Remembering Christ’s Passion
by Karl Lohman
Spring 2004
I really don’t have a problem with unsaved people going down to the theater to see Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. My problem is with God’s people going down (hmm!) there to see a reenactment of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ portrayed on the silver screen. Why would any saved person want to do that? Why would any saved person want to encourage fellow believers to do that?
Judging by the hoopla surrounding this movie, I know what kind of a response I will get to those questions--emotional. Without a doubt, this movie casts an emotional spell (hmm!) on people. I was on a web site the other day where people were e-mailing their reactions to the movie. There were literally tens of thousands of different folks that responded. No doubt many of them were saved people, but they obviously were overcome by emotion. One guy wrote: “I’ve been a christian [sic] and reader of the bible [sic] my whole [sic] but this [The Passion of the Christ] brought on a whole new meaning to what Christ did for us all.” If we take this man at his word, he is a Christian. But he is as nutty as a pecan pie. He assumes the Hollywood word is superior to the holy word! Any NEW meaning that wasn’t revealed in God’s holy word isn’t worth the powder it would take to blow it to kingdom come!
Speaking of God’s holy word, let’s just see what a Christian is supposed to do to remember our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary. Paul said that he received something from the Lord (1 Corinthians 11:23) concerning the Lord’s death. I wonder what it was. I wonder if it could compete with Mel Gibson’s work. Whatever it was, it was to “shew the Lord’s death till he come” (2 Corinthians 11:26). If you think it had anything to do with assembling the church at the local theater and SHOWing the Lord’s death on the silver screen, you are woefully ignorant of God’s word. It has nothing whatsoever to do with drama, live or otherwise. It has to do with observing the Lord’s supper. Let’s look at it, in context, to be sure that I am not privately interpreting (2 Peter 1:20) anything.
Here’s 1 Corinthians 11:23-26:
For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
If you are about to blow a gasket right now, I can tell you why you are reacting that way. Your emotions have gotten in the way of what Jesus Christ Himself said or how the Apostle Paul applied what He said. And you’ve got a problem. It’s a common problem, but it’s a serious problem. It’s authority! Peter had that problem. He regularly corrected the words of God from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ because those words contradicted his thinking (Matthew 26:33, Mark 8:32, Acts 10:14). It was an emotional response on his part. Do you know what Peter received for those responses? He received what anyone who elevates his emotional response above the word of God receives--a rebuke! Because he didn’t believe the word of God, he was rebuked by the living Word of God. Is that what you want? I believe I’ll just get in line with the word of God rather than get in line to purchase a ticket!
Copyright © 2004 Antioch Baptist Church