As the title suggests, The Passion of Christ provides a retelling of the events leading up to Christ’s death on the cross, as well as the events leading up to the crucifixion, according to Catholic director Mel Gibson’s interpretation of The New Testament from the Bible. While there have been many movie narrations of these events over the years, none have been like The Passion of Christ. That’s because this movie is violent, disturbing and very difficult to watch. After all, the word ‘passion’ comes from the terms passion and patientwhich means ‘suffering’.
The film’s graphic content was met with much criticism and controversy, and some believed Gibson’s film was good bloody ‘torture porn’ flick with excessive force. In addition, many moviegoers could not handle the film and left the cinema in tears, emotionally distraught. While the movie is very terrifying and hard to digest, it’s important to remember that it should be. After all, it will never be fun to torture and kill anyone, especially someone who endured a crucifixion, which was one of the most brutal and painful deaths of its time. Therefore, Gibson was simply trying to provide an accurate interpretation of what actually happened.
Jesus’ crucifixion as Christians believe it happened
To fully understand why an accurate retelling of the death of Jesus has to be graphic and R-rated, it’s important to know what Christians believed happened. The Jewish religious leaders, the Pharisees, did not like Jesus’ message of hope, love and repentance. They believed that his preaching was false and blasphemous. The Pharisees needed Rome to approve Jesus’ death sentence, so they presented their case to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, and persuaded the people to support their cause.
The Christians believe that Pontius Pilate, after questioning Jesus about his teachings, actually found Him innocent. To appease the people, Pilate had Jesus strip off his clothes and flogged. However, the people still wanted Jesus to be crucified. So, fearing reprisals from the restless mob, Pilate turned Jesus over to one of his centurions to perform the deed. Jesus was then spat on and insulted and a crown of thorns was mockingly placed on his head, cutting his scalp. Jesus was then forced to carry a large wooden cross to Calvary, where he was eventually crucified.
Jesus’ scourging
As mentioned above, Jesus was martyred before his crucifixion, and as: The Passion of Christ Biblical and historically as authentic as possible, then that torture must be portrayed. Jesus’ specific form of torture was flogging, one of the most brutal, inhumane punishments inflicted by the Roman soldiers. Normally made of leather, a tease is a whip or whip with multiple strings with metal spikes, balls or bones. It is designed to cause as much pain as possible because the jagged metal tips of the whip will bite into the skin, causing it to tear and bleed. As mentioned above, Jesus was stripped of his clothes and would likely have been chained so that he was in a defenseless position and His back would be completely exposed to the lashings.
One or more Roman officials would then inflict the blows one after the other, probably changing poses and sides to make sure they covered more skin. While the Mosaic law forbids scourging to exceed forty lashes, the actual number of lashes inflicted was often determined by the brutality of the executioners and determined by the crime committed. Therefore, the exact number of lashes Jesus received is not known. However, the after-effects are known. Flogging causes the tearing and breaking of small blood vessels, nerves and muscles. In addition, rib fractures, severe bruising to the lungs, and bleeding into the chest cavity are also a possibility, especially if the upper back and rib cage have been hit.
After that, Jesus would have been extremely weak, lost so much blood and endured all the physical pain. He would probably have been in shock and experienced excessive vomiting and diaphoresis. Yet His plight was far from over, for Jesus was then commanded to carry a large wooden cross to Calvary. Along the way, the pain and suffering became so severe that Jesus fell three times, and eventually needed the help of Simon of Cyrene, who was a passer-by and was pulled off the street to help Jesus carry the cross. Once at Calvary, the destination of the crucifixion, Jesus had wooden pegs hammered into His hands and feet, nailing Him to the cross. But His pain and suffering did not end there, for a crucifixion is not a quick and painless death.
Death by crucifixion
Crucifixions are not a painless death. In fact, they are the exact opposite. Known as a method of death penalty in ancient times by Carthaginians, Persians and Romans, crucifixions are meant to be brutal and extremely painful. Moreover, they are one of the most shameful ways to die, reserved mainly for the worst criminals, traitors, slaves and captive armies. Traditionally, death by crucifixion occurs by tying or nailing its victim to a large wooden beam, cross, or X. That victim is then hanged until death from exhaustion and suffocation occurs.
This process was intended to be slow and lengthy and could take six hours to four days. According to biblical accounts, Jesus’ death lasted six hours. While this is considered short for a crucifixion, that amount of time would be endless for the victim waiting on the cross to die, praying that the end was near, as he suffered with excruciating pain from the previous scourging and torture.
The events speak for themselves, and after a detailed account of Jesus’ death according to biblical texts, it is impossible to accurately represent these events without extreme blood and violence. Most Christian movies are synonymous with being healthier and cleaner than the usual Hollywood movies, but The Passion of Christ is a real anomaly. If Mel Gibson wanted his story to accurately reflect what Christians believe, that Jesus suffered to the utmost for the salvation of all, then the director had to show things exactly as they would have happened. If anything, Gibson may have held back from getting an R rating instead of the dreaded X or NC-17 rating as it’s now called. Therefore, anything less than an R-rated retelling of the crucifixion simply cannot be accurate.
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how Gibson deals with the other side of the crucifixion in The Passion of Christ: Resurrectionand what rating it gets.