Vorlon Whispers

But director Mel Gibson may have gotten it about right in The Passion of the Christ. Satan is so amorphous that we are not even sure if he is male or female. S/he isn’t shrill or threatening. S/he doesn’t menace or portend harm. S/he certainly doesn’t announce a demonic presence by the smell of brimstone or some gaudy, outlandish attire.

The Satan of The Passion is the one I’ve encountered and battled for all my life. S/he blends into the background. S/he speaks in whispers rather than with shouts. S/he makes good sense. You’d deny s/he is anywhere at hand.

So Satan whispers to Jesus and tells him the task he has taken upon himself is too hard. One person can’t fight this battle. It is impossible for him to do anything that could rescue humankind from the morass of confusion and deadly error into which we have fallen.

Satan works the edges of the crowd to get them to take up his chant against the Son of God. He can’t be who he claims to be. He demands too much or presumes too much or claims too much. Jesus – not Satan – is the real threat. Something must be done to get rid of him!

Worse than the beating Jesus takes at the hands of two sadistic Roman soldiers is Satan’s temptation for him to give way to despair. To abandon his Father’s plan. To leave the despicable humans to the fate they deserve.

Almost everyone with whom I have spoken about The Passion has had something to say about Rosalinda Celentano’s character. Its believability. Its shocking accuracy. And if someone replies that some of us seem to know Satan too well from up-close encounters, I can only wince and grieve that he has not been perceptive enough to realize how close s/he is to him.