The Presentation Of Jesus Christ In Mel Gibson's The Passion Of The Christ

The presentation of Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’ The Passion of the Christ, while certainly dramatized, largely stays faithful to the presentation of Jesus in the canonical Gospels. The majority of the differences between this film and the Gospels can be considered creative choices that do not substantially change the narrative, making this film by and large an accurate representation of the scenes in the Bible. However, its near-exclusive focus on Jesus’ trial and death omits much of the context and significance of this event in the life and teachings of Jesus and his greater mission of the salvation of humanity. As the title of the film should make apparent, the main focus of The Passion of the Christ is the trial, crucifixion, and resurrection

The first major addition is at the very beginning when Jesus is praying in the garden, a scene found in the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke. But in the film we also see Satan appear to Jesus and and tempt him, trying to convince Jesus to not take all of the world’s sins upon himself. In response, Jesus steps on the head of a snake Satan produces, killing it. Satan appears again in the film carrying a demonic baby, and similarly, Judas is taunted in the film by children with demonic faces. None of these Satanic appearances are found in the Gospels’ description of these scenes. Another scene that is added in Gibson’s film is the scene where Mary wakes while Jesus is being tortured, having felt through some connection with him that he was in danger. This has no relation to any of the Gospels. Finally, there are scenes in the film where Pontius Pilate consults with his wife on what his course of action with Jesus should be. His wife is mentioned in Matthew 27:19, but they do not have the conversations they do in the film. In general, Pontius Pilate appears much more hesitant to condemn Jesus in the film compared to the

Due of this, the film lacks much explanation of the significance of the crucifixion of Jesus. While it gives a good description of the crucifixion itself, it does not show why this event was so significant. This relates to our work this semester in learning about Jesus, but mostly because of its description of a historical event (albeit dramatized), rather than showing the significance of that event. In general the film does a good job of portraying the immense suffering of Jesus before and during the crucifixion, with Jesus coming across as a deeply sympathetic character. However, it does not depict the Jesus and the crucifixion its their theological