“Those who largely reject the personal message of the Death and Resurrection are horrified by the judgmental aspect of it. . .”
I am a rarity amongst Christians right now. I haven't seen Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion of the Christ", yet. Not because I don't want to. I do. However, it just hasn't worked out for me to go, yet. So, I wanted to do this article for Grant before I saw it. I will follow up with one after I see it, as well.
The extreme reactions to the movie thus far come as no surprise to me whatsoever. The two essential reactions to the movie can be labeled quite nicely as "shock and horror"on the one side, and "staggering conviction"on the other. Which, of course, nicely mirrors the world's reaction to the gospel itself.
When the Good News is presented forcefully and convincingly to people you get pretty much the same reaction to it. Those who largely reject the personal message of the Death and Resurrection are horrified by the judgmental aspect of it . . . "You mean only CHRISTIANS get to heaven? Why that isn't fair at all!"For those who are convicted and accept the gift of the message, there is relief and tearful gratitude that often cannot be expressed in words.
Reminding you that I haven't seen the movie yet, I will say that the people whom I have talked to who DID see the movie have borne this theory of mine out quite nicely. People who have accepted Jesus' sacrifice are staggered all over again. They are brought face to face with the price that was paid for them all over again. Perhaps one of the most evil problems plaguing the Church in North America today is complacency. We are satisfied (many of us, but not all) with our worship and praise, we are satisfied with how things in our church buildings are run, and we are satisfied that "certainly everyone KNOWS the gospel now, they just have to choose for themselves!"Then, when a complacent Christian is brought face to face with a bloody and battered Jesus, it wakes him/her up with the same sort of shock that a 5-gallon bucket of ice cold water has at 3:30 am. Nasty, but it certainly works.
Those who reject that Jesus is necessary for salvation are simply horrified by the evident brutality and the "unnecessary glorification" of it. They are disgusted by the outright violence that serves no purpose (they would say) except to shock and create a guilt-laden atmosphere of mind manipulation. They revile Mel Gibson for creating a work that will "re-ignite the flames of anti-Semitism"forgetting for a moment that the New Testament message is that we all caused Jesus to die. And, they recoil from the absolutism of Christianity and the message that we follow.
So, while I haven't seen the movie yet, I am well versed in the subject and I have been watching the reactions of those who have seen it. Easter, or as I prefer Resurrection Sunday, is approaching quickly. What is your reaction?
Who do you say Jesus is? I say He is the One and Only Son of God.
My buddy Geoff lives in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, Canada. Images used to create graphics were provided by "The Passion of the Christ official site.