The Passion versus the Person of Christ

The Person versus the Passion of the Christ

By innocent mwangi

After listening to, and reading rave reviews on the Passion of the Christ, I recently managed to get around to watching the movie. As one would expect, I was eagerly looking forward to witness with my eyes the ‘power’ and the ‘pull’, and, indeed, the ‘passion’ of this compelling production by Mel Gibson. With Robert Schuller’s commendation, ‘go watch the movie’, still booming in my mind after watching one of his ‘Hour of Power’ programs on TBN, I readied myself for a thrill of a lifetime.

If the movie’s objective was to provoke compassion for Christ from the audience, Mel Gibson scored top marks. The sheer brutality meted out on Jesus by Roman soldiers as Pilate desperately tried to evoke compassion for Christ from His accusers is enough to move even the hardest of men.

But does Christ really need our compassion? Has our generation become so immovable to the extent that the only way we can convince them to turn to Christ is by gorging blood out of His body and subjecting Him to extreme torture – Hollywood style? Or, to put it another way, has the name of Jesus – name above all other names – lost it saving power to the extent that we now have to cover it in blood and subject it to bone-breaking blows to scare people into heaven? And, talking about bones, how can a person undergo such torture, the numerous blows to His body, the back-breaking falls as He trudged towards Calvary, and yet not have a single bone broken?

I’m aware that I’m raising more questions than answers here. But I’m doing this in the hope that someone out there will help me get the answers. In my country Kenya, scores of people have given their lives to Jesus Christ soon after watching the movie. But I can’t help wondering how many of these gave their lives to Christ out of their compassion for what Christ went through. Could it be that the ‘passion’ and not the ‘person’ of Christ is drawing – as one would draw blood – compassion out sinners? Furthermore, after the image of the suffering savior has melted away from their minds, will the new converts stay converted?

To me, the movie tends to rely heavily on emotion rather than devotion to Christ. The teachings of Christ, the numerous miracles He performed, His authority and wisdom on all issues of life, and His ability to command a huge following, even without the suffering, should be adequate enough to convince anyone to believe in Him. No depiction of any amount of violence on Christ without a personal encounter with Him can genuinely and honestly hope to sustain a conviction of faith in Christ.

Sometimes ago I posted a message on my website entitled: ‘What if hell was to shut down?’ In this message, I make the point that our love for God and not the fear of hell should convict us to believe in Him. Likewise, I contend that the person of Christ and not the passion of Christ should draw us to Him. This does not mean that we should be ignorant and unmoved by the suffering He underwent on our behalf, but, rather, we should be compelled to believe in Him not just by the blows and the bloodied body of Christ depicted by Mel Gibson, but more importantly by the person who He was, and still is – the Son of God, Emmanuel.

Finally, let me say that Mel Gibson has done a wonderful job of helping us to understand what Christ went through in those 12 hours of agony. But these were only 12 hours of His thirty-three-year illustrious life on earth. From prophecy about Christ, His birth, His childhood, His ministry, His suffering, His passion, His Crucifixion, Resurrection and Exultation, Jesus was from the very beginning, God. His personality was, and still is, equitable with that of God. It is this person of Christ, and not just the passion of Christ, that should draw us to Him. And once we are drawn by Him (His person) to Himself, we will forever abide in Him and Him in us. There will be no question about going back since we have already become ONE with GOD!

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Innocent Mwangi at img@ssmk.net