quote:

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http://www.svots.edu/Faculty/Peter-Bouteneff/articles/mel-gibson.html

. . ."the violence depicted in the film was nothing more than what would have come to any 1st-century reader's mind on encountering the simple scriptural words "scourged" and "crucified." I'm not convinced by these justifications. Yet the violence of the scourging, and the endless road to Golgotha, conveyed something very specific to me, and did so in a way for which I am grateful. It spoke to me of Jesus' total clarity of vision concerning himself and his mission. By the time of his trial and passion, he knew without a single doubt that he was the messiah, and that the messiah needed to die voluntarily in order to despoil death once for all. Neither the scourging, nor the weight of the cross, nor the sadistic hatred on the part of those whom he loves, none of this will slow him on his way. And because he loves, and so fully understands what is happening and what must happen, there is not a trace of bitterness for his persecutors.

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