.C. and was 33 when the film was made (I heard him say that in an interview).