The Passion of The Christ - What Mel Gibson Left Out

Gibson's Block Buster thriller, The Passion of The Christ has been called "most explosive movie of our time." We even remember the stir it created before it's release in 2004.

Many lives have been touched by this production, to such an extent that at least one documentary film has been created in its wake. In a November 4, 2004 press release, the documentary film, “Impact: The Passion of the Christ” is said to give people's reaction to the original Gibson's work from people in "England, India, Japan, and Norway" and, of course, the United States.

The Passion of The Christ drew criticism from both sides, but film director Tim Chey, hopes that the positive 'global' reactions he has gathered will prove that Gibson's work is deserving of high honor.

You may have heard of the neo-Nazi who turned himself in to authorities in Norway two hours after seeing “The Passion of the Christ.” Ten years earlier he had bombed two buildings in Oslo. There is no doubt that people have been touched someway or another by the Passion.

What Did Gibson Miss?

Firstly, my aim is not to demean the good intention of The Passion of The Christ movie nor the film maker. But consider the following points and you will see why I consider a big omission and a misplacement of of emphasis.

  • Crucifixion was a common form of capital punishment at that time in the Roman Empire. What was so different about another "condemned criminal" meeting the same fate? No doubt, other innocent lives have been disgracefully wasted the same way. [Now, don't get angry at me yet, just hear me out...]
  • The severity and cruelty of Jesus' death was predicted (long before it happened) many times in Old Testament scripture, (Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 are two examples).
  • It required the death of a sinless Savior to pay the penalty for the sins of a sinful world. Only Jesus could have met that requirement once and for all.
  • It wasn't the physical pain so much that killed Him, it was the weight of the sins of the whole world. Don't miss this point. There is a whole lot to be understood from the statement, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

In this cry of agony, Jesus wasn't saying "these wounds really hurt". He sensed the hellish death - the separation from His Holy Father.

Christ died the death that sinners deserve so that we do not have to die that death. What death? Eternal death - the opposite of eternal life! This might be difficult to understand - just as how it is hard to explain "where God came from?"

But note this...

Hell is not a place where people who have lived a life of sin for a mere 70 years on earth will go to live a life of torment forever. That's a lie! That's the devil's lie. People who go to hell will die. - See Psalm 9:17, Malachi 4:1, and 2 Peter 3:10.

Note that the Bible says "burn" and not "torment". The Burn unit at your local hospital doesn't have people who have been tormented, but those who have been burned - thank God they have been rescued!

Couple that fact with the reality that sin cannot withstand the presence of a Holy God... When Christ took on the sins of the whole world, He was separated from His father. This is the terrible sense of eternal separation that the wicked will feel at the judgment. See Hebrews 9:27.

Note that the death humans die now is called "a sleep" - Jesus calls death a sleep (John 11:11), Stephen was stoned and fell asleep (Acts 7:60). The death that Jesus died for us is the eternal death. That crushed both His humanity and divinity at the cross.

"The Passion of the Christ" missed that. Instead it focused too much on the physical cruelty; which Barabbas himself would have met had the lot gone the other way. The physical and emotional aspects of Christ's suffering were the smaller part of the agony.

It was sin that killed Him. Your sin, and mine - the sins of the whole world. And when we realize that fact, we cannot be anti-Semitic, or otherwise divisive. Why? Because, we "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." - Romans 3:23.

I just wished somehow that The Passion of The Christ had captured more of that fact and a bit less of the physical suffering. What do you think?