Trinity Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Sermons 

Title: "The Movie Mel Gibson Should Have Made"

Text: John 20:19-31

Let me say at the outset

that I have not seen the movie The Passion of Christ;

I have no intention of seeing the movie.

I have read a dozen or more reviews,

from those who liked it and those who didn’t …

I’ve talked to more than a dozen people who have seen it,

all of whom found something good in it,

but gave it basically mixed to negative reviews …

Some of my students, in particular, have been quite puzzled:

"Why haven’t you been to see it?" they ask.

If I’m feeling flippant, I may say,

"I’ve read the book; I don’t need to see the movie."

Or perhaps,

"It’s just like any other Mel Gibson movie –

violent, bloody, and gory –

sort of Braveheart without the kilts."

It makes me angry that the Christian Right

has made this film a kind of litmus test for faith:

You have to go see this movie so that we can prove to Hollywood

that Christians do care what’s on the movie screens …

as if to suggest that any person who is a real Christian

was out there standing in line for tickets

on the day it opened.

But the real reason I haven’t been, and won’t go,

to see Mr. Gibson’s movie,

is theological.

You’d hardly expect anything different from a Presbyterian, now would you?

I don’t deny Mel Gibson’s sincerity,

or the reality of his faith, and the difference he claims it has made in his life.

I simply think he has focused on the wrong part of the story.

Not only has he included scenes and encounters

that are not found in the Bible,

despite his claim that he was only following the gospel texts …

What’s far more important,

is what is in the scriptures that he leaves out,

or glosses over, or just barely hints at.

The movie wants us to understand how much Jesus suffered.

We suffer through two-plus hours of

watching whips slice into human flesh,

seeing nails driven into hands,

watching blood fly as blows are struck …

One of my students described it as,

"basically, they start beating up Jesus at the beginning of the movie,

and they finally stop two hours later."

Well, that’s realistic,

and it’s certainly a true part of Jesus’ story.

But it’s not unique.

The fact that Jesus was tortured, and then crucified,

is not unique.

The Romans crucified hundreds if not thousands of people,

at least some of whom were entirely innocent.

People are tortured to death every day.

Not just under the Roman Empire,

but now.

Sometimes by corrupt and brutal national governments –

Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Saddam Hussein –

sometimes, they are the victims of warped individuals:

like James Byrd, dragged to his death,

or Matthew Shepard, tied to a fence, beaten, and left to die.

Innocent people are tortured to death every day.

I’d be willing to wager that not a day has gone by since Jesus’ crucifixion

in which at least one innocent person

has been tormented and killed by state authorities

in some location or another.

Ask Amnesty International.

Jesus did suffer, horribly.

But that’s not the point.

In no way is that unique to him.

Thinking a step beyond that, even …

The fact that Jesus was crucified was not enough, by itself,

to inspire and encourage his disciples to go out and preach the gospel.

If the story had ended there …

as it almost does in the movie …

If the story had ended there,

where would we have been left?

Look back at the beginning of this morning’s gospel reading.

The disciples are closed in the house, with the doors locked.

They are afraid.

They are hiding.

They think they’re going to be next.

Jesus’ suffering and death did not inspire them.

It scared the bejeebers out of them.

Imagine how different the whole story would have been

if he hadn’t showed up that evening.

If they had hidden out for a few days more,

then, slowly, slunk back to their fishing and tax-collecting

and whatever else it was they were doing

before he showed up,

and hoped that the Romans never got wind of their involvement.

Jesus’ crucifixion and death are an important part of the story, to be sure …

But they are not unique to Jesus,

and they are not the reason that the world, ultimately,

heard his message and found it compelling.

What is unique about Jesus …

and what the movie glosses over almost entirely …

is what came after the Passion and the crucifixion.

Unlike everybody else Rome ever crucified,

Jesus rose from the dead.

Unlike everyone else who has suffered unjustly

and given their life for it,

Jesus came back.

Jesus revealed himself to Mary, as we saw last week …

Jesus appeared to those frightened, sequestered disciples;

he said, "Peace be with you,"

and he showed them his hands

showed them that it was really he.

He even made a repeat performance for the sake of Thomas!

Because of this, they knew that his life had not been in vain.

Because of this, they believed once again that his teachings

were real and were true.

Because of this, they were filled with the Holy Spirit

and were able to go out "to the ends of the earth"

and tell the good news to everyone who would listen.

Because he was raised,

the gospel was preached and the church was born.

But you see, I also think that in a warped sort of way,

focusing on the crucifixion gives us a sort of halfway faith

that is a whole lot easier than the whole thing.

On the one hand, I think it’s amazing that people

are so moved by Mel’s movie

that they come out in tears.

Maybe that is a good place to start.

Maybe if you’ve really never thought about it before,

it’s not a bad thing to be reminded that the Son of God

suffered a whole lot that he really didn’t have to.

I worry, though, that that’s an awfully easy place to get stuck.

Because if we don’t move on,

beyond the crucifixion,

then I suspect that we are in no better place than

those disciples hiding in the upper room.

It’s a heart-wrenching story of loss and of sacrifice,

but there is no redemption in it.

There is no future, no tomorrow,

just a heavy sadness and maybe even guilt.

The resurrection is the part of the story

on which everything else turns.

If Jesus is not vindicated,

then the first part of the story is a great fable but nothing more.

If Jesus is not raised,

the disciples are too weak to continue the journey without him.

But if Jesus is raised,

then the message is too powerful to hide.

If Jesus is raised,

then the disciples can risk everything,

knowing that God really is behind them and their work.

If Jesus is raised,

then we can no longer keep the message to ourselves,

but must run and tell it to anyone who will stand still long enough to listen.

If Jesus is raised,

then we can and should start to ask questions about things like

why, even now, two thousand years later,

we still don’t have it right,

and innocent people are still tortured to death.

If the story ends with the crucifixion,

then we’re off the hook.

We can feel bad about it, and wish things had happened differently,

but it makes no demands on us

except perhaps to feel guilty about being sinners.

But if the story goes on to the resurrection,

then it doesn’t end; it goes on,

and we are a crucial part of it.

That’s a whole lot more work for us …

but it’s also a whole lot more exciting than

grieving over events of two thousand years ago.

And if you’re going to spend several million dollars

to make a movie about Jesus …

then, the resurrection is the movie you should have made.

Fortunately, we don’t have to have a movie.

We’ve read the book.

And we can live as people who believe it.

Christ is risen!

He is risen indeed.

Alleluia! Amen.

© 2004 Julie Adkins (e-mail: DrJAdkins@trinitypresdallas.org)