It would be beneficial for evangelicals to read the following chapters about the death of Christ in the Gospels-Matthew 26-27, Mark 14-15, Luke 22-23, and John 18-19-to verify for themselves whether the movie’s scenes and script are faithful to the Word of God, as the Bereans “examin(ed) the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts ).
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
The Westminster Confession of Faith (1647) says that Christ “endured most grievous torments immediately in his soul, and most painful sufferings in his body
As a devout Roman Catholic, Mel Gibson juxtaposes the “sacrifice of the cross with the sacrifice of the altar-which is the same thing.” Scattered throughout the movie were scenes of the Last Supper, and the emphasis on “This is my body, which is given for you. This is to link the crucifixion to the Roman Mass. But is this acceptable to Protestants?
The Bible, however, focuses not in his physical suffering, but in his once for all satisfaction of God’s wrath (1 John 4:10)
Although Protestants link Christ’s sacrifice to the Lord’s Supper https://hookupdate.net/escort-index/huntsville/, they also believe that Christ’s suffering is a “once for all” sacrifice, never to be repeated, and is sufficient for the full satisfaction of a wrathful God: “He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:12).
The overarching emphasis of the movie on the brutal physical suffering of Christ is in line with the Roman Catholic doctrine of how Christ paid for the sins of the world. This is one of the reasons why crucifixes and other icons showing Christ’s passion are very important to them. Have you ever wondered why Roman Catholics have so much of Christ’s physical agony in their devotional material, prayers, and in the Mass, but very little on his perfectly obedient life and his resurrection? (The movie, by the way, devoted the last one or two minutes to the resurrection, perhaps as an afterthought.)
The greatest torment that Christ endured was not his physical suffering, but in his being made “sin for us” and vicariously suffering the righteous punishment of the Father in our place (2 Cor. 5:21). ” 11 The Heidelberg Catechism (1563) also says it clearly: “all the time that [Christ] lived on earth, but especially at the end of his life, sustained in body and soul, the wrath of God against the sins of all mankind.” 12
Thousands of Christians, including the apostles suffered the same (maybe worse) agonizing torment on the cross during the first three centuries of Christianity. The suffering that he suffered was equivalent to the suffering of all his people for eternity in hell. The anguish of having the sins of all the elect imputed to Him and making full satisfaction for them is so much more than just physical suffering. This is why he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. )
Absent from the movie is the gospel. Viewers will not learn that they are all sinners who have broken God’s Law and deserve to be sent to hell by a wrathful God. They will not learn that to be saved from hell, they are commanded to repent, beg for forgiveness from God, and believe in Christ as Savior and Lord. They will not even learn what his suffering and death was all about. The whole movie was nothing more than a re-enactment of the brutality that was inflicted on Christ. Most probably, many evangelicals themselves will miss the connection between our justification by faith alone and Christ’s substitutionary atonement on the cross.