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Anti-Semitism  

The Movie The Passion of The Christ.  has brought charges of Anti-Semitism against the producer. Is this true? Is the move "The Passion of the Christ" and Mel Gibson Anti-Semitic? Anti-Semitism is a cultural bias against, or hatred of the Jews. Here in the US, it is not nearly a prevalent, nor as extreme as in other places in the world. But let's look at the crucifixion and see if it is Anti-Semitic.

To understand the crucifixion, we must first look at the why of the cross. Mankind turned his back on God in the Garden of Eden. This is told in the very beginning of the Bible. The remainder of the Bible unfolds the plan of restoration. Part of this plan involves giving the Law to the Jews. It is through the Law that the Jews find which behaviors are acceptable, and which are condemned. In order for the plan of restoration to be realized, transgressions (sins) against God required a blood sacrifice. The problem is, that the blood needed to be the transgressor (sinner). It would be impossible to accomplish this without the death of the transgressor, and then the atonement would be of little value. So the Jews used substitutionary sacrifices. They would sacrifice the best, and most expensive animals they had as an atonement. But more was needed.

As part of the restoration plan, God knew that in order to save mankind, He would have to provide the sacrifice. And the only person who would fully meet the criteria would be someone who was completely sinless. There was only one person who could fill that role, God Himself. 

The Jews had been ruled by priests, kings, and even foreign kings. Through their prophets they knew a final king was coming. The Messiah! The king they envisioned would be like king David. He would be a powerful ruler, and a brilliant military leader. They were not looking for a Messiah that would be the sacrificial lamb, that would atone for the sins of mankind.