Commentaries
on The Passion of the Christ
Ponderings
on The Passion
by Mark
Beckwith
It
is classical medieval theology. Jesus offers himself as
an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. That is
the underlying theme of The Passion of the Christ,
and to his credit, Mel Gibson’s film is congruent
with this medieval message, which still casts its influence
over vast swaths of the Christian landscape. From the opening
scene in the Garden of Gentleman, where Jesus nearly implodes
in anguish over his decision to take on the burden of humanity’s
wickedness, through his brutal treatment during the rest
of the film, there is the clear implication that the more
suffering Jesus can endure, the more sins he will atone
for--and the more mercy God will have on us. It is often
referred to as ‘redemptive suffering’--since
so much punishment has been visited on Jesus, God will
withhold punishment on us.
“That’s
not it!” I shouted to myself as I watched Jesus get
up after having received forty lashes in the movie, only
to receive forty more from more vicious implements of punishment. “That’s
not it!” I murmured to my friend as Jesus got to
his feet, freely and willingly choosing more suffering
so he could extract a few more sins from the human heart. “It’s
not atonement. That’s not what the Passion (the story,
not the movie) is about.”
So
if not that, then what? I was hard-pressed to come up with
an alternative, because the medieval message of atonement
still echoes in my soul, and the film was so effective-–with
its lighting, camera work and use of subtitles--in reinforcing
a Passion perspective that has been the norm for more than
a thousand years.
After
a few days, I was reminded of a biblical paraphrase attributed
to Pierre Tailboard de Char din (1881-1955), a Jesuit priest
and paleontologist devoted to Christian evolution. Tailboard
reworked John 3:16--"God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten Son … "--changing it
to “God so loved the world that he planted the Christ
seed so deep in nature that, over time, it evolved into
the person of Jesus of Nazareth-–whose life, death
and resurrection gave new life to the Christ seed in others.” From
this perspective, Jesus came into the world as a giver,
not as one who takes away (the sins of the world). His
life and ministry were given to humanity as a gift by God,
who had already established himself as an extravagant giver.
The
gift Jesus so deeply desired to pass on was the gift of
life, love, hope and freedom. And Jesus knew in his wisdom
that he would certainly have to suffer and die because
the world didn’t want these gifts. Individuals wouldn’t
easily be able to handle unbridled life and freedom (Jesus’ disciples
were certainly testimony to that); and principalities and
powers wouldn’t be as able to manage and control
people whose lives were marked by love and hope. And so
Jesus suffered because he knew that humanity would reject
his precious gift. But Jesus was so committed to passing
on the gift that he died in the process.
Jesus
and God mysteriously worked together to create Easter-–the
most extravagant gift ever. And we have been struggling
with that gift ever since – from simply receiving
it to trying to twist it into something that fits our agenda.
Copyright ©2004 Mark Beckwith
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