Whose
Passion:
Mel Gibson's Or The Messiah's??
Question
From: A Subscriber
Do
you have any comments to give on "The Passion of the Christ", the movie, such
as its faithfulness in its message and its representation of the Jewish
culture and perspective?
In
the environment I am in, I almost daily interact with and try to befriend
skeptics, agnostics, and other people who are outsiders to any kind of
personal religon, and occasionally have been questioned about my faith by
people who live empty lives and are looking for a hope that they're not sure
even exists. How do you allow the love of our Saviour and HIS simple
life-giving message be seen through your lives and traditions?
Brother MattithYah's
Response:
Shabbat Shalom! I haven't seen the movie, and I don't intend to,
but from what I hear, the script is written in Aramaic (I'm surprised
they actually got this close) and late 16th century Latin (a bit late for
the time period which the movie's about). It does have a
clear Catholic twist to it, namely because this
is Gibson's official religion. The Pope has also said "It
is as it was", if that tells us anything. I happen to know for a
fact, though, that women in First Century Jerusalem did not walk around
looking like 16th century nuns, as they do in the movie,
and there are also numerous "additions" to the gospels interwoven into
the film, such as when Yahshua's soul falls to the ground like a meteor, or
when the ravens pluck out the thief's eyes; both events which are
drawn from the supposed visions of two nuns. From what I
hear, an anti-semitic bias also makes the Jews look like the bad guys
and the Romans like pawns, and if it tells us anything again, Mel's father
is a clear-cut anti-semite, and to date, Mel has not publicly
renounced his father's bag of obsurd claims, including his his father's
statement that the holocaust never happened, and many
more.
This movie, and others like
it, also violate three clear Scriptural commands:
-
We are commanded
to make no image of things in heaven or on earth, to bow down and
worship it. The Passion movie violates both aspects of this command, for
Yahshua is in both heaven and earth, and they attempt to make an
image of him. Yahshua is no longer impaled on the tree,
He is no longer in the garden tomb, and He is no longer a man in 1st
Centruy Galilee. He is alive, and he is everywhere, so why is Mel
Gibson "looking back to Sodom?" For the thousands (or even millions) of
people who see this movie, they will not be seeing the
Messiah, but rather, James Caviezel, who is playing the part of
Gibson's Christ. After seeing the movie,
whenever they think about or worship the Messiah, they will
instead be seeing the mental image of James Caviezel, and
thereby changing "the esteem of the incorruptible El into an
image made like corruptible man" (Romans 1:23).
-
Sha'ul (Paul), in his
letter to the Hebrews, I believe, warns us that Messiah DIED ONCE, and speaks
out against those who "Impale the Son of Yahweh afresh, putting him to an open
shame." Again, the Passion movie violates both aspects of this
command, both through re-enacting the scene of the crucifixion in slow
mode on a gigantic screen, and by misrepresenting the Messiah, as they
turn him into someone he never was, with a passion for death that he never
had. Didn't Yahshua say, "Father, If possible, let this cup pass from
me"? He did not really seem to be passionate about dying a cruel death
by being impaled to me.... wasn't his "passion" actually that all men come to
repentance? But instead, the Passion movie zooms in on the cruel method
of his death.
-
Torah forbids the
practice of magic and necromancy. In "The Passion of Christ", and
all movies like it, we actually have a replay of the magicians in
Egypt. Yahweh preformed a miracle, and now Mel Gibson has to try
and copy it. His movie also includes a "pulling Christ up from
the dead" (i.e. resurrection scene), which happens to be a
miniscule part of the movie. What does this tell us
except that Gibson's Christ has a focus on death, instead of
life?
Five
Reasons Not To Go And See The Passion Of Christ is a
Protestant view, and presents solid reasons to not see the movie from a
Christian perspective. There are two things in here that I don't
agree with. #1 is their reasoning for why Aramaic and Latin is a bizzare
combination [I believe in Hebrew or Aramaic originals to the N.T].
#2 is their comparison of the extra-biblical material in the film to
the Apocrypha [I accept the Apocrypha as inspired.... just as it
traditionally was 100 years ago]. Otherwise, the "Five Reasons Not To Go
And See The Passion Of Christ" is very good.
The Passion According To Mel Gibson is the Messianic view,
explaining why the Passion movie is not an accurate depiction of Messiah's last
hours, and why the movie is just designed to make you feel physically
sick.
Mel Gibson And The Jews
and The Passion: The Movie And The AfterMath are the (non-messianic) Jewish
perspective. I disagree, of course, with their statements
against Yahshua's Messiahship and the fact that he was Yahweh in the
flesh, as well as their view of the NT, but these essays make some
really good points and provide good insight from the Jewish perspective
which helps us to realize where Christianity is off base.
When the Messianic movement, Talmudic Judaim, and
even Protestants are all saying "Don't watch it", and when the masses are all
supporting it, shouldn't it stand out as a red-flag that we
had better beware? Most folks will
just go and see the movie, have their nightmares and emotional
disturbances once it is through, and never realize that they watched Mel
Gibson's anti-messiah, live on stage. But the question which we have got
to ask is "Whose Passion?" and "Whose Christ?". Yahshua said "Many
shall come in my name and deceive many", and they have been doing it
for 1700+ years. Suppose that we have the experience of a
lifetime by just allowing the REAL MESSIAH to step forward, all on his
own, while all of the imposters LEAVE the
stage.
I do see a definite
need for witnessing to the lost, but I think that our living actions
and explanations will do a much better job than any
movie. I have an article up <www.joyintheworld.info/articles/drama_what_does_yahweh_say.html> which explains why I believe hollywood and the acting
world in general to be a world of magic deceit, and I might also add
that movies generally aren't a very effective witness for truth, even
when the message is correct, because they operate on emotions instead of
reason, which does not produce a lasting effect.
I hope that this has answered
the question, and, as always, I welcome your thoughts.
Have a wonderful and restful
Shabbat!
Brother MattithYah
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