Betrayed but Not Forgotten!

We're well over half way through The Bible series on the History channel and time is slowing down a bit.  They now have three hours (two this week and one next week) to work with Jesus Christ and this episode was by far my favorite so far.  The writers and producers of this series have definitely been hinting at and pointing to the arrival of Jesus Christ for quite some time now and he is finally here!  I really enjoyed this episode and honestly can't wait until next week.

Things they missed:

1. Story line: Ask someone to follow along with the episodes with the one of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) in their lap and he or she might get confused trying to follow along.  There were a myriad of things out of place with the actual timeline of Jesus' ministry like the death and resurrection of Lazarus as well as Jesus' meeting with Nicodemus just to name a few.  It would do one well to read through the gospels again to remind oneself of what really happened and in what order.  Jesus didn't share the parable of the Tax Collector to Matthew when he called him (though Matthew was likely present) and events such as the Sermon on the Mount and the feeding of the 5,000 were not that close together in time. Nicodemus is another man that receives a lot play in this series, but he really is only in John 3 and in the end of John when he and Joseph buy the burial plot for Jesus together.



2. Cast: Only a few issues with this.  The first is a very small one and that was of giving Mary Magdalene a lead role.  While Mary was a close follower to Jesus, and perhaps she occasionally (or more than occasionally) traveled with the disciples it is probably not true that she was with them all the time and some of the lines they attributed to her (such as during the feeding of the 5,000) weren't spoken by her.  They are developing a character with whom the audience has a connection with once we get to the empty tomb, while it's not biblically accurate the importance of knowing her more deeply is paramount to cinematic success.  Barabbas was another character that received more publicity than he gets within scripture.  He was most likely the leader of an insurrection but he was definitely imprisoned before Jesus rode into Jerusalem, in fact, it is probably unlikely that Jesus and Barabbas had much of a history.

3. Jesus chastises Peter: Whenever a film includes the conversation of Jesus with disciples about "who he is" I always look for the chastisement of Peter.  While they handled this scene fairly well, it was probably my least favorite scene of the night.  This story is recounted in Matthew, Mark and Luke.  While the writers used the Mark and Luke accounts that don't include Peter's chastisement it's important to note that these three accounts are recounting the same situation and Matthew finds it important to include the fact that Peter was right and that Jesus says he will build his church on Peter's shoulders but in the next instant Peter is forgetting his place and rebuking the son of God.  Jesus quickly responds "Get behind me Satan," and tells Peter that he only has human reasoning in his mind, not the things of God.  It's important to add this part, I think, because this is also where Jesus tells his disciples to pick up their crosses and follow him.

4. Context, Context, Context: While the actor that portrayed Jesus did quote many lines Jesus said almost word for word it was often in misplaced circumstances to aid the development of the films dynamic plot.  There are plenty of examples of this (Jesus with Lazarus, Matthew, the Pharisees, Judas going TO the pharisees instead of it being the other way around).  I also thought the absence of Jesus washing the disciples' feet was a huge miss on the part of the film makers.  While the scene of the last supper was done very well this could have only added to that emotional depiction.

Five Favorite Things:

1. Jesus Walking on the Water: This scene was chilling and done very well.  I thought it was interesting that they made it look like the other disciples didn't know what Peter was doing and that Peter even stepped out of the boat as they beseeched him not to.  Couple that with Peter waking up on land after almost drowning and it was one of the best depictions of that scene I've ever watched.

2. Prayer in the Garden: I thought this was handled very well and splitting this scene into three scenes that showed Caiaphas and the other Jews praying as well as Pilate's wife was especially effective.  It's important for  us to remember that Caiaphas and the others were trying to preserve their way of life and though exile was 500+ years in the past it still reigned fresh in the  minds of many Jews.  Especially teachers of the law.  They wanted to do whatever they could to keep this from happening again.  So much so that they missed their Messiah when he came to save them.  It is also a good reminder of how prayer works.  Since we know the ending of the story we understand that Jesus' prayer was most effective but if you look at it without knowing the end we might think that the Pharisees and Pilate got what they wanted from God and Jesus didn't.  Another reminder that prayer does not work like a fast food establishment.

3. Cast the first Stone: I loved the scene where they brought the woman caught in adultery to Jesus and he said the famous line "let the man who is without sin cast the first stone."  Now the context of this scene was off base... it actually happens in the temple courtyard, not on the side of a mountain (read here) but the way they depicted it was fantastic.  Jesus, the only one without sin had a stone in his hand and could have ended the woman's life right there if he chose.  But he didn't, he put the onus for her death on those who would think of themselves as sinless.  A very powerful scene indeed.

4. Jesus Reading in the Synagogue: I really loved this scene.  How amazing would it be to hear Jesus read about himself in Isaiah 61 and declare the scripture fulfilled!  The outrage was palpable and Jesus realizing it to be the beginning of the end was obvious as well.  I really liked the part where Jesus looked his mother in the eyes and told her "it's beginning."  Her countenance drops as he says this as though she knows exactly what he was talking about.  That it wouldn't be long until he was gone.  I had never thought of the fact that Jesus might have filled his mother in on some of the things that would happen to him... interesting thought indeed.

5. The Last Supper/The Garden: This was one of the most emotional scenes in the entire series for me.  It was done really well and seeing the emotion on both Jesus' and the disciples' faces was revealing.  I think often we regard this part of the narrative with a bit of callousness.  We've heard it many times, we recite it each year.  But this was a superbly emotional time in the lives of not only Jesus but also all of the disciples.  One of their own would betray them for money, Jesus would leave, and they would pursued by the powers that be.  I thought this whole sequence was drawn out quite well and I even got teary eyed as I watched the arrest unfold.  I found myself hope, pleading, that this thing would not happen even though I knew it would.  It was a superb job of drawing the audience in.

Final Thoughts:

I can't believe the series is almost over.  We have come so far in such a little time and, at least for me, each episode flies by.  It doesn't feel like 2 hours at all!  I've enjoyed this, and I cannot wait to see that Jesus is alive!  Stay tuned, it only gets better from here.

- Pastor Josh