There is a new movie in theatres about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus which is told from the point of view of a Roman tribune who is battle-hardened, cynical, and skeptical. The movie – “Risen” – is receiving revues ranging from one-and-a-half to five stars. After reading as many reviews of the movie as I could find, it might be possible that one reason for such a wide range of ratings is due more to varying levels of skepticism or objectivity of the reviewers views concerning Christianity than the of actual plot of the movie.
The first half of the story falls into the category of a first-century crime investigation with Pilate charging the Roman tribune (through whose eyes the story is told) with find the missing body when the tomb is found to be empty on the first day of the week. Understandably, neither Pilate nor the Jewish leadership want a story of a risen messiah to reach the populace of Jerusalem and beyond – so, time is of the essence. Clavius (the tribune) does eventually find Jesus, but he finds Him alive. The second half of the movie therefore shifts into whether or not Clavius is going to embrace the facts he discovers and become a disciple himself or not.
From such a brief summary as what is written above, it should be clear that this is not a movie in the same category as “The Passion of the Christ” which endeavored to be true to the Biblical account of the crucifixion and resurrection. “Risen” is more like Lew Wallace’s “Ben Hur,” both of which are dealing with a story that intersects the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, but which are not based upon actual characters.
From what I have read, the second half of the film is more philosophical rather than action packed as Clavius must decide whether to tag along with the disciples in those weeks between the resurrection of Jesus and His ascension into heaven or return to the skeptical Roman cynic he had been. Not knowing the dialogue of the movie and not having yet seen it (though I plan to), I have not found reviews which mentioned what action (if anything) the movie suggests someone should take to truly become a follower of Christ. If the movie ends before the setting of Acts 2 (before Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost), which would be my guess, then Kevin Reynolds (who co-wrote and directed the film) could end the film without any reference to what people were / are required to do to obey the Gospel. That being said, movies such as this can be used in advantageous ways to open dialogues with people who have varying degrees of interest in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. In addition to sharing this movie with your family, think of friends you have who have not been immersed into Christ and therefore have not been obedient to the Gospel of Christ. The content of the movie may just open up lots of discussions about God’s Word as we strive to reach those who are lost and outside of God’s family.