Good but gruesome Friday
In February 2004, the film The Passion of the Christ hit theaters to the excitement of most Christians. The movie was financially backed by Hollywood super-star Mel Gibson, so this was going to be a first-class production. It opened to full houses, but one immediate concern arose – it was so bloody! The depiction of Jesus’ beating and crucifixion was so gruesome the movie earned an “R” rating. Was this another example of Hollywood exploiting violence for box office success or was the representation of the passion gruesome because the event itself was gruesome? The consensus was that the movie was horrific because the event itself was horrific. There was no way you could make the passion of Christ “G” rated. But I wonder why? Why did the event have to be so gruesome? Is there anything about how it happened that reveals to us something about the nature of God? Before I address that question, let’s get two things clear. First, Jesus could hav...