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“FILM SHOULD IGNITE PASSIONS IN ALL OF US”
Rusty Wright
Award of Outstanding Merit - $1,000

Rusty Wright is an author, journalist and international university lecturer with Probe.org who has spoken on six continents. He holds Bachelor of Science (psychology) and Master of Theology degrees from Duke and Oxford Universities, respectively. His four published books include Secrets of Successful Humor and The Other Side of Life. His articles have appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines, including Connecticut Medicine, Christianity Today, and Decision. For more information, go to: www.probe.org/Rusty.

The storm of controversy surrounding today’s opening of Mel Gibson’s film about Jesus’ death has had many facets.

Is the movie anti-Semitic? Too violent for kids? Would Gibson's Jesus get married?

Representatives of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League and the Simon Wiesenthal Center feared provocation of anti-Jewish feelings and violence. Pre-release screenings found warm response from leaders, including Vatican officials and Billy Graham. Others remained skeptical.

Much of the controversy centers on two questions about the film and the history it depicts: Were Jewish people responsible for Jesus’ death? And, if so, are all Jewish people thereby “Christ killers”?

Anti-Semitism’s ugly stains make certain fears understandable.

Raised as a Gentile in Miami, I had many Jewish friends. Miami’s Jewish population exceeds that of many cities of Israel. My classmates talked of Hebrew school, synagogue and bar mitzvahs. My parents taught and modeled respect and tolerance. Anti-Semitism makes my blood boil.

After finding faith as a university student, I explored concerns about anti-Semitism in biblical accounts of Jesus’ death. Jesus was Jewish, as were his early followers. Jewish people who opposed him aligned against Jewish people who supported him. This was essentially a Jewish-Jewish conflict. One faction pressured Pilate, a Roman ruler, into executing Jesus.

Jewish leaders did not physically hang him on a cross – Roman executioners did that. But some Jewish people were part of the mix.

Should all Jewish people bear the guilt for Jesus’ execution? Of course not. Neither should all Germans bear guilt for the Holocaust nor all Christians for racism – or anti-Semitism, pedophilia, or other outrageous acts of “Christians.”

We all bear responsibility for our own decisions.

But there is another facet to the guilt question. After I spoke in a University of Miami anthropology class, one student asked if Jews are responsible for the death of Jesus.

“Absolutely,” I replied. “Jews are responsible for Jesus’ death. And so are Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, atheists and agnostics.”

Jesus said he came to help plug people into God, “to give his life as a ransom for many.” He believed that his death would pay the price necessary to give forgiveness for all who would accept it, becoming a bridge linking them to eternity.

According to this perspective, we – all of us – and our flaws are the reason that Jesus went to the cross.

Are we guilty of physically executing him? No. Was it because of us that he suffered? By his reasoning, yes.

Gibson’s film is significant. Of course, I brought my own biases to the screening. I left impressed with the terrible pain that Jesus endured, especially poignant because I believe he endured it for me.

Rembrandt, the famous Dutch artist, painted a memorable depiction of the Crucifixion. In it, several people help to raise the cross to which Jesus is nailed. Light emphasizes one particular face among the cross-raisers.

The face is Rembrandt’s, a self-portrait. The painter believed he himself was part of the reason Jesus died.

Gibson told the Associated Press, “I came to a difficult point in my life, and meditating on Christ’s sufferings, on his passion, got me through it.”

“The Passion” film and story are worth considering and discussing among friends of any faith or of no faith.

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