Well, I watched it again, and I’m pretty unwavering in my opinion.

It has several powerful moments, pretty good theologically, and decent artistically.

I commented to the FamRevs that the soundtrack was pretty mediocre. One suggestion was that perhaps Mel was trying to not be emotionally cheap and manipulate us. Perhaps.

I agree with Dr. Leithart when he says,

“N.T. Wright has spoiled me. He has given such vivid portrayals of Jesus that I had difficulty getting into and appreciating Gibson’s The Passion. The film seemed so context-free that it’s hard for me to see how anyone could make much sense of it without already knowing who’s who and what’s what…In the end, I suppose I’m complaining that Gibson didn’t read *Jesus and the Victory of God* or consult with N.T. Wright while making the film. ”

Oh, and I counted the number of times Christ was scourged. 32 times with the switch. At least 84 with the cat of nine tails. Give or take a few because he was actually getting more lashes than the Roman dude was counting. The numbers weren’t going up as fast as the actual number of lashes.

I’m still bothered by the fact that Mel left out the “Surely this was the Son of God” line. That was a golden opportunity.

Still ticked off at the Resurrection, or lack thereof.

Oh well. Mel paid for it, not me.

Peter Leithart has some good comments on The Passion.

Because of the three birthdays on three days in a row (Friday-mine, Saturday-Rachel’s grandma’s 70th, Sunday-Rachel’s), we’ve had three continual days of Lenten feasting.

Since Rachel’s aunt, uncle, grandma, and cousin came into town, and they’re Lutherans, all the family went to our church. Rachel’s family really likes the people and worship at our church, so that’s been a big plus. Even the kids liked it. (Previously, Rachel’s four year old sister said she didn’t like church at the CRE church because ‘the servant talks for a really long time’”–she got the terms a little confused, but we all get the point, don’t we?)

I was assisting minister yesterday, so that made it all the more interesting.

Anyway, to my point. Rachel’s Aunt Pari (AuntRev) and Uncle Trevor (RevTrev) are ministers in the ELCA, so I’ve got to bug them with all sorts of annoying questions. One interesting thing I found out is that the liturgical tradition that I am comfortable with and that our church uses, is more of a High Church German Lutheran tradition (although our congregation is mostly Swedes). I didn’t know there were different types. Of course, I grew up in the LCMS, which I found out is mostly Germans. Learn something new everyday, eh?

Jon Amos’s comments are about where I am at with The Passion.

Of course, I’ll be going to watch it again, not because I think it’s such a great movie, but because of circumstances.