said the scourging and crucifixion were
overdone. I admit, watching the entire ordeal was very hard to
take, but was it overdone? I say, “no.” The Romans perfected
the art of torture. Paul described in Philippians 2:8 how
“Jesus humbled himself and became obedient to death--even
death on the cross!” I Corinthians 1:18 tells us “the message
of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to
us who are being saved it the power of God.” These vivid
moments in the film gave me a greater appreciation for such
verses. Living in the 21st century, we are far
removed from the violent days when Rome ruled the world. We
know they happened, and yet, part of our understanding is
missing, because we haven’t witnessed anything like it first
hand.
One very interesting aspect of the film was the presence of
demons. Judas in particular was tormented by these demons.
Though a little uncomfortable to us, this aspect emphasized
scriptures such as Ephesians 6 that speak of our spiritual
warfare.
One major character of the movie was Jesus’ mother, Mary. I
had always wondered how Mary felt. Did she try to get to the
Sanhedrin Court? Was she able to witness the questioning? We
are introduced to her as she is awaken by what I call a
mother’s sixth sense that her child is in trouble. At the
moment she wakes, John rushes in to report Jesus has been
taken. Mary says, “It has begun.” How much did she know and
understand? The scriptures are silent on this question. I was
also interested to note, Mary was not portrayed as deity. This
was especially interesting since Mel Gibson is Catholic. She
was simply a mother trying to be as close as possible to her
son to give Him what support she could. I found I could
identify with her, because twelve years ago, I watched my own
son die. Perhaps, she and I shared some of the same motherly
emotions. At times, I was upset with myself because I felt
more of her pain than the pain of Jesus. One scene of Mary and
her companions bothers me. After Jesus is scourged, Pilate’s
wife brings Mary towels to wipe up the blood that was spilt.
Was Gibson trying to portray something here about Pilate’s
wife who knew Jesus to be a Holy man and didn’t want her
husband to have anything to do with him? Or was this something
Catholic? I have tried to research this aspect but have found
no answers.
Another interesting character is Pilate. The actor
portrayed well the quandary Pilate found himself in. He was
aware of the consequences of either releasing or executing
Jesus. At the same time he was, concerned with his wife’s
fears. Pilate’s line of questioning and actions followed
John’s account.(18:28 ff.) I thought it was very well done and
different from other movies depicting the same character.
I was very moved when Jesus said more than once on the
cross, “Father, forgive for they don’t know what they are
doing.” This agrees well with the original Greek text.
The journey to Golgotha was very long and things happened
along the way, I wondered about. Did Jesus really fall seven
times as made that journey? It is obvious He wasn’t able to
carry His cross because Simon of Cyrene was compelled to do
it. Did Mary finally get to see Him up close at this time? Did
the crowd beat on Him when He fell? However, historically we
know Jerusalem was built like a maze and it took much time to
get to the hill. In my research I did find at,
http://www.family.org, the
woman who wiped Jesus’ face was the Catholic saint Veronica.
I have heard it rumored Gibson didn’t want to appear in the
film. However, the rumor states it is Gibson who puts the
nails in the hands of Jesus, symbolizing he nailed him to the
cross. This part of the film did convict me. My sins nailed my
Lord and Savior to the cross. I made my Savior suffer. I
caused God to turn His back on His only begotten Son.
The sky darkened, the earth trembled and the curtain was
torn into revealing the Holy of Holies for all to see. The
scene that spoke volumes to me was the single tear which fell
from the sky before God turned His back on His son. It gripped
my heart because many times, I have felt God is far away from
me. He doesn’t care about what is going on in my life. But
that tear symbolized to me that God does watch over us and He
hurts when we hurt and He rejoices when we rejoice and He
wants me back home with Him for eternity.
The production wasn’t perfect but nothing man does is. I do
know that partaking of the Lord’s Supper is more special and
meaningful to me now. The cross is dirty. But why did it take
the silver screen to convict my heart even deeper? Again, I
think it is because we are so far removed from the time when
Jesus walked on this earth.
Should children see the film? I think if you have that
question, you need to see the film first and then make the
decision about your children seeing it. It is graphic and it
is violent. But the real graphic and violence is the fact it
is not fiction. This really happened.
If you have further questions concerning the physical
aspect of what Jesus endured, I encourage you to visit this
website
