Meditating on the Passion
Contributing writer
Whatever you may think about Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, it has certainly accomplished one thing. When have you heard so many people (from prominent theologians and commentators on ethics and sociology down to the people on the street) talking about God? Some of these are habitually devout, but many probably have never so much as thought about God or the condition of their souls in years. Encouraging everyone to think about these things during Lent has to be a good thing.
It may be presumptuous for me to choose this cinematic phenomenon as my topic this month, since I am apparently one of the few people who hasn't seen it. That is not because I have weighed in on the negative side of the controversy surrounding the film. It only means I have thus far been unable to steel myself to watch that much gore, brutality and ugliness. That is one of my personal hang ups.
Among my friends who have seen it, only one spoke as if the violence had a strong negative impact on her. Others found the brutality disturbing, but it only heightened their awareness of Christ's suffering and its meaning. After all, He endured all that pain and degradation for us. Several have mentioned that after seeing the film, partaking of communion had a much deeper meaning for them. The comments I have heard came from committed Christians; however, I hope many unbelievers will be confronted by the cross and yield their lives to Jesus.
I can think of only one negative possibility in the popularity of the film. If many of those crowding the theaters are going in the same spirit that medieval mobs attended public executions to revel in the violence and possibly emulate it, then the influence could be extremely harmful. However, I hope that is not the case. After all, this movie is not promoting violence or even exploiting violence for its own sake; it is reporting an extremely violent event which is central to our core beliefs. Isn't it necessary for Christians to confront the fact of Christ's extreme suffering?
Although I again confess to drawing conclusions from reviews and comments about a film I have not seen, I do not understand the opinion that the movie will encourage anti-semitism. For one thing, not only are the villains of the piece Jewish; so are the heroes. Jesus Himself was a Jew; so were Peter, John and His other followers. The story takes place in Israel/Judea; except for the Roman rulers, the entire cast of characters are Jewish. To say viewers will be moved to hatred of the Jews is like saying viewers of a movie about the violence in the Old West will hate everyone west of the Mississippi.
If the movie fulfills Gibson's avowed purpose of stimulating a greater awareness of Christ's suffering and its purpose and encouraging people to follow Him, then how could it make people hate Jews or anyone else for that matter? True followers of Christ are not haters. In the first place, today's Jews are no more involved in the Crucifixion than today's Christians are involved in the Crusades against the Moslems or the excesses of the Spanish Inquisition. Besides, imitators of Christ would not hate even the mob shouting, "Crucify Him!" Watching a tortured Christ hanging on the cross saying, "Father, forgive them" will move His followers to hatred? If that is sound logic, I am definitely missing something.
Since I am still in conflict about whether or not to watch this film, I can hardly urge everyone else to see it. That is your choice. Some of the gentler souls among us may prefer to go to Lindsborg on Good Friday and hear Bach's Passion According to Saint Matthew, attend a Good Friday service at a local church, or simply read the account of the Crucifixion and Resurrection in the Gospels. I do hope that all the talk about Gibson's work will encourage us all to ponder the tremendous sacrifice Jesus made for us and our response to it. That surely is what the Lenten season should be about.
May all of you experience a sobering Lent followed by an intensely joyous Easter.
