|
mahlerisgod,
1. Ripping your clothes is a sign of mourning. They priests were demonstrating how obscene and tragic they believed the comments by Jesus were. Nothing is really very sacred anymore in our culture, so i don't know if there would be a modern equivalent.
2. I'm not positive about this one, but I've heard that it was about preserving dignity. You just dont' leave your bodily fluids lying around like that. Anyone have concrete references on this one?
KellyC,
1. I think he was added to provide a spiritual context for the events. Christians believe that Jesus' conquered sin and death on the cross, that may not come across without the addition of an obviously supernatural character. Just my own observation.
2. Many think that Jesus' words were a reference to Psalm 22, a text he would have been familiar with. Pure speculation: perhaps it was at this moment that he took on the world's sins and suddenly felt the distance that sin creates between man and God. He would have never felt the consequences of sin before this.
3. Ask Mel for sure. I think it is to illustrate Christ's suffering and allow modern-day people to be able to empathize with the context of the crucifixion. This is different from other Jesus movies because...
A. it only focuses on his death and resurrection.
B. It pulls few punches in its portrayal of violence.
C. The text is pulled directly from biblical sources and is delivered in its native tongue.
__________________
If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.
~ Winston Churchill
|