Misperceptions of Some Jews about Gibson's The Passion of The Christ

Dear Aish, ( A Jewish Website)

We have to disagree with the comments of the Rabbi at the Society Today page concerning Mel Gibson’s movie "The Passion of the Christ". It is not that the Rabbi does not express his fears. He does...he is concerned about anti-Jewish backlash as a result of the movie.

We would hope that this does not happen. We don’t think that it will. And for reasons entirely unknown to the Rabbi, the film may yet turn out to be something Beneficial...to the Jews.

First the acknowledgements: Yes the jews were historically persecuted, and yes in many cases, the Passion evokes strong emotions. But we think that society has a level of knowledge that can allow it to transcend its past. We are not referring here to politics, but rather to a personal level.

It is to be hoped that Christians – which we are among – will demonstrate that they have absorbed the doctrines of Christ, as he taught them: that we are to love one another.

The Rabbi confuses the necessity of historical accuracy (which millions of Christians affirm the New Testament of the Bible to be) in the portrayal of the Jewish leaders in the time of Jesus – and translating that somehow into the notion that Jews today are somehow responsible for the Death of Christ.

That is like saying that all Russians should be held responsible for the crimes of Stalin. That is simply an untrue statement. We should not forget – that even though Jewish leaders of the day were complicit in the death of Jesus of Nazareth, that there were many more Jews who accepted the teachings of Jesus Christ, specifically His teachings of love and forgiveness.

It was Jews who introduced gentiles to Christianity, for which our response can only be one of gratitude.

We can’t possibly apologize for the sins of any gentiles of the past, who did things against Jews out of meanness and cruelty, clearly demonstrating that they had Not understood the teachings of Jesus Christ. We have no understanding of how to relate to it. We would have no choice but to condemn anyone who would take action against someone because of their ethnic or their religious background. That is simply simple-minded, not to mention terribly wrong.

The assertion that because some Jews are portrayed negatively – that this means that All jews are being vilified... is not logical, any more than a negative portrayal of certain Italians or Irish would be something that should be taken as vilifying All Irish or Italians. Oh, something Could be taken that way. Works of Artistry are always subject to misinterpretation.

The notion of whether Jews as a group – are responsible for the death of Christ, is a useful question. But it is only useful towards answering that question in the Negative: Jews of today are certainly NOT responsible for crucifying Christ, anymore than anyone else would be.

When all is said and done, We have to acknowledge – because Christianity compels us to honesty, that the ones responsible for the death of Christ is all of us, which includes all Gentiles (both those who will admit this and those who will not).

That is because – from the Christian point of view – If any ONE of us were the Only human on the face of the earth after Adam & Eve, we would have that human nature which would no longer be considered perfect. We might like to think of ourselves as a "nice guy", but by the standards of a Holy God, all of my "niceness" would not be close enough to God’s Perfection, for me to be let into Heaven.

And for that reason, for that one and only reason, Jesus Christ would have to come and die for us, for me and others like me. The acceptance of his Death and my acceptance and belief in Him and His message is the Only way that we have a ticket to heaven - as Christianity explains. There were many agents on the road to Christ’s Death. Whether it was Judas or whether it was Caiphas, or Pilate is something which matters to those historical personages alone. We cannot really rest easy with those "agents of action", because we cannot escape from the fact, that even if the agents were entirely different – Jesus Christ would still have to come and die for each of us - for our individual lack of perfection (often simply called "sin")..

None of us would say these things - because we are proud of that. And - It does not really matter how we feel. The concept is much larger than whatever introspection we will bring to it. This is the way it was established. Without the Death of Christ, there would be no communion between Christians, and there would be no chance for each of our lives to have a chance to transcend the nature that we all have which ...is not perfect.

Therefore Jewish leaders in the time of Jesus were much more the backdrop to the event than the significant issue. It is hard to imagine that such a mindset (of blaming the jews) does exist in Christianity, because for so long, many bad things have been done in the name of some Christians. But it would be a shame for the Jews to pass up the chance to actually have the benefit of the doubt that almost all Christians recognize should be conferred upon them.

Some Jews are so taken aback by the proposition of open acceptance by the Christian Community, that this is more than they can fathom. Maybe it is something that they are not used to. 

But  we remain grateful for the actual Passion - as found in the Bible, first to Jesus himself and to the Jews as well. Without the Jews there would have been no Jesus. Jesus was and is – Jewish. And if it were not for the Jews in the time of Jesus,  ONLY SOME of whom did bad things, we - today - would not have the chance to have a better life.

The point is not - to focus on the guilt of some men - from an age long ago. The point is that what compels Christians to pay attention to Christ is the internal awareness and/or guilt that we have, for our Own actions, our own mistakes, our own screw ups.

Most of us have a hard enough time living life. We don’t worry about the sins of SOME Jews from long ago. We know the TRUTH: We have too many of our own sins to worry about. And the message of the Passion, is that in the same way that Christ loved those who harmed him, that is how we are to love those around us today.

We will fail, or at least many of us will. But when we do, we will ask for forgiveness, and with God’s help, we are then able to Go on. Being a Christian is about being forgiven, not about being perfect. But the point of Mel Gibson’s film is that if this is the kind of love that Jesus brought to all of the world, then that is love worth having, and that is love worth living and giving.

And if that is the message that Christians take away from the Passion of Christ, then it will be the right message.

Grace and Peace to all.

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