Pastor's Message

April 2004

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” “Woman, behold your son; behold your mother.” “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” “I thirst.” “It is accomplished.” These words, often called the seven last words of Christ, were, in my opinion, the most poignant part of the film, “The Passion of the Christ.”

I felt that there was not enough about the life of Christ. The teachings, the example, the miracles were not part of the movie, except for a few “flash-backs” that were mainly shown during the crucifixion scene. But these flash-backs were powerful in spite of their brevity. Particularly touching was the flashback to Jesus teaching, “Love your enemies,” which occurred during the relentless beatings of his “trial.”

In typical Hollywood style, there was too much violence. Maybe because the public is so accustomed to seeing violence on TV and in the movies, the producers may have felt it was necessary to give us an overload of violence, just to get the point across that Jesus suffered terribly for our sins. In fact, very near the beginning of the film, the surprising satanic figure, in the Garden of Gethsemane, asked Jesus if he really believed that one person could suffer enough to provide justification for all the sins of humanity. So it may be that this overload of violence was to make that very point: Jesus suffered and died for my sins, and for the sins of all people. From another perspective, I saw so much violence carried out on the person of Jesus in the film that I could not believe that one person could really suffer so much and still have the strength to live, let alone carry a cross. But then, maybe that was another point worth considering - - this was not one man using all his strength, this was the Son of God, carrying the cross with the strength of God, to justify us all.

I was so disappointed with the very, very brief peek at the resurrection. Most of the scene was simply the stone being rolled away, and then we had a glimpse of Jesus again, alive, with the holes in his hands, and then it was over. Does this mean that Mel Gibson is planning a sequel? I give him a lot of credit for producing this film and sparking a tremendous amount of discussion of our Lord Jesus throughout our land, but this is just the first message (that Christ died for our sins). The good news is that he rose again. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:17 and 19, “If Christ has not been raised, then (our) faith is useless, and (we) are still under condemnation for (our) sins (and) we are the most miserable people in the world.” And then even more to the point, in verse 20 Paul writes, “But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again.” That is where we have our hope, that we will join Christ, not in death, but in being raised from death to life everlasting.

Maybe there needs to be two sequels – the first on the resurrection, and the second on the presence of Christ among us, within us, strengthening us through the power of the Holy Spirit to carry on his work. Oh, but that is not a movie, that is who we are. There is no need for this sequel – we are called to BE the sequel.

As the movie was about to be released, I saw some banners being sold to churches that said something like: “You have seen the movie. Any questions, call us.” I don’t know if I can answer everybody’s questions. But maybe we should have a sign that says, “You have seen the movie, now come and see the rest of the story.” Because the rest of the story is who we are. We will show the world the sequel as we celebrate Easter and we will show the world the sequel as we live as Easter people.

Watching the movie, “The Passion of the Christ” was a heavy experience. I don’t recommend it for everyone. But if you have the stomach for a film that clearly deserves to be rated “R” for the graphic scenes of violence, I do encourage you to go, because I think it might encourage you to live a life more worthy of Christ who died for us, and to live a life more worthy of Christ who lives for us and in us, through the power of the Holy Spirit. But if you see the movie or not, let’s celebrate what we know is the sequel. Let’s celebrate the resurrection. And most important, let’s be the sequel, let’s be the Body of Christ, alive and well in the world today.