A messianic Jewish response to Mel Gibson’s movie

“The Passion of the Christ”

Who killed Jesus? The question is being asked again and again, and the answer is not always easy. If the answer was better known, the Jewish community would not be so concerned with Mel Gibson’s latest motion picture “The Passion of the Christ.”

This movie just released depicts the last hours of Jesus’ life and his death. Indubitably, it elicits horror and compassions for Jesus’ sufferings, vividly portrayed in this movie. There is hardly a person who when confronted with the reality of Jesus’ death does not react one way or another. Jesus’ death, and particularly as it is pictured in Mel Gibson’s movie, have always been a point of contention for the Jewish people--and for a very good reason. For almost 2,000 years the Jews have been blamed for his sufferings and death. In the Middle Age, Jewish massacres were frequently instigated by the clergy. The Russian pogroms of the 19^th and 20^th centuries were frequently accompanied by the cries of “Christ killers!” We must bear in mind that the Holocaust where 6 million Jews were murdered did not take place in an uncivilized part of the world, but in Christian Germany. The scars of these persecutions are still present in the minds of those who suffered persecution as “Christ killers.” If you dismiss Jewish concerns saying “But this is just a movie,” think again. Hitler, in 1934, visited the Oberammergau Passion Play, and when he left, he proclaimed that "The whole world needs to see this Passion Play, for then they will understand why I despise the Jewish people." There is hardly a Jewish man or woman who hasn’t been called by his or her playmates “Jesus’ killer.”

Some of these worries about this movie and its implications were addressed recently in a speech by Abraham H. Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League in Palm Beach, Florida, on February 6, 2004 in Palm Beach, Florida. Among other things he said,

“Many good people do not understand why the Jewish community is so concerned with a film they haven't seen. Why are we taking so much time? Why are we so anxious about a movie?

The answer is both very complex and very simple. We, the Jewish people, take history very, very seriously. We have a long history, but also a painful history and a tragic history, and if others have no desire to learn from their history, we have taught our children and teach our children from generation to generation that we must remember and learn from it.

For almost 2,000 years in Western civilization, four words legitimized, rationalized, and fueled anti-Semitism: "The Jews killed Christ." I was taught that the Jews killed God. When I finally began to be free to play with children in the streets of Vilna and someone called me a Jew, I came running to "my mother," to my nanny, begging her to say it isn't true, for I didn't want to be part of a people who killed our Lord.

For hundreds of years those four words - acted out, spoken out, sermonized out - inspired and legitimized pogroms, inquisitions and expulsion.”

I believe think that the movie presents itself as a way in which we can explain who actually killed Jesus and why did Jesus have to die. Mel Gibson wanted to have this movie released during the Christian celebration of Holy-Week and Easter, which is also the celebration of Passover. As the Christian faithful remember Jesus’ sufferings, resurrection and death, and the Jewish people celebrate Passover, a reminder of their redemption, two questions beg to be answered. Who killed Jesus and Why did he die.

In first place, those who put the blame on the Jews for Jesus’ death have not understood why did Jesus have to die. Jesus himself clearly said that nobody can take his life. In John 10:18 Jesus says “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.” There is hardly any room for blaming the Jews for his death! He willingly and voluntarily died for us. Again Jesus’ own words say “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--just as the Father knows me and I know the Father-- and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

Secondly, for those who want to blame the Jewish people for Jesus’ death, it is clear that they need to understand that Jesus died for us, for it is because of our own sins that Jesus laid down his life. As Rabbi Paul writes to the believers in Corinth saying “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” There was no accident in Jesus’ death, there was no “mob out of control” neither a “successful conspiracy” by the Jewish leaders that caused his death. As the prophet Isaiah foretold 700 years before Jesus’ death

“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Did you notice how many times this passage says “us”, “our” and “we”? We can blame no other than ourselves for Jesus’ death.

Thirdly, this movie and this time of the year are a unique opportunity for explaining Who actually killed Jesus and Why did the Messiah have to die. We are using all our resources and making every effort possible to reach out to as many people as we can with the answer to these questions about Jesus’ death. Regrettably, people are still accusing the Jews for Jesus’ death. The Jewish people still need to recognize him as the One that was promised for our salvation. As Rabbi Paul affirms to the believers in Corinth “For the Messiah, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” Through your prayers and support we will be out this Passover season teaching who actually killed Jesus and why he had to die. Please be our partner in these efforts. Help us to remove the fear from the Jewish hearts as they are confronted with Jesus death. Make the fact of Jesus’ death more than a movie commentary, but a life giving experience.

David Sedaca

Executive Secretary