A different perspective on ‘The Passion’

MICHELE MARR

Last summer at Greg Laurie’s Harvest Crusade is when I first saw a

trailer for Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of the Christ.”

Not yet finished, much less released, it had already ignited a

verbal wildfire of controversy, the hot spot of which were concerns

-- expressed by a group of Catholic and Jewish Bible scholars and the

Anti-Defamation League -- that Gibson and some of the film’s content

are anti-Semitic.

Gibson, widely quoted as saying “The Holy Ghost was working

through me on this film and I was just directing traffic,” claimed

the movie was simply the Gospel truth and his one great hope was that

the film would have “the power to evangelize.”

Laurie, who clearly hoped so, too, had asked singer and songwriter

Marty Goetz to sing his song, titled “The Love of God,” during the

four-minute trailer.

Goetz, I knew, is a Jew who also believes that Jesus is the

messiah and the son of God, so I couldn’t help but wonder what he,

with a foot in both camps, thought about the ongoing controversy. A

few days later, by phone, I got a chance to ask him.

“I understand the concern of the Jewish community,” Goetz told me.

“I don’t know if I agree with it because I haven’t seen the movie

[but] I will say this: Often when that part of the life and death of

Jesus is presented, the Jewish people are presented in a very

negative light. ‘Christ-killer’ is a moniker for the Jewish people so

often.

“Were we complicit in turning [Jesus] over to the Romans for

crucifixion? I think it’s obvious from Scripture we were. But the

thing [is] all of us were complicit because it’s for sin -- the sin

of all humanity -- that [Jesus] died.”

Having said that, Goetz thinks it’s also important to underscore

that “the Jews” did not reject Jesus. Jesus’ relatives were Jews and

many Jews followed him. The 12 men closest to him, his disciples,

were Jews.

“It’s not emphasized enough, that they were very zealous Jews,”

Goetz said. “Jesus was himself a Jew, is a Jew. It just so happened

that the [Jewish] leadership of the nation decided they were going to

turn their backs on him.”

While Goetz makes it clear that he is not happy about any hurt the

movie might cause or any misunderstanding it might perpetuate, he

said he is glad that the movie is stirring up discussion and

consideration.

“As a Jewish believer, I have come to recognize ... that we need

to not be so afraid of being misrepresented that we don’t reckon with

the more important message ... I think it’s very important that my

Jewish people think about Yeshua [Jesus], and think about that event,

[the crucifixion] and make a heartfelt decision as to what they think

about it,” he said.

Rabbi Stephen Einstein of Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Fountain

Valley and past president of the Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith

Council shares the concerns of the Anti-Defamation League that the

film could fan the flames of anti-Semitism, which he has seen rise,

especially in Europe, since Sept. 11.

“Certainly I don’t know if it will lead to violence here ... it

could,” he told me by phone and reminded me that the Interfaith

Council was formed following a spate of racist crimes in Huntington

Beach that rattled the city and especially its City Hall a decade or

so ago.

“This is a very, very difficult and touchy issue,” he said.

“There’s history here, you see, and a lot of people may not be aware

[that] Passion plays throughout the Middle Ages were used as the

starting point for organized attacks against Jews.”

But regarding Gibson’s film, he maintains the issue is not a

matter of Jews versus Christians or even secular people versus

religious people or liberals versus conservatives.

“Often the media want to create stories that polarize people that

way,” he said. “[But] the question is will [Gibson] bear in mind the

concerns that, if the portrayal is done one way, it can lead to

hatred and violence [while] if it’s portrayed another way, it can

emphasize the main Christian message, which is a message of love and

redemption.

“A movie can be a very powerful medium ... God willing, Gibson

[has taken] this stuff to heart.”

With the movie about to be released on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 25, I

spoke on the phone last week with Craig Hazen, who had recently seen

Gibson’s film in an invitation-only prerelease screening.

Hazen, who holds a doctorate in religious studies from UC Santa

Barbara and is the director of the master’s program in Christian

apologetics at Biola University in La Mirada, is uncertain how

effective Gibson’s film will prove to be in evangelistic outreach,

even though many churches are planning to use it that way.

“When I watched it, I [put] myself in the position of a person

who’s sort of religiously illiterate -- and I think that describes a

lot of people today -- and I think they would have trouble making

sense of [the movie]. Some pastors [watching the movie] weren’t sure

what was going on at certain points,” Hazen said.

He compares the movie, which focuses solely on the last 12 hours

of Jesus’ life, to the synoptic Gospels that devote only a couple of

chapters each to that time but provide, at length, background for

Jesus’ death and resurrection.

The 90-minute movie begins in the garden of Gethsemane, where

Judas infamously betrays Jesus, and ends with Jesus’ death on the

cross.

“There’s just a glimpse, a few-second glimpse, a hint of a

resurrection,” Hazen said.

To provide moviegoers, Christian or non-Christian, with a better

context for viewing the film, Hazen’s program has developed an

eight-part lecture series called, “The Things You Need to Know to

Fully Appreciate Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ.’”

“We have some wonderful lectures planned,” Hazen said. “We have a

lecture on the nature of Christ and on the atonement, what is

supposed to be happening spiritually on the cross.”

The first, “The Two Natures of Christ,” to be held on Feb. 25 and

presented by research professor of philosophy at the Talbot School of

Theology William Lane Craig, is free. Registration for the rest of

the series is $185 before Feb. 25 and $195 after.

Hazen allows that Gibson may have overdramatized some scenes such

as the one in which Jesus is scourged. He found the film difficult to

watch but immensely powerful.

“The message for me was, ‘Oh goodness, God really does hate sin.

His holiness is very important. Look at the kind of price Jesus had

to pay for us.’ It’s very effective on that level.”

More information about “The Things You Need to Know to Fully

Appreciate Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ’” is available by

calling (888) 332-4652 or by visiting the website,

https://www.biola.edu/academics/

scs/apologetics/events.cfm.

Next week, I will share what some local pastors think about this

controversial film after seeing it at a selective screening at

Saddleback Community Church.

* MICHELE MARR is a freelance writer from Huntington Beach. She

can be reached at michele@soulfoodfiles.com.