GUEST
ARTICLE
The Crucifixion
of Christ:
The Real Emphasis
Mel Gibson’s extravaganza, “The
Passion of the Christ,” has made its public debut, and,
contrary to the dire financial forecast of the liberal
prognosticators, it is hundreds of millions of dollars.
As expected, though, it has
received mixed reviews. Some have charged that it is “anti-Semitic,” that
is, that it portrays a misleading view of the first-century
Jews and, at the very least, it will generate hateful,
anti-Jew emotions in an unstable society.
Some cite references to Gibson’s
father, who, supposedly, has questioned the “statistics” of
the German Holocaust during World War II. Others charge
that the Gospel records themselves are the culprits.
Allegedly, the ancient biographies are the source of malevolence
for the Hebrews that supposedly oozes from the pores of
this cinematic production.
One oft-repeated criticism
of the movie is that it is far too graphic —overly filled
with gore that is protracted, on and on to the point of
nauseous extremity. An apologist for the film might contend,
with some measure of reason, that this is a judgment call.
One man’s repulsion might be another’s deeply moving experience.
I do believe, however, that
something is awry when folks claim that they have never
been so moved regarding the death of Jesus as by seeing
this movie. Claudia Puig, a columnist for USA TODAY,
wrote that, “Watching the sadistic torture and crucifixion
of Jesus … provides a more visceral experience than reading
the New Testament ever could render” (2/24/04). Apparently,
for such folks as these, Mel Gibson has been able to achieve,
through his cinemagraphic skills, what the Holy Spirit
was unable to accomplish through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John.
Many years ago, the celebrated
scholar J. W. McGarvey produced a number of works that
assembled a powerful case for the divine inspiration of
the Holy Scriptures. One of the arguments the professor
employed was that of the uncommon “restraint” that was
so characteristic of the biblical writers. McGarvey, in
his Evidences of Christianity (III, p. 219), wrote
about the,
“imperturbable
calmness with which they trace the current of history,
relating with as little apparent feeling the most wonderful
and exciting events, as those the most trivial; as calmly,
for instance, the final sufferings of Jesus as the fact
of his taking a seat on Peter’s fishing-boat to address
the people. They appear to have been restrained from giving
natural utterance to the intense feeling which burned within
them, or to have been lifted above all human weakness,
so as to speak like him,
‘Who
sees with equal eye, as God of all,
A hero perish, or a sparrow fall;
Atoms or systems into ruin hurled,
And now a bubble burst, and now a world.’"
An example should suffice to
illustrate the point. Admittedly, the apostle John was
the disciple who was the closest to the Savior. John especially
is designated as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (Jn. 13:23;
19:26; 20:2; 21:7,20). One would expect, therefore, that
John, when composing his account of the crucifixion, would
have poured his soul into the record, describing with agonizing
detail, the horrors of this bloody and dreadful scene of
an inch-by-inch death. And yet that is far from the case.
The apostle, with amazing brevity,
depicts the actual crucifixion in less than four dozen
words in the Greek New Testament.
“Then
therefore he delivered him unto them to be crucified. They
took Jesus therefore: and he went out, bearing the cross
for himself, unto the place called the place of a skull,
which is called Golgotha in Hebrew: where they crucified
him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus
in the middle” (19:16-18).
Where is all the groaning,
the technicolor descriptions of gushing blood, the battered,
swollen face, tormenting insects, gnawing dogs, etc.? Such
descriptives are conspicuously absent!
These elements are not essential
in order to drive home the theological point —he died
for our sins! We think it represents a misguided emphasis
to dwell inordinately upon the physical aspects
of the Lord’s ordeal, over against the profound truth that
the innocent Savior died for guilty sinners
who are deserving of eternal banishment from the holy God.
While there are a few prophetic
portrayals of the horrors of the Messiah’s death (cf. Psa.
22; Isa. 53), this is not the prime emphasis of the Scriptures.
The real issue is this: the
Son of God gave himself for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3; Gal.
1:4); he offered us redemption by means of his plan of
salvation (Rom. 3:21-26; Acts 2:38). And what are we going
to do about it? Rail against it? Ignore it? Or humbly submit
to its demands?
No shedding of a few tears
during a movie, sincere though they may be, can ever be
a substitute for genuine obedience to Jesus Christ (2 Thes.
1:7-9; Heb. 5:8-9; 1 Pet. 4:17-18).
--Wayne Jackson
christiancourier.com/articles/773-the-
crucifixion-of-christ-the-real-emphasis
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