When I listed some facts that every Jew should know about The Passion in synagogue the other day, I overlooked one that lies at the heart of Gibson’s portrayal of Jesus’ last days. Gibson’s High Priest, Caiaphas, tells Pilate that Jesus is guilty of “blasphemy”, a capital offense under “our law”. Caiaphas adds since you do not allow us to carry out a death sentence, you (Pilate) must do it. That story, expanding on two gospel accounts that merely label Jesus’ crime as blasphemy, makes the Jewish authorities the instigators of Jesus’ crucifixion.
But if you wonder what Jesus’ blasphemy was, the movie won’t tell you, and neither do the Gospels. Jews should know that claiming to be the Messiah, “the Son of Man”, as Jesus did, almost surely was not and is not “blasphemy” in Jewish law. In Jesus’ time, and thereafter, other Jews have claimed to be the Messiah. They were wrong, but none was accused of “blasphemy,” let alone subjected to capital punishment. One, Shimon Bar Kochba, was a hero in his day and attracted the support of Rabbi Akiva, the great talmudic sage. Bar Kochba led a temporarily successful but disastrous second revolt against the Romans in 135 C.E. Another, Shabbtai Zevi, brought great hardship on many Jews because, believing his Messianic claims, they sold all their belongings, and went to Jerusalem to await the Kingdom of Heaven. But his claim was not characterized as blasphemy. And then there was our contemporary, Rebbe Menachem Schneerson, whose followers claimed he was the messiah, a claim he carefully avoided denying. No one suggested that the claim was blasphemous. Generally speaking, in our law blasphemy is pronouncing the Sacred Name of God (which we Jews never pronounce), using that Name or its euphemisms in a dismissive or pejorative fashion, or taking a false oath in God’s Name. If, as modern scholars tend to agree, Jesus committed no crime under “our law”, why was he crucified? As I explained, probably because the Romans often killed one who attracted a following by claiming that “the kingdom of Heaven” was imminent, let alone that he was the Messiah, the scion of David who would prepare the way for the Kingdom of Heaven. Since the Messiah would break the Roman yoke, the Romans were determined to suppress such movements. Of course, that’s not what the gospels say, so I suppose one can’t fault Gibson for making a movie that ignores modern Jewish and Christian scholarship on this point. But we Jews may want to bear it in mind.
Rabbi George Driesen