(yes, this is going on and on...but hey, it's lent, right? *smile* )

Since The Passion of the Christ is in theatres...part 6

[noticed on AKMA's Random Thoughts]

When I pre-reveiwed the movie, I cited the absence of heart of the gospels from Gibson's Passion. I was wrong, insofar as Gibson does introduce some very brief flashbacks to Jesus' ministry, but I was right that one would never develop from those short scenes any sense of the Jesus of the gospels. Jesus heals the Roman soldier's ear, but we see no program of healing; Jesus utters pithy sayings, but we see no career of teaching in parables or of wisdom teaching; the Jesus who suffers through this Passion doesn't offer us a sense of what the suffering is all about. The Gospels show little interest in abstract "sin", and great interest in the shape of a life that follows Jesus. Gibson shows little interest in the contours of Christian living, and a genius's obsessive fascination with Jesus' remediation of "Sin".

At the end of the film, I was shaken and drained. I earnestly hope I will never again see such harrowing scenes of brutality. My appreciation of the physicality of the crucifixion has increased tremendously. My anger at the way that Christians casually emphasize general Judaic responsibility for Jesus' horrible death, while they trivialize or shrug off Rome's blame, has grown also. My sense of the historic embroideries of the Passion tradition has modulated from detached curiosity to engaged fascination and repulsion. My faith, such as it is, was perhaps least affected by the experience; what I saw this afternoon involves my feelings more than my understanding of who God is.

--- from The Mystery of The Passion at AKMA's Random Thoughts