KingdomCome
Don Follis
Gibson film considered from cosmic perspective
Why is the Passion of Christ so important? send feedback to: editor@ivcf.org
On Feb. 25 (Ash Wednesday), millions will view Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of Christ.” The verse from the Gospel of John takes the pre-film controversy about Jesus’ crucifixion to a cosmic level. Writing about who killed Jesus, theologian Octavius Winslow said, “Not Judas, for money; not Pilate, for fear; not the Jews, for envy - but the father, for love!”
A few years back during Lent I attended a service at St. John’s Catholic Chapel on the University of Illinois campus where I listened to a young woman’s acappella rendition of the Negro spiritual “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”
Sitting in that cavernous chapel, I studied the Crucifix lifted high on the north wall. I mouthed the words, “Yes, I was there. Not as a spectator, but as a participant – a guilty participant; a participant who plotted, schemed, betrayed, bargained and handed Jesus over to be crucified.”
There was no way I could wash my hands of responsibility as Pontius Pilate had done before me. In that chapel I realized that before I could ever begin to see the cross as something done for me, I had to see it as something done by me. Theologian Canon Peter Green said, “Only the man who is prepared to own his share in the guilt of the cross may claim his share in its grace.”
Therefore, anyone pondering the death of Jesus on the cross must, in fairness, keep two complementary ways of looking at this historical event in tension. On a human level, Judas Iscariot turned Jesus over to the Jewish leaders, who gave him up to Pilate, who handed him to the Roman soldiers, who crucified him. Gibson’s film shows his rendition of these events, especially the brutal crucifixion.
But there’s another level, which might be easy to forget while viewing the Gibson film – the divine, cosmic level. God himself gave up his only son, and Jesus gave himself up too, to die for humankind. In fact, throughout the four gospel accounts Jesus repeatedly predicted his suffering and death. Moreover, he steadfastly set himself to go to Jerusalem to die there.
Jesus once said, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” But then dropping the metaphor he said, “I lay down my life voluntarily.” Thus, Jesus did not die as a martyr. He went to his death voluntarily, even deliberately. Anyone reading the public ministry of Jesus will discover that from the very beginning he consecrated himself to this very destiny.
The fairest way to view Gibson’s extremely explicit interpretation of the Roman crucifixion of Jesus, is to keep the human and cosmic views of the cross front and central. Theologian John Stott says Christianity demands we say both, “My sins sent him there, and his love took him there.”
The Apostle Peter brought the two truths together with this remarkable statement on the Day of Pentecost: “This man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law.”
As the Gibson film graphically exposes the cross as human evil, at the same time it is a revelation of the divine purpose to overcome the human evil thus exposed.
Understanding who killed Jesus is part of history. And yet, it is even more crucial to know why he died. While once conducting a chapel service at the Danville, Illinois, Correction Center one of the residents told me his sad story. He said he was once polluted by sin, and such a slave to the power of sin, he felt worthless, guilty and completely separated from God.
Quoting a verse from Romans 6:23, he said, “For the wages sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Waving his completely tattooed arms and smiling, he said the cross of Jesus brought him forgiveness, lifted his guilt, freed him from the penalty of sin and gave him a reason to live.
He knew Jesus was no longer writhing on the cross, but risen and alive, and waiting for him on the other side.
Copyright February 20, 2004 by the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, Champaign, IL 61820
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