A request for reply and understanding
Like millions of others, I have been watching the reviews and previews of Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of the Christ." I haven't had the opportunity to see it yet, but I fully intend to. I have heard Mel Gibson speak about the film and respond to the charges that the film is anti-Semitic and may create or exacerbate the rift between Christians and Jews. The core issue is, of course, what was the role of the Jews in the death of Jesus and what are the consequences.
I am going to try to be as sensitive and understanding as I can be on this historical and religous issue and I hope that some of the Christian members of this community will share their thoughts and feelings in the same manner. My goal is to promote dialogue leading to understanding.
The Jewish history that I was taught, and I am by no means a scholar, says very little about Jesus. The Romans had conquered Israel in 77 BC and occupied the land. The period of the Roman occupation is a chaotic one. Some of the Jews took to Roman ways, many resisted bitterly. Jews had split into three major groups:
1) The wealthy Sadducees, who denied the authority of the Oral Law, pledging allegiance to Rome;
2) The fanatical Zealots ready to battle Rome to the death in a suicidal war;and
3) the mainstream Pharisee majority, still loyal to Torah and Oral Law, caught in between.
Many Jews believed that in such a time, the Messiah must come. The Jewish definition of Messiah is a Jewish leader (not devine, but a human being), descended from the line of King David (that is, from the tribe of Judah) who will have the Torah knowledge and the leadership ability to unite all the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. He will rebuild the Temple, bring world peace, and elevate the entire world to the realization of one God.
Against this background, many mystical groups sprang into existence. The Dead Sea Cult, who left the famous scrolls behind, was one such group. The Essenes may have been an off-shoot of this group or a different group. At this time there was a rabbi or teacher, called Joshua by some, Jesus by others and honored by his followers as Christ, which is the Greek word for Messiah.
To Jews, the life of Jesus was not of particular significence. I don't mean that in any disparaging way, I simply mean that he was one of many. The Jewish historian Josephus hardly mentions him. He was a learned man at a time when there were many learned men. For example, when sked to name the greatest commandment, Jesus, as cited in the Gospel of Matthew (22:37-40), replies:
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments."
These are based on quotes from Deuteronomy and Leviticus, which predate Jesus by 1,300 years. They might have been quoted by any Jewish scholar, because we believe them.
In Christian texts, such as Luke, the Jewish leaders cry out for the death of this man. Jewish texts don't mention this at all and it doesn't make sense to me. If Jesus was a rabbi and quoted Torah, why would the leaders be against him? Let me also say that when I call Jesus a rabbi, I mean one who has accepted the mantle of teacher, not necessarily ordained by any official organization.
So Jesus is caught between the Roman Pilate and Herod Antipas. Herod was, by and large, hated by the Jews of that era. He had divorced his wife to marry his neice, had been educated in Rome were he was friends with Caligula. One of the reasons that the Romans let him govern, made him ruler over Galilee, was because he could never unite the Jewish people against Rome. After being shuttled back and forth, Jesus is crucified by the Romans.
So what are the Jewish people guilty of? Calling for the death of Jesus or not rebelling against the Roman army to save him? As a Jew, I don't believe that the Jewish council would do such a thing and if they did it would have been a violation of every fundamental Jewish precept. Why would the council act thus? The vast majority of quoted statements are perfectly consistent with Jewish beliefs, are based on the Torah and Talmud which Jesus demonstrated his familiarity with.
I guess one explanation would be Jesus throwing the money lenders from the Temple. "Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" Once again, the story does not appear in Jewish histories. But perhaps it was the money lenders who called for the death of Jesus. If this were the case, then it would be a small and at least theoretically reviled minority at fault. What I can't imagine is that Herod or Pilate, who had the power of life and death over the people that they ruled, would have been swayed by the money lenders. This was not modern times, when merchants have power. If Herod wanted money form someone, he could just take it. It just doesn't make sense to me.
Then comes the torture and crucifixion at the hands of the Romans. To the best of my knowledge, no Jew is actually accused of participating. Am I wrong?
For the next two thousand years, Jews are reviled and persecuted as "Christ killers." I am not going to detail the events, but anyone can look them up. My question is why? Even if Jews had called for the death of Jesus, all of his early followers and all the Apostles were religous Jews. Was it the acceptance of Jesus that made them "good Jews" and Holy and the non-acceptance by the majority of Jews that made them "bad Jews" to be reviled and attacked?
Then comes the Vatican II beginning in 1962 and continuing until 1965. It opens with a pronouncement that includes Judaism as a valid religion, by saying "The Catholic Church rejects nothing which is true and holy in these religions." Further recognition is given "...cannot forget that she received the revelation of the Old Testament through the people with whom God in his inexpressible mercy deigned to establish the Ancient Covenant." But Jews still aren't off the hook for the death of Jesus, as the Declaration asserts that "...authorities of the Jews and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ." Still the Declaration continues "what happened in His passion cannot be blamed upon all the Jews then living, without distinction, nor upon the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as repudiated or cursed by God, as if such views followed from the Holy Scriptures."
Now, I was 10 years old and living in the Bronx at that time. My best friends were Irish Catholic boys who told me that I wasn't to blame for killing Jesus. I don't say that glibly, that was how kids interpreted the anouncement.
But in the almost forty years since, I haven't seen an abatement in anti-Semitism. In many ways, it has grown worse. Just this week, on Joeuser, the old myth that the world is controlled by the shadowy Jewish organization known as the Elders of Zion resurfaced. Despite the fact that we know that the 9/11 terrorists were anti-Israeli Moslems, a poster here blamed the Israeli intelligence agency Mosad for the destruction of the World Trade Center. This is the modern version of "blood libel."
According to CNN, Mel Gibson is "an avowed "Traditionalist Catholic," a splinter movement that believes in celebrating Mass in Latin and rejects changes in the church made by the Second Vatican Council." I am confused because I thought Catholics had to accept the word of the Vatican. My feeling on reading this was "We just can't win."
With this post, I am asking two questions. Do Christians still consider Jews to blame for the death of Jesus? If so, is there any means of gaining forgiveness and acceptance short of renouncing the Jewish heritage?
Slightly off the topic, I will explain that this is why Israel holds such a special meaning for Jews, even non-religous Jews like me. As long as Israel exists and is strong, we know that we have a place to go if the dark days return.
Let me end with a quote from the book of Isaiah which reads:
And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore... (Isaiah 2:4)
Peace and understanding to all.