They lie with this movie and try to make you think it was all the Romans. They tell you the Romans wanted Jesus dead and the Romans gave Judas the 30 pieces of silver. B.S. That's all I can say. Caiaphas and the other high priests wanted Jesus dead and gave Judas the 30 pieces of silver. Other movies omitted this. That's well and good, but don't lie. Other movies omitted Caiaphas, but they didn't lie and say it was all the Romans.
shareIt was a Roman cross, and the Romans were the occupying authority and it was they who were responsible.
"Oh look - a lovely spider! And it's eating a butterfly!"
'' ,,
Nope. Mel Gibson got it right. Pilate washed his hands of it. Caiaphas and the other high priests wanted him dead. And it was the people who chose Barabbas. Not the Romans. Pilate had him scourged and was going to let him go, but that wasn't enough. According to The Robe, the Romans were threatened by Jesus. B.S. Caiaphas was threatened. Caiaphas wanted him dead. We also both know it was not the Romans who gave Judas the 30 pieces of silver. It was not the Romans that arrested him. So let's not play games. Yeah, the Roman's executed Jesus after Caiaphas and the others made them. Pilate found no cause in him. Herod even wanted no part of it. But Caiaphas and the others yelled "crucify him" and caused an uproar until Pilate had no choice. Movies in the old days had to lie and blame it all on the Romans. In the documentary on the blu-ray of The Robe, they said how in those days you couldn't make it look like it was the Jews that were responsible. At least Cecil B. DeMille didn't lie with his 1927 King of Kings movie. Mr. DeMille and Mr. Gibson got it right and I commend them for pulling no punches and telling the truth. To absolve Caiaphas and the Jews of any of the blame is a lie.
shareNobody made the Romans do anything. Bringing up Mel Gibson doesn't really add any credibility to your view...
"Oh look - a lovely spider! And it's eating a butterfly!"
'' ,,
I said Mel Gibson and Cecil B. DeMille. They both told the truth and it's not my view. It's the facts. It's a fact that Hollywood was so afraid to tell the story the way DeMille and Gibson did. George Stevens was even careful not to make Pilate too sympathetic in The Greatest Story Ever Told. I think Passion of the Christ is one of the best movies on the subject. It pulls no punches. Gibson was brave for making that movie and he was only hoping to break even when he made it and even put up how much of his own money to get it made. Gibson's movie was anti-semetic? Yeah, so I guess DeMille's was too? The Romans didn't want Jesus dead. Pilate didn't want Him dead. Pilate tried to let Him go. The last thing he wanted to do was crucify Him. He tried to have Jesus scourged and then set free, but that still wasn't enough for Caiaphas and the others. Pilate let them choose between a murderer and Jesus. Guess who they picked. Don't blame Pilate or the Romans. I'm not a boat rocker. I'm just tired of seeing them lie and blame the whole thing on the Romans.
shareTired of seeing who lie?
The fact you have been careful with your upper case 'H's tells me that you are a Christian; and there's nothing wrong with that. Only didn't the ancient, pagan Roman establishment fear and hate the Christians even more than they did the Jews? And didn't the priests and the others misunderstand Jesus, and instead chose the violent freedom fighter Barrabas (You'd think "The Patriot", "Braveheart" himself would have been proud) over the meek pacifist, Jesus. Now don't get me wrong - no-one on earth today thinks Christ deserved His prosecution at the hands of the Romans, never mind His horrible crucifiction, but it was, nevertheless, at the hands of the Romans. When Barrabas was chosen instead of Jesus, did Pilate mumble expletives to himself and then tell the people:
"No, you can't have him - he's a nasty dangerous terrorist and a threat to Roman rule in Judea. If I were to free Barrabas, the message this would send out would shake the whole empire. Why not Jesus, he's actually a really nice guy and I rather like *him (*Pilate is no Christian)? He's a kind, gentle and peaceful man, and in fact I've made up my mind to free him, because I am the Roman Governor with the full authority of Caesar himself, and I say so."
Pontius Pilate had the power to crucify Jesus or free Him; to crucify Barrabas or free him; or to crucify both or to free both - and he had the most disciplined, professional military machine of the time to back him up. And Pilate KNEW Jesus Christ was innocent. The Roman soldiers who actually nailed Christ to the cross - from whom did they take their orders, eh?
IT WAS THE ROMANS WOT DUNNIT.
"Oh look - a lovely spider! And it's eating a butterfly!"
'' ,,
Yes, I am a Christian. I mean tired of seeing these movies that lied. Back in the day, Jews were absolved of all the blame. Including Caiaphas. Movies have the Romans arresting Jesus and bringing Him to Pilate. But that is not true. According to The Robe, the Romans wanted Jesus dead. B.S. The high priests arrested Him. They brought Him to Caiaphas, questioned Him, and then brought Him to Pilate. Pilate wanted to set Jesus free and tried to. Caiaphas and the others were screaming for Jesus to be crucified. I think Mel Gibson and Cecil B. DeMille got it right in showing how Pilate's hands were tied. Also, if you notice, Caiaphas is the real villain in those movies. Which is how I believe it really was. When Pilate let them choose between Jesus and Barrabas, he was trying to find a way to get Jesus out of there. Pilate wanted no part of it. His wife had even told him not to condemn Jesus. For some reason, they were afraid to show his conversation with his wife in Greatest Story Ever Told. In the end he washed his hands of it and told Caiaphas and the others that it was on them. In the end, it was Caiaphas and the Jews that wanted Jesus dead. They brought Him to the Romans and found in every way to make them crucify Him. Pilate, if you remember, had Jesus scourged. He was going to let Him go after that, but Caiaphas and the Jews still weren't satisfied. They wanted Him dead.
Yes, the Christians were persecuted. They were fed to the lions and all that. Like minorities were, they were used as the scapegoat. Especially when Rome burned. It was the Christians who got the blame. I'm not saying the Romans didn't persecute the Christians. So did the Jews. It was the Jews that stoned Stephen. Saul a Jew, who later became Paul, was one of the biggest persecutors of the Christians before his conversion.
Okay, both of you....
Caiaphas and the other Jewish leaders were Quislings, collaberating with the Romans. They wanted Jesus out of the way, for political reasons. He was upsetting their olive cart. As a Roman, Pilate had already whacked many would-be Messiahs.
Now, recall...the film is supposed to be from the perspective of A ROMAN OFFICER, a chronic alcoholic, given a rotten duty at the last minute. A man so hung over, he misses Jesus' trial entirely, and Pilate chews him out for being late. He did not see Jesus until Golgotha, or learn the details until later, and at that point knows zilch of the facts. The film/film makers are not trying to conceal anything. It is a story from one man's limited and incomplete perspective.
That's fair and balanced, and (probably) accurate.
Only in the UK we have a new word for a Quisling: a "Clegg". Here in Scotland it's also the name for a horse-fly. An annoying little creature - same thing, really.
"Oh look - a lovely spider! And it's eating a butterfly!"
'' ,,
I believe another fairly accurate depiction was in the TV mini-series JESUS OF NAZARETH. I recall being amazed at the surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of Pilate by Rod Steiger. His Pilate was a bureaucrat who was fed up with both The Romans and The Jews, just wanted to get his job done, and then had this trial shoved on him which he felt was not even a Roman matter at all, but a domestic Jewish one. The Jews forced it on him because they didn't want to look guilty of what they were trying to do, kill one of their own, while it would also reinforce the image of The Romans as unbelieving murderers. (Which, they were, but that's not the main point here.) And on top of it all, Pilate complained that even his wife was giving him advice about the trial that morning, as if he didn't have enough headaches.
As I said, I thought it was an amazing performance, on a level with the one he gave as Chief Gillespie in IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT.
By comparison, and I forget who the actor was that did it, in the "sequel" made by the same producer, "A.D.", Pilate was reduced to the stereotype one-dimensional evil bureaucrat as described in every Gospel reading I ever heard in Catholic church on Sunday mornings.
Despite a plethora of historical inaccuracies (see the "errors" section), THE ROBE and its sequel remain 2 of my all-time favorite "Roman Empire" movies. Both films depict struggles of faith, as well as the cruelty of a people who fail to value human life and freedom. As Demetrius put it, "A CURSE ON YOUR EMPIRE!!!!"
[deleted]
In history,Pontius Pilate was censured by the Roman Senate for his general cruelty. I believe it is Flavius Josephus who mentions the procurator's cruelty. Pilate was hardly a saint. In this one case, the washing of his hands is a gesture designed to show that he did not believe that the crucifixion the Temple demanded was justified by Jesus' so-called crime; to him it was not a serious offense; only when the Temple representatives more or less accused the procurator of shielding an enemy of Rome and its emperor did he surrender Jesus to be crucified and let them have their will.
It is helpful to realize that to the representatives of the faith He was born into, Jesus was seen as a heretic and a rabble-rouser. It is also good to remember that Jesus' first followers were Jews. To blame an entire people for the acts of a few is prejudice. Prejudice is an ugly thing. No one who calls him or herself a Christian should be guilty of it.
Even Christ on the cross asked His Father to forgive His persecutors because they didn't know what they were doing.
"..sure you won't change your mind? Why, is there something wrong with the one I have?"
[deleted]
Yes, well if you are a Christian, you need to get over your hatred of God's Chosen People into whose midst he sent Jesus, and among whom were His first followers. As Caspar ten Boom, the father of Corrie ten Boom said when he saw Jews being arrested by the Nazis in WWII Holland, "I feel sorry for the poor Germans; they have touched the apple of God's eye." Caspar ten Boom died in a transit camp in Holland after being arrested for hiding Jewish people in his home One of his daughters perished in Ravensbruck, and Corrie survived to spend her life spreading the message that there is nowhere so horrible that God is not there.
That old patriarch and his family knew more about being a Christian than those who call themselves by that name but have hatred and prejudice in their hearts.
"..sure you won't change your mind? Why, is there something wrong with the one I have?"
They lie with this movie and try to make you think it was all the RomansThe OP is straining at gnats. No one lied .... the writers simply didn't focus on the political/religious complexities that led up to the crucifixion or The Robe would have been a 5 hour movie.
Jesus knew he would be crucified when he entered Jerusalem for the Passover holiday. Had Pilate released him and he was free to preach, imagine how Christianity would have been affected. Yes, Caiphais and the other priests were responsible for his execution as was Pilate and the actual act was done by Romans but the Priests demanded this act and wanted to get rid of this troublemaker. In doing so, Jesus' words got spread throughout the world and everybody was forgiven; the Romans, the Jews, even Judas and the executioners were forgiven. His terrible agonizing death was pre-destined. Marcellus couldn't handle his guilt until he learned that he was forgiven.
shareThere's a whole generation of us who learned all this from "Jesus Christ Superstar." I think you'd approve. It's all in there--Caiaphas and the scheming temple elders, Pilate's misgivings and eventual capitulation, the bitter pre-ordained destiny of Christ.
share