Mel Gibson warned Jim Caviezel that if he took the role of Jesus it could ruin his career. NEWMARKET FILMS. He said Gibson almost swallowed the cigarette he was smoking, and he choked out, “Yeah.” ...

Each Easter we see many images of Jesus on the cross – inevitably wearing a loincloth. But the historical evidence shows victims of crucifixion were fully naked to maximise shame as well as pain.

On Good Friday, Jesus was disappeared to silence his message (RNS) — The solidarity that Jesus offered the vulnerable on the cross long ago calls Christians to stand up to oppression today.

I propose that a particularly relevant image for our time is the helplessness of Jesus on the cross. The cross was not simply torture, humiliation and shame; it was also total and abject helplessness.

Jesus was believed to be nailed to the cross on Friday, April 3, 33 AD. It has long been said that on that day, the Moon turned red and darkness fell upon the site of the crucifixion.

Yet all at once, Jesus cries out and breathes his last. The ground steadies, the sun shines back through the clouds, and everything returns to the way it was before.