Could The Passion of the Christ Lead to Religious Revival?

Whatever you think of the movie, Mel Gibson's film on the last 12 hours of Christ's life is having a universal impact. Many people in today's world have little knowledge of the Bible. Could this movie help fill the gap and turn people to Jesus Christ?

by Melvin Rhodes

Perception is reality. And for better or worse, television and movies are the source of most people's perception of reality.

With this in mind, Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ will, for most people around the world, be the extent of their exposure to the Gospels and the account of the last 12 hours of Christ's life leading to the crucifixion.

Whatever you may feel about the movie, one thing is certain: One man, in one year, with his own money, has done more to preach the gospel (as he understands it) than many churches dedicated to preaching the gospel as their primary reason for existence.

For all the controversy, one fact remains indisputable—this movie will be watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world, even those in countries where Christianity is forbidden. Satellite TV brings international programming into some of the most primitive parts of the earth and movie channels are the most popular viewing. A few months from now, The Passion of the Christ will be showing on those movie channels.

What will this lead to? That's an open question. No movie in recent history has impacted people so deeply on a spiritual level.

Many may fault Gibson's movie for some of its detail. His devout and traditionalist Catholicism is evident in the movie's emphasis on seeing the crucifixion of Jesus through His mother Mary's eyes. It can also be seen in the prolonged, harrowing scenes of whipping and scourging, followed by a much briefer period of suffering on the cross.

Many fear a rise in anti-Semitic feelings as a direct result of this powerful movie. Some of the Jewish religious leaders felt threatened by Jesus and wanted Him killed. As for myself, I was struck by the sadism and barbarity of the Roman soldiers. When Pontius Pilate "washed his hands" of Him, regular Roman troops did the rest.

Roman Empire foretold by Daniel

In Bible prophecy the Roman Empire is the fourth beast of Daniel chapter 7. Centuries before the time of Jesus, Daniel's prophetic book described this coming empire accurately as "dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong...[with] huge iron teeth [a great militaristic and cruel power]" (Daniel 7:7).

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's Commentary adds this observation: "Whereas the three former kingdoms were designated respectively, as a lion, bear and leopard, no particular beast is specified as the image of the fourth; for Rome is so terrible as to be not describable by any one, but combines in itself all that we can imagine inexpressibly fierce in all beasts."

What is particularly frightening for us today is that Bible prophecy shows that this fourth beast is to be resurrected and will again have its despotic, cruel and oppressive way over other nations, albeit temporarily. Just two verses later we see this empire replaced by the promised Kingdom of God (Daniel 7:9).

Daniel 2:44 describes this more clearly: "And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed." What kings?

Note Revelation 17, which talks of "ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings" (Revelation 17:12-14).

Earlier in the chapter we read: "The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition [destruction]. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel... when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is" (verse 8).

Revelation, chapter 13, adds to our understanding of this "beast that was, and is not, and yet is."

Here we see that one head of "the beast" appears to have been "mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed" (verse 3).

We also see that there is a religious connection to this "beast," which has "on his heads a blasphemous name" (verse 1). This leader "opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints [the true followers of God] and to overcome them" (verses 6-7). Note especially the words at the end of verse 7: "And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue and nation."

"The image of the beast"

Further in the chapter, the religious element is referred to as "the image of the beast" (verse 15). If the Roman Empire was "the beast," then what is the image?

An image is "a representation of a person or thing...a copy" (Clarke's Dictionary, 1982). What then, is the image of the Roman Empire?

British historian Paul Johnson put it well: "The Church was the continuation of the Empire . . . Politics and religion were inseparable" (The Offshore Islanders, 1972, p. 49). There is a universal, powerful church connected to the political system.

You see this clearly when you visit the ancient Roman city of York, in the north of England. Its famous minster (cathedral) is almost 1,000 years old. Excavations show that it was built on what was originally the Roman military headquarters. It was here that Constantine, who would be the first Catholic emperor of Rome, was proclaimed emperor in A.D. 306.

"The Roman Church still spoke for the Empire" (ibid., p. 57).

After the fall of the Western Empire in A.D. 476, the Roman Church simply took over the responsibility of administering the empire. Paul Johnson explains:

"Though the administrative center of the Empire had been transferred to Byzantium, the state religion was still conducted from Rome. Already indeed its chain of command, and its contact with outlying regions such as Britain, were maintained in a more regular fashion than the political and military functions of the Empire. Christianity still had a working international infrastructure. This religion, by its very nature, was centralized, universalist, authoritarian and anti-regional. It was run by a disciplined priestly caste, commanded by bishops based on the imperial urban centres, under the ultimate authority of the Bishop of Rome itself, the spiritual voice of the western Empire. Its doctrines were absolutist, preaching unthinking submission to divine authority: the Emperor and his high priest, the Bishop of Rome, in this world, and a unitary god, who appointed the Emperor, in the next" (ibid., pp. 29-30).

However, this church was not the true Church of God established by Jesus Christ. That church virtually disappeared from history by the time of the early fourth century, when the newly converted Roman Emperor Constantine declared Sunday as the empire's day of worship. He also made Easter Sunday the official annual commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus, thereby discriminating against those who kept the biblical Sabbath and the New Testament Passover. Intense persecution of God's true followers continued unabated, just as prophesied. (The true Church wasn't completely extinguished, fulfilling Christ's promise of Matthew 16:18 that it would never die out. You can still find it today. Request The Church Jesus Built to learn how.)

This false religious system was the most powerful institution in the Western world for well over a thousand years. Only the Protestant Reformation and the ascendancy of the English-speaking peoples, the descendants of the biblical tribe of Joseph, thwarted its power.

But the Bible shows this false religious system, together with the political system which is "the beast," will rise again. "And those who dwell on the earth will marvel... when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is" (Revelation 17:8). The political system may not be in full existence at this time, but the "image" is still there and the full "beast" power will return once more to deceive the whole world (Revelation 12:9; 13:8).

Will the movie lead to the prophesied religious revival?

For Bible prophecy to be fulfilled, there must be a revival of this false religious system "with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication" (Revelation 17:2).

When the disciples asked Jesus, "What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" in Matthew 24:3, the first thing He warned them about was false religion (verse 5). He further told them not to be misled by "great signs and wonders," which could "deceive, if possible, even the elect" (verse 24).

The apostle Paul, the first-century apostle to the gentiles, warns us about this false religious system that calls itself Christian in 2 Corinthians 11:14-15: "And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works."

This movie may go a long way toward turning people to Jesus Christ. The question is, which Christ? The genuine Savior—or an impostor? (Be sure to request our new booklet, Jesus Christ: The Real Story.)

In an age of spiritual darkness, where most people live empty lives, there is a deep yearning for something to fill the yawning spiritual chasm. Lacking knowledge of the truth, most will simply turn to counterfeit Christianity. Lacking knowledge of history, few will realize that they may be unwittingly contributing to the eventual rise of the prophesied "beast" power!

[ Return to Table of Contents ] [ View next article ]