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For more than a year the media has been reporting on a range of Jewish
perspectives regarding the movie
The Passion of the Christ. It
is clear that the Jewish community was very sensitive and apprehensive
towards a movie that generated a discussion on just who killed Christ.
Much of the Jewish community’s reaction stemmed from its reaction to both
ancient and recent treatment of Jews.
There
is an underlying spiritual component that keeps the Person of Yeshua and
His mission as a matter of debate and conviction for each generation –
Jew or Gentile. However, there is also the undeniable fact that Jews,
like no other group, have been, time and time again, marked for annihilation.
Radio talk show host Dennis Prager, a conservative in his political views
and in his respect to Judaism, made this observation on his radio show:
"It is essential that Christians understand this. Every Jew, secular,
religious, assimilated, left-wing, right-wing, fears being killed because
he is Jewish. This is the best-kept secret about Jews, who are widely
perceived as inordinately secure and powerful. But it is the only universally
held sentiment among Jews. After the Holocaust and with Islamic terrorists
seeking to murder Jews today, this, too, is not paranoid." Prager
was the first Jew to see and review the movie. His observation was, "For
two hours, Christians watched their Savior tortured and killed. For the
same two hours, Jews watched Jews arrange the killing and torture of the
Christians’ Savior."
It is to the Christian community’s credit in the USA, where the movie
opened, that the impact of the brutal scenes did not translate into acts
of anti-Semitism. This can be attributed to the recent rise in the understanding
of God’s plan of redemption according to biblical truths. The part of
that plan expressed in Romans 15:27 calls for believers to bless the Jewish
people for their role regardless of whether they have come to faith in
Jesus or not. The Book of Romans was written within 26 years of the crucifixion.
That time frame allowed the author of the book, Paul, to hear first-hand
accounts of Messiah’s trial and death. Yet, he called for those in the
faith to bless the Jewish people even then.
Why is there apprehension among the Jewish people today? Because history
has shown it will repeat itself if we do not learn from the past. After
all, the Passover remembrance, ordained by God to be celebrated throughout
the Jewish generations, does not bring to mind the deliverance from an
obscure threat. Soon the world will be without eye witnesses to the Holocaust.
It is our duty to remember that evil. As George Santayana warned us, "Those
who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it." Just as the
Western world must dedicate itself to remember 9/11, the Bali and Madrid
bombings, etc., the Jewish world should not be asked to negate the attacks
on its survival.
In this newsletter you can read a review of
The
Passion of the Christ by Arnold Fruchtenbaum. I find it interesting
that in Arnold’s testimony booklet you come across the following incident:
"A few months after our return to Poland we were due to celebrate
our first Passover since the war – Passover 1946. This was to be an especially
important and significant Passover since we were to celebrate both our
redemption from Egypt and also our redemption from Germany. And we were
so looking forward to it in a special way. During the eight days of Passover
we were to eat only unleavened bread (nothing containing leaven is permitted
for Passover) and so our mothers began to bake the bread in preparation
for Passover. At the same time, a small three-year-old Roman Catholic
child disappeared and the rumor was spread by the Roman Catholic hierarchy
that the Jews needed the blood of a Christian to make unleavened bread.
They accused us of kidnapping the boy, killing him in a ritual murder,
and using his blood to make unleavened bread. This rumor was spread all
over Poland and on the first night of Passover as we sat down to eat there
were mobs forming in the streets outside, organized by the police and
led by the church hierarchy. All over Poland violent mobs attacked Jewish
ghettos, including the one that I was living in, and on that night of
Passover 1946, throughout Poland, many Jews were killed in the name of
Jesus Christ. It was under those circumstances that I first heard the
name of ‘Jesus Christ’ – not as someone who came to die for me, but rather
someone for whom I almost had to die. As the mobs broke down the doors
of Jewish homes (ours was not one of them) there were priests standing
by waving big crosses and before killing any Jew they would shout in Polish
the commonly heard line: ‘you killed Christ and so we will kill you.’
It was in those words that I first heard about Jesus."
We should listen to our Jewish friends with understanding and compassion
when they express their concerns fearing anti-Semitic acts. Once they
know that we share their concerns, the trust that God ordained can be
established on a one-to-one basis.
Copyright © 2004, Ariel Ministries. All Rights Reserved
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-Last revised-
Monday, October 09, 2006
