I saw the movie.
No big deal. That's really my impression.
It was a good movie as far as movies go. I'd rather watch movies about Jesus then about sex and filth any day. I'm glad Gibson made the movie and I hope others make more movies about it… but I can't say that it's "born of the Spirit" (as I've been told by some) but I don't think it's "from the Devil" (as others have said to me as well). It's simply an unsaved man who made a movie. It doesn't stick much to the account and there's lot's of error. It is very Catholic!
Now for the big question that everyone is asking everyone... Is it anti-Semitic? Absolutely. Is it gonna make you hate Jews after you see it? Probably not. It was more of a passive anti-Semitism.
I do understand those who say it isn't anti-Semitic. Those people are simply caught up in the feelings of the movie and they miss anything other then the main message of the story. The main message is not about blaming the Jews. It's about the story of Jesus and His resurrection. There were a couple moments that made me very sad and made my wife cry. The main time (don't worry, I wont give anything away besides... I think you know the ending) was when Mary was looking at Jesus all battered and falling to the ground and she remembered Him falling down when He was a child and she ran to Him. Well, that's not even in the Bible! But it was the saddest part to me. Liberals are complaining about the gore (and there was a lot of that) but yet they think "Kill Bill" was artistic (I haven't and wont see that movie but I've heard about the senseless violence in it). Why do I think it was anti-Semitic? I don't think one person who's seen it can tell me that it makes the Jews look good. They may say, "it makes us all look bad"… but it really doesn't. It makes a few Romans look bad (not even all the Romans, you feel bad for Pilate really) but it makes ALL the Jews look bad. The first shots we see of the Jewish leaders, no joke, they all look like pirates. I'm telling you... one of them was even wearing an eye patch (I thought I saw a parrot but I think it was a dove later in the movie lol). When Pilate asked the crowds what they wanted him to do with Jesus… 100% of them said to “kill Him”. The truth is, the Bible says they were divided including the priests and that was certainly not the case in the movie. The Bible also says that some of the priests even went through the crowds threatening them to not say anything good about Jesus implying that there were quite a few who were on Jesus’ side. This scene in the movie made it clear to me that the Jews wanted Jesus to die and that Pilate (The Gentile) wanted to save Him. Many people would miss that scene and wouldn't think another thing about it. But I guarantee you, a sharp unsaved Jew wouldn't miss that. Should you go see the movie? Yes, go see it but don't take the kids or if you're squeamish about blood. I've seen lots of blood, it didn't bother me a bit.
I didn't feel the Spirit in the theater either as some have said that they had. There wasn't that many people there and it was about half unsaved and half Christian from what I could tell by the chatter outside etc. I suppose if the place had been packed out with Christians... I may have felt the Spirit then... but it would have nothing to do with the movie but everything to do with Christians in the vicinity. It certainly wasn't an "experience" as everyone is going around telling people (even Paul Harvey said it was an “experience”). Want an experience? Go see the last "Lord of the Rings” movie.
Rabbi Stanley
