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March 5, 2004
Sharing Jesus With A Movie Critic
To the Two Thumbs Up & Down Guys,
With all of the hoopla surrounding Mel Gibson's blockbuster The Passion Of The Christ, it has become readily apparent to me as a lay theologian that many in the media industry lack a basic understanding of Christianity. Therefore, I decided a theological primer penned in MOVIE TITLES might assist you as you work through the meaning of the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Looking from the outside, it would be easy to assume The Gods Must be Crazy. Yet Christians believe, "For God so loved the world
" that he gave Jesus as a Ransom for our sins. The word Gospel means, "Good News." He claimed to be God in the flesh and was either Moonstruck or who he claimed to be, the King Of Kings.
Going back that infamous incident with The Lady Eve when she and Adam fell through disobedience, their dominion over the earth was surrendered and they was driven out the presence of God. Our earthly Paradise became a Forbidden Planet yet God promised to send a Redeemer to literally buy our race back out of bondage to sin. A terrible price had to be paid for our redemption and it is the mystery of the Gospel that God decided to pay it himself.
Millennia later, Jesus began his public ministry announcing the coming of the kingdom of God. He was a teacher telling God's Love Story, a prophet, and The Miracle Worker who inflamed the entrenched religious establishment of his day, bypassing them and instead choosing 12 immediate followers to be his Apostles, not exactly The Dirty Dozen, but close enough. They were Ordinary People who became All The King's Men, his Witness to the world.
The Bible teaches that that there are only really two races, or classes of people, those who are by faith children of God and those who are Children Of A Lesser God, whom the Bible calls, "Satan, the god of this present world." Enter The Dragon. If he could cause Trouble In Paradise, waging The War Of The Worlds against God and his faithful angels, why not here in the Carnival Of Souls of The Lost World? Yet Jesus promised to build a church secure in Him so that Gates Of Hell would not prevail against us.
Conflict is the basis of all good drama, is it not?
In A Lonely Place, the cross became - may Mel forgive me - God's Lethal Weapon where Jesus became The Accused. He invited the world to A View To A Kill while he Beat The Devil giving him the proverbial Das Boot from heaven even as His shed blood flowed like a Red River.
Some theological concepts to grasp: According to the Bible, God is a person who is One In Three, sometimes called The trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is not the Godfather in three parts, as he is kind, but is instead God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And just like Coppola movies, these three are one!
The Awful Truth about we humans is that we're a race of sinners and rebels. Christians, those who have given their lives to Christ, have A Free Soul, a new nature, yet often undergo a Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde battle learning how to yield to the indwelling presence and Providence of the Spirit of God, who helps us gain Deliverance over our own Human Bondage. Such is The Way Of All Flesh.
The Cross of Christ is the central focal point of human history. The stakes? You and I. Jesus had to either Beat The Devil at High Noon or we, the fallen sons of Adam, would remain forever Unforgiven. Although it is arguably the worst film ever made, we really do live on Battlefield Earth, or better, on an Island Of Lost Souls. Any thinking person acknowledges that there is A Touch Of Evil on this Ship Of Fools we call earth.
As to the Passion of the Christ, once Judas gave Jesus The Death Kiss, the sacrifice was on. Jesus was arrested, judged and crucified on what cynics grimly call A Roman Holiday. For Him, it was The Longest Day, The Day The Earth Stood Still. He was Doomed to Die. He tasted the bitter Grapes Of Wrath, the dregs of the sins of the whole world, all for the Glory to come. He was Trading Places with us, dying in our stead, that we might live life anew.
He paid the price To Catch A Thief and for The Great Escape for humanity from sin by hanging Midway between heaven and earth. The Bible records a great Earthquake that tore open the holies of holies, the Torn Curtain that once symbolically separated men and God, as he finally dealt with Evil Under The Sun. Jesus cried, "It is finished" and that was The End Of The Affair.
He promises eternal life to all who come to him, swearing that if we accept his sacrifice in our place, we will never Die Another Day. However, the consequences of rejecting this priceless gift are sadly eternal. Ask not For Whom The Bell Tolls. If you think Some Like it Hot, think again!
So what did happen to the body of the crucified man from Nazareth? Was it snatched away by The Invasion Of The Body Snatchers? No. He walked out of the tomb alive and became the Dead Man Walking. After his resurrection, he was seen by over 500 people alive and then went From Here to Eternity. He even appeared to his cowering disciples inside a locked room. How could they Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? His disciples first thought they had seen a Ghost! Yet there he stood, scars and all, triumphant over death saying, "Peace be with you."
God became a man, the King Of Kings a servant. Jesus is The Lion King and The King And I are friends having made peace through his cross. The verdict is clear: he is who he claimed to be, God the Son. Now his church, his Princess Bride, awaits The Return Of The King and the impending Apocalypse. We who love his appearing will soon Hail The Conquering Hero.
But what about the Elmer Gantry's of the world? Aren't they the best argument against Christianity? I'm a sinner saved and paid for by the blood of the Lam of God. I daily struggle to learn this new life in Christ. It's A Wonderful Life but it isn't always easy to live. Critics can point fingers and toss a lot of Raging Bull but I trust in the mercy and grace of God to help me live for him. Only God can truly Judge and on that great and terrible day when each of us stands before him to give an account for our lives, judge he will.
So, you could Meet Me In St. Louis over coffee to discuss this and allow me to share some of the faith adventures from the Life Of Brian with you or you can open your Bible and begin to read the story for yourself. Yet whatever you do with Jesus, remember this about all the material stuff of life: You Can't Take It With You. His is The Never-Ending Story! Eternal Life is the sequel; the question remains for you is where you choose to spend it.
Well, in the words attributed to God in Bruce Almighty, "Armageddon outta here!"
