The Passion of The Christ

By Ryan Nichols, Associate Pastor

West Salem Christian Church

By now, you may have heard about the upcoming film by Mel Gibson, titled The Passion. The film is centered around the last twelve hours of Jesus earthly life. The film has caused a great deal of controversy in the media because some have claimed that it is Anti-Semitic, in that it portrays the Jewish people as “Christ-killers.”

Mel Gibson, a conservative Catholic Christian, maintains that he is doing his utmost to portray the events surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus as historically accurate as possible. The film graphically recounts the arrest, mock trials, beatings, and crucifixion in vivid detail. According to press releases, Gibson is so determined to faithfully depict the Passion that the dialogue will be in Aramaic and Latin, although thankfully he is considering including subtitles for those of us who are not conversant in those ancient languages. Gibson spent a reported $30-million to produce the movie, which he has defended as faithful to the Gospels. In response to worries by Jewish groups, he has said the film is intended "to inspire, not offend." Many conservative Christians who have attended private screenings of the film have called it the most powerful depiction they have seen of Jesus' final hours.

The controversy involves concern that the film will follow the tradition of the German Oberammergau, the Passion Plays that have been a traditional part of Easter celebrations in Europe since the Middle Ages. These plays in times past have portrayed Jews as deviant, evil, and the sole responsibility for Jesus’ unjust death. In these plays, the Romans are sometimes portrayed as completely neutral or even against Jesus’ death. It is this type of Anti-Semitic propaganda that led to the many persecutions of the Jewish people in Europe, leading ultimately to the Holocaust. It is the concern of many Jewish groups, such as the Anti-Defamation League, that Gibson’s film will depict Jews as being collectively responsible for Christ's death in the events leading to the crucifixion. Jewish actress Maia Morgenstern, who plays the role of the Mary in The Passion, has defended the film in an interview. Morgenstern, whose father was a Holocaust survivor, claims that the film is not Anti-Semitic.

It is an unfortunate fact that historically, many Christians have persecuted Jews, blaming an entire ethnic group for the deeds of a small group of Jewish leaders 2000 years ago. There is no question that the Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious hierarchy, was involved in the death of Jesus. This is what the Gospels clearly portray. But to denounce the Jewish people as a whole is absolutely against the teaching of Scripture. Jesus Christ was a Jew. All of the apostles were Jews. The early Church consisted of mainly Jewish people. The early centuries of the Christian Church were ones of relative amity towards the Jewish people, although that began to change when the Roman Empire became officially Christian and the Jews were given minority status. But it took the deaths of 6 million Jews during World War II for the Church to finally realize how serious Anti-Semitism had become among Christians. In 1965, the Roman Catholic Church officially declared the Jewish people to be innocent of “Deicide,” – killing God. Many other Christian groups have made similar declarations.

Gibson’s film does touch some nerves, simply because the death of Christ is so graphically represented. But we must remember the words of the apostle Paul, a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin,

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“Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

1 Corinthians 1:22-24 (from New International Version)

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God has called all people to witness the death of His Son on the cross. Black, white, Jew, Gentile, we are all sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God. We all require the grace and forgiveness that Jesus’ death bought for us. There is no difference between any of us in God’s perfect estimation of us.