Previous Posts

better sooner than later
well, if you were holding your breath, go ahead and take a 'nother.
I decided to come back sooner than I had expected...meh, there's just something about the blog that keeps bringing me back...
okay, time for a real post now:

Passion
...at Jenna Powell's house these days. We just got back from seeing The Passion of the Christ. ...I feel a long post comin' on. Here we go...COMIN' IN JESUS-Y

I knew it was good from the beginning:
Right before the movie started, one of the pastors from Jenna's church came up to the front of the theater to give the obligitory "I'm going to preach on this" announcement. He also explained that the movie was the most accurate portrayal of Christ's last hours. Immediately I was a little disturbed. Having read about 15 different articles on Gibson's Passion play between Life of Christ and New Testament class, I knew that Mel Gibson brought his own interpretations and a hefty grande latte of graphic brutality with a double shot of Catholic doctrine/tradition into The Passion of the Christ. I had spent most of the day pondering how people were going to accept Mel Gibson's interpretation of the Bible plus. (plus meaning the visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich, 18th Century nun and "prophet")

There's a lot of ... stuff in this movie. It's pretty beefy. Afterward, I wonder what I would think if I weren't a Christian or if I didn't already have a firm grasp on Christ's purpose in his work on the cross... Would I have understand Jesus in a way that I hadn't before? I might understand the physical pain that he underwent. I probably did get a better grasp of Christ's humanity, which has been something that I've been forced to think about anyways in my classes recently.

But the more important question is: Would I understand WHY this happened? Why would Jesus endure such pain just to die. If he was the Son of God, why would God let himself be humbled like this? I really don't know if I would really "get" this movie if I didn't bring my presuppositions to it. If I didn't already believe that Jesus was the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah... If I didn't have some understanding of Hebrews chapters 5 and 7-10... If I didn't already know the Gospel message... What would I have gotten out of this movie? I really don't know.

"The Premier International Fan Website."
What's up with that? This website claims to be "for fans, by fans." How can you be a fan of that? I suppose the only way that works is because they qualify it with "for Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ," so at least people are being fans of the movie, not the actual beating and crucifixion of Christ. Still, this was a movie that I don't know if I ever want to see again. It definitely will not be one that I will buy, nor will I purchase any of the movie posters. I mean, I think that people (especially Christians) should definitely see this movie, but I don't believe that I ever want to ever see it again.

On the other hand, it was a vivid reminder of how Christ covered up our debt of sin. It gave me a renewed gratitude for that reason. hmm. Joel just said something echoing my own thoughts: "I came away from that movie disgusted with myself, not disgusted with the movie or the brutality...how brutal people can be...but with the wickedness of sin...even my own sin." The sin of the world was so bad that Christ would have to go through such pain and torture and death just to cover it up. That's crazy. Why would he have such mercy on us?

...something...
I dislike the fact that when I clicked on the opening link to this "Premier Fansite," an advertisment popped up for "The Book that Inspired Mel Gibson". Upon following this intriguing link, I found The Dolorous Passion, which is the book of the aforementioned Anne Catherine Emmerich, nun and "visionary". I'm not so sure that I'm real keen on the whole Dolorous Passion deal. Hint: dolorus = full of grief, sad, sorrowful, doleful, dismal. If this word is referring to Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross, I'd rather not think of it as many of these definitions, especially dismal. While it may have been a horrible experience, we should be immensely grateful for it, because had it not happened, there would be no perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 10:1-4,11-18), no New Covenant (Hebrews 9:11-15), no way to get to Heaven (John 14:6). Gibson, moved by Emmerich's account, did an excelent job on picking up the terrible-ness of the crucifixion, but what he did not pick up on was the rest of the Passion...the resurrection.

MOMENT OF (as they say in room 311) ZEN:
Jordan just discovered Luke 23:12, which both of us found pretty humorous for some reason. I won't expound any further--I guess you'll just have to read it.

other MOMENT OF ZEN:
During the movie, Caiaphus (I think) says something like: "How can you say that you can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days?" At this point, Caiaphus throws up 3 fingers to visually punctuate his sentance. Now--this would have been you're everyday ordinary 3-finger's-up illustration, but I noted that the actor actually used only two fingers and his thumb. Now--this would have been nothing more than an unusual arrangement of fingers in a normal gesture if it had not been for Dr. Bibza. For about the last week or so, this gesture has been known as Bibza's method. Anyways, so the movie's right in the middle of this serious part, and Jordan and I lean forward to look at each other, hold up our two-fingers-and-thumb, and promptly laugh.

"On a final note":
This morning I was perusing Jenna's local paper, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (sorry, I couldn't find the specific story to link to...) and on page 2A, I read the following:

For a few hours Wednesday, the movie database imdb.com gave credit where supreme credit was due. For The Passion of the Christ's writing credits, the dot.com listed, alphabetically: "Benedict Fitzgerald (screenplay), Mel Gibson (screenplay), God(novel)."

At the end of the movie, I dilligently scanned the credits, hoping that a similar crediting might have been in the official movie credits, but alas--YHWH was not even mentioned. I was saddened. Upon returning home, I thought to check IMDB to see if it was still up, but also alas--no mention. Again, I was saddened. Well, at least somebody gave credit where it was ultimately due. Then again, Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (fanclub in tow) certainly brings its very own interpretation, and perhaps all the credit is given where it is truly due.