This is part one of a two part review of the movie The Passion of the Christ. In the first part I am going to give a detailed scene-by-scene synopsis of the film. It will contain plenty of spoilers so if such things bother you, you may want to skip it. However, if you are at all familiar with the gospel stories you already know much of the story. Tomorrow I will follow the synopsis with a detailed analysis.

At 12:30 PM I met a friend in the foyer and we headed into the theater. When we arrived a few seats were filled in the 440 seat auditorium but we were still able to get seats right in the center, exactly where I wanted. Perfect.

At 1:00 the show began after only one G-rated preview (something about two tigers separated at birth - I think I’ll take a pass on that one). The auditorium was at about seventy five percent capacity.

Synoposis

The movie begins with the screen displaying the words of Isaiah 53:5 which reads “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” The camera moves in on Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. He is obviously in anguish, pouring out His heart to God. It is probably the best scene in the entire movie as we see Jesus wrestling with what He knows is coming. His humanity and deity appear to be almost in conflict; His humanity knowing that what is coming will be unbearable, but His deity knowing it must be done for those He loves.

Jesus ceases praying and goes to check on His disciples. Three of them are under a tree sleeping so Jesus rebukes them and returns to prayer. It is here that we are introduced to the female character that plays Satan. She tempts Him and tries to convince Him that no one can bear the wrath of God poured out against sin. She tries to tell Him that His sacrifice will be a waste and He will not succeed. Jesus calls upon His Father, refusing to believe the devil. He falls on His face praying and as He does so a serpent crawls from Satan. Jesus, after seeing this snake, stands up and crushes it under His foot.

Jesus is arrested by a small detachment of soldiers and led towards the city to face the Sanhedrin while his disciples flee. There is an excessive use of slow-motion in these scenes, especially when Peter slices off one of the soldier’s ears. As Jesus is arrested and brought into the city we see Mary wake up, knowing in her spirit that something is wrong. While Mary is sharing her fears with Mary Magdalene, John bursts in and tells the women that Jesus has been arrested.

As Jesus is dragged through the city He is struck and pushed by the crowd. At one point He is thrown from a bridge, and suspended from chains just above the ground He sees Judas cowering beneath. They make brief eye contact and as Jesus is hoisted back up a demon appears behind Judas. Jesus is led into the temple courtyard and before the Sanhedrin. Peter, Mary, Mary Magdalene and John are all present as Jesus is questioned. At this point there is an odd flashback where we see Jesus the young carpenter building a strange kind of table. Mary laughs at Him and scolds Him about going into the house with His apron on and without washing His hands. I cannot discern the meaning of this scene unless it is to show the love of Jesus and Mary, son and mother.

As the court scene continues we see Mary pray to God saying “It has begun Lord: so be it.” We also see Pilate’s wife tossing and turning in bed, moaning in terror as she has a bad dream.

The Sanhedrin asks what accusations people can bring against Jesus and person after person throws ridiculous, false accusations at Him. Finally some of the members of the council grow tired of the charade and say that Jesus is innocent and should not be punished. These dissenters are attacked and pushed out of the courtyard. Ciaphas takes leadership, allowing people to continue beating Jesus, charging Him with blasphemy and deciding that they will present Him before Pilate.

The movie’s attention turns briefly to Peter who is in the courtyard following the proceedings. A man recognizes him and screams out that He was a disciple of Jesus. Peter denies this as well as two subsequent charges. There is then a flashback to Jesus’ prediction of this very event. As Peter remembers this he runs, pushing his way through the crowd. He sees Mary and falls on the ground before her. She reaches her hand down to comfort him and he cries out to her, calling her mother and saying that he is unworthy because he denied Jesus. He falls on his face weeping.

Judas is shown trying to return the silver to the Sanhedrin. They refuse, of course, so Judas throws the money at them and runs outside. Some small children begin to tease him, telling him that he is cursed. Soon a crowd of children gathers around him, attacking and mocking him.

The movie returns to the courtyard, which by this time has been cleared. Mary walks slowly around the courtyard as if searching for something. Finally she falls with her face to the floor. The camera moves down through the floor to show that Jesus is chained immediately below her. He looks up, knowing she is there.

We return to Judas who by now is chased by a hoard of children as well as the character playing Satan. He finally frees himself of the children and then spies a rope tied around a dead, rotting animal which is crawling with maggots. He takes the rope and hangs himself.

By this time Jesus has been brought to Pilate’s palace. Pilate’s wife is speaking with her husband telling him that she has had dreams about Jesus and asking him not to let them kill Him. Standing in the courtyard Jesus sees a dove flying overhead. Pilate sees no reason to punish Jesus, and learning that He is from Galilee realizes that he can simply defer the decision to Herod. Jesus is dragged before Herod who is apparently in the midst of an orgy, with drunken men and prostitutes all around him. He asks Jesus who He is and asks Him to perform a miracle. When Jesus refuses to answer Herod labels him a fool and commands him to receive a fool’s homage.

Jesus is once again dragged before Pilate. Pilate and his wife converse about truth and we learn that Pilate is scared of rebellion, knowing that if a rebellion occurs Caesar will hold him responsible and have him killed. He has Barabbas brought before the crowd, asking who they would rather have freed. Barabbas is a crazy, disgusting man with wild hair and strange eyes who continually laughs hysterically. The crowd, of course, chooses Barabbas. Pilate then commands that Jesus may be beaten severely but not killed.

Jesus is dragged into a courtyard where we see a selection of implements used for punishments, ranging from poles and whips to clubs with nails in them. Mary, John, Mary Magdalene and Satan are all in the crowd watching. The scene is one of terrible brutality as Jesus is beaten again and again and again. The Roman soldiers are crazed with hatred and bloodlust, laughing and enjoying every stroke of the rod. Each blow is accompanied by sprays of blood and groans from Jesus. After 29 strokes (if I remember my Latin correctly) they put down their rods and pick up whips. When Jesus finally collapses they roll him over and begin to beat his arms, stomach and chest. Flesh is torn and blood flows freely. As she watches Jesus be beaten Mary whispers “My son, when, where, how will you choose to be delivered from this.” Pilate’s wife comes quietly into the courtyard and without making eye contact hands a white cloth to Mary. We also see the devil walking around carrying some sort of terrible, deformed child that I presume represents an evil spirit.

Finally Pilate’s deputy arrives and berates the soldiers for being too harsh with Jesus, reminding them that they are not allowed to beat him to death. Jesus is released from His chains and dragged from the courtyard. He has a robe placed on Him and a crown on thorns is pressed into His head. Mary walks to where He was beaten and begins to wipe up the blood with the cloth Pilate’s wife gave her. Mary Magdalene soon begins to help her. As Magdalene does so there is a flashback where she remembers falling on her face before Jesus and receiving His forgiveness.

Jesus is once again brought before Pilate and there is the first of many flashbacks to the Last Supper. Pilate, realizing that to protect Jesus means there will be a rebellion, washes his hands and tells Caiphas that he can kill Jesus as Pilate will have nothing more to do with it.

Jesus, knowing that the die is now cast, prays to God saying “I am your servant and the son of your handmaid.” In contrast to His present situation is a flashback that shows Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem just five days earlier where He was received with great joy and celebration.

Jesus is forced to carry His cross and He slowly drags it through the city streets, all the while receiving blow after blow from Roman whips. Mary, John, Mary Magdalene and Satan follow the crowd. There is another flashback where Mary remembers a time when Jesus was a child and He fell to the ground. She was able to help Him then but realizes there is nothing she can do now. She runs to His side and tells Him she is there. Jesus looks at her and says “Behold I make all things new.” He then stands up and continues carrying the cross.

Finally the cross becomes too heavy to bear and Simon, a bystander, is forced by the Romans to help Him. At one point Jesus falls and a woman from the crowd rushes to Him. She gives Him a cloth which He uses to wipe His face. As He gives it back the woman kisses it and is then immediately thrown out of the way by belligerent soldiers. Simon, angered by the continual beatings, screams at the soldiers, threatening to stop carrying the cross if they don’t stop punishing Jesus. Though they laugh at him, they do stop. Simon helps Jesus back up and they link arms, continuing to move up the hill. As they begin walking Jesus looks to the woman who is holding the cloth which contains a bloody likeness of Jesus’ face.

Jesus once again falls to his knees, unable to continue. The movie turns to a flashback of Jesus preaching the Sermon on the Mount. This flashback is important as we hear Jesus’ words about His death and how it is voluntary. No one has coerced Him into this awful situation - He does it willingly for those He loves. Jesus opens His eyes and sees his mother. As He sees her He finds the strength to stand up. There is another flashback to the Last Supper, and this time Jesus speaks about there being no greater love than a man who is willing to die for His friends. He also says that no one can come to the Father except through Him.

The crowd finally reaches Golgatha. The crucifixion scene is as bloody and disgusting as anything the big screen has ever seen. Blood spurts as the nails are pounded into His hands. Bone crunches as spikes are driven through His feet. As the cross is lifted we see Mary releasing a handful of stones she had clenched in her hands. I am not sure of the significance of this except to suggest it is an act of surrender on her part as she comes to peace with Jesus’ death.

Ciaphas stands before Jesus and mocks Him, saying that Jesus should prove He is the Messiah by coming down from the cross. One of the thieves crucified next to Jesus believes and receives assurance that He will be with Jesus in paradise while the other mocks. As he mocks a raven lands on his cross and begins to attack his face, tearing out pieces of flesh. The Roman soldiers quickly drive off the bird, but not before it has left some ugly wounds on the man’s face.

Darkness settles over the land. It is not sunless darkness but stormy darkness with thick clouds covering the sun. As the wind picks up and seemingly a storm brews, the crowd leaves until only Mary, John and Mary Magdalene are left with a small detachment of soldiers. Mary walks towards Jesus but is blocked by a soldier. She stares at him until he steps aside. Mary then walks to Jesus and kisses His feet. Jesus cries out “I thirst” and the Romans lift a wet sponge to Him which he tastes and then rejects.

Mary, looking at Jesus in anguish says “Flesh of my flesh, heart of my heart, my son, let me die with you.” Jesus ignores her plea, instead pointing her towards John and saying “Behold your son.” To John He says “Behold your mother.”

After a few camera angles showing Jesus hanging on the cross He cries out “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” A few seconds later He says “It is accomplished.” Finally Jesus says “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit” and His head falls to His chest. Immediately there is an earthquake that tears the temple in two, leaving a huge crack through the midst of it.

As the earthquake rolls on the Roman soldiers panic. They immediately set about making sure the other two condemned men die quickly, breaking their legs. The centurion commands that they ensure Jesus is dead, so a soldier pierces Jesus’ side. As he does so a spray of blood and water comes forth and the man kneels reverently in this torrent of blood. Suddenly we see Satan screaming in anguish. This is a rather detached scene and I am not sure of its significance, though I suspect it indicates that Satan realized he had defeated himself (or herself in the case of this movie).

Jesus is lowered from the cross and into Mary’s arms by John and the soldiers. The camera alternates between this scene and one of the crown of thorns and the blood-covered spikes lying on the ground together. Finally the camera stays with Mary, slowly pulling back and fading out.

The next scene shows the stone in front of Jesus’ tomb being rolled away. The camera moves up and we see Jesus, alive again, smiling. He stands up and as he does so we see a hole in his hand.

And that is how the movie ends. The final scene lasts only a few brief seconds.

As the lights came up I immediately began to look around the crowd to see how people were reacting. There was a small smattering of applause (far less than at the end of The Return of the King, the last movie I went to) and most of the people immediately stood up, put their coats on and left. I quickly walked out into the hall to study the faces of those who saw the movie. I did not see a single red or tear-filled eye. The crowd headed towards the bathroom and then the door. My wife attending a screening this evening with our church and said many more people were emotional with several openly weeping. I cannot say which reaction is more the norm.

That is a brief synopsis of the film covering all of the major scenes. Tomorrow I will write a detailed analysis. If you have specific questions you would like me to address please email me or post a comment and I will attempt to answer them.

I have seen The Passion of the Christ and will have a full review later this evening. I have a prior committment this evening but will post the review when I return.

Reviews are finally starting to pour in for The Passion of the Christ. I have been looking forward to reading some of the reviews since to this point the vast majority of people who have seen the movie are either Christians or are at least religious. They are hardly able to objectively judge and evaluate the movie. Now, though, we have hoards of secular reviewers who will be writing reivews.

The site I go to for movie reviews is Rotten Tomatoes. They do not actually review the movies, choosing instead to simply compile a list of other reviews and assign them either a positive or negative score (a fresh tomato or a rotten tomato). With just a glance you can see how the average reviewer is rating the movie. As of this moment in time the site has compiled 25 reviews, 14 of which are fresh and 11 rotten.

Some of the rotten reviews are definitely missing the point of Jesus’ life and death. They complain that the violence outweighs the message of Jesus’ life which is to love oneanother. That, of course, was not his main message at all. If it was I don’t think he ever would have been crucified. Certainly the overwhelming complaint is that the violence is over the top, far beyond even the worst horror movie.

I have long wondered what the impact of this movie will be on non-Christians. As Christians we may see the movie and have our souls stirred simply because we have the Spirit indwelling us. Unbelievers do not have the Spirit so I wonder if they might not just see another murder…another man dying in a world where we see death on the big screen all the time. I found the following quote interesting as it addresses that point. “A film so narrowly focused as to be inaccessible for all but the devout.” Another reviewer said “With a pervasive NC-17 level of gore, it’s simplistic and relentlessly pedantic but effective with its single theme that Christ suffered. But where is its spirituality?” I wonder if all the hype from the Christian world about this movie being an incredible outreach opportunity will fall flat and this will instead be another inreach opportunity.

Another possibility is that many unbelievers will be moved and stirred by this movie - but only those that the Spirit is beginning to work in. Perhaps for them this will be one more tool God uses to draw people to Himself.

A friend bought me a ticket for the 1 PM showing tomorrow, so 24 hours from now I will finally be able to draw my own conclusions. I read all four gospel accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion and intend to do so another two or three times before the show so I will be able to report back on what is the gospel and what is clearly not.

Thanks to Maryanne for sending me a link to an excellent article in The Banner of Truth entitled Five Reasons Not To Go See The Passion of Christ. The author (Andrew J. Webb) focuses on the movie’s origins, script, theology, medium and main character. Many of his points are similar to ones I have been thinking, praying and writing about. Here are some pertinent quotes:

This is in marked contrast to the Jesus film, which is unabashedly Protestant and Evangelical in its production and message and which has been widely used in evangelizing Roman Catholics. It is largely for this reason that the Jesus film has not been utilized or endorsed by Roman Catholics. By contrast, The Passion of Christ has already proven its effectiveness as an evangelism tool in producing Catholic conversions and encouraging Catholic devotion.

For modern evangelicals to embrace a vehicle that is inauthentic in order to achieve evangelistic ends indicates a serious decline in faithfulness.

Lest we forget, the greatest torment that Christ experienced on the cross was not caused by the nails driven into his flesh, but in his being made “sin for us” and vicariously suffering the righteous punishment of the Father in our place. Even the worst physical torments inflicted by the Sanhedrin and the Romans upon Jesus were nothing by comparison to the anguish of having the sins of all the elect imputed to Him and making full satisfaction for them.

The means that God has ordained for the transmission of the Gospel, was neither drama, imagery, nor even “lectures” - it is preaching.

My son is three years old and has recently begun to become aware of the existence of death. At only three he has far greater capacity to wonder and to ask questions than he does to understand. This makes it difficult and as his father I struggle to try to share with him what death is and how something so terrifying and so final can be made an occasion of wondrous joy.

Today while my wife was at a Bible study, Nick and I settled down to watch a movie. It was a children's movie and at the end one of the central characters died. I watched Nick as this event unfolded. I could see his face fall and his eyes narrow as the character died. I saw tears form as he watched the loved ones gather around their fallen friend. He turned to me and with tears spilling down his cheeks sobbed, "Daddy, why did he have to die? When is he going to come alive again?" I pulled him to my lap and reminded him of heaven and told him that people who love God go to heaven when they die. I told him how heaven is a place where there is no more death, no more fighting and no more sadness. I told him that it is a place where we can always be with God and where boys and their daddies can be together forever. He tried so hard to understand, but how is a three-year old mind supposed to understand a concept as large and as unnatural as death?

And so we sat on the couch and we wept together. Nicky put his head in my lap and cried about something he could not understand and something he was not created to understand. Daddy stroked his hair and wept for this world - a world which was created for us to live in for all eternity with our Maker, but a world that has been defiled by death. I wept that a three-year old needs to concern himself with death; with things he cannot and should not understand.

I asked Nicky if I could pray with him and wiping the tears from his cheeks he said "yes" and closed his eyes. So I asked God if he would help Nicky understand that death is not something to be feared if we love Him. I asked Him to help Nick learn to love Him more and more. And of course I asked Him to give Nicky peace so that his young mind wouldn't be troubled by concepts too difficult for him to understand.

I wish I could explain to my son about the death of death accomplished through the death of Christ. I wish I could make him understand that if he places his trust in Jesus he has nothing to fear in life or in death. I hope, I trust, I pray that such an understanding will come in due time, so that when someday Nick's eyes close in death, he and I will be reunited in that place where death shall be no more, where there will be no more mourning, pain or sorrow and where God will have already wiped away the tears that filled his little eyes.

Should this make me nervous? I know I sometimes have the tendency to “throw out the baby with the bath-water” but quotes like this do not do much for my confidence in the effects this movie will have: “After both of The Passion screenings I attended, the Protestant women talked about identifying with Mary as a mother who was watching her child suffer. From whatever point in his spirituality Gibson’s treatment of Mary is springing, it is touching deeply the maternal impulse in his viewers.” Now I’ll admit that Protestants do tend to shy away from Mary, but Gibson’s Marian theology is definitely far beyond what the Bible teaches. He calls her “a tremendous co-redemptrix and mediatrix.”

This article (also at Christianity Today) speaks more about Mel’s faith, focusing a good deal of attention on his use of Anne Catherine Emmerich’s Dolorous Passion of Our Lord.

Interestingly, neither article seems to point out the obvious error (heresy) of trusting in Mary as a co-redemptrix. What an indication of the state of Protestantism that such error raises no warning flags!

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Matthew 4:18-22

For such a simple analogy Jesus’ words about making His disciples fishers of men seems to be misunderstood by so many people. I don’t know how many times I have heard illustrations based on this passage that go something like this:

“We need to be fishers of men. To be effective fishermen we need to have a good fishing rod, we need to use the right kind of bait and we need to reel those unbelievers in!” Admittedly that is simplified, but is indicative of the sort of comment we often hear in connection with this story which is told in both Matthew and Luke.

This passage presents a great example of the value of the inductive method of Bible study (or grammatical-historical hermeneutics). If we impose our modern-day presuppositions about fishing onto this passage we walk away with an interpretation that is foreign to the meaning Jesus intended. Now I am not going to deconstruct this passage today - I am just going to provide some of the ideas Jesus was hoping to convey.

The men Jesus called to be His disciples in this passage were fishermen. Their method of catching fish did not involve rod and reel, though that method certainly did exist in that time and is even mentioned in the Bible (Matthew 17:27). When we think of fishing we often picture a young man sitting on the bank of a creek with a piece of grass in his mouth, snoozing as his line bobs in a river, but this is not the picture of fishing we see in the Bible. Rather, these first-century fishermen used a net to catch their fish. This method involved toss a net overboard and slowly dragging it along, hoping to trap fish in the net. The net would then be hauled back onto the boat, emptied and dropped overboard once again. They would often have to spend time repairing and cleaning their nets. They did not use bait, but rather relied on time and repetitive effort to bring them their catch. This was a time-consuming and often frustrating process. In Luke’s parallel passage we can see some of this frustration. Jesus tells the men to let their net down and Simon answers “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!” The men had spent all night fishing and had nothing to show for their work.

When we understand that Jesus was referring to this difficult, laborious process, we see that there are several meanings we can draw:

• Jesus was referring to hard work! Evangelism is difficult work and demands that we apply ourselves to it.
• Jesus was referring to a lack of results. Evangelism is often characterized by lack of results, yet we cannot let the results dictate our enthusiasm and motivation.
• Jesus was referring to obedience. Reading further in the passage in Luke we see that Peter obediently let down his nets at Jesus’ bidding and immediately hauled in a huge catch - a catch so great that he had to call for help to bring it all in. When we are obedient God will use our work for His purposes.
• Jesus was referring to dependence. Simon’s bountiful catch had nothing to do with his skill or his technique. He had spent the entire night using all of his own ability and had nothing to show for it. But when he realized that his own ability could do nothing God was able to use him.
• Jesus was referring to God’s plan. God’s plan is that many come to repentance, not just a few.

There is great depth of meaning in this passage. When we interpret it through first century eyes rather than through our perspective we can see the meaning that Jesus intended.

My reading in Proverbs today seemed to fit nicely with Valentine’s Day. Proverbs 12:4 reads “An excellent wife is the crown of her husband.” Naturally my thoughts today tend towards my wife anyways and this seemed to be confirmation of what I already felt. I then turned to the very end of the book where we find a poem dedicated to the virtuous wife. We do not get the full impact of this poem when reading it in english as in the original language it is an acrostic with each verse beginning with the next letter of the hebrew alphabet.

In Proverbs 31 I read “[the worth of a virtuous wife] is far above rubies…the heart of her husband safely trusts her…she opens her mouth with wisdom and on her tongue is the law of kindness…she shall be praised.” Her reward shall be this: “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also and he praises her: ‘many daughters have done well, but you excel them all.’”

I am blessed to have a wife that is worth the world to me. I trust her with all my heart and look to her for wisdom and kindess. Though my children are young, they already praise her for being a wonderful, godly mommy. Her love keeps our family cemented together and I do believe that of “many daughters” she truly does excel them all. I thank God for Aileen continually - for her godliness, wisdom, industriousness and love.

Newsweek is featuring a cover article on The Passion of the Christ in their current issue. You can read the full text of the article here. From a Christian perspective the article shows terrible theology and a view of the Bible that strips it of its inspired origin. Though deeply flawed, the article makes for an interesting read. An example:

Amid the clash over Gibson’s film and the debates about the nature of God, wheth-er you believe Jesus to be the savior of mankind or to have been an interesting first-century figure who left behind an inspiring moral philosophy, perhaps we can at least agree on this image of Jesus of Nazareth: confronted by violence, he chose peace; by hate, love; by sin, forgiveness--a powerful example for us all, whoever our gods may be.

An interesting article on Yahoo News which you can read in full here.

Though not a single television ad has aired for “The Passion of the Christ” two weeks before its release, Mel Gibson (news)’s depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus is eclipsing mainstream Hollywood fare in audience interest…Total awareness for “Passion” is 60%, but much higher among men and women over 25, where it tops 80%. First-choice ratings for men and women over 25 is 23%, while it is rated around 10% for those under 25.

Though industry execs anticipate a big opening, they disagree on how it’ll play long term…One exec predicted, “I personally think it’s going to do $100 million-plus.”…Others, though, are more cautious. “I don’t think there will be any repeat business,” said one. “Everybody will say I’ve done my religious duty after they’ve seen it one time.”