I just got home from seeing The Passion. First thing is Wow! I am still stunned and will be for days.
The hardest thing to watch is the brutal whipping Christ received.
But, I have known about the Crucification of Christ since I was a child in Sunday school. But has a Pastor or Priest ever really described to any of us how bad He was beaten.
We have pretty much seen and heard the sanitized version. Christ was beaten, mocked, scorged, spit on, whipped and hit with rocks. It is difficult for us to picture in our minds the utter brutality of the truth of it. In Proverbs it says Christ was beaten beyond recognition.
He was nailed to a wooden cross thru the hands and feet. Can anyone honestly say they have seen a spike driven thru live flesh, I have seen some brutal things done with nails and nail guns in my 30 years as a carpenter. I have hit myself with a hammer, shot nails in my skin and it is not a pretty sight and it is extremely pain full.
If we all can siit and read about the Crusifiction and realize exactly what all those words mean, we could understand that Christ took on the Sins of the World, that thru him we would have everlasting life. I cried, I had to, I had to see how bad it may have been for him to realize the impact of what He did for us.
The film is Biblical, true to the testament with a little of poetic license.
My body hurt when the Cross was lifted up into place with Christ nailed to it. When the Cross hit the bottom of that hole it hit with a force that would have been unbearable for us.
I have an inkling of the impact, having seen the beautiful production at PTL of the Passion Play in te early 1980's. Their outdoor ampitheater was full-sized, and the cast of hundreds portrayed it very realistically. I wanted to run down and snatch the whip from the hand of the Roman, so powerful was it.
The sound effects of the thunder rolling across the area when he died on the cross penetrated your very soul.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share this, and for all the things you bring to us, Rus.
Dutchess, I have FReepmailed you a response.
It is difficult for us to picture in our minds the utter brutality of the truth of it. In Proverbs it says Christ was beaten beyond recognition.
I can't accept this as an excuse for not wanting to see the movie. The truth hurts, in more ways than one. My attitude is that Christ suffered immeasurable agony for 12 hours before his cruel, long and painful death.
He did this out of love for us and forgiveness of our transgressions.
The very *least* we can do is be "uncomfortable" for two hours to show our gratitude.