Nerd, (and others who feel the film is anti-semitic)

I have really tried to stay away from theological arguments, especially discussions of this film. What I have to say comes from the background of about 7 years in theological training. I have an undergraduate, two masters, and about half of a doctorate in theology. This is not to brag, but just to let you know that there is some real serious scholarship that would refute your claims.

The line you object to is found in the gospel of Matthew. It is important to note that Matthew is the most Jewish of all the gospels. It is written in a style that the original readers would recognize as being loosely based on Jewish structure of the Old Testament. The author includes some really obscure references to Jewish life and thought, and it is particularly in Matthew that all the events in Jesus' life are accomplished to fulfill what was "written." It is clear when you study the gospels comparatively that Matthew was written primarily for a Jewish audience, probably a group of Jewish Christians in the mid to late first century who were dispersed from Jerusalem following the outbreak of persecution and the destruction of Jerusalem. As Jews, their faith at that time would have been shaken by the destruction of Jerusalem, as Christians they would have wondered about the claims of Jesus - the messiah that many assumed was going to build a worldly kingdom based in the Holy City.

Thus, when the author (whom we refer to as Matthew) included the line he was not being anti-semitic. He was pointing out to a mainly Jewish readership that it was not just the Romans, but it was the people of faith as well, that crucified Jesus. But it was the people of faith that were blinded, or who were so absorbed in the power that leadership had given them. Matthew also made it abundantly clear that the masses of the Jews had just welcomed Jesus as an arriving Messiah just a few days earlier. He also pointed out that Jesus laid down his life of his own accord, and that it was done to fulfill what was written. To point out that a few corrupt leaders were behind the crucifixion hardly indicts someone as being anti-semitic. The overall message of the gospel is that Jesus was misunderstood by virtually everyone - followers and enemies alike, and that his kingdom is not of this world exclusively but also of the world to come.

Why did Gibson remove the line? Because of pressure from Jewish groups, who, perhaps correctly, maybe incorrectly, believed that its inclusion would be inflammatory. I say perhaps correctly, because with the film focusing solely on the last hours of Jesus' life the entire context of why the Jewish leadership was so outraged is completely lost. The crucifixion followed three years of a public ministry, not just a few hours in the garden. It has been said, and I believe correctly, that the gospels were written from the cross backwards. That is to say, each of the gospel writers was writing to explain to their primary audience what the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection meant to them in their particular surroundings. To take just the crucifixion is to distort the whole narrative.

I refuse to see the movie. I don't need to see two hours of blood to know that it happened. Besides, the crucifixion is not the focal point of my faith, the resurrection is. We must know that Jesus died, but the main image of the gospels is not the bloody cross but the empty tomb.

It is sad that some do see the movie as anti-semitic. But Jesus was a Jew, the 12 apostles were Jews, the early church was virtually all Jewish until some time later, and only then after some real theological arguing by later Jewish Christians (Paul, to name one). I feel christians have slighted their own faith by denying the connection to Judaism, but that is another theological argument.

But please, don't focus on one line and condemn the whole movie because of it. Especially unless you take into account the vast background that underscores its inclusion in the gospel, and the purpose of that one line in the entireity of the gospel message.

respectfully submitted,

Freightdawg