With this quote begins Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.
Have you seen it? Both the excitement and the controversy over The Passion have diminished, and I will now make a comment on the movie.
Instead, my question is whether the main message is biblically and theologically sound, and I will tell you up front that my answer is: No! It is not!
What is that message? The message is that Jesus underwent limitless suffering. Pain upon pain. Torture upon torture. Brutal violence almost without end. The brutality IS the message. I realize that usually theology is not appropriate to a general audience, but Gibson’s Passion is of public interest, and its violence a point of controversy. So I think a theological look is appropriate.
I will discuss in turn, The Brutality, The Bible, and The Bottom Line.
FIRST-THE BRUTALITY
One cannot avoid the extreme brutality against Jesus in this movie. From the time just after the arrest when the soldiers drop him over a bridge and then jerk him to a stop by his chains, the brutality hardly subsides.
In the session with the Jewish leaders, he is slapped, punched, and spit upon.
When he is sent by Pilate to be flogged, the soldiers cannot get enough. Jesus is tied to a column and beaten almost beyond endurance by the laughing, bloodthirsty soldiers. Then they exchange their plain whips for instruments that tear his body to shreds, pulling entire chunks of flesh from his back and legs. After it seems they will never stop, he is cut free from the column and falls with his raw back parts against the pavement.
Then, horror of horrors, they start in with the lacerating tools on his front side and face.
By this time the violence has a deadening effect on the viewer. Shortly after, they place on his head a mass of sharp, woven thorns and shove them into his scalp.
When Jesus is forced to take the heavy cross upon his bloody back and drag it out of the city, he is almost senseless from the pain. Yet he is forced to go forward and is beaten repeatedly, especially when he falls. And he falls seven times. In one fall, the heavy cross not only falls on top of him, but lands on the thorns, pinning him to the ground and forcing the thorns deeper into his head.
The violence is already beyond gratuitous, but there is more. Because the drill holes in the cross are too far apart, his one hand is nailed in place, then his other arm is tied with a chain and yanked and stretched out of place until it reaches the drill hole and is nailed down.
Finally, the cross, which is laying on the ground, is lifted by one corner and flipped over so it falls of its own weight and lands jarringly on its face with Jesus on it.
THE BIBLE
How does this square with the Biblical record?
The arrest and crucifixion of Jesus is described in four New Testament books—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Here is what they tell us.
Bad enough, you think? I think so. But for Gibson’s Passion, it is not enough. Details are elaborated, invented, and exaggerated. To the point that—the torture is the message.
Certainly those times were cruel, and soldiers were not likely to be gentle, but contrast the treatment of Jesus in the movie with that of the two thieves. They also were crucified, but did not experience a fraction of the brutality.
If the brutal violence against Jesus is not taken from the New Testament, then what are its roots? I submit two.
1. Six hundred years before Jesus, Isaiah wrote to the nation of Israel. Among his writing is a passage with remarkable parallels to Jesus’ death. Since the crucifixion, Christians consider it to be a prophetic reference to the passion of Christ. Others go further to see it as a prediction of the historical details.
His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man, and his form marred beyond human likeness. . . But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. . . and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living. (Isaiah 52:14—53:8)
These images are confused by some as actual descriptions of Jesus’ experience.
2. Second is Anne Catherine Emmerich, an early nineteenth century German woman, who reported visions about the life of Jesus. She tells us far more about Jesus than the Bible does. Some consider her visions historically reliable.
Emmerich’s visions are a primary source for Gibson’s Passion. She supplies much of the detail. For example, the names of many of the characters are from her, and a number of significant non-biblical scenes are hers.
This, in itself, is not a problem. I have read scores of books on the life of Christ including many fictional narratives, and have seen numerous film versions. Writing a fictional account of the life of Christ requires adding context and detail.
However, Emmerich provides another element. Her visions suggest a sustained high level of violence in the passion of Christ. It is her theme. And it becomes Gibson’s theme.
He follows the outlines of her visions, and some of his violent scenes are entirely hers, such as:
Here is perhaps the primary genius for Gibson’s Passion.
THE BOTTOM LINE
What does it matter?
Countless Christian believers claim that Gibson’s Passion is biblical. I submit that it is wishful thinking.
But this is not the story to do it. It tells us very little about Jesus.
What is the point of this story?
Theologically and spiritually, the three things about Jesus that impact us today are his teaching, his voluntary death, and his resurrection. By focusing instead on the minor issue of the details of his pain, Gibson misses the point.
And he misses a tremendous opportunity.
Millions of people went to see The Passion hoping to gain some insight into Jesus, and they did not.
