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Jacki’s Journal
Rev Jacki Belile is Pastor of
Grace Baptist Church in Chicago
I had the
opportunity recently to see two very different movies. I attended a clergy
screening of The Passion of the Christ last month. A few weeks ago, I
recorded and watched Judas, a network movie focusing on the story of
Jesus, his betrayal and execution from Judas' perspective. I believe Judas
captures the Truth of the human condition as it was revealed in Jesus'
death, while The Passion's use of orthodox atonement theology focusing on
the inevitability of Jesus' death distorts the human condition by portraying
an inevitable "good guys vs. bad guys" script.
Put most simply, the movie Judas portrays the confusion, weakness,
loyalty and goodness which are in us all. He is convicted soon after the
"betrayal" of the wrong he has done, and sees the way that the sinful fear
and corruption of the leaders' will bring forth evil. He begs them to stop,
as do other disciples and many voices in the crowd. Other voices, many of
them manipulated or planted by those invested in Jesus' death, sway the day
with their shouts "Crucify Him!". We see Roman weakness and disdain for the
locals, but along with that at least one zealous refusal to carry out arrest
orders because "this is wrong!" This official, in fact, removes Jesus' body
from the cross with great tenderness at the end of the film.
In Gibson's Passion, however, we see no such ambiguities. We see only
the screaming Jews, their demon children, and an androgynous (interesting!)
Satan figure playing roles of absolute evil. We see only the noble and
well-intentioned version of Roman official Pilate, who proceeds nevertheless
with the morally weak choice of ruling against his conscience.
I share many critics' condemnation of the way Gibson's film plays into
ancient group stereotyping by making the Jews and their leaders a monolithic
bloodthirsty mob. While no cultural group is more susceptible to or exempt
from the manipulations of corruption, the movie dangerously feeds images of
anti-semitism which portrays Jews in this light. The average moviegoer may
not realize that such sentiment has served as the justification for
persecution and genocide for much of 2000 years. By telling a story of
wholesale rejection by the Jews, and weaving this into "God's plan" for
Christ's death, we reinforce a notion that the Jewish people bear still the
guilt of his death, and that God designed it that way.
The Body of Christ in 2004 cannot afford to accept such simplistic
theological pictures in the name of what Gibson describes as a "literal"
telling of the facts. He starts with his own worldview. To his credit he's
honest about this; to his discredit, he claims to speak for all "believers."
The controversy generated by the film clarifies this is not the case. Many
disciples of Christ reject the views of the cross which describe divine
violence or reinforce cultural prejudice. Diverse experiences and languages
about salvation have existed from the time of Christ. The world of our day
needs Christians who will challenge any views of the cross which contribute
to violence, retribution or cultural stereotyping.
I have no proof that Judas somehow managed to describe the last days
of Jesus' life more accurately. It certainly portrayed the gospel of his
life more faithfully. We will only suffer if we continue holding views that
blanketly separate the "good guys" from "the bad." I find Judas' remorse and
anguish upon recognizing the sin in his actions hope-producing. I find
Gibson's orthodox picture of characters playing out stereotypical roles in
the inevitable death of God's son to be cynical and dangerous in this world
of global violence. What we need is the gospel which paints no one beyond
redemption, recognizes the humanity in all peoples, and tells the truth
about the historical cost of living this out.
As we move from Palm Sunday to Good Friday to Easter and beyond to
Pentecost, I will continue to lift these themes and questions so critical in
our times. I look forward to the sharing of your insights and experiences of
the cross as we seek to recognize Christ's Living Presence and word for our
day.[1] The information in the foregoing paragraph appeared in a recent
column by Nicolas Kristoff in the New York Times. |
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