Lessons from "The Passion Of The Christ"
2004 : Week 9  |  Printer Friendly Version  

I’ll warn our readers in advance, our message today is hard hitting, and the doctrines in this message, as far as those who bring you this site are concerned, are not subject to debate. These are our beliefs.

“The Passion of the Christ” is an epic movie; we probably won’t see another like it. Watching it, it’s as if time stands still. Maybe that’s the way it should be: all of time focused on this moment.

Gibson gives us a glimpse of the suffering Jesus endured; that’s why it’s called “The Passion Of The Christ.” The word passion has a different meaning today then it did when The New Testament was written. The Greek word for “passion”, as used in Gibson’s title, means ‘suffering’ and is taken from the New Testament Book of Acts 1:3. In today’s terms, the movie could be called ‘The Suffering Of The Christ.’

I’ve meditated on the suffering before, but my idea of what He went through was inadequate. I was left exhausted by this movie. I cannot fathom how Jesus endured that: and endured it willingly: and endured it willingly for us. How do I put that into words? I can’t.

The beating is horrible to watch, but Mel Gibson's artistic vision is correct in light of what the Bible says; that's always where we must turn, to check for accuracy. In fact, what Mel showed us probably falls short of what actually happened to Jesus.

God gave Isaiah a revelation of what would happen about 700 years before the crucifixion. I have selected several passages from Isaiah 52 and 53 that show how bad this would be. I have added all of Chapter 53 at the end of today’s message, and I urge you to read it to grasp what is happening. I have placed some text below in red, to show the suffering of Jesus:

Isaiah 52
¹⁴  ...His appearance was marred more than any man
And His form more than the sons of men.

Isaiah 53
⁵  But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
⁶  …But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
⁷  He was oppressed and He was afflicted,…
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,…
¹⁰  But the LORD was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,…
¹¹  As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities….
¹²  Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.

Isaiah's prophecy tells us Jesus would be pierced, crushed, chastened, scourged, oppressed and put to grief to pay the price of our sins. We fail to understand how much God despises sin, yet here is the reality in Isaiah; God is so offended by sin that He sent His only Son to die and cleanse us. Do we get it? God is holy and perfect; He is set apart from sin and does not want it near Him. If we were not cleansed of sin, we could not enter into God’s presence, but Jesus has restored our relationship with God.

Mel’s depiction of what the Son of God endured reinforced another doctrine for me; no one can add anything to Christ's sacrifice on the cross to help them gain eternal life. I understand this in a way I never did before; this movie pounded it into my heart, soul and mind. My baptism, my good deeds, my prayers, my reading of Bible and this site all mean nothing in terms of my salvation: absolutely nothing. Only one thing matters for our salvation: Christ's sacrifice.

Let me put it to you in another way. What do you think God would say to someone who stood before Him and said, “Your Son, Jesus Christ’s sacrifice was insufficient for my salvation. His beating, scourging, piercing, death and resurrection were not enough to cleanse me.”?

How do you think our Heavenly Father would react to such a notion? After watching this movie, I’m not sure how anyone can feel anything but repulsed by the idea that something needs to be added to the sacrifice Jesus made. I think such a notion is blasphemous and insulting to both God, who sent and then watched His Son suffer, and Jesus who endured the pain. This great passage in Romans 3 says it beautifully and with the tact I lack:

Romans 3:23-28 (NASB)
²³  …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
²⁴  being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
²⁵  whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;
²⁶  for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
²⁷  Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.
²⁸  For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

There is nothing we can add to the price Jesus Christ paid for our sins at Calvary. On the cross, Jesus said “It is finished!” (John 19:30) You either believe that or you don’t. There is no grey area in God’s eyes on this point, and there shouldn’t be for Christians. We cannot accept other views on this issue; there is no other path to heaven:

• Allah did not die for my sins
• Buddha did not die for my sins
• My good works will not get me to heaven.

There is only one Son of God, and He is the path to heaven: Jesus Christ. Anyone else who claims to have a different path to heaven is a liar. Other ways, whatever they may be, are wholly inadequate to redeem us. This is a point that Christians cannot compromise on. It cost Jesus far too much for us to remain ‘lukewarm’ on this issue.

I cannot tell you what the Holy Spirit will reveal to you when you watch this movie, but it will teach you much. This movie left me feeling completely inadequate; it drove home the reality of God’s love, in a way few things ever have for me. I cried as the Creator of the universe allowed those that He had created to beat Him and crucify Him so that He might save them. Our sin is hideous, and this is what it took to save us from the consequences of it: I am humbled, I am broken and I am sorry.

Thank you Lord, for leading Mel Gibson to make this movie. Thank You, for driving into our hearts how precious Your Son and His sacrifice are. Thank You Jesus for going through that. We praise You. We exalt You, and we worship You.

Forgive us Lord, if we should ever forget Your passion.

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you today and always…

Isaiah 53
³  He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
⁴  Surely our griefs He Himself) bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
⁵  But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
⁶  All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
⁷  He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
⁸  By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
⁹  His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
¹⁰  But the LORD was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
¹¹  As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
¹²  Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.

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