Posted on 02/13/2004 11:51:10 AM PST by Mr. Silverback
The cover of the latest NEWSWEEK magazine asks the right question: "Who killed Jesus?" This has been a raging debate for a year, since Mel Gibson started his remarkable film project THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST. He immediately ran into a buzz saw of opposition from the liberal media and Jewish groups who were afraid the film would rekindle anti-Semitism.
Now, Jews have a legitimate concern about this. During the Middle Ages, Christians treated Jews terribly. In Russia there were pogroms against the Jews. And of course some of the maniacs around Hitler professed that they were killing Jews to purify the Christian race.
But is this sensitivity today well-founded? If we would look at history alone, we would have to say that Pontius Pilate certainly was guilty. Legend has it that years after the crucifixion he was frantically washing his hands trying to cleanse himself from the blood of Christ. And, of course, Caiphus the High Priest certainly bears his share of responsibility. So do the crowds who yelled, "Crucify him." So was it the Romans or the Jews, the venality of Pontius Pilate or the passion of the mob?
It was both and neither. The Jews didn't cause the death of Jesus, nor did the Romans. They were merely instruments carrying out what God had decreed. He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross so that the sins of mankind might be forgiven. And those who take Scripture seriously have always known who killed Jesus: You and I and all other sinful human beings did so.
Mel Gibson understands this. In his movie, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, the hand holding the spike being nailed through Christ's wrist is Gibson's. Who killed Jesus? Mel Gibson knows. And he made the very point with his own hand that he was responsible, not the Jews.
Similarly the Dutch painter, Rembrandt painted THE RAISING OF THE CROSS as a self-portrait. As Christ hangs on the cross while it is being lifted into place, the soldier pulling it up is Rembrandt. Who killed Jesus? Rembrandt knew. He did. And I did. And you did. We're the ones who sent Jesus to the cross loaded down with our sins.
So enough of this foolish controversy. My advice to Christians is that you make it abundantly clear to your friends and neighbors that we are the ones responsible and then take them to see the film. Let them experience the passion and explain to them why it was necessary for Jesus to go to the cross. And be ready with a biblical answer for your Jewish friends who hear all of this propaganda, most of it stirred up by professional activists.
Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, says that it is not who is to blame that really has everybody up in arms. The media elite know that if people see this film, the right answer to the haunting question "Who Killed Jesus?" will be clear. What strikes terror into the hearts of the media elite is that people might once again be convicted of sin, repent, and come to faith in Christ.
So, three cheers for Mel Gibson. And thanks to NEWSWEEK for asking the right question, even if it does not have the right answer. But now it is up to us Christians to do our job to educate our neighbors and flood the movie theaters.
THANK YOU!!
I have tried to explain this to so many people. I'm glad someone gets it :)
That's the people's words, not God's words. The Kenites killed Jesus, not the seed of Judah.
Correction: It is your BELIEF that certain Jews agitated for the execution of Jesus. It is not proveable fact.
I did.
We all killed Jesus; you and me.
I understand the theological interpretation which holds this, yes.
I'm talking about the people who actually, physically or socially participated in the act of getting Jesus killed, ending his life. (Jesus was a physical man and he was physically killed, by some people, and this act was socially prompted, by some (perhaps other) people, meaning that there is a finite list of people who had a hand in the *actual act* of killing him.)
Your/Colson's theological explanation for why "The Jews killed Jesus" would be a ridiculous statement may be satisfying to Christians but many of the people who have stirred up this controversy are not Christians, so I am trying to explain why the charge is ridiculous even from just a plain historical standpoint.
Some people had a hand in killing Jesus. I don't care how many/what percentage of them were Jews; to imply that whatever-percentage of them were Jews is NOT to imply that "The Jews" killed Jesus, as some people are saying Mel Gibson is doing.
Look, that's the story. None of the story is "provable fact" but why should that matter.
There's a thin line between taking the blame and taking the credit for the Lamb's work of redemption.
I think you're right. I think the reason they hate this movie is an instinctual hatred for any portrayal of Jesus that is remotely like who He really was. I don't think they've thought it through in the way Colson believes, and even if they have, it's only in an "Oh great, then we'll have more stupid Jesus Freaks running around annoying us," way, not an "Oh no, what if people get saved, we'll be ruined" way.
Good point. People seem to think/assume that the infamous "crowd" was all "Jews", but from what we know of that time period the Romans used e.g. Syrians to keep rebellions down etc. and there were many other foreigners moving around, there's no reason to believe this crowd of people was "the Jews".
To continue in this vein, another thing which bothers me is that people speak as if all "Jews" are the same, that the "Jews" of that time period are the same as the "Jews" we know & love today. (You hint to this by talking about the "Judeans"/"Galileans" split.) Clearly for all Jews today there is a cultural descendence as well as blood descendence (by one's mother) from *someone* who would have (probably) been considered a "Jew" back then, but this all seems to ignore big important things like the Ashkenazi/Sepphardic split. It also ignores that at that time there was far from any kind of homogeneity to "the Jews" and certainly lots of infighting/factions/etc (like any other nation).
The whole controversy seems to be based on the idea that writing, presenting, or filming a story that takes place 2000 years ago on the other side of the world, and which has ONE (1) character saying "his blood is on us" or whatever, and that character would have been a historical analogue of what we now today call a "Jew", this is all THE SAME THING AS saying that 'The Jews' killed Jesus!
Like I said, the controversy is so irritating :)
Jesus and all the Good Guys in the NT were Jewish, so if a few of the BAD Guys are Jewish, why, that is just par for the course. To be expected. Why is this such a big deal?
Exactly. The corollary seems to be that you can't write a story in which a character who's Jewish (or even *presumably* Jewish!) does something bad. This seems to deny Jews their humanity. Jews are people too, and like all other nations/cultures of people, some of them do bad things. To use kid gloves about this is to infantilize them.
One more thing here, the idea that all the Jews who indirectly got Jesus executed did something "bad" is questionable in and of itself. I'm not just talking about theology (where would "Christianity" be if not for his execution & resurrection?), I'm talking about by the moral social & political standards of that time. Jesus claimed or sneakily implied to be the "son of God". Were *I* a member of the Sanhedrin I'm not sure *I* wouldn't have voted to turn him over to the Romans...
Elaboration?
Of course it is. The people that killed Jesus have been dead for nearly 2000 years. But the same people who are screaming the loudest are also proponents of "slave reparations" by people who never owned slaves to people who were never slaves.
Who asked?
When a Catholic Archbishop says, "I'd trade every one of my homilies for 20 minutes of this movie," it's not just a cash cow. This will be The Jesus Film for American moviegoers, re-evangelizing the Church and maybe making us all a little more serious about the business of Heaven.
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