Beyond Gethsemane Rebuttal

It has become the practice of my family to view Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ annually on Good Friday.  This movie is nothing more and nothing less than a dramatization of the Stations of the Cross, one of the older versions of those stations.  Mel is a Roman Catholic and criticism of his behavior and comments might be best viewed in that context.  Regardless of how you feel about some of the artistic liberties he took with the film, the graphic portrayal of the violence of Christ’s torture and death have an all too realistic feel to them.  The guttural reaction to this film, particularly the lashings, is akin to the reaction of the first twenty minutes of Saving Private Ryan.  And that is the point that Mel intends to make.  Meditation on the brutality of His death and the depth of His human suffering places the context of His life and resurrection into a different light.  In addition, it gives the viewer a very limited, but very powerful, view of the wrath of God.

It is the Wrath of God that is at issue this week.  The Wrath of God, says Brent McGuire, is what Jesus truly fears, not human suffering and death.  This is an interesting and helpful theological point.  The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath is what Jesus is holding, fearing to drink.   Who better to know the depth of that Wrath than One who is of one substance, of one being, with the Father?  In Jesus Christ, we have One man who truly understands into what trouble He is getting.

McGuire leads us through Psalms 69 and tells us about the prophetic need for One to come who can redeem humanity.  God wants to save humanity from its fall.  God understands His own justice and what will be required.  That is why Jesus condescended to become Man.  His vicarious death on the cross means nothing without His vicarious and sinless life before it.  We are meant to know not only that He died, but why He died, and specifically what He believed about His impending death.  It is His humanity that fears not death but His Wholly divine Wrath.  He understands exactly what is at stake.  Do we?

The Holiness of God is profoundly offended by Sin.  This places humanity in a death sentence.  Only God can provide a sacrifice sufficient to Propitiate on our behalf.  The expiation of sin is only half of the formula.  There must be reconciliation as well or it was a complete waste of time.  The vicarious nature of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is recorded for our remembrance.  But the motives and emotions of God are recorded as well.

I commended Brian McGuire’s piece to you because he points out that the Wrath of God was propitiated for us on Good Friday.  And the New Covenant with its New Cup of Salvation was introduced on Maundy Thursday and realized and begun on Easter.  These are all parts of the historical record of our Salvation, of our justification, of our propitiation with God, of our God condescending to us to save some of us for Himself.  That was a heavy burden on the Humanity of Jesus.

I will watch Mel’s movie again tomorrow.  But I will probably pause the movie after the opening station to discuss this topic.  McGuire is correct in this.  What is the point of understanding the depth of Christ’s human suffering if you have no comprehension of His motives and exactly what was at stake.

--Troll--