I remember the petition
well. In 1987 I was shopping at a Family
Christian Book Store in Lynnwood and there was a petition for me to sign
wanting ban or stop the film “The Last Temptation of Christ.” Seemed a script had gotten leaked out to the
public and a number of evangelical or fundamentalist Christians or churches had
gotten up-in-arms about it. The script,
the petition said, had scenes of Jesus having sex, getting married and other
such blasphemous things. Knowing full
well that scripts change all the time and that the final product was probably
nowhere near as oogy-boogy scary as this petition was making it out to be, I
didn’t sign it.
Jesus and the Boys
When the film (based on a 1955 novel) was
finally released, there was quite a bit of controversy surrounding it. Part of it was that in the film Jesus
encourages Judas to betray him and then there are the scenes where Jesus comes
down from the cross and lives his life as if he never was crucified, died and
was buried. Including getting married,
having sex(!) and being a parent and a father.
It was banned in Australia, many places in
Europe, the Catholic Church came out against it and, of course, Evangelical and
Fundamentalist churches had issues with it.
At least this Jesus smiles.
It’s been years since I saw the film and I
should really give it another look.
Sure, I’m not that thrilled that another white actor (Willem Defoe – a good
ol’ Wisconsin boy) plays a middle-eastern Jew and even Martin Scorsese favorite
Harvey Keitel shows up as a Ginger.
But why the controversy? Is it not possible to wonder what would have
happened IF Christ had not taken the cup that was his? What if God had let the cup pass him by:
Matthew: 36-44
36Then Jesus went with
his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go
over there and pray.” 37He took Peter and the
two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, “My soul is
overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with
me.” 39Going a little farther,
he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is
possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” 40Then he returned to his
disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41“Watch
and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but
the flesh is weak.” 42He went away a second
time and prayed, “My
Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it,
may your will be done.” 43When he came back, he
again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44So he left them and
went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
THREE TIMES Jesus asks not to partake in this
cup or this journey through torture, death and resurrection. Isn’t it possible that during any one of
those three times he thought about the life he could have if the cup were to
pass him by?
But what if there was a third choice that didn’t
involve power and ruling nations and control and hanging with the devil on
steeples? What if there was the option
that Christ could fall in love, get married (and all that that entails) and
have children and teach them how to live a good and Godly life and deny his
path to Calvary.
Jesus much older than 32 or 33 years of age.
Doesn’t staying on the cross mean that much
more if that option is placed in front of him?
How many of us would make that choice?
What does it mean to be fully human and fully God?
The irony of “The Last Temptation of Christ” is
that many of the organizations that rejected the film or script outright have
now embraced the film and show it and discuss it.
Wonder if they had actually seen the film?
In
some countries, including Greece, Turkey, Mexico, Chile, and
Argentina, the film was banned or censored for several years. As of July 2010,
the film continues to be banned in the Philippines and Singapore.
I think your eight marriages were a slap in the face of Christians everywhere, Mick.
Even in full-on Christian mode, I found Last Temptation powerful and compelling. If I needed to, I could imagine that the whole sequence of Jesus coming down off the cross and enjoying a "normal" life was nothing but a vision shown to him by Satan, or a dream/wish in a moment of weakness. Given that even the "official story" has him calling out to his father etc., that doesn't seem out of the question. I was always perplexed at the violent reaction so many Christians had to this film. Flawed and uneven, but still powerful and worth seeing and thinking about.
ReplyDeleteWho knows what people, especially some Christians, are so afraid of?
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