Jesus/Mel Gibson

[insider]

What seems to be the problem with the new Mel Gibson movie “The Passion”? Is it a truthful portrayal of the death of Jesus? What part did the Jews play in his death? If Jesus was truely the son of God I am sure that he knew that he was going to die at the hands of the Romans.

[Moirai]

Some parts of it are “true”, meaning they are taken from the Gospels, others continue what people believe to be true.

For example, Gibson’s film shows Christ being nailed to the cross through his palms, which modern scholars feel is incorrect. Impalement through the wrists would support the weight of the body, while impalement through the palms would not, and the hands would tear.

Also, the film shows a Pharisee helping to remove Jesus from the cross and hand his body to his mother. A Pharisee, a member of a strict Jewish sect, would not have touched the body.

According to the Bible, Jesus knew his time was coming (“please let this cup pass from me”).

PS- of course I have not seen the film- the two examples above are from a magazine article by a biblical scholar who has seen the film. They are the only two I can remember right now.

As far as the bigger question in your OP, it might be better suited for GD.

[Captain_Amazing]

*Originally posted by EJsGirl *
**Also, the film shows a Pharisee helping to remove Jesus from the cross and hand his body to his mother. A Pharisee, a member of a strict Jewish sect, would not have touched the body.
**

There’s no prohibition against handling a corpse in Judaism, unless you’re a Kohen.

[zev_steinhardt]

*Originally posted by Captain Amazing *
**There’s no prohibition against handling a corpse in Judaism, unless you’re a Kohen. **

While it is true that there is no prohibition against handling a corpse, they still observed the laws of ritual purity (taharah and tumah) which governed one’s interactions with entry to the Temple grounds and handling of other ritual and consecrated objects. A person probably would not have touched a human corpse without great need to do so.

Zev Steinhardt

[moriah]

Speculation: If the movie has a Pharisee removing the body, this might be a dramatization of Nicodemus, a Pharisee, helping to bury Jesus.

John 19:38 – Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.[4] 40Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. [RSV]

My big problem with the movie will be that you have in the Bible four versions of the Passion Narrative. If you blend them into one movie dramatization, you will necessarily be violating some scriptural verse since there are inherent contradictions in some of the minor details in the four accounts.

This is fine, IMO, if you’re doing something artistic, like Jesus Christ Superstar or The Last Tempation of Christ. But if you’re trying to portray it “as it really happened,” you will fail miserably for the contradicting gospels make it impossible to do so.

Peace.

I try to do three impossible things each day.

[xash]

Although the questions are relevant to GQ, since we are discussing the movie, I shall move this to CS.

-xash
General Questions Moderator