“You really were the Savior? And I had you killed!” Imagine Pontius Pilate at the moment of his
death. And all the soldiers that delighted in scourging and crucifying Jesus. The
Jewish Sanhedrin who refused to consider that the Messiah was in their midst, must
have been horrified when death revealed the truth. Imagine the looks on their faces.
death. And all the soldiers that delighted in scourging and crucifying Jesus. The
Jewish Sanhedrin who refused to consider that the Messiah was in their midst, must
have been horrified when death revealed the truth. Imagine the looks on their faces.
During
movies on Christ’s Passion, I’ve always considered how shocked the persecutors
must have been when they came face to face with God. It’s not unlike a thought I have when a famous
atheist, or anti-Catholic, or abortion rights extremist dies. I pray for them, but I also think: “Well, now they know.”
movies on Christ’s Passion, I’ve always considered how shocked the persecutors
must have been when they came face to face with God. It’s not unlike a thought I have when a famous
atheist, or anti-Catholic, or abortion rights extremist dies. I pray for them, but I also think: “Well, now they know.”
Risen
While
watching the movie Risen this past
weekend, there was the satisfaction of seeing that look on the main character’s
face, but there was still time left to change his life. It is the same kind of moment when St. Paul
was struck on the way to Damascus and Jesus asked: Saul, Saul, Why do you persecute me?” It is a
turning point and a surprise that anyone denying Jesus has when truth strikes
like a thunderbolt.
watching the movie Risen this past
weekend, there was the satisfaction of seeing that look on the main character’s
face, but there was still time left to change his life. It is the same kind of moment when St. Paul
was struck on the way to Damascus and Jesus asked: Saul, Saul, Why do you persecute me?” It is a
turning point and a surprise that anyone denying Jesus has when truth strikes
like a thunderbolt.
The movie Risen, takes place in 33 AD, in the days after the
crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The story follows a powerful Roman
soldier named Clavius. Pontius Pilate
ordered him to solve the mystery of the missing Messiah. Clavius had participated
in the crucifixion of Jesus and the removal of his body from the cross. He begins his investigation certain that the
Jews have stolen the body.
crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The story follows a powerful Roman
soldier named Clavius. Pontius Pilate
ordered him to solve the mystery of the missing Messiah. Clavius had participated
in the crucifixion of Jesus and the removal of his body from the cross. He begins his investigation certain that the
Jews have stolen the body.
It’s a down-to-earth drama
where people appear real, not just religious.
A spiritual awakening begins to grow, very reluctantly, within Clavius. It
is an inconvenient truth, since no respectable Roman soldier could keep his
paycheck at that time and claim Jesus had resurrected. What became of him, the movie doesn’t say,
but we know that he was changed forever having encountered the risen Lord.
where people appear real, not just religious.
A spiritual awakening begins to grow, very reluctantly, within Clavius. It
is an inconvenient truth, since no respectable Roman soldier could keep his
paycheck at that time and claim Jesus had resurrected. What became of him, the movie doesn’t say,
but we know that he was changed forever having encountered the risen Lord.
We see in Clavius that walls
of certitude, even if based on lies, don’t topple easily. Yet, we also see through his character, that
someone honestly seeking the truth will be open and find it. Because he was forced to seek answers, Clavius’
investigation, presents us all with the basic apologetic arguments for the
Resurrection, such as the changed lives of the disciples, the empty tomb, and
the inability to develop a reasonable alternative that accounts for the facts. Yet, just as in the movie, not everyone is
swayed by the obvious.
of certitude, even if based on lies, don’t topple easily. Yet, we also see through his character, that
someone honestly seeking the truth will be open and find it. Because he was forced to seek answers, Clavius’
investigation, presents us all with the basic apologetic arguments for the
Resurrection, such as the changed lives of the disciples, the empty tomb, and
the inability to develop a reasonable alternative that accounts for the facts. Yet, just as in the movie, not everyone is
swayed by the obvious.
St.
Longinus
Longinus
Clavius is a fictional character, so some might ask: Why consider this movie any more than the fiction
that it is? Did such a search and moment
of conversion ever really happen to a Roman soldier?
that it is? Did such a search and moment
of conversion ever really happen to a Roman soldier?
Consider St. Longinus, the Roman soldier who dieda martyr. At the crucifixion, it was the
soldiers under his command that stood watch.
Longinus and his soldiers were eyewitnesses to the death of our Lord and
watched the darkness and earthquake that coincided with it. Longinus announced at that moment: “Truly this was the Son of God” (Mt. 27:54).
According to tradition, Longinus was the soldier who
pierced the side of Jesus with a spear, and received healing from an eye
condition when blood and water poured forth from the wound. After the burial of
Jesus, Longinus and his soldiers stood watch so they were present at the resurrection. When the Jews bribed them to say the
disciples had stolen the Body of Christ, Longinus and two of his comrades
refused to lie. Instead, they were
baptized and left military service. St Longinus and his 2 comrades went to
preach the Gospel in his native land of Cappadocia. Christianity began to spread in the area.
Eventually, all three of them were beheaded.
pierced the side of Jesus with a spear, and received healing from an eye
condition when blood and water poured forth from the wound. After the burial of
Jesus, Longinus and his soldiers stood watch so they were present at the resurrection. When the Jews bribed them to say the
disciples had stolen the Body of Christ, Longinus and two of his comrades
refused to lie. Instead, they were
baptized and left military service. St Longinus and his 2 comrades went to
preach the Gospel in his native land of Cappadocia. Christianity began to spread in the area.
Eventually, all three of them were beheaded.
The movie Risen is not the story of St. Longinus but
it is a story that must have occurred in different ways among people alive
during that time. Surely seeing Jesus alive again after his death on the cross,
stirred many to belief.
it is a story that must have occurred in different ways among people alive
during that time. Surely seeing Jesus alive again after his death on the cross,
stirred many to belief.
All conversions are all part of this same story. People seek answers and sometimes, despite
resistance to the truth, they find it in the person of Jesus Christ. And once
they truly find him, they can never go back to the way it was before.
resistance to the truth, they find it in the person of Jesus Christ. And once
they truly find him, they can never go back to the way it was before.
Risen is available on Blu-ray and DVD on May 24. Preorders accepted.
