Passion of the Christ

[Gracie]

I said I would never watch it. And I haven't. Until tonight.

I'm not sure what to say about it either. But I sure have a lot of questions.

How could someone take that kind of punishment and still make it up a hill? How could they not just die from shock to the body before even reaching the hill? Strength from God?

If so, why such horrendous punishment? The suffering obviously done?

Why such a punishment in that extreme?

Why does sacrifice need to be done to get anywhere with God? Blood and death and suffering. What is the purpose?

I don't get it.

 

[S.J.]

Sacrifice for God is noble and won't go unrewarded. I tend to agree with you on the level of brutality though. I saw the movie and thought it was a bit exaggerated.

 

[Gracie]

Yes. I thought so too. A human being could not take that kind of punishment and survive as long as he did. Just no way. Unless it was divine strength, but again...why would God give divine strength for torture to go on so long?
I think ol Mel wanted to show brutality in its worst way. And he went a bit overboard.

 

[The Irish Ram]

You have no idea Gracie. The movie was tame in comparison. This is what happened to Him the night before He was nailed to the cross:

They held one mock trial after another. They would blindfold him and then hit him in the face sending Him to the ground. If He could guess which one hit Him they would stop. He never answered them.
The extent of inhumanity was something the Romans were known for.

If they whipped you they could only whip you 39 times, because by 40, you were dead. So, 39 times they struck Him with a whip that had 3 metal balls with hooks like fish hooks embedded in them and were attached to the end of the whip. They could whip those balls around a person and sink the hooks then drag the whip sideways or downward and cut your flesh into strips. You could look down and see parts of your guts spilling out. They were adept at not hitting the same spot twice. His flesh was so torn that the wood they placed on His back sat directly on sinew and bone. "His bones stared at Him."

The crown they made for Him had 3 inch thorns. They set it on His head and then pounded the crown down with a mallet until the thorns were between his scalp and His skull.
As prophesied, they took handful after handful of His beard, and ripped it and the flesh it was attached to right off of His face. And then they nailed Him to the cross at 9 am, and the worst was yet to come.
He was described as not human looking by the time they drove the nails through His hands and feet.

He withstood it all just to get on that cross to be our scape goat. Pure love for us kept Him alive long enough to accomplish His goal. Our souls were His goal.
And from noon till 3 pm when darkness abruptly fell, Christ bore the judgment God was required to hand out to punish sin. When the sentence for our sin was satisfied, and the sun shone again the Roman guard standing under the cross remarked, "Surely we have just killed the Son of God".

He wasn't even recognizable to His own disciples when He rose three days later. They realized who He was because they recognized His voice.
He proved to us that death has no sting. He conquered death and sin on our behalf. He died in our place so we could join Him in His place, forever.

 

[Gracie]

But..WHY??? Why the horrible suffering? What is the purpose??? I just flat don't understand how God would allow that kind of suffering. I just don't.

I never want to see that movie again. Nor do I want the gory details. Which is why I never watched it to begin with. I don't know why I did tonight. I guess I figured I owed it to Him. But all it did was raise more questions and you know me, hon. I am full of questions all the time with this.

 

[BDBoop]

You have no idea Gracie. The movie was tame in comparison. This is what happened to Him the night before He was nailed to the cross:

They held one mock trial after another. They would blindfold him and then hit him in the face sending Him to the ground. If He could guess which one hit Him they would stop. He never answered them.
The extent of inhumanity was something the Romans were known for.

If they whipped you they could only whip you 39 times, because by 40, you were dead. So, 39 times they struck Him with a whip that had 3 metal balls with hooks like fish hooks embedded in them and were attached to the end of the whip. They could whip those balls around a person and sink the hooks then drag the whip sideways or downward and cut your flesh into strips. You could look down and see parts of your guts spilling out. They were adept at not hitting the same spot twice. His flesh was so torn that the wood they placed on His back sat directly on sinew and bone. "His bones stared at Him."

The crown they made for Him had 3 inch thorns. They set it on His head and then pounded the crown down with a mallet until the thorns were between his scalp and His skull.
As prophesied, they took handful after handful of His beard, and ripped it and the flesh it was attached to right off of His face. And then they nailed Him to the cross at 9 am, and the worst was yet to come.
He was described as not human looking by the time they drove the nails through His hands and feet.

He withstood it all just to get on that cross to be our scape goat. Pure love for us kept Him alive long enough to accomplish His goal. Our souls were His goal.
And from noon till 3 pm when darkness abruptly fell, Christ bore the judgment God was required to hand out to punish sin. When the sentence for our sin was satisfied, and the sun shone again the Roman guard standing under the cross remarked, "Surely we have just killed the Son of God".

He wasn't even recognizable to His own disciples when He rose three days later. They realized who He was because they recognized His voice.
He proved to us that death has no sting. He conquered death and sin on our behalf. He died in our place so we could join Him in His place, forever.

If not this actual article, I read one like it many years ago.

A Medical Doctor Analyzes The Crucifixion of Christ

 

[Gracie]

I would think He would have gone into shock prior to all that. Unless they were tougher back then.
Whatever the case may be, I will go to my grave asking WHY. Yes, I know. For our sins. But...WHY the torture? I will never have the answer. We are not meant to know. It is beyond us the whys and wherefores of what God did or does.
What I DO know is...He suffered. A lot. Horribly. And for what? To save us? Are we even worth saving the way the world is today? Did He do all that for nothing? Look where we all are.

It makes me sad, furious, confused, angry, disgusted all at the same time.

 

[Gracie]

And, I wish I had never watched it while at the same time glad I did because we all are numb to the "he was scourged and crucified with a thorn of crowns on his head and then He died". No. He SUFFERED.
How could God allow that? Or even want it?

So confusing.

And..I am done discussing it. It's making me upset.

 

[S.J.]

I would think He would have gone into shock prior to all that. Unless they were tougher back then.
Whatever the case may be, I will go to my grave asking WHY. Yes, I know. For our sins. But...WHY the torture? I will never have the answer. We are not meant to know. It is beyond us the whys and wherefores of what God did or does.
What I DO know is...He suffered. A lot. Horribly. And for what? To save us? Are we even worth saving the way the world is today? Did He do all that for nothing? Look where we all are.

It makes me sad, furious, confused, angry, disgusted all at the same time.

God made the ultimate sacrifice (his son's life) to give us a path to eternal life. It had to be convincing or it wouldn't have meant much. I think he was saying "Ok, I'm done with this, here's my sacrifice to you. accept it and I'll accept you. If not, hasta la vista".

 

[GWV5903]

Great movie, he did suffer tremendously for our sins, that is how much love God has for all of us who believe in him...

Man has done the same if not worst to our fellow mankind, look at Juarez Mexico right now...

Passion best describes the true intention's of our Christ...

 

[The Irish Ram]

I would think He would have gone into shock prior to all that. Unless they were tougher back then.
Whatever the case may be, I will go to my grave asking WHY. Yes, I know. For our sins. But...WHY the torture? I will never have the answer. We are not meant to know. It is beyond us the whys and wherefores of what God did or does.
What I DO know is...He suffered. A lot. Horribly. And for what? To save us? Are we even worth saving the way the world is today? Did He do all that for nothing? Look where we all are.

It makes me sad, furious, confused, angry, disgusted all at the same time.

God would have loved for us not to have been so cruel, but we are.
Yet, at our very worst, Jesus loved us that much. He suffered so we would never have to. We are His kin.
Are we worth it? That question is in the Bible. " What is man that you are even mindful of him?" His answer is, "Yes, to me you're worth it. I love you."

We have a bright future. So does Christ. He inherited everything His Father ever created. He is coming back here, to us, to His inheritance. God gave us to Him, and Him to us. He's ok with that outcome.

Night sweetie.

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

Yet, at our very worst, Jesus loved us that much. He suffered so we would never have to.

Irish Ram, that doesn't make sense. People suffer horribly.

 

[Politico]

Yet, at our very worst, Jesus loved us that much. He suffered so we would never have to.

Irish Ram, that doesn't make sense. People suffer horribly.

I was not supposed to suffer? Someone forgot to send me the memo.

It was a movie folks. It went over the top because they knew it would generate controversy. That equals dollars which it made a lot of.

 

[BDBoop]

Yet, at our very worst, Jesus loved us that much. He suffered so we would never have to.

Irish Ram, that doesn't make sense. People suffer horribly.

I assumed she meant "for our sins, at judgment."

 

[amrchaos]

Question

How do we know that Jesus didn't do anything that merited this type of punishment.

I mean, the only side we hear are from the Disciples who helped Jesus. Admitting that Jesus did something wrong would imply they were accomplices and no one would trust them. So there appears to be a part of the story of Jesus that we are not getting.

Of course, that is my opinion on the issue. I tend to think there is more going on than what the disciples have told us.

 

[Chuckt]

I would think He would have gone into shock prior to all that. Unless they were tougher back then.
Whatever the case may be, I will go to my grave asking WHY. Yes, I know. For our sins. But...WHY the torture? I will never have the answer. We are not meant to know. It is beyond us the whys and wherefores of what God did or does.
What I DO know is...He suffered. A lot. Horribly. And for what? To save us? Are we even worth saving the way the world is today? Did He do all that for nothing? Look where we all are.

It makes me sad, furious, confused, angry, disgusted all at the same time.

Jesus stumbled and had help carrying the cross in the gospel.
Mark 15:21 ;

 

[BDBoop]

The one scene in the movie that broke my heart, and I never forgot was his mother seeing him as a toddler, he tripped and fell and she comforted him ... as background to his current agony.

Just shattering.

 

[S.J.]

I recommend this movie. Way better than Passion.

Jesus of Nazareth - Movie Trailers - Fandango.com

 

[Gracie]

That movie still haunts me today.
Sure does put things into perspective....and shocks the body and soul into some kind of awakening and not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

Yet, at our very worst, Jesus loved us that much. He suffered so we would never have to.

Irish Ram, that doesn't make sense. People suffer horribly.

I assumed she meant "for our sins, at judgment."

Oh, I see. Kind of like the one about "knock and it shall be opened, ask and ye shall receive..." not being about worldly things but things of the spirit. Which explains why you can get down on you knees and BEG God to spare your loved one from their illness...and they die anyway.

I just don't understand why everything had to be made into a big game. All these rules and riddles and puzzles. Do this or that and you might get this or that reward. Do something wrong and burn in Hell forever. Etc., etc. And at the same time we are told that God sooo loves us. It just doesn't add up. I think we are misinterpreting something.

Or some of us are, anyway.