Questions About "The Passion"

Andrew recently saw The Passion and has some questions about it. I will answer to the best of my ability. Mel Gibson's movie is best viewed with a good understanding of the Bible...not just of the story of Jesus' life and execution, but of Christian theology and the history of the Jews as told in the Old Testament. Without this understanding, The Passion's main impact is to create questions. Maybe that's what Mel wanted.

Andrew, my response is written after each of your questions:

1) Are the events portrayed in the movie historically accurate? Do both historians and the Bible agree on the events that Gibson portrayed?

ANSWER: Wow. Broad question. Generally, yes, however Mel took some creative liberty by adding a few "gap-filler" events. These events are not in the Bible or any other authoritative extra-Biblical source, but do NOT add or delete anything from the theology and meaning of the story. A couple of examples: (1) in Gethsemane, as Jesus prays before His arrest, He crushes the head of a snake that represents Satan. That is not specifically in the Bible, though it does represent what Jesus did by accepting His own execution. Had Jesus not accepted His own execution, Satan would have won that battle; (2) just after Jesus' arrest, as Jesus is being carried away, he is thrown over the bridge. That is not in the Bible. We don't know exactly what happened as He was led away. It is conceivable and consistent that His guards abused Him as they led Him to the high priests, but we don't know; (3) After Jesus' scourging, Mary cleans up His blood. That is not in the Bible. In the movie it serves to demonstrate her total devotion and love; it emphasizes, by contrast, the cruelty of Jesus' scourging; (4) as Jesus hangs on the cross, Satan walks through the crowd. That is not in the Bible, but serves to emphasize his evil influence at that event and his interest in seeing Jesus die. There are probably a few other examples. In my opinion, and in the opinion of the vast majority of Christians, the movie is true to the Bible. The additional scenes do not change the flow of events or their meaning.

2) Was Aramaic the language spoken in the film?

ANSWER: Since I don't speak Aramaic(!), I am taking Mel's word for it...but Yes it is supposed to be Aramaic, the common language of the Jews at that time.

3) The temple that was cracked - was that Solomon's Temple? And was it - historically speaking - cracked near the time of Jesus' death? Was it rebuilt? Who rebuilt it?

ANSWER: (1) No, it was not Solomon's Temple, but it was the Temple that existed at that time and it was built on the site of Solomon's Temple. Solomon's Temple was destroyed in 586 B.C. by Nebuzaradan and his men, who were soldiers in Nebuchadnezzar's army, when Babylon conquered Judah (Jeremiah 52:12-13). Jews rebuilt the Temple when they returned to Jerusalem following the 70 year exile to Babylon. (2) We do not have evidence that the Temple cracked when Jesus died, but that too is consistent with the Bible. Matthew 27:50-51 "But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last. At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces." So the rocks that split could have been part of the Temple. Extra-Biblical history written by Thallus states that there was an earthquake and eclipse when Jesus was executed. Note that there are no existing manuscripts of Thallus, so his words are known to us only by quotations in other writings. [also see Luke 23:44] (3) Jews continued to use that Temple until 70 A.D. when Romans completely destroyed it and all of Jersalem during the Jewish revolt. The Temple has never been rebuilt since then and is the subject of End Time prophecies. Since proper performance of Jewish worship and animal sacrifices could only be accomplished at the Temple, after Romans destroyed the Temple, the Jews were forced to change how they worshipped God. They have not performed animal sacrifice according to God's instructions in the Old Testament since 70 A.D. The Muslim shrine, "Dome of the Rock," now sits on the site of the Jewish Temple.

4) The younger dude who carried Mary around for the whole movie - was that assumed to be brother James?

ANSWER: I cannot remember for sure, but I think you are correct. I have seen the movie only once, on the day it was released. If it was not James, then it would have been John. John was the "disciple that Jesus loved." Of course Jesus loved all His disciples, but He was especially close to John, and John and mother Mary had an especially close relationship. John 19:25-27 "Jesus' mother, his aunt, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene stood at the foot of the cross. 26 Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her. He said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." 27 Then to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that moment the disciple accepted her as his own mother."

5) After the crucifiction, how long did it take Jesus to die?

ANSWER: Jesus was nailed to the cross about 9am (Mark 15:25). He died about 3pm (Mark 15:34-37). So He was on the cross about six hours. [To Jews, the "first" hour of the day was 6am. So references to "the third hour" mean 9am, and so on.] By the way, here is thorough discussion of the crucifixion from a scientific medical viewpoint (http://www.frugalsites.net/jesus/). Since I'm not a doctor I cannot vouch for its accuracy, but it is interesting.

6) Did the Roman guards actually repent in the final hours before his death?

ANSWER: My memory is that the movie did not bring this out very well. Three of the gospels are specific on this point:

Matthew 27:54 The captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said, "This has to be the Son of God!"

Mark 15:39 When the Roman captain standing guard in front of him saw that he had quit breathing, he said, "This has to be the Son of God!"

Luk 23:47 When the captain there saw what happened, he honored God: "This man was innocent! A good man, and innocent!" 48 All who had come around as spectators to watch the show, when they saw what actually happened, were overcome with grief and headed home.

7) Did the Jewish elders really sell him out like they did?

ANSWER: Yes, Jesus challenged their spiritual authority, their sincerity, their morality, and threatened to undermine their prestige in the eyes of the people. The Bible clearly describes the Jewish leaders plotting to kill Jesus several days before they actually accomplished the deed (see quotations below). Their plans were delayed because they were afraid to arrest Jesus in public because of His strong following, and they did not know where to find Him at night. Reading Pilate's thoughts and conversations in the Bible, we can see that he was under pressure from Caesar to maintain the peace. The last thing he needed was unrest among the Jews. Jewish leaders used that as leverage against him to force him to execute Jesus. As I said in my comments on your blog, Christians do not view Jews as responsible for Jesus' death. Only so-called Christians like the KKK and other hate groups use Jesus' death as an excuse to persecute Jews. People who call themselves "Christian" and then hate Jews only defile the name of Jesus Christ. As you may know, Christians are among those who support the close U.S. alliance with Israel.

Matthew 26:3 Then were gathered together the chief priests, and the elders of the people, unto the court of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas; 4 and they took counsel together that they might take Jesus by subtlety, and kill him. 5 But they said, Not during the feast, lest a tumult arise among people.

Mat 26:59 "The high priests, conspiring with the Jewish Council, tried to cook up charges against Jesus in order to sentence him to death."

After His arrest: Matthew 27:1 "In the first light of dawn, all the high priests and religious leaders met and put the finishing touches on their plot to kill Jesus."

With Judas' help, they were able to find and arrest Jesus at night on the Mount of Olives (in the garden of Gethsemane), where Jesus and His disciples spent their nights, away from the crowds of Jerusalem. Throughout the previous week, Jesus would teach in the Temple and retire to the Mount of Olives at night. John 18:2 "Now Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with His disciples."

8) Did Judas hang himself?

Yes. Matthew 27:5 "Judas threw the silver coins into the Temple and left. Then he went out and hung himself." The scenes of demonic spirits in the form of children attacking Judas are not in the Bible but are intended to portray the fact that Judas was tormented by the results of his betrayal.

9) What chapters in the bible describe these events?

I've quoted the Bible in each answer. You can read the last three chapters of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and the last four chapters of John to find these events. Each gospel presents the events from viewpoint of the author and brings out different sets of facts. Luke, being a doctor, is precise in his observations.

10) What was your take on the movie?

ANSWER: I never realized, before the movie, that the scourging was the most painful and brutal part of his torture. The details of His scourging are not in the Bible, but we know from extra-Biblical sources how they were accomplished. Generically, the movie scene is historically accurate. The most impressive thing to me was the depiction of Jesus as fighting His way to the cross. Struggling to get there! Not struggling to avoid it. The Bible backs this up: in every scene beginning with the arrest, Jesus either allows the action to take place or commands it to take place; this entire process is at His will. At His arrest, the soldiers who arrested Him actually fell to the ground in front of Him (John 18:6). In the movie, Simon, the Cyrene who helped him carry the cross, saying to Him, "You're almost there!" as actual encouragement! If you watch, as Jesus is carrying His cross, soldiers never have to force Him to go forward. On Golgotha, Jesus is clawing His way onto the cross. No soldier is forcing Him onto it. I had never thought of Jesus' actions in that way before. Only by dying on the cross could Jesus fulfill all the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah and accomplish the will of His Father in Heaven. As I said earlier, the movie was too realistic for me to "enjoy" watching my Lord be brutalized, but it had Mel Gibson's desired affect of making me appreciate all the more what Jesus did for me. He took upon Himself my punishment for my sins so that I will not have to.

11) What was the general feeling from the Christian community on the flick?
Jeez, Vic, that's enough for now, I'd say.
Answer what you can, if you wouldn't mind.
Thanks!
Andrew | Homepage | 05.23.05 - 4:49 pm |

ANSWER: Finally! A quality movie that accurately shows Jesus' pain and suffering and the incredible sacrifice that Jesus made for all of us. Most Christians had a reaction similar to mine, I would say. We don't watch this movie every Sunday night. It is too painful. We watch it with reverance and probably with some of the same emotions that Mary, James, and John had when they watched it. The benefit we have, that they did not, is that we understand what is happening and why. Only later, after His Resurrection did the disciples begin to understand why Jesus died on the cross. I will watch it again, but I don't know when. On a side note, we also loved the fact that a big name in Hollywood would dare to make this movie...against the Hollywood culture. We loved it even more when the movie was such a smash hit. Hollywood normally follows the money.  ¶ 4:25 PM|