People keep asking, “Should I go see the new Mel Gibson movie, The Passion of the Christ?”  And I guess the answer depends on what you are looking for in a movie.

If you like to see films which use great artistry, I will tell you that Gibson used all the proper story telling methods appropriately to communicate his point including foreshadowing & flashbacks, but that’s not a good reason to go see a movie.  If you like films that utilize creative shooting methods & great camera angles used to tell the story, it had all that too. And the way that Mary seemed to age years in just 2 hours was done so subtly, yet so convincingly… wow!  But that’s not a good reason to go see this movie.  If you are looking for a great spiritual warfare battle between all that is good and all that is evil, you’ll find Gibson’s film incredible.  He walks us through ongoing display of the demons that haunt each of us every day and our constant struggle between the positive & negative influences in our lives.  But even that isn’t the reason you should go see this film.  If you’re a Matrix fan & want to spend hours analyzing every hint, clue, & nuance of a film for hidden details that most movie-goers will skim right over, you’ll love this film.  It’s full of hints, clues & minute details that you can try to wrap your brain around for hours, but I wouldn’t even recommend you go for that reason. 

If you want to debate who really killed Jesus, don’t bother going.  This movie won’t answer that for you.  Gibson cleared that up pretty succinctly in his interview with Diane Sawyer when he said, “We all did.” 

The reason to go see this film lies in your own convictions about what you believe to be true about the world in which we live.  If you like your pretty little world, exactly the way it is, feel free to stay home and remain in it.   If you are open to questioning all the beliefs that make up who you are… if you are willing to say that you believe strongly that your convictions can stand up to a serious interrogation, then go see this film.  Whether you align yourself with Gibson’s belief in an almighty God, or if you think he is a fraud who is leading people astray, you will leave the theater with a lot to think about.

Gibson starts in Gethsemane showing Jesus, as He pleads with His father in heaven to take away the task that He was sent to carry out, but tempers His prayer with, “but not my will, but yours.”  Meanwhile a dark, hooded, genderless character is lurking nearby taunting Jesus, trying to discourage Him.   It asks Jesus if He really believes that one man can bear the full burden of all the sin of the world.  “No one man can carry this burden, I tell you. It is far too heavy.  Saving their souls is too costly. No one. Ever. No.”  And Jesus responds by ignoring it and praying for strength, quoting scriptures saying, “Father, you can do all things.”   This is just the beginning of an ongoing battle between good and evil.

After Jesus is taken captive we see several times where He impacts the life of someone along the road.  He heals a guard’s ear, rebukes his betrayer, locks eyes with Peter across a room, & carries His cross with an ‘innocent’ man.  All these times, you can see in the actors the same feeling of conviction we all get in our own gut when we are confronted by something.   Often times we know when we’ve done something wrong, but this conviction went deeper, beyond our sin, to the person who was confronting us with it, and having the grace to love us in spite of it.

We watch as Judas is tormented by the demons of his guilt, unable to shake them & driven to the point of death; as the governor holds a very intelligent debate with Jesus over the nature & origin of truth; as the citizens blindly follow & agree with the call for death of Jesus;  as this governor wrestles between what he knows is right & what will keep the peace in his town; and then, as he ceremoniously washes his hands of the whole matter, doing his best to justify his actions in light of his convictions, as he succumbs to the will of the people he governs.

We watch as the guards take zealous pleasure in the beating of a man whom they know little about.  The theater audience lets out a collective gasp as the guards put down one implement of torture, pain & punishment & reach for another, almost as if we were the ones being beaten.  We stare on thankfully as the governor’s assistant rides in, bringing a quick & decisive end to the beating, prolonging the prisoner’s life; and we look on with strange wonder as the governor’s wife absolves herself of the situation, bringing Jesus’ mother towels which she later uses to unceremoniously mop up the blood from the jail floor.

We are witness to the guards mocking Jesus in his cell; as their prick their fingers on the thorny rosebush crown they fashioned for this “king” before slamming & beating it onto his already bruised and bloodied head.  

As they march Jesus through the streets, there is an ongoing imagery as both Mary & the evil figure follow the procession.   Finally, Mary is able to rush to the side of her fallen Son to encourage Him, and instead of receiving her words, he speaks, reassuring & encouraging her.  

From the time the flogging begins until the final nails are pounded mercilessly into place, you watch as Jesus, is beaten, whipped, spit upon & tossed around, and all the while you keep thinking, “Okay, now it’s over.  Oh, wait, they haven’t crucified Him yet.”  Gibson allows the viewers brief escapes.   The flashbacks to times shared with His friends & His mother not only share meaning behind the abuse He is taking, but show a human side to the suffering Jesus experienced.

And as you watch this movie to the end, to see the tear fall from heaven, the curtain separating us from God’s holy place in the church torn in two, the temple shaken into ruin, the religious & government leaders questioning everything that happened in the last 12 hours & satan’s disgust with Jesus’ victory… it makes you wonder.

For centuries, we have held an ongoing debate.   Jesus was either a great man, perhaps a prophet, who was killed by the reigning authorities of His day for going against the teachings of those in power, or He was the son of the Living God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, sent to pay the death penalty for the sins of the world (Romans 6:23, Romans 3:23, John 3:16).  This movie will not answer that question.   It will only fuel the debate.   It will pose more questions in your mind, than it answers for you.   But after seeing this, you have to ask yourself what you believe, or do not believe, and why.   And until we begin to honestly answer that question for ourselves, nothing else in life matters. 

I have answered that question in my heart.  He died for me.   But He didn’t just die for me.   He REALLY died for me.  The only question left for me is am I willing, in light of that, to live for Him.