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The Passion of the Christ Movie |
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Policy on use of information on League website Remarks offered by Michael Heath and Tim Russell just before a special private screening of Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ" at Regal Cinemas in Augusta on Tuesday night, February 24, 2004. Over 400 people attended the screening.
Welcome to our showing of the Passion of the Christ. We’re glad that so many of you are here. You could be doing something else, but you chose to be here to see this important film.
That this movie is appearing just now – at a time when America has lost her way - is something of a miracle. America is now torn by endless debates and confusion – should we allow abortion on demand – should we allow same sex marriages, should we keep the name of God away from our school children? And all the while her once proud head sinks lower and lower. It often seems that the time may soon arrive when it will be raised no more. That is why this film – a film which calls America back to herself and breathes life back into her spirit is nothing short of miraculous.
It is a miracle in the first place, because this movie was not made by a preacher, a reverend, or a priest. It was made by an actor, one whom sin and repentance had driven to his knees in prayer. Isn’t this a miracle in itself?
We know that Hollywood usually makes movie about happier subjects. But despite what Hollywood says about our lives, our lives are not always about happy stories.
Take for example, something that happened in the Critical Care unit of a major urban hospital. The doctors call it a Critical Care Unit, but it is something else, really. It’s a room where doctors take hopeless cases to die. In the waiting room there are a row of chairs with tear-stained cushions. Family members wait there, sometime for days, until the doctors finally come in to say “I’m sorry – they’re gone.” But one day, there was a boy of about fourteen, dressed in ragged jeans and an old T-shirt. He was sitting there alone by himself, and he sat there all day, and into the night, and into the following day. When the doctor came in to tell him his mother just died, he started to wail. He stamped his feet against the floor, and shouted over and over, “No, No, No!” No one could comfort him. The families got up and quickly huddled around him, but no one could stop his crying. Finally, when he was worn out from crying, he was calm enough to say, “You don’t understand. My mother was the only one I had. I don’t have anywhere else to go tonight. I don’t have a home.”
This is what Jesus came to save us from – the pain of sin and death - our sin and our death. But to do that he had to undergo the Passion.
All of us will suffer in this life. Misfortunes await us, unforeseen. For many, they will be heart-breaking ordeals. There is no point in ignoring their reality, just as there is no way to prepare for them, except to draw nearer to Christ. When they arrive, Jesus will give you the strength to deal with them, no matter how hard they are.
But which of us, when we face these ordeals at last will experience anything as painful as what we will see tonight. That’s what we need to keep uppermost in our minds – the price that Christ paid to save us.
Christ knew quite well what awaited Him. He was a carpenter. He spoke about the piece of sawdust caught in our neighbor’s eye, and the beam of lumber in our own. He knew what it was to be bruised by a hammer, or what it felt like when a sharp tool struck his hand. That’s the meaning of Gethsemane, when someone is in such agony that they look down as they pray and see they are sweating drops of blood – and it was all done for us.
Tonight, as we watch Christ’s passion, we will all react differently. Those around Jesus, when they saw the same thing, all reacted differently. At Gethsemane, the disciples all fled, with the exception of Peter. Peter was the only disciple brave enough to follow Jesus up to the door where he was held captive. We all know about Peter’s denial - but he too could have been caught and crucified alongside His Master. Yet he went looking for Jesus. Brave Peter. What about Jesus’ family and friends, were they loyal to the end? The Gospel of John says that Mary Magdalene was the first to go to His tomb, and that she stood there alone in the dark weeping. The disciples went too, but they didn’t stay. Mary Magdalene could have gone home like the others. Why did she stay there for hours, her head bowed, tears welling up in her eyes as if they would never stop? The reason is simple. She loved Jesus more than the others. Her great devotion was rewarded. She was the first to see the resurrected Christ, as He stood there in the garden and called out gently – “Mary.” What do you think Mary Magdalene felt at that moment?
Tonight you will see the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection as you have never seen it before. How will you react? Will you be the same afterwards? Will you love Jesus enough to follow Him the way that Peter and Mary did, to follow Him as far as the grave and beyond? I ask these questions with the greatest possible seriousness. What we believe about this will determine where we will spend eternity.
But, in the end, words alone can never tell us what happened on that day. And my poor words are unequal to the task. It is better to let the story speak for itself. So now, let us watch the story of Our Lord’s Passion.
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