Jesus: a Death and Life Matter

Rev. Dee Eisenhauer, Pastor

Eagle Harbor Congregational Church, U.C.C.

March, 2004

The now-defunct Bear Country Jamboree at Disneyland used to feature a large animatronic bear singing in an exaggerated country twang, “There was BLOOD on the saddle, and BLOOD all around, and one great big PUDDLE--of BLOOD on the ground.” The song rose in my consciousness again after recently seeing Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ. The film focuses on the blood of Christ from the depiction of Jesus sweating blood in the first scene through the gory punishment and crucifixion of Jesus near the end; the camera lingers over more than one great big puddle of blood on the ground. The film has revived controversy about the meaning of the blood of Christ and who bears the responsibility for the shedding of that blood.

Obviously, the blood of Christ is a meaningful religious symbol for Mr. Gibson and many, many other Christians. Christ’s blood speaks of the loving sacrifice Jesus made to atone for the sins of humanity. Christian theology picked up the thread of atoning sacrifice from its parent religion, Judaism, and interpreted the death of Jesus as the final sacrifice needed to redeem humanity from its enormous debt of sin. The New Testament book of Hebrews articulates this theological interpretation most clearly.

While I respect those believers for whom this is the heart of the faith, I also feel moved to speak up as a Christian for whom the heart of faith is located in the life of Jesus rather than the death of Jesus. Ever since I was a child I have felt deeply that highlighting Jesus dying was somehow putting the emphasis on the wrong syllable. Jesus life and teaching are what liberates the believer, in my view. And Jesus resurrection as a powerful symbol of life triumphing over death, hope defeating despair, and good outwitting evil is much more meaningful to me than Christ’s death as sacrifice.

Much ink has been expended on the question of whether The Passion of the Christ is anti-Semitic. I think having seen it that one could make the case either way. It is unfortunate that the Jewishness of Jesus is in no way celebrated in the film; those who go believing Jesus was Christian will find nothing to challenge their view. The temple clerics come out looking pretty bad and the Roman governor looks innocent. This is faithful to the gospel of John’s telling of the story. Sadly, too few Christians thoughtfully examine whether the gospels themselves lead to anti-Semitism. The notion that our own scriptures might be fallible on some issues is too frightening for many to confront (even though most of us can now see that the Bible was wrong about slavery, for example). It will be a great tragedy if this movie re-awakens hatred and suspicion toward Jews. I wish I could apologize to our cousins in faith on behalf of all of us in the Christian branch of the family, who are supposed to be led by love.

I appreciate the insight of Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun magazine, who suggests that the real problem with The Passion is in its negative world view. It presents an underlying view of the world as a cruel and heartless place peopled by sadistic, fearful and fearsome strangers. The key teaching of Jesus is that the Kingdom of God, characterized by generosity, justice, and inclusive love is a real-life, right-now possibility is completely drowned in a puddle of blood. Further, in my view the movie infers a terrifying image of God, who would send his son on an errand of death. God also inflicts pain on Judas (blistered lips), a Jewish cleric (burned), and the thief on the cross who mocks Jesus (eyes plucked out by raven, eeewww). It’s a sad, cynical world view and a scary image of God that I believe people of faith should protest against.

Having said all this, I tip my hat to Mel Gibson for risking personal wealth and reputation on a project he so deeply believes in. Perhaps he will inspire other people of faith to understand and articulate their faith, as his project has inspired me to think more deeply about mine.