My Thoughts on the Movie ‘Risen’

March 2, 2016 | ziononth | 6 Comments | Pastor's Blog

On Sunday afternoon, we took our youth to see the new movie Risen at ye olde local Cinemark, and I must say, I really enjoyed the movie. It was not ye olde movie about the Resurrection. That was refreshing, because it gives an insight I believe we, as Christians, often take for granted. It very much moves like a mystery, not an action movie or graphics extravaganza like The Passion of the Christ. With every Christian movie, I hope that the people acting actually believe in the cause, not just looking for a paycheck. I wonder about those in Risen.

The main character is a Roman tribune named Clavius. He is a trusted soldier for Pontius Pilate, doing his dirty work to keep order in Judea. Pilate dispatches him to find out what happened to the body of Jesus after the Resurrection. Clavius is paired with a new, young aide named Lucius to do their due diligence quickly, as Pilate expects this to be taken care of before the Emperor visits in a few days. Clavius has seen Jesus, though briefly; before the Resurrection, Pilate had tasked Clavius with disposing of the body of this Nazarene. He had caused quite a stir in the people, almost resulting in a riot at the palace, and Pilate wanted Jesus’ death to be the end of the mess and for all of this to go away quietly. So, when Clavius arrives at the site of the Crucifixion, Jesus is already dead and the other soldiers are trying to speed up the process for the two criminals flanking Him. He hands the body off to Joseph of Arimathea and helps seal the tomb, only to find out that Easter Sunday was not going to be a day off.

What follows is what you would expect from a detective: examining the crime scene (the tomb), setting up informants, tracking down and interviewing witnesses, good cop/bad cop interrogations, digging through clues (other dead bodies to see if they might be Jesus or one of the other criminals He was crucified with), all mixed with the intrigue of what is he going to find?

So, how does it end? I highly recommend you go and see for yourself. I finally found a movie with a scene of the Ascension that I can buy into. There are some truly suspenseful parts which get you wondering as to how things will go for Clavius. We know the disciples’ parts, but with Clavius, you’re never fully sure how it will work out for him. I thought the movie was well-acted, and they did a good job of making creative allusions to parts of the story that would have garnered an R-rating if they had been fully brought to the screen. I thought the story was well-written from a perspective we don’t normally see, intentional to draw in the skeptics first and then endear those who know the story well. There were scenes that I thought were dramatized very well, adding to the humanity of Christ and helping those who are not familiar with the topography of Israel to be brought into the Gospel accounts. Just like The Passion of the Christ, there are scenes that, once you see them, I think you will always remember them.

I must admit, there is some artistic license, and the main issue it comes down to is if the word disciple is defined as the eleven (sans Judas) or the larger group of followers of Jesus. Who exactly saw Jesus after the Resurrection? Beyond that, it is very Biblical or not contradictory to the Resurrection account. In the way that Clavius conducts his business, I saw nothing that would contest the integrity of Scripture.

Well done. Take friends, especially those who  might be skeptical about the Bible. The dialogue helps put a welcome perspective on what we often miss because of our familiarity with the story. I would caution against taking children to see it, and that is mostly because of the scenes surrounding the Crucifixion. We don’t normally see that part of the story, and those are some of the visuals I think that you will always remember.

This is a good season for Christian movies. I look forward to the next month. Take people to see Risen, and then invite them to church to see why we celebrate like the disciples who had seen the resurrected Jesus. Amen.