"Risen"
Beyond Expectations!
RISEN
is the natural progression of the narrative of the Resurrection and
the harsh reality of life in post-Crucifixion Jerusalem. For
followers-of-the-way (Jesus' followers) there was fear, and hiding,
but for the religious-corrupt there was genuine panic. When the
entire city knew that the body of Christ had disappeared, both
persecuting parties, the Romans and the Religious rabble, had “skin
in the game” to cover up their crimes. After all, the Pharisees
and Sanhedrin had conducted six illegal trials, in less than 24 hours
against the Judge of the Universe!
To this day, non-believers, academics, and other like-minded people, have spread the same fallacies about the death and resurrection of the Risen Christ, that the same authorities of Jerusalem, and their Roman partners-in-crime did in 33 AD! As Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun. The Resurrection was fact.
Roman
records were as diligent as those that the Nazis used (to their own
detriment) at the Nuremberg trials. Roman records were used by
historian Dugard and Bill O’Reilly, in his book “Killing Jesus”,
which was the biggest of his oddly-titled bestsellers.
As one immersed in Biblical worldviews and apologetics as well as evangelism, the most stunning part of the entire RISEN movie, was the brief conversation the former Centurion Clavius (Ralph Fiennes) has with Jesus, just before the Ascension. While this actual event is not recorded in Scripture, it is the gist-of-the-matter for those who are seeking more than just a head knowledge of God through Christ.
Jesus in RISEN is basically asking Clavius, what is it that he's really really afraid of, and searching for . . . “is it peace”? This is the eternal quest of mankind – how to find that peace. In the final analysis, the peace that surpasses all understanding can only be found in Christ, and through Christ Jesus.
Clavius (Fiennes’s character) goes through the same doubts which many have, attempting to reason their faith in Jesus. This is the most poignant moment of the film, when used as a tool for Evangelism.
Clavius
also mentioned he was afraid of being wrong. This was an extremely
serious thing: to make the wrong decision about Christ had absolute,
deadly consequences!
The
powerful acting, authentic locations and Jewish-looking disciples
brings the viewer into the entire experience, thereby helping deliver this eternal message to spiritual seekers everywhere. Plus
the screenplay and production were extremely well executed. And finally,
the Ascension scene itself was dynamic!
To read the rest of Bernie's dynamic Resurrection-based-movie review and commentary of “Risen”, along with video clips, get on over to his blog-of-faith, “The Write Stuff”.
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