It is a bit late to be bringing up the movie "The Passion of the Christ," both because it came out 6 years ago, and because it's already after Easter this year. Oh well.
I was talking with a friend and remembering how, at the time, he said that every Christian should watch it and not look away. I think it had something to do with us having an obligation to try to comprehend the sufferings of Jesus. My friend has since changed his mind on the matter, but I thought it was interesting and wanted to write up my thoughts on why this view is wrong.
My response to this is that Jesus suffered for our sins so that we wouldn't have to. Now, seeing his sufferings (in the movie in this instance) is different that being the one who suffers, but still there is a certain amount of identification that goes into watching someone suffer on film. If someone, while watching it, turns away saying, "I can't watch, it's too much for me to bear," I find that perfectly appropriate. Jesus suffered more than we can take in, and I don't think it's wrong to admit that. More importantly though, Jesus suffered, not with the purpose of forcing us to watch it, but for the purpose of relieving our suffering. I think it is good to ponder the sacrifice of Jesus and what he has done for us, but we shouldn't make everything gloomy. We must also enjoy the freedom that he paid for.
If you can take in all the sufferings of Jesus without flinching, how bad could it really have been?
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