Is the Passion of Christ anti Jewish
Question: Did you find the movie to be "Anti-Jews". Since Ihaven't seen the movie, I have heard people say that the Jews were upsetthat movie use Jews as the reason for Jesus' death. Answer: I did not find the movie to be at all anti-Semitic. I have read a number of pieces written by various people and have seen in their comments a bias based on other things than the movie. What some of them are saying is that they would like to have the facts of what happened altered to suit their sensitivities. Since the Sanhedrin which was key to killing the Lord was controlled by liberals, not the conservatives at the time, they might have a problem because they are identifying with those people. If they would go back to the literal interpretation of Scripture which is the basis of true Judaism, their attitudes would likely be greatly altered. Here is a piece that I recently wrote related to your question. The Seder Question One of the things that surprised me in the most recent film on the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ was the fact one of the actors asked a question from the Passover Seder. The surprise I felt was multifaceted I suppose. The first surprise was the line being there in a movie that was supposed to be anti-Semitic. The question asked on the night of our Lord’s inquisition was “Why is this night different from all other nights?” I could not see in the dim lighting of the movie which woman was asking the question, but I thought at the time the words were put into the mouth of the woman who was playing the past of Jesus’ mother. In the Seder, this question is posed by the youngest child in the household. And, it does have a basis in Scripture. In Exodus 12 we read 24. “And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. 25. And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according to that He hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. 26. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? 27. Then ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our house. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.” The movie correctly, in using these words, made the connection between the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the perfect Passover Lamb that delivers us from the bondage of sin, and the Passover observance which commemorates the mighty act of God in deliverance from the bondage of sin. It is difficult for some people to accept that such a momentous event as the Passover in Egypt would be a foreshadowing of another even greater event. But look at the magnitude of the event that it foreshadows, the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world, so that all the world who has the blood of Christ on the doorposts of their heart might be passed over by that spiritual death and eternal separation. I know that some have criticized Messianic (Jewish) Christians for continuing the observance of the Pesach or Passover. But the receiving of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah/Savior, promised of God, into their lives serves only to enrich this time of worship. Becoming a Christian does not mean a Jew ceases from being a Jew. And, did not God tell the Children of Israel that this should be an ordinance to them forever? |
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