The BIG topic these days seems to be The Passion of the Christ .  Have you seen it?

Mel Gibson's current box office success is the controversial documentary of the last twelve hours in the life of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  CNN and other TV networks discussed the movie and interviewed religious leaders of many faiths.  I watched one CNN interview; Ted Haggard and a Rabbi (sorry I do not remember his name) debated the validity of the story.  The Rabbi's belief was that the movie depicted the Jews as being the killers of Jesus.   Ted's final conclusion, agreed with by the the Rabbi was that people should go to the Gospels to seek the truth about Jesus.

First, I want to give Mel Gibson credit for putting this movie together. It has stirred up much that needed stirring in Hollywood and elsewhere.  Many people are now taking an interesting in who Jesus was & is, and why he did what he did.  Praise God that inquiring minds want to know!

The movie opens with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemanee praying to God.  The Devil (it took me a minute to figure out who this was) was tormenting Jesus about what was coming.  This took away from the beginning.  Because I was so busy trying to figure out who this person was that was having this dialog with Jesus that I missed what was actually being said.

He said Jesus didn't have to go through this pain.  I don't believe Satan was there talking to Jesus while he was praying. And even if he were, that Satan didn't understand that Jesus was going to die to redeem mankind, or he would never have pushed to get Jesus executed. Satan thought he was winning by getting the coming king executed before he could take charge.  The Devil skulked around in many scenes of the movie.

It was interesting to see the Bible in action before my eyes.  To see the Roman soldiers as they went about their duties.  To see the debouchery of Herod and the anguish of Pilate.  To see and hear Peter deny his friend and Savior.  I had never really thought about Jesus' mother Mary and his friend John standing at the foot of the cross.  Imagine the heart ache!   Flashbacks of the Last Supper and other situations attempted to fill us in as to background of Jesus.

Anticipated as a violent and gory tear jerker, I felt The Passion fell short in that my emotions were not sufficiently engaged to identify with the lead character before his beatings began. If I hadn't already known the story, this was some guy being arrested, beaten and killed.   My imagination from reading scripture both emotionally connected me with my saviour, and had me seeing his final hours as being far worse than depicted by the film.

One of my friends described the Roman Soldiers as fiendish in their persecution, torturing, and beating of Jesus.  People do like to pick on the underdog. The Bible states that he was marred beyond recognition ( Isaiah 52:14 NIV ).  Frankly, I was surprised that the make up artists didn't make his face more puffy and have more flesh peeling off.

The scenes that took place at the site of the crucifixion were well done.  Overall, I believe the actual events happend pretty much as depicted in the movie.  Even so there are several scenes in scripture that did not make it into this movie.

Once his death was accomplished, there was little shown regarding his resurrection.  We basically saw that he was no longer in the grave clothes.   This was a disappointment as I wanted this to be a life-changing experience with more emphasis on what his death, burial and resurrection meant and his commission to the disciples/apostles.  I suspect it hits harder those who have not read the bible and done their best to imagine what scripture is saying. Those are the people who need this movie the most.

The word "Passion" actually means "suffering", although in recent English usage it has moved into a wider definition.  I suspect this movie hits harder those who have not read the bible and done their best to imagine what scriptures are saying.  Those are the people who need this movie the most.  There are several scenes in scripture that did not make it into this movie that could have developed a clearer picture..

It has been much discussed in the Christian community as to if one would or would not see this movie.  I believe that Christians should attend this movie so as to be prepared if others ask questions. I pray that non-believers will dialog with believers who can show them a Life-Giving Christ, and the Love of God who did not force this on his son, but rather allowed his son to make the choice to go through this that no men might be lost to sin, if they choose not to be.

 For those of you that don't know, the Passion is a big screen rendition of a play that has been around for hundreds, perhaps even a thousand years. The Jewish community has good reason to worry about its bringing on more anti-sematism in view of the history of this play.  In past centuries, after viewing the original play, often viewers would go kill Jews or start anti semitic movements.  Hitler himself credited the play with inspiring him. Hitler claimed to be a Christian, and felt that he needed to get rid of the killers of his saviour.  Now how twisted is that?  From this perspective the screenplay did an excellent job of not villifying the entire Jewish race, only the leadership at that time.

I much preferred the play, The Thorn, as put on by New Life church in Colorado Springs. We were able to go see the dress rehersal recently. It's not perfect either, but did a much more complete job of telling the story.  See my review of The Thorn .