Posted on 03/01/2004 10:08:26 AM PST by tame
There has been a lot spoken and written about the "undue violence" in Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ".
But if w review the Biblical record, Gibson actually may have gone easy on the physical damage done to Jesus' face. Consider the following:
Isaiah 52:13-15 (prophecy about the Messiah): "Behold, my servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up, and greatly exalted. Just as many were astonished at you, my people, so his appearance was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. Thus he will sprinkle many nations, Kings will shut their mouths on account of him; For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand."
Matthew 26:67-68, "Then they spat in his face and beat him with their fists; and others slapped him, and said, 'Prophecy to us, You Christ; who is the one who hit you?'"
Matthew 27:27-30, "The the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around him. And they stripped him, and put a scarlet robe on him. And after weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they kneeled down before him and mocked him, saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' And they spat on him, and took the reed and began to beat him on the head.
Mark 15:16-19, "And the soldiers took him away into the palace (that is, the praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. And they dressed him up in purple, and after weaving a crown of thorns, they out it on him; and they began to proclaim him, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' And they kept beating his head with a reed [staff made of reed], and spitting at him, and kneeling and bowing before him."
Luke 22:63, "And the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him, an beating him. And they blindfolded him and were asking him, saying, 'Prophecy, Who is the one who hit you?'"
John 18:22, "And when he had said this, one of the officers standing by gave Jesus a blow, saying, 'Is that the way you answer the high priest?'"
John 19:1-3, "Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and arrayed him in a purple robe; and they began to come up to him, and say, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' and to give him blows in the face.
Now, to put this in perspective, when is the last time you received a direct blow to the face (accidental or otherwise). Now, imagine someone hitting you in the face two or three times. Assuming the blows are full force, your face would probably swell up.
Now, consider that a Jesus was hit in the face on more than one occassion during that horrific day. Also consider that on one of the occassions "a whole Roman cohort" REPEATEDLY hit Jesus in the face.
No wonder Isaiah 52:14 says that "his appearance was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men"!
To be blunt, it appears from the accounts cited that Jesus' face was beaten to a swollen pulp. This may account for the fact that, after Jesus resurrection, the disciples on the road to Emmaus did not recognize him even as they spoke to him! (Luke, chapter 24)
True, Luke 24:16 seems to stress the eyes of those disciples being "vailed" or "kept from recognizing him" (depending on the translation). Still, the condition of Jesus' disfigured face may have been a factor used by God the father to prevent his immediate recognition.
And, in case somebody is wondering if Jesus continued to bare these wounds after his resurrection, the answer seems to be YES! In addition to Luke 24:16, John 20:24-28 depicts Jesus as showing Thomas his wounds. Also, Revelation 5:6 depicts the Messiah as "a lamb standing, as if slain..."
But let us not forget why this terrible murder of Jesus took place (If you're reading this, Mr. Gibson, place direct a prequal and a sequal!):
Romans 4:25, "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
BTW, This is not an optional belief for those who seeking truth, or salvation from the coming wrath. It is a necessary belief. In fact, Paul says Jesus death, burial and resurrection IS the gospel! Therefore a denial of this death, burial and resurrection is a denial of the gospel itself:
1 Corinthians 15:1-4, "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures."
Romans 10:9, 10, "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
Excellent job, Tame. Thank you.
To those who cling to the utterly cosmetic, perhaps, but you've missed the point of why I asked the question in the first place.
The face of christ is a metaphor. The actual, physical face if christ is irrelevant to anything in this world.
"Quite frankly", you seem ignorant of biblical theology, and, "quite frankly", you seem to be a Christian basher..."quite frankly".
You're s kind :o)
I assure you, I am as well-versed in that topic as anyone here on this site.
... and, "quite frankly", you seem to be a Christian basher..."quite frankly".
It only seems that way to the terminally dim amongst us, and I'm sure you're not one of them.
Go ahead, Reverend, and detail exactly and precisely how my post was in the least 'bashing' of either christians or christianity.
Step on up to the plate, O' learned theologian.
And, please, be quite frank.
If anyone wants to know of the brutality of what we put on his body verse 14 of Psalms 22 " I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint." and in 17 " I count all my bones they look and stare upon me."
Yes....Mel portrayed that as a kind act; it wasn't. It was to inflict more thirst and pain. As you said, it was a vinegar....placed on open wounds, would do nothing but sting greatly and cause greater thirst, as it is a drying/cleansing agent, too (we clean coffee makers with vinegar).
Not hardly. It only seems that way to the terminally dim amongst us, and I'm sure you're not one of them.
That;s what I thought...Christian basher. I've noticed from your responses to many other threads that you have little to say that's positive, and much to say that's negative. "To be frank", you seem 27 promotions shy of "dense". Don't hurt yourself.
That's exactly the point--Psalm 22 is prophetic.
That would be a misreading of the text.
He prayed in hell for three days and was resurected but he had to pay the penalty of hell also.
Sounds like Kenneth Copeland and Hagin, who do not hold to a biblical position.
Jesus was quoting the Psalmist, who gave a prophecy about the coming Messiah.
Actually Davis was quoting Jesus.
I believe both those thoughts are not established by the biblical record.
Not hardly.
You forget what assuming can do. Please do not embarass yourself.
It only seems that way to the terminally dim amongst us, and I'm sure you're not one of them.
That;s what I thought...Christian basher.
You have scrupulously avoided answering my question: where, exactly and precisely, have I 'based' either Christianity or Christians? Careful, failure to respond to this will make you a liar.
I've noticed from your responses to many other threads that you have little to say that's positive, and much to say that's negative. "To be frank", you seem 27 promotions shy of "dense". Don't hurt yourself.
Brother, you debase yourself and any knowledge of Christ you purport to possess. Don't insult yourself.
You lecturing Me about debasement is like John Kerry lecturing G.W. Bush about Patriotism, or a drug trafficer lecturing my mother about the evils of caffeine, BWAHAHAHA.
As I said...Christian Basher (the answer is found in your responses to several threads "in Forum").
I'm ready if you are.
Yep, we go way back...:)...At least to the 2000 attempted election theft protests.
The pulse of this town in venomously anti-Christ and anti-Republican. My acting coach (a working and accomplished writer here in Hollyweird), two weeks ago, began attacking Mel Gibson and the Passion as anti-semitic (without seeing it of course). He told the class to not see the movie and went as far as saying the movie will cost Mel Gibson his career and it would bomb at the box-office...Yes, he iterated the dark-heart of this town (I think quite accurately). They have him blacklisted as they do anything Christian or Conservative.
I think greed will overcome this seething hatred in respect to Mel Gibson. The greed will not turn their hate from them, however. The anti-Christ Hollyweird elite will still operate malevelously in the shadows, waiting to thrust the knife in Mel and Christianity at the nearest opportunity.
That said, I think it will be hard to bury the Cross next year, at the Academy Awards. Every important award should include the Passion...They are stuck between a rock and a hard place on this one...I think, when push comes to shove, they will be in great fear of pissing off the fly-over, country-bumpkin, ignorant Christians and at the very least it will get best cinematography.
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