Passion Plays and Oratorios, ‘Christ Killers,’ and the Magic Trick of ‘Deus Ex …

Jesus before Pontius Pilate (Ecce Homo) by Antonio Ciseri–en.wikimedia.org

“Crucify him, crucify him!” shouted the multitude of Jews when Pontius Pilate asked them what he should do with Jesus.

These few harsh words, which appear in the Gospels (Mark 15:12-13; Luke 23:20-23; John 19:14-16; Matthew 27: 22-23), had by the Middle Ages become a mantra in Christian society. Led by that battle cry, untold numbers of Jews throughout history were labeled “Christ Killers” and slaughtered.

Given this horrible history, it’s no surprise that for centuries Easter posed great danger for Jews. Good Friday church services have traditionally included passion plays that reenact the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. Already inflamed by the suffering of Jesus on the Cross depicted in these plays, mobs would storm out of Easter services seeking revenge against the “Christ Killers.” No wonder that from the Middle Ages through the twentieth century European Jews would go into hiding on Good Friday and Holy Week.

But times have changed. At the Second Vatican Council in 1965 the Catholic church absolved Jews for the death of Jesus. In 2011 Pope Benedict XVI forcefully reaffirmed that doctrine, stating that the Jewish people were not responsible for the death of Jesus. But have individual churches and other venues responded to the repudiation of the “Christ Killers” charge?

I wondered when right after Easter

Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bernard-starr/passion-plays-and-oratorios-christ-killers-and-the-deus-ex-machina_b_7097460.html