The Killing: Meditations on the Death of Christ

It is my opinion that a study of the Bible is not complete until you have watched Franco Zeffirelli's "Jesus of Nazareth" (1977). the reason is that when we read the Bible (especially with hindsight of who is considered good or bad) it is easy to see less than the whole picture. The mood for this book "The Killing" is set by a line from Peter in "Jesus of Nazareth." After the crucifixion, the apostles are hiding from the religious authorities. Peter says: "We accused Judas of being a traitor, but the truth is we all betrayed him. At least our brothers in the San Hedrin who crucified him din't know him. The Romans, they did not know him." As Christians today, it is easy to place these events in the past. Well Richard Holloway says otherwise. In the 1st half of the book, he explains that Peter, Judas, Pilate, and Caiaphas were 3d human beings. Amongst other things, Peter is often knocked for denying Christ 3 times. Well, anyone in his position would have been frightened. Judas is knocked for betraying Christ. While no unanimous opinion as to why prevails, Holloway suspects it may be that Judas was expecting Jesus as predicted in the OT) to put an end to the Roman occupation of Israel. Why not? Not only was it predicted in the OT, but the OT is full of stories of God freeing the Jews from their enemies. By betraying Jesus, Judas mayhave felt he was forcing God's hand to act. Caiaphas is often despised as the man who handed Jesus over to the Romans. Well, if we wish to understand, Jesus called himself the son of God, and as the high priest, Caiaphas had to react to that. Pilate is often disliked for consenting to the crucifixion. Well, Pilate did not want to do this. he tried to save Jesus, but it was Pilate's duty to keep a certain order, and he feared uprising and riots if he did not consent to the demand of the multitude. Holloway's next step is to explain to some extent we ALL have some traits of the people we often see as villains in the Gospels. (To be sure, most of us find it in our heart to forgive Peter, but he is often more popular for denying Christ than any of his good deeds.) We are all frightened to say the truth sometimes; we all try to manipulate people for our own purposes; we all make decisions under pressure that are not so benevolent; we all make wrong decisions to keep peace sometimes. Even the Romans who nailed Jesus to the cross were hired men. How often have we heard ourselves say: "I was just doing my job?" later, Holloway gives some time to the different things Jesus said as he was dying on the cross. While this is a short book (75 pages), it is really profound. not only does it explain that the characters in the Bible were 3d human beings, but it also explains that we are ALL often guilty of the things we condemn them for. If you can not find this book, I would suggest you watch "Jesus of Nazareth" (1977). this movie shows that characters we tend to label as good or bad, were in fact 3d human beings.