On February 25, 2004 at 2:30pm I experienced the movie, "The Passion of the Christ". This movie portrays the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the events surrounding it as close to the New Testament as is probably possible. Mel Gibson does use his artistic license to flesh out some of the dramatic moments but nothing that is contradictory to the Gospel accounts. It is a graphic portrayal of the physical suffering that Jesus experienced. Some critics have said that the violence in the film is excessive but so was the original scourging and crucifixion of Jesus. The film does not deal with the deeper dimension of the crucifixion although it does hint at it in one scene. This dimension pertains to the spiritual realm when God the Father laid every sin committed by every human being on His Son. The one scene that points out this aspect is in the Garden of Gethsemane when the devil tries to tempt Jesus into not following His Father's mission for Him. Satan tells Jesus that He is not able to bear the world's sins. You can read more about this spiritual aspect on my site at "What exactly happened to Jesus Christ at His Crucifixion?" That the film has come under attack (such as charges of anti-Semitism) is actually proving the Bible true. Jesus said in John 15:18, "If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you." Even more to the point is 1 Corinthians 1:18 where the apostle Paul states, "For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

If you have not read the section on this web site titled "The Jewish Roots of Christianity" you may want to go there first. There you will see that Christianity's beginnings were entirely Jewish in nature. The problem is that throughout the past two millennia people did not have an understanding of God's plan for the salvation of humankind. All they knew or were told was that Jesus Christ was killed by the Jews. From this perverse misunderstanding of God's Word, The Holy Bible, millions of Jews were persecuted, tortured, and murdered. There are a few problems with this belief that the Jews killed Jesus Christ.

The first problem is factual. All four of the gospels in the New Testament make it clear that it was the gentile Romans who flogged and crucified Jesus. That the crucifixion took place because of the instigation of the Jewish religious leaders is also true according to the gospel accounts. There were also many common Jewish citizens of Israel who supported the crucifixion of Jesus according to the New Testament. However, it is also true that almost all of the supporters of Jesus Christ were Jews including some of the Jewish religious leaders such as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea (John 3:1-2; 19:38-39). Though these are the facts concerning the crucifixion of Jesus Christ according to New Testament there is still a second problem concerning God's plan to have His own Son die on a cross.

As I mentioned above God's plan for the salvation of humankind required that Jesus Christ shed His blood for the remission of human's sins. Therefore Jesus Christ HAD to die according to God's will (Matthew 26:36-44). That God found sinful human beings who were more than willing to help in carrying out His plan is true. As stated above, the New Testament points out that it was some of the Jewish religious leaders and some of the gentile Roman leaders who were these willing participants in the passion of Jesus. So it was God's will that His Son be killed and it was human beings who helped fulfill His will. This explains the logistics of the crucifixion of Jesus but it does not answer the question "Who was responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ?"

The unequivocal answer to that question according to the Bible is: I am responsible, you are responsible, the Jews are responsible, and the Gentiles are responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ! The New Testament makes this clear in many places, two of which are Romans 3:23, "For ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God" and Hebrews 9:22, "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness". Therefore, when you see a picture or a movie showing the crucifixion of Jesus, understand that it is your sins and my sins and everyone's sins that are nailing Him to the cross!

I have read the New Testament many times and believe it entirely. If the New Testament is indeed anti-Semitic as some of its critics maintain, then I too must be an anti-Semite since I accept it truly as the word of God. This assertion is problematic in that if you read this entire web site you will see that I am not anti-Semitic. There are many more Christians who believe the same way I do and also aren't anti-Semitic.

"The Passion of the Christ" is a landmark film in my opinion. I hope it inspires Christians to strengthen their relationship with Jesus Christ and that it impacts non-Christians in such a way that they will seek the truth.