Read the Book - The Passion of Christ

Mel Gibson's film ‘The Passion of the Christ’ passed the $200m (£108m) mark at the North American box office two weeks after its opening on 25 February, just short of the returns enjoyed by ‘The Return of the King’ at the same stage in its box office run. It has had extravagant things said about it. Here is one example:

"The faith of millions of Christians will become more fervent as Passion uplifts and inspires them. Passion will propel vast numbers of unreligious [sic] Americans to embrace Christianity. The movie will one day be seen as a harbinger of America's third great religious reawakening."  We’ll see.

Many films are judged according to how true they are to the book on which they purport to be based. Is this film true to the Bible? This is to ask more than whether it accurately portrays the last twelve hours of Jesus’ life. In fact I would suggest the film contradicts several vital Biblical principles:

• The film’s storyline regularly departs from the Biblical, historical account to follow Roman Catholic tradition. This quickly becomes obvious with the prominence given to Mary in different scenes. To quote from the film’s synopsis: ‘On Golgotha, Jesus is nailed to the cross and undergoes his last temptation – the fear that he has been abandoned by his Father. He overcomes his fear, looks at Mary, his Holy Mother, and makes the pronouncement which only she can fully understand, "it is accomplished"’.

Mel Gibson, who has described himself as a pre-Vatican II Roman Catholic, regards Mary as co-redemptrix and co-mediatrix (interview in ‘Christianity Today’, March 2004). As well as the Gospel accounts, the scriptwriters used as their source material taken from a book called ‘The Dolorous Passion of Christ’ by a mystic nun, Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824). The Pope reportedly liked the film, but the Vatican promptly issued a denial that he had seen it.

• Much of the film’s violence is unwarranted from Scripture. A secular reviewer in the USA wrote: ‘On a purely cinematic level, ‘The Passion of the Christ’ is a punishing film to behold... From the moment the first whip is cracked until the final nail of his crucifixion, every effort is made to capture the brutality of Jesus' torture. Watching this extended process… you can't help but feel like you've been beaten over the head by an over-abundance of graphic violence.’ Gibson’s Jesus was beaten by the Jewish and Roman guards almost every step of the way from the Garden of Gethsemane to the cross; he was dropped off a bridge while bound and chained; and when he was finally nailed to the cross, in sheer spite the executioners turned the cross over twice with Jesus nailed to it. The arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane features a drawn out fight scene in the film. By contrast in the Gospels it is limited to one blow with the sword.

The Gospel writers are very reticent about the sufferings of Jesus. There are no gruesome details. Having scourged Jesus, [Pilate] delivered him to be crucified (Matthew 27:26b).

The New Testament’s primary focus is not on Christ’s physical suffering. The Roman Empire of the first century AD crucified hundreds of criminals on any given day. These men were all subjected to slow, humiliating, agonising deaths. The death of Christ is unique because of who he was. He was not only man, but also God the Son.

The agony of the cross is that of One who faced abrupt and total separation from the love and fellowship of God the Father that he had known from all eternity. His aversion and agony were expressed in his cry from the cross: My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? (Mark 15:34). It is surely the suffering of his soul that is to the fore in the New Testament. We read in Luke’s account of Gethsemane that Being in agony he prayed more earnestly. And his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground (Luke 22:44). In Mark’s account Jesus began to be troubled and deeply distressed. Then he said to them my soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death (Mark 14:34).

Any representation of Christ is unhelpful, but the heart of the believer especially recoils from images of the suffering Christ. I remember how distressing it was when I saw for the first time a wayside shrine in rural France with a full-colour Christ on the cross. It was distasteful in an aesthetic sense, but I was repelled because the image cheapened Christ, demeaned him. The time of his humiliation is over, praise God! His sin-bearing work is finished. I have no wish to see it publicly re-enacted.

The Roman Catholic doctrine that the mass is a sacrifice in which Christ is repeatedly offered underlies Mel Gibson’s devotion and the ethos of the film. It is an unwarranted representation of his death. We have one proper means of remembrance - the Lord’s Supper. It is in this that we proclaim the Lord’s death. Do we welcome unbelievers to observe this Biblical setting forth of our Saviour?

4. Faith comes by hearing

The film will generate misplaced piety and spurious spiritual experiences. Jim Caviezel, the actor who plays Jesus, recounts ‘conversions’ among actors and crew during the making of the film. Every day mass was celebrated to prepare for filming. The whole experience was evidently a very moving one for those involved.

But the right response to the sufferings of Christ is not pity or pious devotion to some image of his suffering. On his way to the cross the Lord actually turned away sorrow and sentiment over the physical sufferings he was about to endure: Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children (Luke 23:28). The right response is heartfelt repentance and genuine sorrow for the sin that put Christ on the cross, with trust in his promise of forgiveness and new life.

In the New Testament we are given no descriptions of what Jesus looked like as a man. But we are told how three of his disciples glimpsed his heavenly glory on the mount of transfiguration. We beheld his glory (John 1:14). We are meant to rely on the apostles’ testimony concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. That which… we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes… and our hands have handled… we declare to you (1 John 1:1-3).

‘The Passion of the Christ’ was due to open in the UK on 26 March. Our God is sovereign and merciful. There will be gospel opportunities. Let us be ready to say, ‘Don’t watch the film, read the Book!’