The Essence

I've been listening to the local Christian station a bit lately, here & when I was in Orlando & it seems they are very excited about the new Mel Gibson movie coming out Wedneday, The Passion of the Christ. They're giving away tickets, having special screenings and asking how it makes people feel.



I'll admit it's intrigued me since I first heard about the movie, but mostly I've wondered how accurately it will portray everything and if any kind of twist has been put on the story. After all, Mel Gibson is catholic and they aren't exactly known for their accuracy of the scriptures.



I did find out that Dr. Dobson is talking about the movie with Mel on the Focus on the Family show today, which can be heard online. I haven't listened to it yet, but I definitely plan to.



I honestly hope that this movie tells the story of Christ accurately (I've heard that it does) and that it may even become a good evangelism tool. From what I've heard it doesn't sound like it so much gives the gospel as it tells the story of the last twelve hours of Jesus' life. I know the meaning will not be lost on Christians, but I do wonder how well the message of WHY Christ died will be evident to the unsaved.



This is an interesting article on the movie and they even mention that people involved with the filming of the movie, such as Muslims and agnostics actually trusted Christ during that time. I guess the more I hear about it the more I want to see it.



I know sometimes just reading this story in the Bible will bring tears to my eyes when you really think about all of the suffering, mocking and pain that Jesus went through just for us. And you realize that you're the one who was supposed to suffer like that and now you don't have to because Christ took our place. It's truly amazing. I can only imagine what visually seeing this will do, I know it's supposed to be very graphic but I'd say that if any movie warrants violence this is it.



Let's just pray that it will be an effective evangalizing tool around the world.