http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/passion-history-who-killed-jesus/
Mel Gibson’s film fits comfortably within the history of Christian anti-Semitism.
Mel Gibson’s film, “The Passion of Christ,” has already stirred a lot of passions and heated debate. What’s all the fuss about? After all, isn’t it just a movie and we all know the ending already? Clearly there are much bigger issues at stake. By examining the implications of the story of the Passion, we can begin to understand why so many are justifiably apprehensive about the impact this movie might have.
THE ROOTS OF CHRISTIAN ANTI-SEMITISM
The Passion remains the central event of Christianity and the role of the Jews in this story serves as the foundation of the early Christian view of Judaism and the Jews.
Here is a brief overview of the Jewish role in the Passion story as portrayed in the Gospel. The corrupt priesthood, feeling threatened by Jesus’ popularity, conspire against him and have him arrested by the Romans. A Jewish mob further conspires to keep him imprisoned and ensure his torture and crucifixion. As he is led to his death, he is further abused by a Jewish mob.
The Jewish role in the story is overwhelmingly negative and culminates in the ultimate crime: deicide—the murder of G-d. The Gospel is uniformly hostile toward the Jews, while making the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, almost completely guiltless. After being “forced” by the Jewish mob to sentence Jesus to death, Pilate symbolically washes his hands and pronounces: “I am not responsible for the death of this man! This is your doing. The whole crowd [the Jews] answered back: Let his blood be on our heads and the heads of our children.” (Matthew 27:24-25)
Paul, the most important personality in the history of the church, makes a special point of blaming the Jews for the death of Jesus: ”[the Jews] killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and persecuted us. How displeasing they are to G-d! How hostile they are to all men. They even tried to stop us from preaching to the Gentiles…This is the last full measure of the sins they have always committed. And now G-d’s wrath has at last fallen upon them.” (Thessalonians 1,2)
Probably the most damning of all accusations appears in John 8:44:
“You are the children of your father, the Devil, and you want to follow your father’s desires. From the very beginning he was a murderer.”The negative role that the Jew plays in the Passion served to create a solid foundation on which later Christian anti-Semitism would be built.
