Jesus: Countdown to Calvary

In Jesus’s time, Jerusalem was a remote outpost of the Roman Empire. With troops stretched so thin, the Romans—who valued stability above all else—had to rule by collaboration; in this case, with a Jewish figurehead leader and Jewish high priests. Passover was a time of festivities, but also of tension, and it was into this mixed atmosphere that Jesus, in the last week of his life, came to Jerusalem with his disciples. Hugh Bonneville hosts this PBS-aired documentary by filmmaker Gerry Hoban on the fateful week between Palm Sunday, when Jesus entered the city as a hero, and Friday, the day of the Crucifixion. The Roman governor Pontius Pilate, who usually resided at a coastal garrison, traveled to Jerusalem to make sure order was maintained. Rome viewed any talk of the kingdom of Heaven or a Messiah as an attack on Rome. At the same time, the high priests resented Jesus’s assertion that Jewish temple moneychangers were cheating in the house of God. Jesus and his radical talk constituted a threat that needed to be dealt with in a way that did not inflame the population. The documentary considers the controversial role of the disciple Judas Iscariot. Was he a greedy betrayer, or simply carrying out Jesus’s plan and divine mission (much attention is given here to the phrase "handing over" of Jesus, which was done under the cover of darkness outside the city)? Was Pilate a reluctant, weak judge, or a cruel, vindictive, and spiteful leader? As Bonneville notes, the lasting legacy of Calvary is the vicious accusation that Jews were "Christ killers," which led to centuries of anti-Semitic persecutions. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)