Passion of the Christ, Revisited
Another rant on radio Bible teachers. This week I heard one say, "Jesus suffered more on the cross than all the people of all time every have or will." What?
It's not a contest, people. Physically, Jesus did suffer terribly, more than we can know, but we can't say it was more than other people who have been tortured, whipped, and crucified. I do not read in the Bible great long descriptions about the physical punishment Christ went through. Yes, it is expressed, but it is not described in great detail, not in the New Testament. Peter and John and James saw it and didn't go on and on about it. The ancients did not revel in that kind of thing (Greeks did not show murders and violence on stage); they knew it existed and would have had no reason to over-describe the torture of crucifixion, which their immediate audience knew.
Internally, psychically, spiritually, that is another story. Instead of gory details, we read, "he who knew no sin became sin for us." Some people on this planet, I'm sorry to say, have been tortured as much as Christ was, physically; but no one as much spiritually.
Christ's suffering's value is not in the amount, but in the who and the why. Let's get our doctrine from reading the Word, people, not from Mel Gibson.
It's not a contest, people. Physically, Jesus did suffer terribly, more than we can know, but we can't say it was more than other people who have been tortured, whipped, and crucified. I do not read in the Bible great long descriptions about the physical punishment Christ went through. Yes, it is expressed, but it is not described in great detail, not in the New Testament. Peter and John and James saw it and didn't go on and on about it. The ancients did not revel in that kind of thing (Greeks did not show murders and violence on stage); they knew it existed and would have had no reason to over-describe the torture of crucifixion, which their immediate audience knew.
Internally, psychically, spiritually, that is another story. Instead of gory details, we read, "he who knew no sin became sin for us." Some people on this planet, I'm sorry to say, have been tortured as much as Christ was, physically; but no one as much spiritually.
Christ's suffering's value is not in the amount, but in the who and the why. Let's get our doctrine from reading the Word, people, not from Mel Gibson.
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