jt: I found it difficult to believe the Roman soldiers could
have acted in the way they were portrayed which was totally chaotic and out
of order, drinking on the job, laughing, and whipping him all the way up this
steep hill to Golgotha with him bloody, staggering, and constantly falling; it
was plainly sadistic
=======================================================
Hey Judy:
Sorry you could not take all the violence. As for myself. I watched it
all, as horrible as it was, all the time thinking, "This is what I
deserved! Jesus took my punishment for me. He loved me that
much!"
jt: I didn't have those kinds of thoughts because I didn't find what I
was viewing all that believable and I deal with my own issues daily.
tc: As for the soldiers; according to history, they were every bit as bad
as they were portrayed, probably worse. Nero himself had Christians tied
to a stake, covered with pitch, and burned alive. With leadership like that,
why would the soldiers be different?
jt: Nero was after Tiberius. I know they were all pagan and acted like it
but there were some Roman Centurians who believed, one even came a long
distance to implore Jesus to heal his son; I figure where there's smoke
there's fire, so there were probably more... and Pilate was concerned for his
reputation because of Jews in high places in Rome. He had already been
reprimanded a couple of times. Crucifixion in and of itself is cruel enough. I
know Jesus was scourged, I'm just not convinced it was the way Gibson
portrayed it which was non-stop all the way through the 2+ hour movie.
tc: As for drinking on the job, where the KJV says they put vinegar on a
sponge, the original word used was "Oxos". It did not mean vinegar, it
meant cheap wine, the kind the soldiers could afford, about as close to
vinegar as you can get and still call it wine. They were drinking on the
job, or it would not have been available at the cross.
jt: Scripture says he was offered a drink three times and it was wine
mixed with myrrh.
tc: A former pastor of mine, Steve Brown, said often, that "without the
leading of the Holy Spirit, any human is capable of committing the most
terrible crimes ever committed, given the right circumstances." I
believe that. I worked in a prison for the criminally insane for years
when I was younger. I know that there are people who enjoy inflicting
pain. Some of them actually have an orgasm while torturing the
innocent. That is the type of person who would have enjoyed beating
Christ. They loved their job.
jt: I don't doubt that; the criminally insane are undoubtedly
demonized. I'm just not sure Pontius Pilate was in charge of 500 to
1,000 sadists when he was sent to be the Prefect over Judea.
tc: Jesus paid a far more terrible price than we imagine when we simply
read the account.
jt: I have always through the travail of his soul would have been much
worse for him than the physical - the penalty for every curse there ever was
layed on him.
Thanks for sharing Terry,
Grace and Peace,
Judy
