Posted on 02/21/2004 6:15:29 PM PST by sonsofliberty2000
I'm sorry there are some Jewish leaders who have a problem with this movie, yet I won't allow them to cause me to question what happened to my Lord. And I won't apologize and neither should Mr. Gibson, no matter how unpleasent the truth may be. It wasn't just chance that is was the Jews calling for Jesus' life, to the point that Pilate simply washed his hands of the situation, it was God's plan! In my 43 years of church membership I have never heard blame placed or felt blame placed on the Jewish race, for they were doing God's will!!
I applaude Mel Gibson for bringing this to the screen. If it truly follows the Gospel, I don't care if he makes a billion dollars. His success in the Road Warrior movies, the Lethal Weapon movies etc, brought the monies that allowed him to make this epic (and from what I understand he has quite a few mouths to feed). Thru the process of having to defend the movie, I think he's become clearer in what he believes and what he knows of our Savior... and he's had a national audience all along! He may not be as fluid as Billy Graham with his words, but he's muddled thru and professed the truth as best he could. IMHO of course.
Remember the story of Abraham and Isaac.
Genesis 22:8; "God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son."
Look at Isaiah 53. Every word is stark, painful and true. Then comes verse 10: Yet it was the will of the Lord to bruise him; he has put him to grief (or, made him sick); when he makes himself (or, thou makest his soul) an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days...
Or as simply stated in John 3:16; For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.</>
Jesus was not a reluctant martyr. From the time of his transfiguration, he marched with his face "set as a flint" to the cross knowing full well what would await. His entire purpose in coming into the world was to die a sacrificial death, and to be a living Word of God.
That was the only way the sinfulness of all mankind could be atoned. All the slaughter of animals for centuries before by the Jews did nothing to absolve sins. It was all meant as an object lesson for the one real sacrifice that would be acceptible to God.
So is God cruel? No. He is holy. He can't stand sin. And without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. He shed his own blood, as it were.
Yes, lament our own sinfulness, and repent. But above all, marvel at God's love for us in what he has done. And rejoice! Our sins are forgiven. How do we know the sacrifice was accepted? Jesus arose from the dead.
Never mind...LOL! I feel like an idiot now. Nothing out of the ordinary for me, though. Great post!
I can only tell you one thing: it's not people like you (nor apparently any of your friends --- you probably hang out with decent people) that some Jews worry about.
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