The Jew and the ‘Passion’
So the latest film about Jesus has hit the market - here, in U.K. Amid all the hype is the accusation of anti-semitism. It's difficult to avoid this; however one looks at it, Jesus was a Jew, and the leaders of his own people took the initiative in his crucifixion. It's a serious issue; Jews are particularly sensitive about it since the Holocaust. And Christians have not had a blameless record in their past attitudes.
The Gospel accounts, too, have been accused of bias: it has been claimed that they were Christian propaganda, written after the decisive break between Judaism and the Christian church in AD 70.
On the face of it, this can look convincing. But on second thoughts... The Gospel accounts aren't alone in this. The Old Testament literature is consistently critical of Israel. Most nations tell their history putting themselves in the best possible light, and it's the literature of its heroes and achievements that is preserved. But Israel's literature is unrelentingly critical: in spite of all God's deliverances, they grumble in the desert, disobey his laws, and when they get into the Promised Land they slide into idolatry and immorality time and time again. And when they come back from exile chastened, their prophets are still condemning them for their selfishness and hypocrisy.
But the New Testament gives another perspective on this. When St. Paul refers to this kind of thing, he adds that the Jews are 'examples' - that is, the nation was chosen to be a sample of how God deals with us all, and so, what we're all really like. He says that although non-Jews did not have God's law fully revealed, they still had a 'law' in their hearts, and they were no more obedient - 'all have sinned'.
And the prophet Amos says that other nations had their own stories of God's deliverance. The fact is that the Jews were under the spotlight; if it had shone on the rest of us, we'd have shown up the same! Pilate knew Jesus was innocent; the Roman soldiers had no moral right to treat Him as they did, and it was no more an excuse then than now that they were 'just obeying orders.'
The truth is that Jew or Gentile, Christian or not, criminal or respectable, we are all accessories after the fact. I am told that in the film, among the soldiers hammering in the nails, is Mel Gibson himself. A true insight, that. Hope it makes Easter mean something special for you.
John Peck