"The Passion of the Christ" is a production that is simply unforgettable, in being the most realistic cinematic account of the suffering, or passion, of Jesus ever made.
For the many film critics who have accused produced-screenwriter-director Mel Gibson of everything from blood lust to sadomasochism, there is either ignorance or intentional disregard of the absolute horror of a Roman army scourging.
The crucifixion has never before been re-enacted with such reality. It details one of the most brutal forms of capital punishment ever devised – but whose instrument has forever since been the identifying sign of this world's largest religion.
As such, I hope that all Christians will see this stupendously memorable account of what their Lord and Savior underwent the course of what he enunciated: "For this cause came I unto the world: to bear witness unto the truth."
I hope – but do not realistically expect – that it will be seen by all of Jesus' fellow Jews as well, in order to realize that this is not anti-Semitism – however much Adolf Hitler perverted the passion play of Oberammergau.
I wish that the one flashback of Palm Sunday's triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem had been longer and more illustrative of the huge crowd that welcomed him. This great gathering, like the thousands to whom he preached, as well as all 12 of his apostles, was entirely Jewish. And there were so many Jesus admirers that the majority of the Sanhedrin had to capture and put him on trial at night.
The behavior of High Priest Caiaphas was undeniably scandalous and brutal. But so was the behavior of Israel's great warrior King David in ordering the battle murder of Uriah the Hittite, with whose wife David had committed adultery. I remember no accusations of anti-Semitism when this account of Jewish adultery and murder was brought to the screen, with Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward.
Two other things I wish could have been added to this superb film:
1) I wish among the number of flashbacks there could have been that unforgettable scene mentioned in all four of the Gospels: the cleansing of the Temple. For Jesus' violent expulsion of the dishonest moneychangers and salesmen of sacrificial animals from the Temple – where they were installed for great profit by the Sadducees – was what I believe really led to Jesus' death – rather than his theological statements.
For the Temple money-changing and animal trade was one of the largest businesses in that section of the world. It had, for years, been cheating Jewish pilgrims such as those from Galilee.
2) While I realize the passion, or suffering, of Jesus did not include his resurrection from the dead, I do wish that triumph, which is at the center of Christianity, could have been more than that absolutely fleeting rolling of the tomb stone with a flash of the no-longer bloody face of Jesus. If only the examination of Jesus' wounds by St. Thomas the Doubter could have been shown as the triumph following all Jesus' suffering.
I was sorry that there was the injection of Satan, played by a female, and assorted demons, a horde of whom drove Judas to suicide after he utilized the rope around the neck of a dead and partially disintegrating horse.
I also really wonder if Roman soldiers laughed as much as some of those who were brutally whipping Jesus. And I am glad that there was no protest of this film by the Sons of Italy, so many millions of whom have joined in the recitation of the Apostle's Creed's affirmation "suffered under Pontius Pilate."
Pilate, in this film, was appealing. But in response to the theory that he had no alternative but to order the execution of Jesus, there is the story of Pilate in retirement on the Isle of Capri.
An old friend with whom he had served in Judea pays a visit and tells him of the emergence of an amazing new religion inspired by "the alleged resurrection from the dead of a man you ordered crucified. You remember, that rabbi from Galilee named Jesus?"
At which Pilate looked off across the water. After a few moments of trying to recall, he replied:
"There were so many crucifixions.