Editor's note: The Tidings is offering an at home retreat through Lent using Franco Zeffirelli's miniseries, "Jesus of Nazareth." This is the eighth segment.

In this session we are drawn into the longest, but also most intense and moving part of the entire series: the trial, crucifixion and death of Jesus of Nazareth. It is not the graphic violence of his sufferings which will move us deeply, as much as sharing the shock and grief of those closest to Jesus.

We begin with the trial of Jesus, which begins as an inquiry, "We want you to explain the nature of your teaching," but after hearing conflicting testimonies from both friends and enemies of Jesus, the High Priest Caiaphas stops all debate with the key question, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?"

The answer of Jesus --- directly from John's Gospel, upon which most of this part of the story is based --- shocks even Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. The "inquiry" becomes a trial, and Jesus is condemned, and led by Zerah to the Roman Procurator, "in whose hands lies the final authority for trial and judgment."

Two kingdoms clash when Pilate meets Jesus, and asks, "Is this the man you think so dangerous?" Remember that phrase; it will come up again to haunt Pilate. Pilate asks the perennial question of Jesus, "Who…what are you?"

The flogging of Jesus is graphic, and the picture of Jesus when he returns to Pilate, robed in scarlet and crowned with thorns, becomes the cover piece of the film itself, and almost a painting. The dialog with Pilate is right out of John's Gospel, and leads Pilate to make the symbolic statement, "Let the people decide." The choice is between Jesus and Barrabas, for a Passover release.

Note how Zeffirelli scripts the scene differently from the Gospels: It is those loyal to Barrabas, not the Jewish priests, who stir up the crowd to choose Barrabas, as they say --- ironically --- "Don't betray him!" The eyes of Jesus, looking over that condemning crowd, show who has been betrayed.

The "Way of the Cross" and the Crucifixion follow the Gospel accounts, but it is hard not to be deeply moved by the touching scenes, especially of the soul-wrenching grief of Mary. The pain of Jesus in all these stages of suffering, from scourging, crowning with thorns, carrying the cross, nailing and crucifixion is real and intense --- but note the expression on his face when he says, "It is accomplished." Nicodemus quotes Isaiah; it is a testimony of later Christian theologizing about Jesus' sufferings.

Some of the scenes, you will notice, look like paintings from ancient masterpieces. Others are so very human, even agonizing to watch, and deeply moving.

This session ends with Zeffirelli's "Pieta," strikingly similar to Michelangelo's.

In his book Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus about the making of this film, Zeffirelli states that the one single event which finally convinced him to make this epic film was the statement of Paul VI in Nostra Aetate in 1965, about the Jews and the death of Christ. He quotes the declaration in his book: "True, the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ; yet, what happened in his Passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today…."

Zeffirelli writes, "The clarity of it had impressed me with an inner feeling that some day I might be guided by its strength and perhaps even present a vital, new approach in a film on the story of Jesus and his relationship with his people" (p. 6). This is evident in his handling of the trial of Jesus.

Next week: Our final segment, the Resurrection of Jesus.

(On video, begin where we ended last week, with the trial before the Sanhedrin, through to the death of Jesus (there is no fade out). On DVD, view Chapters 77-86. Almost 50 minutes viewing.)

Discussion Questions

---How does Judas come through to you in this film: what is he like?

---What is the reason the Sanhedrin condemns Jesus? What is the reason Pilate condemns him to death? How does Zeffirelli handle these scenes differently than the Gospel of John?

---How could Pilate's statement, "Let the people decide," be considered symbolic?

---Who stirs up the crowd for Barrabas? Does this differ from the Gospels? What is the crowd like throughout these scenes?

---How do Jesus' feelings and appearance change in these scenes?

---There is a character in the film who is not at all in the Gospel stories --- the Jewish scribe named "Zerah." We see him more and more in these scenes this week, and at the end of the film. Whom does he represent? What is he saying to us in this film?