Let's not debate anti-Semitism. Let's talk about the story: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son...." John 3:16.
Believe it. Don't believe it. Write it on a poster and hold it up at football games. It doesn't really matter if your Christian philosophy is Sunday morning-solid. Truthfully, it doesn't even really matter what religion you are. But let the idea of John 3:16 be your emotional guide when you watch The Passion of the Christ.
"The Passion": the suffering of Jesus in the period following the Last Supper and including the Crucifixion, as related in the New Testament. Suffering. Memorize that word. This is the only other thing you need to know. Whether you are a Bible-toting über-Christian or the king of nonbelievers, if you allow yourself to remember the perceived necessity of Jesus' sacrificial death and the unimaginable 12-hour agony that led up to it (even if only for the sake of testing the bounds of your imagination), then you will realize that Gibson's Passion accomplishes its goal in brilliant fashion.
Jesus was mocked; Jesus was flogged; Jesus was spat upon--immediately recognizable Bible-talk that probably hasn't ever made you truly uncomfortable. After all, this story has a happy ending, doesn't it? Gibson, however, doesn't follow the all's-well-that-ends-well logic that many other portrayals do, and as such, you don't have the luxury of glossing over the pain. Violence--yes. Graphic violence--absolutely. Gratuitous graphic violence--not a chance. For two straight hours, Jesus is scourged, bludgeoned, battered and bloodied. Blood. Buckets full, smattered and splattered with a gorish consistency that will cause you physical pain. And that's exactly what you should feel, whether you're a Christian who reasons, "Jesus suffered for me" or a non-Christian exercising your imagination for the sake of the ticket price or the argument you're destined to get into tomorrow. Picture a man--son of God if you'd like--who is made to bear the sins of the world. A mortal man who is pushed to an inch of his life--and then one inch over. One final day of existence, devoted completely to horrific, unimaginable suffering. Imagine all the blood.
Many will incorrectly reason that emotional attachment to The Passion of the Christ depends on an affiliation to the Christian religion. Granted, it helps. The Passion's success, however, is not ecclesiastically contingent. It's about the suffering--a suffering that will remind Christians to say their prayers tonight, no doubt. But for the rest of the audience who isn't looking for a spiritual jump-start, The Passion still awes when approached with an open-mind. Allow simple human empathy to creep in. See evil (Satanic or otherwise); recognize good (Divine or not). Ultimately, experience the nearly unfathomable redemptive suffering and remember that Mel Gibson and The Passion of the Christ -- whether through sadness, fear, anger or penitence -- were only trying to make you feel all along.
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