A lot of people have talked about the Passion of Christ. Certain individuals say that the movie is anti-Semitic or could lead to violence and hatred against Jews. Others don’t like how Mel Gibson’s latest movie, The Passion of the Christ, shows Jesus Christ’s last 12 hours on earth in a very violent way. It’s important to talk about faith, politics, film comparisons, film reviews, and censorship, but we shouldn’t let Christ’s major message get lost in all of that. Now is a good time to remember why Jesus Christ died. He may have been trying to tell us something new two thousand years ago. Let’s stop and think about it again. It would have been better for this paper to just talk about Christ’s main message and how it applies to us now, but I think I need to talk about the two most common complaints about the movie first. Was it meant for Jews? I don’t think the movie was racist against Jews.
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The Jews had to make a choice back then, and it wasn’t any different from how we make decisions today. In the last part of this paper, I make the case that non-Jews have no reason to blame Jews for what happened. Was it okay for the movie to have blood and violence? Yes. The fact that the movie had a lot of blood and violence was important to show what Jesus had to do and was ready to do so that we could understand what he was trying to say the whole time. It takes a lot of strength to love someone deeply and fully, as shown by the pain and suffering he has been through. Before I start, I want you to forget about your religion for this paper, no matter what religion you follow or if you follow one at all. Don’t think that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. Do not think that he was sent here by a higher power. Let us pretend that he was a real person, with flesh and blood, like you and me. But he had a different view of the world.
The way he understood knowledge, his events, and his feelings was different from how most of us understand our inner and outer worlds. Because of this, he gained a lot of information and wisdom that most of us can’t even begin to understand. He spoke to us. He tried to tell us what he knew. All of Jesus Christ’s lessons are based on the idea of love. Love everything. Love everyone. Even people you hate! If someone hits you in the face, turn your other side around. Just like Buddha said, don’t do to other people what you wouldn’t want them to do to you. Show kindness to all living things. Love was what they taught. He thought it was the only way for everyone to live in peace and happiness in the world and in their own lives. Any amount of hate should not be allowed in our daily lives or in the way we act. No matter what, we shouldn’t hate anything or anyone or think bad things about them. He talked about that theme everywhere and at any time.
A lot of people came to the woods and churches to hear him speak. Many of his thoughts interested people. His ideas were new and strange, and sometimes they went against basic human feelings and what most people thought at the time. He was a leader, like a shepherd who leads his sheep. He was a very honest leader. A lot of people have led us in the past, and we will continue to do so in the future. They tell us one thing, but they’re not brave or strong enough to say no to something else. They go against their own ideas and beliefs. Are only our politicians, famous people, and other well-known people in our society—the ones we read about in the news—to blame? Not at all.
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Their mistakes are our mistakes. What’s that? Since we still think it’s okay to hate or show bad feelings towards people we think have hurt us or will hurt us in the future, As people, we still show little bits of kindness, care, understanding, and sensitivity towards other people and other things. People make us feel bad when they make fun of us, bully us, put us down, torture us, kill or threaten to kill our loved ones, or deny us anything else we think of as our “human rights.” We say, “Of course.” “That’s natural!” Yes, that is my point! Even though Jesus Christ had to go through all of that, he hadn’t shown any anger, hate, sadness, greed, or fear in his last twelve hours. He even asked his enemies to spare him while he was on the cross because they didn’t know what they were doing. Who among us has the guts, strength, and knowledge to accept things the way they are? Without exception, Jesus Christ taught us to love everyone, even our enemies. We should be smart enough to understand more and care for all living things. At that time, the Jews had to choose whether to kill Jesus or not. What should they have done? They had no idea. Someone from among the people in the streets of Jerusalem at that time would have been asked what they thought should happen to Jesus. What would they have said? For many, what little they knew about Jesus Christ was very vague. He was said to be the Messiah.
