A Freeper Review of The Passion of Christ

Vanity | 2/21/04 | John Fields

[jonboy]

I'm not sure where to start. I'm a fellow Freeper who also happens to be minister. I was invited today to see a screening of the Passion of the Christ at our local theater. I have been fascinated, and you might even be able to say obsessed with this movie ever since I heard about it a few months ago and first saw the trailer (I cried every time I saw it).

Given that I have watched and listened to several interviews and read several news stories about this movie I was as prepared as I thought I could be to watch it. I HAVE NEVER BEEN THROUGH ANYTHING LIKE THIS MOVIE! I sobbed, I throbbed, my Kleenex became a fairly useless mess that occupied the hand not tightly gripping the seat. IT WAS HARD TO WATCH. The cruelty was overwhelming, but approximated what we have a glimpse from in scripture. The violence and horror of what was done to Him nearly overwhelming, but not gratuitous as some have claimed.

As to the charges of anti-semitism, I can understand how a Jew who does not believe that Jesus is their Messiah would be frightened by this film. However, it was NOT anti-semitic. I could just as easily be moved to be against Italians for what the Romans did as I could be against the Jews. If one were inspired to hate the perpetrators if this event, they would be anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, anti-Arab, anti-Japanese, and anti-__________ (fill in your own blanks). I was filled with the grim overwhelming knowledge of my own guilt as much as anything else. As I watched Him writhing in pain, the ribs virtually exposed from the beating that He had taken, as I watched His shoulder ripped out of socket as they stretched his hand to make it to the pre-drilled nail hole, as I watched the blood flowing and the breath ripped from His body from the pain, one thing entered into my mind above all else. I PUT HIM THERE! He could have come down, He could have called in excess of ten-thousand angels. He could have stopped that horrible mockery and evil in its tracks by coming down off of that cross, healing His own wounds, and then saying go to it boys as He releases the angels to take care of business. BUT HE DIDN'T. I am in awe.

I admit that I has moments when I felt like ripping the Jewish and Roman perpetrators apart. How dare they laugh in the face of such agony! How dare they spit on Him! How dare they stand in pompous, arrogant, self-righteous judgment of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (how dare MYSELF go on sinning after what He did for me)! But as the High Priest is walking away from making fun and mocking. He hears Jesus softly say, taking up precious breath, "Father forgive them, they don't know what they are doing." The High Priest pauses in uncomfortable silence, then walks on. Later, after Jesus has died and the earthquake has damaged the temple and they are very aware that they have done something terribly wrong the High Priest is seen crying out and holding his face in grief and horror.

This movie was about love and forgiveness and about our sin and what God and His Son did together about that sin. It is about the horrible things that men do to their fellow men which can still be forgiven if they will but repent. Some of the Jews were depraved and some were compassionate. Some of the Romans were depraved, and some of them were inclined towards compassion. Anti-Jewish? NO WAY! Besides, the early church was exlusively Jewish. The movie is not about Mel Gibson having some kind of point to prove to anyone, let alone the Jews. It was Mel's passion, a labor of love. Will it profit Him? Unbelievably! Did he do it for the money, not a chance.

Were there any liberties taken with the scripture? Maybe a few. Poetic/artistic license was taken to a degree. There were some scenes with Judas that were extra Biblical, but imaginable. Surprisingly, he was shown as a somewhat sympathetic character, which is something I've felt to a degree for him. I doubt that he was a completely depraved man, he just wanted to speed things along so that Jesus would have to rise to the throne and have to take His true place. When he realized he had been horribly mis-lead he admitted guilt but then went out and killed himself. There was a scene in which the unrepentant thief had his eyes pecked out by a crow. I thought that didn't gel well with the theme of forgiveness and should have been left out. It seemed to represent Divine retribution since the thief had just been blaspheming Jesus. But the cross wasn't about retribution, that will come later at Judgment, it was about mercy.

As to this movie being appropriate for children? That's a hard call. I think it would be best if conscientous parents screened it for themselves first. It is hard enough for mature adults to stomach. However, there is something to be said for exposing young tender hearts to the truth of what He did. Maybe knowing what He did at a younger age would lead to more mature Christians later. Again, it's an individual call.

Is this movie Catholic? Yes and no. Those who see the relationship between Jesus and Mary who are Catholic will likely see Mary as divine. Those of us who believe that Mary was a mere woman who was blessed enough to have been chosen to be the mother of the Christ will see the relationship between a mother and her Son. THIS MOVIE IS FOR ALL!!! I can wholeheartedly recommend this movie to others for personal devotion or to touch the hearts of those who are lost. I believe very much that it will be a culturally defining movie and that it will break most IF NOT ALL of the box office records both nationally and world-wide. The Lord will not be silenced. I truly feel He has spoken through this movie. Maybe its His way of saying WAKE UP before He comes again. If it is, this Christian is awake (wiping away tears).

[GirlShortstop]

     Surely, you're not suggesting anyone has authority above Jesus to authorize any other prayer, are you?

    Jesus taught us how to pray, TO THE FATHER

Can I infer then that the only prayer you say is the Our Father?

Once again, you misunderstand. Jesus gave that to us as a pattern. I pray to God, the Father, in the name of Jesus.

And your prayer to God, by whom is that "authorized"?   I do believe that you're right:  I am not understanding you.   I am seeing you say that I, and Catholics who pray and recite the Hail Mary are doing so under an authority "above Jesus"; yet your prayers are by your authority.

What, exactly, is it that you wish I would state about the Hail Mary?

[Cicero]

Oh, yes. And its possible for a man to father a child at the age of 80. But it's unlikely that a man and woman of a hundred could have a child. Especially since Sarah says to the angel that it has been many years since they have known each other.

A similar things happens at the beginning of the Gospel of Luke, when the coming of John the Baptist is announced to his father. The gospel even echoes the angel's words to Abraham and Sarah, that with God all things are possible.

[savedbygrace]

Bizarra conclusions there. I stated clearly that this instruction comes from Jesus. How did you take that to mean it's on my authority? Or have you not read the gospels? You're confusing me about your knowledge of scripture.

[dagoofyfoot]

Thanks for the post, can't wait to see this movie...


four more days!

[Gumdrop]

Thanks for your clarification of the Catholic view of Mary. Indeed, she was a human, not divine. But, she was the chosen woman of God; she who became the Mother of the Son of God! There is nothing any of us, whether Catholic or Protestant, can do regarding Mary that will ever amount to the honor that God gave to her in this role.

[padfoot_lover]

Don't have a specific answer at the moment, and I really don't have time this late tonight to go through my bible chapter and verse this evening trying to find one that would satisfy you. You are obviously a scripture only Christian, whereas my faith is based on Tradition, Holy Scripture, and the Magisterium. Let's just agree to disagree. Nite!

[Leonine]

Abraham had children after Sarah died. Read Genesis.

[Leonine]

There is nothing at all incorrect in what I stated.

[Budge]

Excellent review. Yes, I plan on seeing it (hopefully on the 25th), and probably again...and again!

It sounds like we will be seeing true history!

[Pharmboy]

Thank you. There is some intangible about Freepers that keeps me here year after year, day after day. I think it is called trust because Freepers are honorable people.

[GirlShortstop]

I stated clearly that this instruction comes from Jesus.

And I asked you point blank what it is that you wish to hear about the Hail Mary.

I'll tell ya what sbg... you get your instructions, and leave me, and fellow Christians be in our prayer, okay?

You're confusing me about your knowledge of scripture.

Geeze, sorry about that, I didn't know this exchange was a YOPIOS contest.
Just as well since it's indeterminable as to who decides the winner in those things anyway.
Take care.

[CyberAnt]

But .. I've had Catholics argue with me that Mary had a special covering or something from Jesus. That Mary remained a "virgin" all her life. She didn't. She was a precious young lady who trusted God, but I don't believe she really understood who Jesus was until after she was baptized in the Holy Ghost. However, when I tell people she was a tongue talker, you would think I called her a devil. The scriptures in Acts say Mary was present in the upper room when ALL were baptized in the Holy Ghost and ALL spoke with other tongues.

[CyberAnt]

Man was created in the image of God. Man is a spirit, man has a soul (his will and emotions), and man lives in a body.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve sinned (they disobeyed God) and permanently separated themselves from God. Their spirits died, but not their flesh or their minds.

Because of that sin, ALL MANKIND was born into a sinful nature. God came to the earth in the form of Jesus, with a human body and the blood of God in his veins. When Jesus died, he took upon himself, the sins OF ALL MANKIND. After Jesus had paid the penalty of our disobedience, God sent all His power into the bowels of Hell and Jesus was born again. The Apostle Paul called Jesus the "firstborn from among the dead".

The Book of Isaiah describes Jesus resurrection and his triumphant walk through Hell, where Jesus showed off a paralyzed and defeated satan.

Because of Jesus death and resurrection, God has made available a way for ALL MANKIND to be reconcilled back to God. Man can receive salvation by simply believing in his heart and confession with his mouth that Jesus died for his sins. That act of believing and confessing is found in Romans 10:9-10, and results in a person being born again.

While man can still do things in his body and mind which are not pleasing to God, man's spirit (by receiving Jesus) has been renewed and reconnected to God.

[savedbygrace]

Where ever those other sources are in agreement with scripture, that's fine. What we're talking about is something that is outside of scripture. If you are then treating those other sources as authoritative on the same level as scripture, then you are adding to scripture. That's forbidden (Revelation).

Good night, sir or ma'am.

[Gumdrop]

The Immaculate Conception dogma - Mary was selected by God from before her birth to be the Mother of His Divine Son. Because God did not want His son to be ever under the influence of Satan, He created Mary without sin, that is her soul was never exposed to original sin like the rest of humanity ever since the fall of Adam and Eve. It makes sense. God would hardly want a sinful woman to carry the infant Jesus in her womb and then to be His first teacher, would He?

The term Immaculate Conception has no relation to the physical nature of Mary's conception by her parents, who were (by tradition) holy people named Joachim and Anna. It refers to the state of her soul.

Paul wite in his epistle (Romans?) that Jesus is the new Adam. Catholics believe that Mary was the new Eve.

[savedbygrace]

Your question about the Hail Mary was a non sequitur, so I didn't see a need to respond to it.

By bolding "your instructions" are you trying to say that I have made them up myself? I will obey the instructions of Jesus, rather than recite the man-made, non-authoritative Hail Mary. Your church has led you astray. But Jesus has assured you that he will even leave the rest of the sheep to seek one lost lamb.

[blue jeans]

re: Yes, I was raised Catholic, but more importantly, I was not raised Anti-Catholic but if you believe that Jesus Christ was truly the Son of GOD, how could NOT Mary be more than a "mere woman" ???

I would assume his point was that Mary isn't/wasn't divine (even though God came in the flesh through her).

[what's up]

Yes, you are right...I meant the Assumption. Seems strange to make a doctrine out of a legend (something extra Biblical).

Yes, we all know God can do anything. He performs many miracles. It is obvious that both Adam and Eve were sinless before the Fall...but after the every human was marred by sin, including Mary.

Again, seems to me silly to declare Mary sinless because someone believes it should be so. No one can be sinless after the Fall and not be God. I know there is a lot of sentimental feeling out there to want a human woman to be perfect, but only God is perfect.

[savedbygrace]

You are obviously a scripture only Christian

I have a personal relationship with Jesus. Jesus is the Word, so I guess you could say that I am a scripture only Christian. Scripture is Jesus.