>>NOTES ON THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST SYMBOLISM
>>
>>These are my personal notes from a group discussion with a priest
>>called
>>Fr. Sean of the Legionaries of Christ. The discussion took place on
>>Friday,
>>February 27, 2004 at the St. Joseph Center in Alhambra. Fr. Sean
>>said he
>>has seen the movie 6 times and that his order had a priest on the
>>set every
>>day that Mel Gibson was shooting the movie. Because of this, he was
>>privy
>>to much information about the symbolism throughout the picture.
>>Please
>>forgive me if the notes seem to ramble. They are merely a guide to
>>ideas
>>brought up in discussion that night and are by no means a
>>comprehensive
>>list.
>>
>>What was the meaning of the evil baby that Satan was holding?
>>
>>That image of Satan holding an ugly child is an anti-Madonna image.
>>The
>>child represents the future persecutions of the body of Christ, the
>>Church.
>>The child is ugly because evil is a deformation of good. The child
>>is
>>stroking the face of Satan because evil perverts what is good. The
>>stroking
>>symbolizes the love of evil, much like a child would love its
>>mother, but
>>in a perverted way. Remember this image happens when Jesus is being
>>scourged. His body is being wounded. His body is being persecuted.
>>It is an
>>image used by Mel Gibson to show Satan flaunting his future plan of
>>persecution of the Church in the face of the sacrifice of the Lord.
>>
>>Why is this movie so violent?
>>
>>The violence you see Jim Caviezel endure as Jesus is really a
>>reflection of
>>the violence that sin does to our souls. Violence is the effect of
>>sin on
>>our souls. It des! troys and disfigures us. It maims us. It makes
>>us look
>>inhuman, ugly and hideous before the Father. The violence also
>>represents
>>the price of our redemption. Since Jesus took on our sin, He was
>>made sin
>>for us according to St. Paul, He took on the punishment of that
>>sin. ["For
>>our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we
>>might
>>become the righteousness of God in him." 2 Corinthians 5:21] This
>>is the
>>purpose of the violence in the film, to get people to realize the
>>price
>>that is paid by the body of Christ when people commit sin and the
>>price
>>paid by the Savior to set us free.
>>
>>There was a discussion about the Agony in the Garden scene.
>>
>>Fr. Sean brought up the idea that the reason Jesus suffered in the
>>Garden
>>was because that is the moment He took on sin for us. St. Paul says
>>that
>>God the Father made Jesus "to be sin." This is the moment
>>when it happens in the Garden. Since Jesus is the Son of God and
>>God is
>>pure love, ! taking on the sin of the world, yours and mine, the
>>sin of a
>>Hitler, a Stalin, a Genghis Kahn, etc., was an excruciating
>>experience for Him. At that moment, pure Love was forced to coexist
>>with
>>the evil effect of sin in the agony Jesus experienced in the Garden
>>of
>>Gethsemane.
>>
>>In the Garden of Gethsemane, what is the snake a reference to?
>>
>>Genesis 3:15 - "And I will put enmity between you and the woman,
>>and
>>between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you
>>will
>>strike his heel." Notice that Jesus suffers immensely while Satan
>>adds to
>>His burden but then Jesus makes a decision to do the Father's will
>>and with
>>that resolve he stomps on the snake to kill it.
>>
>>There are plenty of Mass references in this picture. When Jesus is
>>being
>>stripped, the movie flashes back to the Last Supper when the bread
>>is
>>brought to the table and uncovered. When Jesus is being elevated on
>>the
>>cross after being nailed to it, we see a flashback ! to the Last
>>Supper when
>>Jesus raises the bread and says, This is my body...
>>
>>The apostle John is shown as the one who remembers these flashbacks
>>and who
>>makes the connection between the Bread of Life on the cross and the
>>Breaking of the Bread at the Last Supper.
>>
>>When is the first time we see Mary?
>>
>>Just as Jesus is arrested and put into chains. She wakes up saying
>>"Why is
>>this night different than any other?" And Mary Magdalene responds
>>that this
>>is the night that they were set free from slavery. Where do these
>>lines
>>come from? They are the words that the youngest says to the oldest
>>at a
>>Jewish Passover/Seder supper
>>ritual. In this case, the oldest was saying them to the youngest
>>because
>>this was THE night that would set in motion the plan of salvation
>>to set us
>>free from sin. The new Passover had begun with Jesus as the Lamb.
>>Maia
>>Morgenstern, a Jewess herself, had the idea to use these lines in
>>the scene
>>and when she explain! ed them to Mel, he agreed they had to be
>>included in
>>the picture to tie everything together.
>>
>>When is the first time we see a maggot?
>>
>>In the Garden of Gethsemane when you see one crawling in and out of
>>the
>>nostril of Satan. It is a very quick scene. When do we see a maggot
>>again?
>>When Judas finds himself sitting next to a maggot
>>infested mule. The maggot represents death and corruption.
>>
>>In this picture Pontius Pilate was portrayed sympathetically. Why
>>so?
>>
>>Mel wanted him to represent the struggle of every man when faced
>>with moral
>>choices. It was obvious to Pilate that Jesus was an innocent man.
>>It was
>>obvious to Pilate that Barabbas was corrupt. (It was no accident
>>that his
>>makeup made Barabbas look even more evil and deranged.) To Pilate
>>the right
>>choice was obvious but he did not make it because of his own fears
>>and the
>>pressure from an unruly crowd he wanted to appease. Mel's message
>>was that
>>every time we choose sin, the ! choice is always obvious like the
>>choice
>>between Barabbas and
>>Jesus. Of course there are times when the temptation that
>>approaches us is
>>very beautiful in appearance, but down deep inside, we know what
>>the choice
>>should be and very often we do exactly what Pilate
>>did and afterwards try to wash our hands to relieve our guilt.
>>
>>Why was there a scene when Jesus falls over the bridge only to find
>>Judas
>>at the bottom?
>>
>>Judas has just denied Jesus in the Garden. At this moment, Judas
>>represents every man who when faced with the
>>truth denies it. In this scene, he represents every man who runs
>>away from
>>the truth and Mel Gibson wanted to remind the audience that you
>>cannot run
>>away and hide from the truth because the truth will always find
>>you. In
>>this case, Jesus has been arrested, is beaten and falls from the
>>bridge
>>while hanging in chains right in front of Judas. The Truth found
>>Judas even
>>though he had denied Him and tried to hide from Him.
>>
>>Notice that in the picture whenever Satan is shown, he is always in
>>the
>>background moving behind the scenes. Notice he is always in the
>>background
>>whenever there is intensity and anger in the foreground directed
>>towards
>>Jesus. This is symbolic of his actions motivating the aggression
>>and
>>intensity of persecution against the
>>Body of Christ, the Church, and also is symbolic of his
>>responsibility
>>behind all evil motivations.
>>
>>When Jesus is before Pilate, He notices a dove in the sky above
>>Him. It represents a reminder of the vertical dimension, the
>>relationship
>>between man and God. We as human beings are often caught up in the
>>horizontal dimension (relationships with men and worldly
>>affairs) and forget there is a vertical dimension. The vertical
>>dimension
>>represents the spiritual life, the relationship of a soul
>>with the Father. The vertical dimension is what is more important
>>and the
>>dove is a reminder to Jesus that the! vertical dimension is in
>>control
>>despite the appearance of the situation.
>>
>>Why do Mary and Mary Magdalene clean up the blood on the cobble
>>stones
>>after Jesus is scourged?
>>
>>It is because it is Jewish tradition to save the blood. Life is in
>>the
>>blood. Blood had to be
>>collected. This is also representative of the cleaning of the
>>vessels at
>>Mass when a priest is done with the consecration and giving out the
>>Eucharist. The blood was precious and Jesus' blood particularly is
>>precious. Notice that they also collected the instruments that made
>>Him
>>bleed at the very end of the film when you see the crown of thorns,
>>the
>>nails and the hammer at the foot of the cross as they take down the
>>body of
>>Jesus.
>>
>>There is a scene at the crucifixion where Mary Magdalene is the
>>only one
>>who sees a miracle happen. It is a very quick scene and it happens
>>when she
>>is on her knees (notice that the only ones on their knees are Mary,
>>John
>>and the Magdalen! e at the crucifixion). Jesus has been nailed to
>>the cross
>>and the Romans are turning it over. You
>>expect Jesus to smash His face into the ground when the cross falls
>>over
>>but it does not happen. Instead what you see is the Magdalene
>>looking up to
>>see that the cross is floating above the ground. She is the only
>>one to
>>see that Jesus is floating a few inches above the ground the entire
>>time
>>that they are hammering the nails on the back of the cross to
>>secure them.
>>It is a representation of God still in control of the whole
>>crucifixion
>>process.
>>
>>Every time that Jesus meets His mother Mary along His Passion He is
>>strengthened and has new resolve. This is especially noticeable
>>after Jesus
>>is scourged the first time. The Romans have beat him over 70 times
>>and He
>>has collapsed. He sees Mary and finds the strength to stand up much
>>to the
>>dismay and surprise of the Roman soldiers who then decide to use a
>>more
>>vicious whip with metal tips. This sce! ne represents the idea that
>>Mary is
>>living proof to Jesus that the sacrifice He is about to make for
>>mankind is
>>not in vain. The film shows that Jesus comes to a decision to
>>continue on
>>the path to Calvary each time they look at each other. Some say it
>>reinforces
>>the idea of Mary as co-redemptrix.
>>
>>Simon of Cyrene represents every man who is faced with the cross
>>and does
>>not want to carry it. He also represents those who do not want to
>>help
>>others carry their crosses. Yet, in this film he also represents
>>the person
>>who is forced to carry the cross and then becomes so engaged with
>>Christ
>>that he wants a deeper relationship
>>with Him. The arms of Jesus and Simon the Cyrene are intertwined as
>>they
>>carry the cross together and that image represents the efforts of
>>each soul
>>carrying its cross with the help of the Savior. That final look
>>that Simon
>>gives Jesus after he has finished helping Him, represents the
>>longing of
>>every soul to ha! ve a deeper relationship
>>with the Lord after coming face to face with Him. It was through
>>carrying
>>the cross that Simon came to have a desire to have an intimate
>>relationship
>>with Jesus much like that of the soul who longs
>>to know Christ better in the midst of suffering.
>>
>>Notice in the Garden of Gethsemane scene when Judas denies Jesus
>>that the
>>Lord never takes His eyes off of him when he denies Him. The Lord
>>never
>>takes His eyes off of Judas even when Judas runs away. That is
>>representative of the Lord's own relationship with us. Jesus never
>>takes
>>His eyes off of us when we deny Him or turn away from Him.