CreedFeed Community - The Passion Of The Christ

I got this article from Carrie(hotforscott) and I thought I'd share it with you :)

I rec'd this by email and I thought you might like to read it. Carrie

From: Jody Dean, Dallas/Ft. Worth CBS news anchor

There've been a ton of emails and forwards floating around recently
from
those who've had the privilege of seeing Mel Gibson's "The Passion Of
The Christ" prior to its actual release. I thought I'd give you my
reaction after seeing it last night.

The screening was on the first night of "Elevate!", a weekend-long
seminar for young people at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano. There
were about 2,000 people there, and the movie was shown after several
speakers had taken the podium. It started around 9 and finished around
11... so I reckon the film is about two hours in length. Frankly, I
lost
complete track of time - so I can't be sure.

I want you to know that I started in broadcasting when I was 13-
years-old. I've been in the business of writing, performing,
production,
and broadcasting for a long time. I've been a part of movies, radio,
television, stage and other productions - so I know how things are
done.
I know about soundtracks and special effects and make-up and
screenplays. I think I've seen just about every kind of movie or TV
show
ever made - from extremely inspirational to extremely gory. I read a
lot, too - and have covered stories and scenes that still make me
wince.
I also have a vivid imagination, and have the ability to picture things
as they must have happened - or to anticipate things as they will be
portrayed. I've also seen an enormous amount of footage from Gibson's
film, so I thought I knew what was coming.

But there is nothing in my existence - nothing I could have read, seen,
heard, thought, or known - that could have prepared me for what I saw
on
screen last night.

This is not a movie that anyone will "like". I don't think it's a movie
anyone will "love". It certainly doesn't "entertain". There isn't even
the sense that one has just watched a movie. What it is, is an
experience - on a level of primary emotion that is scarcely
comprehensible. Every shred of human preconception or predisposition is
utterly stripped away. No one will eat popcorn during this film. Some
may not eat for days after they've seen it. Quite honestly, I wanted to
vomit. It hits that hard.

I can see why some people are worried about how the film portrays the
Jews. They should be worried. No, it's not anti-Semitic. What it is, is
entirely shattering. There are no "winners". No one comes off looking
"good" - except Jesus. Even His own mother hesitates. As depicted, the
Jewish leaders of Jesus' day merely do what any of us would have done -
and still do. They protected their perceived

"place" - their sense of safety and security, and the satisfaction of
their own "rightness". But everyone falters. Caiphus judges. Peter
denies. Judas betrays. Simon the Cyrene balks. Mark runs away. Pilate
equivocates. The crowd mocks. The soldiers laugh. Longinus still stabs
with his pilus. The centurion still carries out his orders! And as
Jesus
fixes them all with a glance, they still turn away. The Jews, the
Romans, Jesus' friends - they all fall. Everyone, except the Principal
Figure. Heaven sheds a single, mighty tear - and as blood and water
spew
from His side, the complacency of all creation is eternally shattered.

The film grabs you in the first five seconds, and never lets go. The
brutality, humiliation, and gore is almost inconceivable - and still
probably doesn't go far enough. The scourging alone seems to never end,
and you cringe at the sound and splatter of every blow - no matter how
steely your nerves. Even those who have known combat or prison will
have
trouble, no matter their experience - because this Man was not
conscripted. He went willingly, laying down His entirety for all. It is
one thing for a soldier to die for his countrymen. It's something else
entirely to think of even a common man dying for those who hate and
wish
to kill him. But this is no common man. This is the King of the
Universe. The idea that anyone could or would have gone through such
punishment is unthinkable - but this Man was completely innocent,
completely holy - and paying the price for others. He screams as He is
laid upon the cross, "Father, they don't know. They don't know..."

What Gibson has done is to use all of his considerable skill to portray
the most dramatic moment of the most dramatic events since the dawn of
time. There is no escape. It's a punch to the gut that puts you on the
canvas, and you don't get up. You are simply confronted by the horror
of
what was done - what had to be done - and why. Throughout the entire
film, I found myself apologizing.

What you've heard about how audiences have reacted is true. There was
no
sound after the film's conclusion. No noise at all. No one got up. No
one moved. The only sound one could hear was sobbing. In all my years
of
public life, I have never heard anything like that. I told many of you
that Gibson had reportedly re-shot the ending to include more "hope"
through the Resurrection? That's not true. The Resurrection scene is
perhaps the shortest in the entire movie - and yet it packs a punch
that
can't be quantified. It is perfect. There is no way to negotiate the
meaning out of it. It simply asks, "Now, what will you do?" I'll leave
the details to you, in the hope that you will see the film - but one
thing above all stands out, and I have to tell you about it. It comes
from the end of Jesus' temptations in the wilderness - where the Bible
says Satan left him "until a more opportune time". I imagine Satan
never
quit tempting Christ, but this film captures beyond words the most
opportune time. At every step of the way, Satan is there at Jesus' side
- imploring Him to quit, reasoning with Him to give up, and seducing
Him
to surrender. For the first time, one gets an heart-stopping idea of
the
sense of madness that must have enveloped Jesus - a sense of the evil
that was at His very elbow. The physical punishment is relentless - but
it's the sense of psychological torture that is most overwhelming. He
should have quit. He should have opened His mouth. He should have
called
10,000 angels. No one would have blamed Him. What we deserve is
obvious.
But He couldn't do that. He wouldn't do that. He didn't do that. He
doesn't do that. It was not and is not His character. He was obedient,
all the way to the cross - and you feel the real meaning of that phrase
in a place the human heart usually doesn't dare to go. You understand
that we are called to that same level of obedience. With Jesus'
humanity
so irresistibly on display, you understand that we have no excuse.
There
is no place to hide.

The truth is this: Is it just a "movie"? In a way, yes. But it goes far
beyond that, in a fashion I've never felt - in any forum. We may think
we "know". We know nothing. We've gone 2,000 years - used to the idea
of
a pleasant story, and a sanitized Christ. We expect the ending, because
we've heard it so many times. God forgive us. This film tears that all
away. It's is as close as any of us will ever get to knowing, until we
fully know. Paul understood. "Be urgent, in and out of season."

Luke wrote that Jesus reveals Himself in the breaking of the bread.
Exactly. "The Passion Of The Christ" shows that Bread being broken. Go
see this movie.

Jody Dean, Dallas/Ft. Worth CBS news anchor