Questions about Jesus' Final Hours, from movie The Passion of Christ

[gunDriller]

edit - "The Passion of The Christ" - that's the title. The movie about Jesus directed by Mel Gibson.


When I say 'final hours', I mean the half day leading up to His Crucifixion & Death.

In the last scene, a healed Jesus is shown, identified by the one part of his body that was not healed - the holes in his hands.


I missed some of the sub-titles, so pardon my ignorance. I watched it in 2 sessions. I began to feel un-easy after the first session, when it showed Jesus carrying the cross, after he had been flogged and was so badly beaten. The cross in the movie is 6x6 inch timber, 10 feet long, with at least a 4x6 inch cross piece. It seemed so un-realistic for someone in a human body, who had been so badly beaten to carry this HEAVY piece of wood.

But maybe it was something else that made me un-comfortable. I just stopped watching it at that point and picked it up there the next day.


Question #1

There is a scene where one of the Roman soldier's ears is cut off. Jesus heals the man, his ear is returned to its original healthy state. He is shown looking extremely surprised, and refuses to carry on with his Roman soldier co-workers.

Does the Bible ever say that Jesus healed one of the Roman soldiers' ears ?


Question #2

The movie shows 2 groups of officials - the Romans and the priests. Are the priests Jewish ?


Question #3

What religion are the Romans ?


Question #4

What was the crime that Jesus did (in the eyes of his attackers) - what motivated them to spend hours beating him, and then crucifying him ? That question is prompted by the movie, maybe it's not accurate. In the movie they show Jesus receiving a beating that goes on for 4 to 6 hours - maybe more.


Question #5

For those who are students of Christ and of Biblical History, and have seen the movie - do you think it is realistic ?


Question #6

What written references describe these events ? Is it recorded in the New Testament, the KJV 1611 version of the Bible, or somewhere else ?

Are the events of Jesus' Life & Punishment foretold in the Old Testament ?

[StreetsOfGold]

Question #1

There is a scene where one of the Roman soldier's ears is cut off. Jesus heals the man, his ear is returned to its original healthy state. He is shown looking extremely surprised, and refuses to carry on with his Roman soldier co-workers.
Does the Bible ever say that Jesus healed one of the Roman soldiers' ears ?

Luke 22:50 And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.
Luke 22:51 And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.
John 18:10 Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.
John 18:26 One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him?

Question #2

The movie shows 2 groups of officials - the Romans and the priests. Are the priests Jewish ?

Jewish

Question #3

What religion are the Romans ?

Various pagan religions and gods, primarily the mystery babylonian religions taken from the various previous empires including the worship of their own leaders.

Question #4

What was the crime that Jesus did (in the eyes of his attackers) - what motivated them to spend hours beating him, and then crucifying him ? That question is prompted by the movie, maybe it's not accurate. In the movie they show Jesus receiving a beating that goes on for 4 to 6 hours - maybe more.

Great question > They envied him

Matthew 27:18 For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.
Mark 15:10 For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.

Question #5

For those who are students of Christ and of Biblical History, and have seen the movie - do you think it is realistic ?

I saw it and have many issues with it although some of it is accurate.
Overall, I agree with Terry Watkins review of the movie
http://www.kingjamesbiblebelievers.com/depository/?p=1799
Here's a snipet

Here is an article on MSNBC describing some of the scenes from The Passion. See if you can find these in your Bible:

Gibson’s movie begins in the garden of Gethsemane, with the disciples sleeping as Jesus prays for guidance and stomps on a snake that tempts him to avoid his destiny. There are other horrors: a screeching creature that resembles a berserk monkey, demonic children who might have wandered in from "The Exorcist," a bird that plucks out the eyes of crucified men, the gargoyle-like members of King Herod’s court,. . .
(Hartl, John. Gibson's 'Passion' is bloody empty. MSNBC, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4360578

That is nowhere in the Bible. You can search all day and all night but you will not find such silliness in the Bible.

Now where in the world did Mel get that stuff from?

Question #6

What written references describe these events ? Is it recorded in the New Testament, the KJV 1611 version of the Bible, or somewhere else ?
Are the events of Jesus' Life & Punishment foretold in the Old Testament ?[/QUOTE]

The gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all document the crucifiction. It is one of only 2 accounts that are recorded in ALL 4 Gospels, the other being the feeding of the 5,000.

The Most often quoted verses in the OT which describe his crucification are

Isaiah 52:14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

His 1st coming has at least 48 prophesies in the OT which all come true.. on the money

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxIVnjXDFlg

[JohnQPublic]

...
Gibson’s movie begins in the garden of Gethsemane, with the disciples sleeping as Jesus prays for guidance and stomps on a snake that tempts him to avoid his destiny...
That is nowhere in the Bible. You can search all day and all night but you will not find such silliness in the Bible.

Now where in the world did Mel get that stuff from?

...

This is an allusion from Genesis. The woman (Type of Mary) does the crushing, but through the power of her Son, Jesus. The idea is the crushing occured at that time. Because of the grammar of Hebrew it is not clear whether it is "she" or "he" that does the crushing. In some Catholic traditions it is "she" alluding to Mary through the rising of her Son, Jesus. Mel Gibson was dramatically showing that the death of Christ was the manifestation of the crushing of the serpent's head.

Note that other translations use "he", and the KJV comprimises with "it". This is from the Douay Rheims edition (contemporaneous with the KJV, and actually worked on in cooperation with the KJV).

1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise? 2 And the woman answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees that are in paradise we do eat: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die. 4 And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death. 5 For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband who did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons.

8 And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise. 9 And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where art thou? 10 And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. 11 And he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat? 12 And Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the Lord God said to the woman: Why hast thou done this? And she answered: The serpent deceived me, and I did eat.

14 And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and the beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.

15 I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.

[Sparky]

Those are great questions, gunDriller. I think StreetsOfGold did a nice job answering them. I've saw the movie twice in the theater, and once at home.

Just a couple of comments:

#4: I think the official "crime" that he was accused of was religious blasphemy.

#5: I would describe the movie as biblically consistent, with plenty of artistic license. As Streets pointed out, there are things in the movie that don't specifically appear in the bible, but there's nothing that is really inconsistent with the bible. I'd say it did a good job of capturing the essence of Christianity and the crucifixion at an emotional level. I walked out to the theater the first time with a "wow" feeling. And the subtitles were not a nuisance like I thought they might be; the movie had such intensity that they quickly became an afterthought.

Regarding the flogging scene, it was definitely brutal and I had to look away once in a while. It think the scene went on too long. But Gibson explained that he wanted to make sure the audience understood the level of pain that was endured. The bible (NKJV) uses the word "scourge", which implies far more physical pain and punishment than mere "beating" or "flogging" or "whipping".

Thanks for your thoughtful questions, Driller.

[beefsteak]

The word scourge conjurs up the Roman Scourge images, discussed by historians, and some of which are illustrated on the following website, sometimes called flails. Some called it, the "Cat of Nine Tails."

http://www.bible-history.com/past/flagrum.html

Yours truly constructed one many years ago and took to my Sunday Morning assigned task of teaching Junior High School parishoners, for a "hands' on classroom teaching tool. It creeped me out to build it, let alone deal with the attendant pain of knowing that Jeshua suffered the usage of this prior to his hideous death on the cross.

Since that day, I've never been able to look at a "gold crucifix" or other such 'prettied up' representations whether in art or around one's neck, sans all the blood with the exceptions of Christ's brow and palms and side and feet. Simply put, his back and everything else those coiling scourges could reach were ripped to shreds and bleeding.

In fact, if memory serves, Roman law dictated that only so many scourge hurled blows could be levied upon the targeted subject before it would killed.

It wasn't just Jeshua's skin that was shredded, his muscles, tendons, ligaments, etc., yes, even skeletal injuries were the result of his scourging prior to his death. What heartless monsters those Roman guards were. Then they washed, and went home to eat and sleep. Utterly absurd contrast!

But with His stripes, WE are healed.

AMEN.


grateful beefsteak

[Sparky]

BTW, it was more common for the crucified to carry only the crossbeam to the place of crucifixion. Also, they would not drive spikes through your hands because the weight of your body when upright would simply rip the nails through the tendons between your fingers. Instead, they would drive the spike through your wrists.

[Janadele]

Gibson’s movie begins in the garden of Gethsemane, with the disciples sleeping as Jesus prays for guidance and stomps on a snake that tempts him to avoid his destiny.

Now where in the world did Mel get that stuff from?



Jesus The Christ by James E. Talmage
From Chapter Five:
Adam, the patriarch of the race, rejoiced in the assurance of the Savior's appointed ministry, through the acceptance of which, he, the transgressor, might gain redemption. Brief mention of the plan of salvation, the author of which is Jesus Christ, appears in the promise given of God following the fall -- that though the devil, represented by the serpent in Eden, should have power to bruise the heel of Adam's posterity, through the seed of the woman should come the power to bruise the adversary's head. It is significant that this assurance of eventual victory over sin and its inevitable effect, death, both of which were introduced to earth through Satan the arch-enemy of mankind, was to be realized through the offspring of woman; the promise was not made specifically to the man, nor to the pair. The only instance of offspring from woman dissociated from mortal fatherhood is the birth of Jesus the Christ, who was the earthly Son of a mortal mother, begotten by an immortal Father. He is the Only Begotten of the Eternal Father in the flesh, and was born of woman.

From Chapter Seven, Jesus The Christ:

Jesus Christ was to be born of mortal woman, but was not directly the offspring of mortal man, except so far as His mother was the daughter of both man and woman. In our Lord alone has been fulfilled the word of God spoken in relation to the fall of Adam, that the seed of the woman should have power to overcome Satan by bruising the serpent's head.

[PatColo]

Sort of related here, if you recall the fuss djooz were making when Passion... was nearing release, coz I guess Passion blames djooz for Christ's murder, something djooz had labored to rewrite history on through centuries of subversion/infiltration/etc of Christian Churches (think Vatican 2).

Ted Pike: 1 Mar 12 - "The Last Temptation of Christ:" An Unnecessary Disaster in Christian/Jewish Relations (http://www.truthtellers.org/alerts/lasttemptationreprint.html)

[DMac]

The word scourge conjurs up the Roman Scourge images, discussed by historians, and some of which are illustrated on the following website, sometimes called flails. Some called it, the "Cat of Nine Tails."

http://www.bible-history.com/past/flagrum.html

Yours truly constructed one many years ago and took to my Sunday Morning assigned task of teaching Junior High School parishoners, for a "hands' on classroom teaching tool. It creeped me out to build it, let alone deal with the attendant pain of knowing that Jeshua suffered the usage of this prior to his hideous death on the cross.

Since that day, I've never been able to look at a "gold crucifix" or other such 'prettied up' representations whether in art or around one's neck, sans all the blood with the exceptions of Christ's brow and palms and side and feet. Simply put, his back and everything else those coiling scourges could reach were ripped to shreds and bleeding.

In fact, if memory serves, Roman law dictated that only so many scourge hurled blows could be levied upon the targeted subject before it would killed.

It wasn't just Jeshua's skin that was shredded, his muscles, tendons, ligaments, etc., yes, even skeletal injuries were the result of his scourging prior to his death. What heartless monsters those Roman guards were. Then they washed, and went home to eat and sleep. Utterly absurd contrast!

But with His stripes, WE are healed.

AMEN.


grateful beefsteak

The scourge was a particularly nasty torture device and as you said (though I forget the number), lashes were limited because yes, you would be scourged to death. Each strike is like 5-10 individual lashes at once.

Common Scourge from Roman times, leather sometimes with thorns or scrap metal at the tips for extra pain:

3479

A flail can sometimes look similar, but is an instrument of war/death and not torture.

Common flail, sometimes they use multiple ball/chains:
3480

[StreetsOfGold]

BTW, it was more common for the crucified to carry only the crossbeam to the place of crucifixion. Also, they would not drive spikes through your hands because the weight of your body when upright would simply rip the nails through the tendons between your fingers. Instead, they would drive the spike through your wrists.

Good points and for further clarification, the Bible uses the word hand as part of the wrist interchangeably

Genesis 24:47 And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put the earring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands.