Deacon Rick Lapierre
I saw the movie "The Passion of the Christ" two weeks ago. I must confess that I watched it with a very cynical eye. I knew it was just a movie, that the blood was makeup, that it was a highly technical retelling of the Passion narrative, recreated by Mel Gibson. Gibson gave it his own particular beliefs and his understanding of how and why the Passion of Jesus unfolded as it did.
What has transpired over the last two weeks, however, has surprised me. As I pray and celebrate the events of Holy Week, I find my mind recalling the images I saw on the movie screen. As I was discussing the movie yesterday with one of my students, I remembered in particular the brutality of the Roman soldiers, how they reveled in torturing Jesus, and how even Pilate berated them for their brutality. To witness brutality is disturbing enough, to witness the innocent suffer such brutality becomes almost intolerable. Maia Morgenstern, the Israeli actress who played the Blessed Mother, captured the horror in her face as she enacted what Mary must have felt as she watched her innocent Son suffer such cruel sport.
Let's imagine for a minute that Mr. Gibson has asked you to help him make this movie. Let's further imagine that Mr. Gibson will allow you to play whatever character you want in the movie. What character would you like play?
Well Jesus is the hero of the story, but he is tortured and killed. That's not very appealing. The Blessed Mother is always a wonderful character, but the pain she suffers as she watches her only Son killed would take too much out of you. Mary Magdalene is a good possibility, but again, her concern was so obvious for Jesus, who so readily forgave her sins and accepted her with a love that had no conditions. She watched Jesus humiliated and beaten, and maybe that's too stressful as well.
Judas becomes so despondent that he commits suicide, so that's not really a good choice. Peter betrays Jesus at the first sign of trouble, even after he assured Jesus that he would be with him no matter what. John is the only apostle to stand with Jesus on Calvary, but even he was afraid and hid in the temple as Jesus was being charged. Pilate is intrigued by the message of Jesus, but cannot his trepidation of allowing another rebellion to soil his political career, so he caves in to the crowd.
How about the high priest? He's portrayed as the real villain of the piece, never backing down from his demand that Jesus must die. Nobody wants to play the villain.
How about a Roman soldier? No, too brutal. Pharisee? Too scheming. How about Veronica, who wipes Jesus' face with such tenderness? No, she's kicked and beaten for her trouble by the soldiers. How about Abenadar, the centurion, a dedicated soldier who carries out his duties even though he finds them distasteful. Not appealing either. Dismas, the good thief who berates his friend for cursing Jesus and tells him that they are only getting what they deserve for their crimes? Too painful, and too obvious that his change of attitude is only because now he's been caught.
How about Simon? He's just passing through Jerusalem with his kids when he's dragged out of the crowd to help Jesus carry his cross because the soldiers are so afraid that Jesus is going to die on the road and they won't be able to kill him. He doesn't want to get involved, and even at the end he's still encouraging Jesus onward to His death primarily so the soldiers won't beat him.
So I stand here on this Good Friday with this dilemma, what part do I want to play in the movie "The Passion of the Christ?" The truth is I don't want to play any of them. But if I'm honest with myself, there's a part of me in all of these characters. I can sometimes see in myself the loving Jesus, the suffering Mary, the compassionate Mary Magdalene, the despondent Judas, the wishy-washy Peter, the fearful John, the political Pilate, the evil Caiphas, the brutal soldier, the scheming Pharisee, the tender Veronica, the dutiful centurion Abenadar, the thief who curses his fate, the thief who repents, but perhaps most especially Simon who just does not want to get involved.
The theologians teach us that Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, had to suffer death to atone for our sinfulness, for each and every one of us. The movie shows the people who were present and part of the historical crucifixion of Jesus. Beyond the historical crucifixion the cosmic reality is, just as there is a part of all of these characters in us, each of us were present at the crucifixion as well. Indeed each one of us is as responsible for the suffering and death of Jesus as the soldier who brutally drives the large nails through the hands and feet of a man whose only crime is that He loved too much.
The physical pain of hanging on the cross paled in comparison to the spiritual pain cause by the weight of the sins that made such suffering necessary. It was a weight so horrible that Jesus, Son of God though He is, cried out in such anguish, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" Our sins have brought Jesus to this reality, that even the love of God appears diminished and invisible. No wonder that Judas despaired as he did. Yet Peter also despaired, but brought himself back to his brothers and sisters and Jesus seeking redemption. I like to think that, in those dark days between the crucifixion and the Resurrection, in between those dark periods of gloom, Peter kept recalling Jesus' words, messages that kept alive the flame of hope. Words like "do not let your hearts be troubled, have faith in God and have faith also in me" and "I am going to prepare a place for you that where I am, you also may be."
My brothers and sisters, without the crucifixion, there is no Resurrection; without death there is no new life. As the earthly Jesus gasps the final words "It is finished!" an old world of godlessness ends and the new age of Christ the King dawns and the Kingdom of Heaven once again becomes our home, today, tomorrow and for all of eternity.
