3/2/2007 5:16 pm
|
The movie, Passion of the Christ, directed by Mel Gibson, follows the last twelve hours of Christ, from his betrayal by Judas to his condemnation by a reluctant Pontius Pilates. The film focuses on the passion, in another word, sufferings, of Christ of his final day of life. His sufferings were depicted in the scenes of torture and a long bloody crawl through Jerusalem up to the craggy mountaintop where he was crucified. The language in the movie is the one that they would actually have spoken at the time, that is, Aramaic, for Jewish characters, including Jesus and his disciples. I was deeply moved by the film; it made the sufferings of Christ more brutal, more real, more powerful and more vivid.
As the title does, the movie explores the Passion of Jesus Christ. Meanwhile, evidence of “tolerance, love and forgiveness” is communicated in this movie. The movie opens with the scene that Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane; he prayed to the Heavenly Father that if possible not let him go through this, yet he would obey the Father’s will and fulfill his mission on earth. As Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty silver pieces to the Jewish High priest, he then led the guards to identify Jesus, and when they saw Jesus, he greets Jesus with the kiss that betrays him. Even at his last minute, Jesus still remembered his task as he told the thief who was also ordered death that he would be in heaven with God because of his repentances and would have eternal life. Jesus completed his mission by crucified on the cross; he yelled to heaven, forgiving the people as they had no aware of what they had done. The film, focuses on the torture and humiliation of Jesus, first at his disciples, then at the hands of people of Galilee, and finally at the hands of the Roman soldiers. Jesus endures beating after beating in a relentless display of masochism. The vivid scenes made us walking through Jesus’ last day of life together with him. Though the film is being criticized of too much violence and blood, Gibson explains that there is a purpose for the violence, to show the enormity of Christ pain. The audience is there to experience the harsh reality to understand it; at the same time, “when you finally see it and understand what He went through, it makes you feel not only compassion, but also a debt. You want to repay Him for the enormity of His sacrifice” as Gibson stated.
It is not just a movie, but the real story that Jesus had gone through. I was brought up with the picture of a calm and peaceful Christ hanging on the cross and I never could take this sacrifice seriously. It didn’t seem painful, did it? Crucifixion had been around a while by the time of Jesus, but the Romans had it down to an art of pain and torture. This movie gives us a very good visual reference. It is also a wake-up call and a reminder to all of us of the total price paid for the salvation.
I was reading a book earlier about Jesus and his death. It said that Jesus was beaten so much that no one, even the closest ones to him could recognize him. His skin was ripped open and his insides were revealed. Then while he hung on the cross, flies and gnats would fly all over the open skin. Jesus was also hung on the cross naked and could have urinated or defecated up there. As mentioned by others, there were other brutalities not shown in the film including having a cloth thrown over his head and repeatedly punched in the face. Under such circumstances, split lips, broken nose, fractured cheek, swollen eyes would be expected. This may explain why, after His post resurrection appearances; even His friends didn't recognize Him. The price of our redemption wasn't cheap. The debated violence is a way of getting closer to the sacrifice and to understand the strength in it and to realize what is so powerful with the resurrection. Now that I feel I could really understand John 3:16 :
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”.
|
