Jim Caviezel, a devout Catholic actor most well known for playing the role of Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ,” recently shared a powerful dream that he believes allowed him to experience the love of God in a close and personal way. Caviezel stated that his goal during the film is to really “see Jesus” during his portrayal and be touched by the reality of the gospel.
“I was in a dream, and I felt God’s love, so powerful, but it wasn’t close enough,” he said while giving an interview with TBN, according to The Christian Tribune. “And I said, ‘You’re not close enough to me’…and He said, ‘If I do, you may not like Me’…when we were on the cross together, He was completely playing the scene. That was my prayer. I don’t want them to see Jim Caviezel. I want them to see Jesus.”
The actor then said, “If I could tell you one thing — our Lord loves you. If you ever have it within you just…tell Him that you love Him.” Caviezel has never shied away from discussing how being in “The Passion of the Christ” has made his faith in Jesus stronger.
“While shooting THE PASSION, not only was I struck by lightning, but I also dislocated my shoulder,” he recounted. “So here I am, being hoisted up to hang on the cross. I’ve got to remove the sling and they’re stretching my arms, so I say, ‘Ok God, this is where I need a hug to stay up here because this hurts like crazy!’ He definitely did lift me up because there was no way my shoulder would have held up. I was a true believer before but was a confirmed one after that grueling day.”
Caviezel further explained the shocking incident, “I was struck by lightning on the last shot of the movie. It’s well known…prior to that, it was shoulder dislocation. It happened in the weirdest areas of the movie. There’s a piece where Mary runs to Jesus and she says, ‘I’m here,’ and in this take, I went down and when you put it in slo-mo, you’ll see the stream of blood coming out of my mouth. I almost bit my tongue off.” He added in other comments regarding the incident,“I was lit up like a Christmas tree! I was doing the Sermon on the Mount. I knew it was going to hit me about four seconds before it happened. What they saw was fire coming out the right and left side of my head. Illumination around the whole body.”
The Christian Tribune previously reported on other comments from Caviezel about how God led him to a career in acting. “He came to me in a movie theater and made me feel like I was the only child that He had, that He loved me that much,” he said. “There was this peace I never felt, and then He said, ‘I’d like you to become an actor.’” Reportedly, a sequel to “Passion of the Christ” is set to release in April of next year, where Caviezel will return to his role of playing Jesus Christ.
More Christians need to be involved in the arts, using their creativity to not only spread the gospel of Jesus in powerful ways to individuals that might not otherwise hear the message, but also to function as an image bearer of Jesus and create truth, beauty, and goodness in a world that desperately needs it. Maybe Caviezel will inspire others to get involved and give glory to God through filmmaking.
"*" indicates required fields