Los Angeles, Alta California - August 13, 2003 - (ACN) Never has a film produced so much controversy, months before its scheduled release date, than Mel Gibson's "The Passion". The film depicting the last twelve hours on earth of Jesus Christ is scheduled to be released on Easter of next year but already a host of Jewish political leaders and rabbis are attempting to censor it, in its present form, because they say it is anti-semitic. The Jews are worried that the film will unleash a wave of hatred, bigotry and anti-semitism because "The Passion", they say, portrays them as "Christ killers".
The film, however, is based on biblical and historical fact. Mel Gibson based the script on the diaries of St. Anne Catherine Emmerich that are collected in the book "The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ", on Mary of Agreda's "The City of God" and on the New Testament Gospel of Luke, John, Matthew and Mark. The Jews are mostly concerned that the film includes scenes that are described in the Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich's diaries. St. Anne Catherine Emmerich was an Augustinian nun who lived in Germany between 1774 and 1824.
Abraham H. Foxman, National Director of the Anti Defamation League of B'nai B'rith (Sons of the Covenant), said that St. Anne Catherine Emmerich was anti-Jewish. He said that the diaries are "an account of a 19th century mystical anti-semitic nun that distorts New Testament interpretation by selectively citing passages to weave a narrative that oversimplifies history, and is hostile to Jews and Judaism." Rabbi Eugene Korn, ADL Director of Interfaith Affairs, said that "The Passion" contains a number of troubling themes and images, all raising the specter of "deicide," or Jewish complicity in the death of Jesus. Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, said that he has already received hate telephones calls because of the contents of the upcoming film and as a consequence is now urging the Jewish community to send him more money.
Who were responsible for the heinous crucifixion of Jesus Christ; the Romans or the Jews? There is ample historical and biblical evidence that it was the Jews who conspired and carried out the murder of the true Messiah by having him nailed to a wooden cross at Golgotha. The Pharisees and their High Priest Caiphas along with Caiphas' father-in-law Annas bear the ultimate responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus. Annas, was the High Priest from 6 to 15 C.E. and head of a family that controlled the high priesthood for most of the first century.
The Old Testament prophets had long predicted the coming of a Messiah that would redeem the Jews and all of humanity. When Jesus was sent to earth by the Father, the Jewish High Priests of the Temple did not believe that he was in fact the much prophesied "King of the Jews" who would save their souls and the souls of all sinners. They instead hated him and wanted him dead because he was challenging their religious authority. The Jewish High Priest Caiphas and the High Priest Emeritus Annas embarked on a conspiracy to "frame" Jesus in order to justify his killing to the rulers of Judea, the Romans.
The Jewish High Priests of the Temple operated in a similar way as the "Jewish Kapos" under the Nazi Regime of Germany. A primary function of the High Priest in first-century Jerusalem was to serve as a sort of liaison between Roman authority and the Jewish population. High Priests, drawn from the Sadducean aristocracy, received their appointment from Rome since the time of Herod the Great, and Rome looked to the High Priests to keep the Jewish populace in line. The Roman prefects demanded that High Priests arrest and turn over Jews seen as agitators.
The Jewish Pharisees first conspired with one of Jesus' disciples named Judas. They bribed Judas with thirty pieces of silver so that he would turn Jesus over to about 20 Temple guard soldiers under the command of the High Priest Caiphas. These soldiers dressed in a similar way to the Roman soldiers but they were Jews and a few foreign mercenaries under the employ of Caiphas. After the "Last Supper", Jesus had gone to the Garden of Olives to pray for the last time. It was during this same evening that Judas betrayed Jesus by pointing him out, with a "kiss", to the Temple guards. This all occurred one day before the Jewish "Passover".
Shortly before midnight Jesus was arrested , chained and dragged to the house of the Jewish High Priest Emeritus Annas. Annas was in charge of a tribunal of twenty-eight councillors instituted for the purpose of examining persons accused of teaching false doctrines; and if convicted there, they were then taken before a tribunal headed by the Jewish High Priest Caiphas.
The accusations presented to Annas against Jesus by revengeful and hateful Pharisees were that he called himself king; that he said God was his Father; that the Pharisees were an adulterous generation; that he caused insurrection among the people; that he cured the sick by the help of the devil on the Sabbath-day; that the inhabitants of Ophel addressed him by the titles of Saviour and Prophet; that he allowed himself be called the Son of God; that he said he was sent by God; that he predicted the destruction of Jerusalem; that he did not fast; that he ate with sinners, with pagans, and with publicans, and associated with women of evil repute; that he said to a man who gave him some water to drink at the gates of Ophel, "that he would give unto him the waters of eternal life, after drinking which he would thirst no more." Annas found Jesus guilty, and the Messiah was dragged to a tribunal at Caiphas house.
All this time, Jesus was being mocked and severely beaten by the Temple soldiers and a mob of hateful Jews. Jesus was already severely injured, even before he was presented to the Roman occupation administrator Pontius Pilate. On the way to the Caiphas tribunal, Jesus was humiliated, scourged and spat upon by the angry mob of Jews and was already bleeding profusely.
The tribunal of Caiphas known as the Sanhedrin was actually a Jewish "kangaroo court". The Jewish judges of the Sanhedrin were already predisposed to convict Jesus or anyone else that questioned their religious authority. There was first a kind of "preliminary hearing" in which Jesus was read the accusations as established by Annas. During this preliminary trial Caiphas said, "Thou art come, then, at last, thou enemy of God, thou blasphemer, who dost disturb the peace of this holy night!"
On the following morning of "Passover", Jesus was tried by Caiphas and the Sanhedrin. In the hours between the preliminary hearing and the morning trial, the Jewish mob mercilessly tortured their prisoner Jesus, the Son of God. They heaped every imaginable insult upon him; they pulled out handfuls of his hair and beard, spat upon him, struck him with their fists, wounded him with sharp-pointed sticks, and even ran needles into his body.
During the morning trial, the Jewish High Priest Caiphas did not make the slightest effort to conceal his hatred. He addressed Jesus Christ haughtily, "If thou be Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus raised his head, and answered with great dignity and calmness, "If I shall tell you, you will not believe me; and if I shall also ask you, you will not answer me, nor let me go. But hereafter the Son of Man shall be sitting on the right hand of the power of God." The High Priest and judges of the Jewish Sanhedrin looked at one another, and Caiphas said to Jesus, with a disdainful laugh, "Art thou, then, the Son of God?" Jesus answered, with the voice of eternal truth, "You say that I am." At these words they all exclaimed,"What need we any further testimony? For we ourselves have heard it from his own mouth." The Jewish kangaroo court than sentence Jesus Christ to be executed.
The Jews however did not have the authority to pass the sentence of death. Only the Romans could pass a death sentence. . They had to convince the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, that Jesus was a threat and an enemy of Rome. The Jewish High Priest and the judges of the Sanhedrin ordered the Temple soldiers to secure the chains of Jesus so that he could be dragged to Pilate's palace. This was around 7:30 in morning of the day of "Passover".
It was about eight in the morning when the procession led by Annas, Caiphas, and the chiefs of the Sanhedrin reached the palace of Pilate. The brutal Temple guards dragged Jesus to the foot of the flight of stairs which led to the room were Pilate was seated on a chair. When Pontius Pilate saw how shamefully the cruel Jews had treated their prisoner, he arose, and addressed them in a contemptuous voice, "What are you come about so early? Why have you ill-treated this prisoner so shamefully? Is it not possible to refrain from thus tearing to pieces and beginning to execute your criminals even before they are judged?"
The Jewish Temple guards than dragged Jesus up the staircase, and led him to the end of the terrace, where Pilate was conferring with the Jewish priests. Pontius Pilate had often heard of Jesus, although he had never seen him, and now he was astonished at the calm dignified deportment of a man brought before him in such pitiful condition. The inhuman behaviour of the Jewish High Priests exasperated him and increased his contempt for them, and he informed them immediately that he had no intention of condemning Jesus without satisfactory proofs of the truth of their accusations. "What accusation do you bring against this man?" he said, addressing the Jewish priests in the most scornful tone possible. The Jewish priests answered, "If he were not a malefactor we would not have delivered him up to thee." The Roman governor replied, "Take him and judge you him according to your law." The Jewish priests responded, "Thou knowest well that it is not lawful for us to condemn any man to death."
Pontius Pilate, however, at last ordered them to produce their accusations. The accusations of the Jewish priests were designed to make Pilate believe that Jesus was the leader of a conspiracy against the Roman emperor, in order that he might condemn him to death as a rebel. The Jewish priests were powerless in such matters, being allowed to judge none but religious offences. The Jewish priests accused Jesus of exciting the people to riot and to rebellion and of being an enemy to public peace and tranquility. They accused Jesus of forbidding the people to pay taxes to the Roman emperor. Lastly, they accused Jesus of saying that he was a King.
The last accusation, that Jesus called himself King, made an impression upon Pilate; he became thoughtful, left the terrace and, casting a scrutinising glance on Jesus, went into the adjoining room, and ordered his guards to bring him alone into his presence. Pilate had, during the course of his education, learned of the "sons of gods" who had dwelt for a time upon earth. He was likewise fully aware that the Jewish prophets had long foretold that one should appear in the midst of them who should be the Anointed of the Lord, their Saviour, and Deliverer; and that many among the Jews believed this firmly. He remembered likewise that Kings from the east had come to Herod, the predecessor of the present monarch of that name, to pay homage to a newly-born king of the Jews, and that Herod had on this account given orders to massacre all the Jewish first born.
With such impressions, Pontius Pilate decided to interrogate Jesus privately. "Art thou the king of the Jews?’ asked Pilate. Jesus answered, "Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or have others told it thee of me?" Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Thy own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee up to me as deserving of death: what hast thou done?" Jesus answered majestically, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now my kingdom is not from hence." The Roman governor was moved by these solemn words, and asked Jesus in a more serious tone, "Art thou a king, then?" Jesus answered, "Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this I came into the world, that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice." Pilate looked at him, and rising from his seat said, ‘The truth! what is truth?’
The Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate then returned to the terrace and addressed the Jewish priests and said, "I find no cause in him." The Jews became furious and cried out, "You find no cause in him? Is it no crime to incite the people to revolt in all parts of the kingdom and to spread his false doctrines, not only here, but in Galilee as well?" The mention of Galilee made Pilate reflect for a moment, and then asked, "Is this man a Galilean, and a subject of Herod’s?" The Jews answered, "He is; his parents lived at Nazareth, and his present dwelling is in Capharnaum." Pilate replied, "Since that is the case take him before Herod; he is here for the Passover festival, and can judge him at once, as he is his subject."
The Jews than dragged Jesus to the Palace of the Tetrarch where Herod was staying for the Passover festival in Jerusalem. Herod was flattered that the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate had acknowledged his right to judge the Galileans and, being the consummate politician, he did not want to contradict Pilate's initial decision concerning the accusations against Jesus. Herod listened to the accusations and interrogated Jesus and decided that the Son of God was actually insane and not guilty of what he was being accused of by the Jewish High Priests.
The Jews were now in a quandary and the High Priests devised a plan of action to force Pontius Pilate to condemn Jesus to death. They dispatched emissaries to the city of Acre, which was chiefly inhabited by Pharisees, to let them know that they must assemble in the neighbourhood of Pilate’s palace, gather together a mob, and bribe them to make a tumult, and demand the condemnation of Jesus. They also sent "agent provocateurs" to alarm the people by threats of the divine vengeance if they did not insist on the execution of Jesus, whom they termed a sacrilegious blasphemer.
The brutal Temple guards again dragged Jesus back to Pilate's palace. This time there was a huge Jewish mob outside demanding the crucifixion of Jesus. Pilate came forward and said to the accusers of Jesus: "You have presented unto me this man, as one that perverteth the people, and behold I having examined him before you, find no cause in this man in those things wherein you accuse him. No, nor Herod neither. For I sent you to him, and behold, nothing worthy of death is done to him. I will chastise him, therefore, and release him." The Jewish mob became infuriated.
When the High Priests sensed that Pilate would not budge, they brought forth a suggestion. It was customary that on "Passover" the Jews would be allowed to release one prisoner condemned to death. It just happened that the Romans had a vicious murderer named Barabbas in custody. Pilate decided to let the Jews decide which prisoner to release, Jesus or Barabbas. When Pilate took a vote, the Jewish mob yelled, "Free Barabbas!" followed by "Crucify Jesus!". "Shall I crucify your King?" asked Pontius Pilate. "We have no King but Caesar!" responded the High Priests. Reluctantly, Pontius Pilate gave the Jews what they wanted, washed his hands of the whole affair, and the rest is now history. Jesus Christ, the true Messiah, the Son of God suffered one of the most excruciating deaths in the history of mankind.
Who than crucified Jesus? Mel Gibson's "The Passion", in its present form, depicts the truth. There is danger, however, that Mel Gibson may be forced to edit out the truth by present day Pharisees. Mr. Gibson is presently under intense pressure to leave out certain scenes that modern day Jews find objectionable.
"The Passion" started filming on October 2002 and immediately, the ADL of B'nai B'rith, which is actually a spy agency for Zionist Israel, sent out its agents to attempt to sabotage the film project. Some unknown spies went to the filming location in Matera, Italy on November 2002 and stole a copy of the script. These agents are now making Mr. Gibson's life very difficult. Mel. Gibson said on a Fox News Channel talk show interview that a reporter from a reputable publication was sent to attempt to "dig up dirt" on him in order to discredit him and his film. "Whenever you take up a subject like this, it does bring out a lot of enemies," Gibson said. Mel Gibson said that his private life, his banking records, the charities he supports, friends, business associates and family members have all undergone scrutiny. He added that his 85 year old father has been approached and harassed. When asked if there was a connection between these incidents and his film "The Passion," Mel Gibson said: "I think there is."
La Voz de Aztlan understands and greatly sympathises with Mel Gibson and his present predicament. The two Jewish organizations that have vehemently attack him, the ADL of B'nai B'rith and the Simon Wiesenthal Center have also attacked us. Both organizations have written extensively against us simply because we are Christians and because we dare to write the truth in articles such as this one. We are not deterred, however, and pray that Mr. Gibson does not change the script of his film as he originally wrote it. We are convinced that these hypocritical and self-righteous Zionists are of the same mold as those Jewish Pharisees responsible for the cruel crucifixion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
