The Passion-Revisited, sort of...

Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ was released in 2004. When it came out millions of Christians and non-Christians flooded movie theaters. Thousands of churches had viewing events. For so long it was hard to escape hearing about this film. I have heard numerous stories of people coming to salvation through the truth in this film. Despite all of this I was some what hesitant to see it. I am not really sure why.

Some will say that I was scared to see the depth of suffering. I suppose at some level that was true. Nobody every gave me an accurate description of what they had seen in the movie. Because of this I convinced myself that I did not want to see it. This of course made me feel like I was a bad Christian. This was compounded by the fact that I was a minister and it was almost a requirement for me to see it. In the end, I am not sure why God never allowed me to view this film before now. It is one of those questions I may never get answered this side of Heaven.

Tonight God allowed me to see this film for the first time. To be honest, the gruesomeness of it did not bother me at all. I can see how many people would be shocked by this graphic depiction of Christ's suffering. For me though I have always imagined Christ great suffering. The weekend I was saved we were examining in great detail the full extent of Christ suffering and because of this His great amount of suffering has always been a part of my understanding of faith. This is not to say that the movie did not touch me.

For me the suffering of Jesus' parents was of keen interest. As most of you know, I have a 2 year old son and during the film I found myself imagining what I would be feeling if it was Aiden in Jesus' place. There is a scene in the movie where Mary (Jesus' mother) goes running to Him to help Him up and comfort Him. During this there is a flashback to a time when Jesus was a boy who fell and skinned His knee and we see Mary running to His side just like a good parent would. I cannot begin to imagine the intense emotional pain of Mary, Joseph, and God the Father.

Now I know the film may not be 100% accurate. Christians are well within their rights to discuss and debate some of the finer points of the film. I am not here to do that. I am here to say that I would recommend people see this film. I firmly believe that the heart of the gospel is clearly presented. If you have never seen this film, give it a chance. Open your mind and heart to what God wants to say to you with this film.