Millions will be moved deeply

as they witness a reenactment of the pathos of the most important death

in human history. If we are to weep, we must do so because we understand

what was really happening at Golgotha.

It will not be enough to become

emotionally devastated and not be driven to worship the Son of God. It

is frighteningly possible to cry and grieve because of what was done to

Jesus and not experience the heart and life changes that can come only

through Jesus Christ (Joel 2:13; John 3:16; 14:6).

The meaning of Christ's

death is explained accurately in the Bible. This is our only trustworthy

source of documentation regarding the meaning of the cross of Christ.

One writer in his review of

"The Passion of the Christ" refers to the Bible as being a "problematic

source" and that "Scripture is not always a faithful record

of historical events." There is no evidence for this assertion.

It is a failure to understand

the internal harmony of the Gospel accounts. Why not take the Bible's

own claims for itself? The Gospels are Scripture "inspired by God"

(Lk. 10:7; 1 Tim. 5:18; 2 Tim. 3:16). The Holy Spirit of God has told

us in the Bible what happened to Christ and why it happened.

Another factor to be considered

when viewing any visual representation of Christ is that any picture of

Jesus or movie about Him has the potential for contributing to our worship

of a false Christ.

The second commandment forbids

the making of images of God (Ex. 20:4-6). Love expressed for God must

come out of right thoughts about God. If we imagine Jesus to be someone

other than who He is, we are to that same extent limiting and misunderstanding

Him.

We are to worship a Christ

who was crucified, but who is now risen and glorified and coming again

(Acts 1:11). Jesus is no longer on the cross. He is not sacrificed again

for sins. Redemption is finished. We are not to imagine a Savior who is

a victim but One who has provided the final and complete sacrifice for

our sins (Heb. 10:12).

A writhing, suffering Christ

beaten, battered, and bleeding on that splintered wooden cross tells us

more than can be seen with the physical eye. It is for this reason that

the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion are rather subdued in their description

of Jesus' physical death. The details of His torture are not accentuated.

Instead our attention in the

New Testament is drawn to the horror of the fact that the judgment of

God fell upon Jesus as He was dying for our sins (Mk. 15:33; Isa. 53:4-6).

He was enduring the abandonment of the Father in that dark night of His

soul so that He might accomplish what He came into this world to do.

When Jesus said "It is

finished," He was declaring that the full penalty for sin had been

paid (Mk. 15:34-37). We cannot atone for our own sins. The Christ of the

Passion is the only one who was qualified to endure, as our substitute,

the howling winds of God's wrath toward sin (Rom. 3:25; 2 Cor. 5:21).

He, the God-Man, opened a new

and living way to God that in life and in death we might dance the dance

of eternal joy of the forgiveness of sin and eternal fellowship with the

Lamb who was slain.

Dr. Howard E. Dial

Senior Pastor

Berachah Bible Church

Fayetteville, Ga.