| The Passion of The Christ The film The
Passion of The Christ has attracted a great deal of
attention. In From
Elizabeth Bussmann I
don’t often go to the cinema, but I felt I should go
and watch the Passion. I was very apprehensive because I
don’t like a lot of violence. However, I have
seldom sat so riveted to the screen and when I came out
of the cinema I felt utterly drained, almost in shock! I
certainly didn’t want to discuss it with anyone
immediately and was relieved to find that others felt the
same. We did want each other’s company however, and
so we went home to a good cup of tea and were gradually
able to share our feelings a little, which was in itself
a rewarding and enriching experience. That
night I read through all the Gospel accounts of the
Passion and discovered things I had previously not
particularly noticed! Although the film was not the same
as I had in my mind, ‘seen’ things, I feel it
was an extremely realistic account of what is recorded in
our Bibles. I was left with a deep sense of sadness that
people have not changed over the years. The senseless
enjoyment at making another human being suffer like an
animal, the taunting and ridicule, the blind support of
the crowd as they shouted ‘crucify him’, all
these things are still with us today. But the
brutal treatment of Jesus contrasted sharply with the
flashbacks to moments in Jesus’ life and ministry
– Jesus as a child, as a young man taking pride in
his work as a carpenter, his relationship with his mother
and with his disciples. These aspects were also vividly
and unforgettably portrayed. There are
many scenes which will stay with me, but the one which
touched me most was when Peter struck off the ear of one
of the soldiers, Malchus, (I had somehow not taken in his
name before and was struck at how personal it made the
whole event) while he was defending Jesus. Jesus’
picks up the bloody ear (why have I always imagined it to
be bloodless?) and gently replaces it and there is no
trace of what had happened. Malchus is struck speechless,
stunned and disbelieving, and yet believing. You could
almost see his life changing in that short space, it
seemed as though time stood still. His life was certainly
never going to be the same again! Steve
Chalke has described the film ‘as a tonic to my
soul’ and I can relate to that. Despite a cocktail
of emotions I felt truly refreshed, renewed and utterly
grateful for all that God has done in my life and in
others. I believe Malchus’ life was transformed by
his meeting with Jesus, just as mine has been. What
he experienced was a very dramatic experience of
God’s grace, changing him completely. God’s
grace was the theme of this year’s Spring Harvest.
Each day we explored God’s overwhelming outpouring
of goodness to all his creation and tried to grasp
something of its magnitude and wonder and what it means
for each one of us personally and corporately. But that
is what the film is about – God in his great love
for us – sending his Son to be the bridge back to
him and his Son, Jesus Christ, willing to die on the
Cross to do just that. How can we not be filled with
gratitude. The grace
of God is indeed an invitation, calling us as
participants and partners into the mission of God with a
breathtaking message for a grey world. God’s grace
touches our Monday mornings as well as our Sunday
mornings, shaping our approaches to work, service and
prayer. Mel
Gibson says about his motivation for making the
film’ ‘I
want people to understand the reality of the story. I
want them to be taken through an experience.’ He
certainly succeeded with me!
From
Keith Ashford I
wasn’t going to see Mel Gibson’s film. Not
at first I wasn’t. I’d heard a bit about
it; and had chanced to see a couple of brief advance
extracts on TV. It seemed it would be excessively
violent; and while I am not a stranger to film violence
my attitude to it over the years has changed. So I
wasn’t going to see it. Why would I want or
need to see a graphic depiction of the brutal treatment
of the man I have learned to recognise as the Saviour of
the World? It happened. I know it happened.
So why would I need to see it portrayed in all its gory
detail? What was that going to do for my belief in
Him? So, when
it was first shown over the weekend when St Luke’s
and others were giving away free tickets I didn’t
go. But I still wondered if I should see it. Why?
Because I felt I should have an informed view of the most
publicised attempt I can recall since Billy Graham’s
crusades a few decades ago to reach out and bring the
Good News to a mass audience of believers, un-believers
and those uncertain or (as I was then) just plain
disinterested. What
clinched it for me was Chris Morgan-Jones’ personal
view published on the reverse of our Notices for Palm
Sunday. If Chris – a patently peace-loving and
caring man – could steel himself to see the film so
that he would be able to take an informed view despite
his convictions and reservations about film
violence– then surely so could I ? So I
went. On my own during the second week it was shown
in I do
think it was a very brave film. Any venture seeking
to raise the profile of the Christian faith is almost
setting itself up for criticism and rejection, but I
think it worked on many levels. I suspect much of
the content was heavily researched and that great effort
was made to depict the place and times with authenticity.
The selection of actors not widely known helped to avoid
distraction by comparing performances past and present or
focussing on the appeal of star performers. The
exclusive use of Latin (?) and Hebrew (?) for the
dialogue and the use of English sub-titles throughout was
a great aid to concentration and focus, using many
well-known passages from biblical text. I applaud
the efforts of St Luke’s and others to ensure that
the real Easter story and its central message was
extended to as wide an audience as possible and am quite
sure from those reactions I have heard about that it
provoked a lot of thought on the part of believers and
non-believers alike. I think these sorts of
initiative are vital to achieving a resurgence of the
Christian Church, so I think the whole venture –
both the making of the film and its promotion here in With
these caveats I nevertheless commend it for viewing by
all serious students of the Christian faith.
An
interview published in the May edition of Outlook, the In March
a group of churches in and around ‘Undoubtedly’
says one of the church leaders involved, the Revd. Lee
Townend, Vicar of All saints, Loose. ‘We
gave away many hundreds here in this parish alone,
largely to church members who wanted to take two or three
of their non-churchgoing friends and neighbours to see
the film,’ he said ‘and the feedback is that
many were visibly, deeply moved. ‘Our
objective was to get people thinking and talking about
faith and the word-of-mouth response so far is that is
what is happening. Several people who went as guests have
already expressed an interest in taking things further,
so we’ve brought forward an Alpha Course planned for
the Autumn. We’re also planning an open evening for
people to ask questions raised by seeing the film’. Resulting
from the ticket distribution All Saints, Loose, now has
more than 200 new ‘contacts’ who will be
invited to Alpha and the Open Evening. ‘What
I hoped was the film would raise the profile of Jesus
– and there’s no doubt that has worked’ he
said. ‘Our congregation for the hour’s devotion
before the cross on Good Friday was treble last
year’s number – and looking around at least a
third were new faces. Now you can call that coincidence
if you like, but…’ he said. Lee has
spoken to other church leaders in the area who all report
similar experiences. Loose ‘I
don’t know what Mel Gibson’s motivation was for
making this film – if it was to shock, it certainly
did that; if it was to get people talking and thinking,
it has done that too!’ he added. The long
term effects of the film – and the
The
Passion of The Christ cost $30 million to make. So far
the worldwide gross income earned by the film is $400
million. |