"THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST"

TWO PERSPECTIVES (1)

As we move toward and into the Great Fast of 2004 we are exposed increasingly to commentary in the media about the film, soon to be released, entitled THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST by conservative Roman Catholic writer/director, Mel Gibson who has set forth in graphics and emotional drama an account of the final hours of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in His public ministry on earth. Already the public is being exposed to sneak previews of the film designed to drum up greater interest and receipts at the box office. The film has been accompanied by much controversy, first by the understandable fear of our Jewish brethren that the portrayal of the events of the Passion & Crucifixion of Christ in the Gospels and illustrated in Gibson's film stir up Christian wrath against and persecution of the Jews not only historically but possibly in the present. (2) Others like the Biblical revisionists view the events of Christ's life not historically but allegorically seeking to trivialize the same as pious humbug or merely good example. Still others like the politically correct would like to expunge the Gospel story entirely as an unnecessary intrusion in the message of the Gospels, causing more harm than good.

Unmentioned in all of the controversy occasioned by Mel Gibson's film is the attitude of the Eastern Churches, Catholic and Orthodox, which has not been heard or perhaps even expressed. While not challenging the historicity of Gibson's dramatic presentation, many Eastern Christians wonder why anyone would want to dwell on the events of the Passion & Crucifixion with such graphic and gory detail by employing the best (or the worst) of Hollywood reality cinematography to events so central and important to the Christian salvation message. We are all well aware that crucifixion is a brutal and bloody affair, a form of capital punishment under Roman law designed not only to punish the malefactor but also to deter others from challenging the power of the Roman state. Are the details essential to the meaning of Christ's suffering? We think not.

Christians generally view the Passion & Crucifixion of our Savior as the foreordained end of His public ministry. From the Incarnation through the Nativity and His public ministry to His suffering on the Cross followed by the Glorious Resurrection the orthodox Christian perceives a sequence of events central to the very message and purposes of Christianity, namely the redemption and salvation of mankind. While sharing this general theology with most Christians, Eastern Christians diverge from others in the manner of portraying these truths. This is more than a matter of perception but goes to the underlying theology of the Passion & Crucifixion. Eastern Christians prefer to envision the Crucifixion as shown by the icon at the top of this page - after-the-fact and matter-of-fact. That does not mean that the Eastern Churches ignore the details in their iconography. Indeed some of the events are clearly portrayed in this iconography. (See http://www.skete.com) The real difference is in the use of imagery. For the Eastern Christian the icon such as those in this page is an image, not a photograph or a portrait, but a graphic representation of a person or an event through which the worshiper passes from the reality shown in paint on wood to the spiritual reality which lies beyond. Thus the image is regarded as a "window to heaven".

The theology of the Eastern Church regarding the Passion & Crucifixion is well summarized by Bishop Kallistos Ware in the preface to his translation of THE LENTEN TRIODION, ISBN: 1878997513 wherein he states:

The linkage of Crucifixion with Resurrection is also stated in Fr. Alexander Schmemann's GREAT LENT, JOURNEY TO PASCHA, ISBN: 0913836044 wherein he observes:

Thus, the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection are inextricably linked. Further, in the book, THE ORTHODOX CHURCH by Bishop Kallistos Ware, ISBN: 0140146563 he states:

For these reasons The Roman Church's emphasis on the Passion & Crucifixion is alien to the Eastern Church. The Eastern Church has no hymn like STABAT MATER; it knows no Stations of the Cross, no Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, no flagellations or faux crucifixions, no passion plays and no movies like Mel Gibson's.

SUMMARY

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST is essentially a medieval passion play with all of the graphics and emotion which modern reality cinematography can apply to the subject matter. It strives to shock and to induce profound guilt in the viewers. Some even see it as a tool of evangelization. Who with sufficient maturity cannot recall the itinerant preachers of the 40ies and 50ies from religious orders who wandered from parish to parish during Lent vying with one another in presenting horrible Gibsonesque imagery to terrify and shame the listeners before passing the collection basket? Happily they are now gone. Our perceptions are well illustrated by the imagery used in this page, first by the icon above of the Crucifixion and particularly by the one that follows depicting the Risen Christ trampling down the gates of hell and freeing the captives within - so also in the words of the joyous Resurrection Troparion sung repeatedly on Resurrection Sunday and thereafter which in our view says it all:

FOOTNOTES

1) This page seeks to present the Passion & Crucifixion of Our Lord from a Eastern Christian perspective within the theology and traditions of the Eastern Church. We do not present a comparative analysis of the Eastern and Western traditions, but seek to distinguish the two by illustrating their differences. Needless to say, any such analysis involves opinions in matters of theology and aesthetics. By today's standards the Passion & Crucifixion of Jesus Christ would be seen as a lynching even though foreordained and for the salvific purpose which we know. From the author's point of view, any lynching is distasteful but a movie about the lynching of Christ is utterly appalling. Blood, gore and agony are neither aesthetically pleasing nor spiritually uplifting. This bias is clear throughout this page. Rather, we would invite our readers to consider the measured melody of the Gospel readings contained in the Triodion for Great & Good Friday followed by the solemn procession of the priest vested in black bearing the shroud and placing it in the symbolic tomb as sufficient to commemorate Our Lord's Passion & Death in anticipation of the Glorious Resurrection which is really what it is all about. Anything else is superfluous. Some of our readers may disagree. We welcome your comments.

2) The anomaly of Christian calumniation and persecution of Jews down through the centuries as "Christ-killers" finds no sanction in the message of Jesus Christ. It fact, our torment of the Jews is utterly irreconcilable with the Gospels. Our Savior chose to appear to mankind as a Jew born of a Jewish mother, the Holy Virgin, to live among and to preach His Gospel to Jews and finally to conclude His public ministry at the behest of some Jews who regarded His kinship to the Father as blasphemy punishable by death under Jewish law. Perhaps this is what is meant by the words of Our Lord to the Samaritan woman at the well: "… salvation is from the Jews" (Jn. 4, 22). The Jews are Christ's people; they are God's Chosen People. The Gospels and orthodox theology do not recognize vicarious liability for the sins or crimes of others. Those who participated in the Passion & Crucifixion in Jerusalem 2000 years ago did what had to be done to complete Christ's mission on earth, for without them there would be no Atonement, no Resurrection and no hope.