Wednesday, February 18, 2004
(4:52 PM) | Anonymous:
Christ Killer
I wonder why it even matters who killed Jesus. First, it requires a couple matters of faith to care about.
For example - was there a Jesus of Nazareth? Was he the Christ? If so, why would he let himself be killed so shortly after beginning his teachings?
Let's assume Jesus lived, was the Christ, and walked into the most obvious and asinine of political traps, assuring the Romans continued security in an area they held with little more than a whim and an installed magistrate.
Ok. So, Jesus is going to be killed. The Jews in power, and yet not the Jews and Gentiles that are following Jesus, are going to be blamed for his death. Well, we could blame the soldiers. Or the specific people in power that paid for Judas' betrayal (certainly not all the Jews), or we could blame the inanimate hammer and nails that hung him on the cross. Frankly, the spear in Christ's side that caused the fatal wound (and a spillage of water and blood, fulfilling one more prophecy, the one about the water flowing out of the right side of the temple and whatnot) should probably be viewed as mercy, and not the final insult. Crucifixion is not murder, but exposure to the elements. It's like leaving a man tied up in the desert, except you don't have to get a sunburn this way.
The fact that Mel Gibson wanted to retell the "Greatest Story Ever Told" isn't too unlike, in my mind, Peter Jackson saying, "Man, that Ralph Bakshi version of the Lord of the Rings sucked. Let's try this again." It's going to do some things that the fanboys won't forgive, but the majority of people will see the quality of film-making involved, and if it turns one more person on to the source material, well, whoopy hoo ha.
In other news, I've been preparing for a scholarly post. I've been re-reading John Steinbeck's East of Eden for the umpteenth time, trying to write a 'book report' of sorts. It's going to be too intense to be called a review, really. I just wanted to share the reason for my quietude.
In yet other news, today I am 23. And I'm listening to Jets to Brazil.
