Passion of the Christ

One of my Good Friday and Holy Saturday Traditions is to watch Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ."

Never has there been so brutal a depiction of our savior's death. Some say it was overly graphic, decrying it as nothing gore.

Look at previous depictions of Christ's passion and you can see why some people were taken aback by the brutality. Even art wasn't nearly as graphic. Christ is usually depicted with small splashes of blood from his hands, feet, side and forehead. You rarely see his scourging depicted. Even the wound in his side barely bleeds in most artistic renderings.

Despite this, We know the reality is that, Christ suffered greatly. He was tortured before the crucifixion. We know he was scourged at the pillar. Historically speaking, scourging wasn't simply a good whipping...

The whips they used were made of leather with bone and metal to help tear at the flesh to inflict the most pain. the damage it would have done to the body would be insurmountable.

Head wounds also bleed more than most other wounds, even if superficial. So the wounds from the crown of thorns would have caused excessive bleeding that would have dripped down his face and into his eyes. It would have been much more bloody than a few trickles. His hair would have been soaked. 

The lance that pierced our Savior deep enough for blood and water to pour forth from his side, would have left a gaping wound.

That is not even to mention the wounds from the nails in his hands and feet, nor the wound he suffered to His shoulder when they stretched his arms on the cross.

That said, as brutal and painful as it is to watch, this is the most realistic depiction of what our Lord went through when he willingly offered his sufferings, death and resurrection for our sins.

Mel Gibson (who wrote and directed this production) spared no expense to historic detail, from the weapons we know they would have used, to even making sure the language was that which Christ would have spoken.

There are several scenes that, no matter how often I see this movie, they still reduce me to tears. Both involve our blessed Mother Mary, so accurately portrayed by Maia Morgenstern. the first is when Mary sees Jesus on his walk to his place of the crucifixion.

She sees him fall, and has a flashback to Jesus as a toddler falling. As any loving mother, she ran to her baby, grabbed him lovingly and told him that she was there for him as she embraced him. As she remembers this, she runs to Jesus, who she still sees as her little child, and embraces him. He merely smiles and says "See mother? I make all things new". It makes me tear every time to remember, To Mary, Jesus was still her baby, and to see him in such a state must have caused her great pain.

Inspired by Michaelangelo's Pieta, another powerful scene in the movie that reduces me to tears is the look in Mary's eyes as she holds the body of Christ removed from the cross. She stares directly into the camera, piercing through your soul as if to say, "Remember my Son's sacrifice for he so loved you, he gave himself to suffer and die for your salvation."

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Besides being the most accurate depiction of Christ's Passion to date, This movie is credited to have had many supernatural and miraculous events occur during the course of filming.

1. Jim Caviezel developed a deeper love for Christ after sharing in his suffering.

a. Mr. Caviezel was hit by lightening during filming. (The assistant director was hit twice coming to his aid) Both survived

b. When he fell with the cross on his shoulder, a scene that remains in the movie, he dislocated his shoulder, just as Christ's was dislocated when he was hung in the cross.

c. During the scourging, the whip missed his prosthetic skin twice and he felt the real sting of what the whip could do.
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2. The Movie saw many who worked on the film, convert to Catholicism including 2 unlikely figures.

a. a Muslim actor who portrayed one of the guards who repeatedly beat on Jim as Jesus Converted to Christianity and has remained Catholic since the film's release in 2004.

b. The actor who portrayed Judas, Luca Lionello, was a life-long atheist. He had a private event that occurred during the course of filming, and he eventually converted to Catholicism upon the film's wrap, and has been Catholic ever since.
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3. Many miracles are said to have taken place during the production of the film to those who worked on the film as well as those who were related to someone working on the film.

a. Jim and the Assistant director survived being struck by lightening and were able to continue filming.

b. a little girl of someone who worked on the set had 50 seizures a day. After the film's wrap, Her seizures slowed down. She could go months without one, and those she had were not as violent.

c. There were rumors that a few people were cured of disease, some that had vision or hearing problems were given full sight and sound.

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This movie was many things to many people. The discovery of faith, the reaffirming of faith, a vessel through which God performed many miracles, a reminder of Christ's suffering, the sharing in the suffering for some.

This should be a movie that every Catholic family should have and watch, not just on Easter, but every time they want to remember how much God loves us.