Via DYL, I came across this early review about the forthcoming Passion film that was written and directed by actor Mel Gibson.

I’ve been very curious about this movie because of the controversy it’s already generating. The top complaint made by critics is that the film will generate more anti-Semitic sentiments in a time where such feelings have been increasing in Arab/Muslim countries and even in Europe because of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, prompting firebombings against synagogues and attacks against Jews in these regions.

However, early reviews from evangelicals seem to be very positive.

All right, so the Jews were responsible for killing Jesus.

So what?

Unless you believe in replacement theology, that will always remain a fact. Jesus was a Jew. Jesus’s parents were Jews, direct descendants from David. The crucifixion of Jesus occurred on a little hill called Golgotha (basic meaning: “skull") outside the city of Jerusalem. The court that condemned him was Jewish. The crowd that cried for his death was most likely Jewish.

Before you lambaste me for trying to stir up anti-Semitic feeling on this website, read the Bible. His death and resurrection were foretold in the Book of Isaiah. Yes, that’s right - one of the Jews’ own prophets of old actually foretold the death of this Nazarene, this carpenter’s son. Unless you’re a history revisionist or you just like to twist Scripture to fit whatever interpretation you want to make of it, you can’t do away with this fact.

And if you like playing the blame game, as some people liked to do in the Middle Ages, when popes instigated pogroms and persecuted the Jewish people incessantly, all I have to say to you is that the only reason Jesus was crucified by the Jews was because our eternal redemption was at stake.

So what if the Jews were responsible for his death? What does that have to do with the real reason Jesus came to the earth? Why do his killers matter so much to you? What about the more important fact that Jesus was killed by his own people so that YOU might truly live?

I don’t hate the Jews. I’ve been fascinated by their culture and customs for nearly five years. I’ve known about the general aspects of their history practically my entire life, and I’m still learning more.

I don’t hate the Jews. They have always been God’s chosen people in my eyes. Sure, maybe that has made some modern-day Jews arrogant and hard to put up with for some people, but no hatred here. (Note: the key word in that last sentence was maybe. Read my lips: MAAAAAYBEEEE.)

Paul said in Romans that his heart’s “desire and prayer” was that his people - the Israelites - would be saved. It’s happening now. It’s going to continue to happen. Nowhere in the Bible do you see Jesus’s followers blaming their fellow Israelites continually for Jesus’s crucifixion. Most likely it’s a Gentile thing, I don’t know.

So - am I going to see Mel Gibson’s film when it’s finally released? Yes.
Will it make me appreciate more the pain Jesus had to go through to save my soul? Yes.
Will it make me dislike the Jews?

No.