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The Passion of the Christ
A Mel Gibson Film
After having watched the Passion of the Christ, the only thing I can say is, "Wow." It is not just an emotional movie filled with violence, it is a story about a Man who loved us so much that He would go through incredible torture so that we might be saved. Even non-Christians would find this appealing, because it isn't just about some religion's founder, it is a story about love and sacrifice. I think it is a very moving and powerful story.
I think that the film was very well done, because even though the real event was much worse (for example, in real life, the whipping would have exposed his bones and there would have been much more blood loss), it was just enough to show us a little taste of what He actually went through. It makes the Bible so much more visual and meaningful so that we can understand it in a much deeper way, like it says in Isaiah 53:3, "He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him." It shows not just the physical torment, but some of the emotional anxiety as well, like when they show Him being dragged away from the whipping from His point of view - everything hurts your eyes.
The devil was very realistic, and his presence was always felt in the distance, watching. It makes us aware of the ever-present darkness which He had to go through on top of everything else. In the beginning, the devil tries to talk Jesus out of His calling, but Jesus always stands firm. In the end, He stamps on the snake's head, showing that He was fulfilling the prophecy in Genesis, "...He shall bruise [the serpent, the Devil's] head..." (Genesis 3: 15) The symbolism is amazing, some of which I am still trying to figure out almost a week later.
After watching the Passion of the Christ, I was amazed, not even so much as with the movie, but the parts the movie could not show. If the movie showed that much for the crucifixion, then what about everything else? There was the physical pain and shock from loss of blood, with so much pain that even just the whipping alone could have killed Him. Then there was the cross, which He, with all this pain, carried alone, which took Simon of Cyrene and two able-bodied soldiers to carry. Then the pure endurance it would take just being able to walk to Golgotha, without any food or drink in the last 12 hours. After all this, there was the emotional torture, with everyone using Jesus' own words against Him, laughing and mocking His real identity, knowing He had the power over them to do what He wanted with them, but restraining Himself. Then, as if this was not enough, straight after He ended His excruciating pain on earth, He was suddenly in hell, tormented there in our place for three days! If one day on earth was like what we saw and felt, then three days of God's fury and wrath in hell would be more than we can comprehend. After all this, paying the our sins, people even now use His name in vain, and think it was not good enough what He did.
Some people say that the movie stresses too much on the crucifixion and pain, and not enough on the resurrection, but I think that it is just what we need. The cross has been misrepresented so many times, that people just skip over that part and say, "Well, He's risen now, so why think about the cross?" But Paul said, "But we preach Christ crucified..." (1 Cor. 1:23). My mother came to the Lord by watching "Jesus of Nazareth," but only the crucifixion part. She felt like it was happening to her. The message of the cross is powerful, and I think this film really gets to the hearts of people to look at what a marvelous thing Jesus did for us.
bravenet.com