PERSPECTIVES
Rick Joyner: Every Christian Should See The Passion of The Christ
By Rick Joyner
The Elijah List
CBN.com – Mel
Gibson's, The Passion of the Christ is one of the most controversial films
to be produced in a long time. There is a reason for this - it is one
of the most anointed and powerful films produced in a very long time.
I watched it with a small group of invited guests a few weeks ago. It
was by far the hardest movie that I have ever watched, but was also the
most powerful and impacting. After watching great movies, I often wake
up the next day thinking about them, and will often think about them for
a few days afterwards. After watching, The Passion, it almost completely
dominated my thoughts for days, and now that it has been weeks after I
saw it, I still spend time each day pondering it. It touched something
within me that deeply.
I don't think there is any question that this is the most accurate, honest
portrayal of the crucifixion ever screened. The acting, directing, and
overall quality of the movie is excellent, but there is more to it than
that. There is an anointing on it. Even before I saw it, I knew it had
the power to begin changing Christianity. I know this may sound like a
wild exaggeration, but I believe it to be true. It is my earnest prayer
that every Christian will see this movie.
Like Deer Caught in the Headlights
 It
is graphic. It is like watching the torture of the One you love the most
for more than an hour. Several times it was so intense that I was about
to get up and leave the room, and then, with extraordinary timing, there
would be a flashback to a happier time in the Lord's life. I was able
to catch my breath, and then I was thrust back to the most terrible day
in human history.
I watched this movie with what I thought would be a very tough audience.
There were many entertainers, entertainment company executives, and accomplished
artists present - the kind of people whose eye for excellence could not
but help to cause them to catch every little flaw or mistake. I was stunned
by the weeping I heard across the room. When the lights came on at the
end, the entire group looked like deer which had been caught in the headlamps
of a car. When it was over, Mel walked up front to answer questions, but
it was a very, long awkward time before any one could say anything.
It was curious to me how the pope replied after he viewed it, basically
saying, "That's the way it was." For one of the most articulate men of
our times, who knows many languages, that he could muster only five words
in response is in itself a major statement. This movie will probably leave
you speechless for a good while.
"I Can't Believe He Would Do That For Me!"
If it is like this watching a movie, which was just an hour and a half,
what was it like for His disciples, His mother, and the other women who
stayed with Him when He was crucified? After having lived with Jesus for
more than three years, coming to know who He was, loving Him, and seeing
Him endure what He did for their sakes, was without question the power
behind their radical commitment, giving them the willingness to suffer
for the gospel that gripped the first century church. What Mel Gibson
has produced is just a movie, but it may be as accurate as it can be in
a movie, and it has an anointing on it that can help us in the same way.
If Jesus did that for us, what must we do for Him?
When we showed a few clips from this movie at our Harvest Fest Conference
last September, they were so graphic that I was concerned about having
the children see them. Then I heard that after watching the clips, my
eleven-year old son and his friends were crying almost uncontrollably.
I was alarmed until I heard his response to why he was crying like that.
He said simply, "I can't believe God would do that for me!"
His Highest Title is the Lamb
I think that simple statement captures the most basic message of this
movie and of the cross itself. The cross has been sanitized and homogenized
to the point of losing its power. The Lord did not just die for us - He
submitted Himself to the most cruel torture of which demented human minds
could conceive. Evil vented its rage on Him with all of the power that
it could muster on that day. He took it all for us.
 There
will never be a more powerful demonstration of the love and character
of God than what was demonstrated in the last twelve hours of the Lord's
life on this earth as a man. This is why His highest title in heaven,
and the one the Scripture implies that He will be called forever, is the
Lamb.
Embrace the Cross
We have been prophesying for more than twenty years that the cross would
be popular again. The church is going to embrace the cross again. I Corinthians
1:18 says, "For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." Because the cross
"is the power of God," when the church embraces the cross, it can be trusted
with the power.
As Paul also said in I Corinthians 4:20, "For the kingdom of God does
not consist in words, but in power." For the church to preach the gospel
of the kingdom at the end as it is called to do, we must have the power.
If we want to experience the power of God in our daily lives, we must
take up the cross daily. Great power is coming to the church at the end,
and it will come because the church has embraced the cross.
Unfounded Fears of Anti-Semitism
I would like to also say something about the opposition to this movie
that has come. To date I do not think that anyone who has seen it has
opposed it. The most influential leaders of the church from across the
spectrum of Christianity have endorsed it. The fears that it will release
anti-Semitism are completely unfounded. In fact, every one of the heroes
in this movie are Jewish, as are almost all of the heroes in the gospels,
and the entire Bible.
My greatest concern is the way that the extremists who claim to be defending
against anti-Semitism are themselves driving many to anti-Semitism by
their tactics. This extremist group comes across like the very embodiment
of the spirit that hijacked the leadership of Israel under Rome, and was
the greatest persecutor of Jesus Himself, just as it is in this important
movie about Him.
It will probably hit the news at some point about the extreme things
that this small group of Jewish extremists have done to try to keep this
movie from being distributed. Their threats and intimidations are backfiring,
but many Christians who have traditionally been true friends of Israel
are already being tempted to become anti-Semitic because of the behavior
of these extremists. We cannot let this happen.
Do Not Judge by Extreme Elements
These extremists probably represent less than 2 percent of the Jewish
population. One of the worst deceptions that continues to bring much destruction
to mankind is our tendency to judge others, or other people groups, by
their most extreme elements. Let us never forget that our Savior was Jewish.
The writers of the New Testament were Jewish, as were the writers of the
rest of the Scriptures.
 The
Lord promised Abraham that his seed would be a blessing to all of the
families on the face of the earth, and the Jewish people have fulfilled
this - they have been the greatest blessing to every nation, people, and
culture, and they still are. Their ultimate destiny, which is clear in
the Scriptures, will ultimately make the Jewish people again the greatest
heroes of truth and righteousness. Do not let a handful of radical extremists
rob you of your support and loyalty for not only God's chosen people,
but also for His purposes in our times that will be revealed through them.
Also, do not let them rob you of seeing this movie. It does have the
power to begin a profound change of Christianity in our times - which
is desperately needed.
The Passion of The Christ Resources
The Passion Toolbox - www.thepassiontoolbox.com
(Campus Crusade for Christ)
Passion Outreach - www.thepassionoutreach.com
(Outreach, Inc.)
Passion Tracts from American Tract
Society
Rick Joyner is the director of Morning Star Ministries. Learn more about
Rick Joyner at www.morningstarministries.org.
Used with permission, The Elijah List. Learn more about The Elijah List
at their Web site, www.elijahlist.com.
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