Review: The 'disunderstanding' of Jesus

|PIC1|What's the collective noun for Jesus' followers? Watching part two of The Passion, it should be a disunderstanding of disciples.

Here is the man they've been following for three years coming out with strange lines such as 'I will be the sacrifice'... It's clear that they don't get it. Jesus even rebukes Peter for not listening, even though he was probably paying more attention than I was.

'I'll be raised up from the dead,' Jesus continues. 'Don't you understand? You'll see death defeated.'

His amazing and challenging comments are neatly echoed by the High Priest, Caiaphas, who tells his retinue (a passive of priests?), 'If I believe one man must be offered up to save the rest then I will.'

He's so shocked and outraged that Jesus was overheard saying that not one stone of the temple will be left standing (among other 'blasphemous' things), that he's ready to do what it takes to save Judea - even if it means killing Christ.

And this is a key thing: we are given a new motive for the High Priests being wary of Jesus. He isn't just after their job, but he could actually ruin Jerusalem, and in doing so, Judea.

Caiaphas is also wary of Jesus' message of love. 'What kind of love,' he asks, 'puts people in danger? If we lose Jerusalem, Judea is finished.'

It comes after an earlier incident where we see Jesus cheerfully tell his crowds, right in the earshot of the temple priests, 'Make no mistake. I'm here to turn the world upside down.' It's not terribly subtle, but if even the disunderstanding of disciples don't understand, what hope do we have for some earwigging priests?

But the person who does the most disunderstanding is Judas. Caiaphas' silver toothed tongue is busy making suggestive noises to him, tempting him in a similar manner to the way in which the serpent gradually wore down Eve's defences.

Like a spurned lover, Caiaphas is desperate to find out what Jesus is up to in Jerusalem over Passover. The episode opens (give or take a few false starts) with him doing just that, courting Judas in the temple courts.

'I'm entrusted by God to protect all the people in Israel,' he tells Judas. 'They can't be troubled during our most important sacrifice.' Judas, aka the disciples' Cinderella figure, is slowed turned into double agent, little knowing what awaits.

Later on, Caiaphas tells his passive of priests that if the only way to deal with Jesus is to hand him over to the Romans, then so be it. They're shocked - and so should we be, as we've already seen how Pilate's trials work. A production line of verdicts - flogging, crucifixion - from a bored, disinterested man means that justice is brutal, swift and harsh.

Is it any wonder that Jesus' disunderstanding of disciples don't understand why Jesus is prepared to sacrifice himself for us?

The second part, a shorter half-hour, zipped along nicely. Some things still jar and sometimes the direction seems a little flat, reminding you that you're watching a dramatisation rather than reality.

It's also sometimes a little hard to work out who's who when everyone is in, for us, fancy dress. And sometimes, I just don't get Jesus: he can come across as a little too smug and self-satisfied, rather than the wise leader he perhaps should be.
But I'm interested enough not to be disinterested in the next part... Good Friday, 8.30 pm, BBC1.

A multi-part TV telling of Jesus' life like The Passion comes along once in a generation. Bible Society is helping churches make the most of this opportunity by producing a DVD of the series with extensive resources for schools and churches. Go to www.biblesociety.org.uk/thepassion to find out more and get regular updates on its progress.

Phil Creighton is TV critic of The Baptist Times and author of How To Be Heard In A Noisy World - Church Publicity Made Easy. This review was written on behalf of Bible Society