Lord, have mercy.
I can appreciate the energy and time and sense of devotion that was invested in this movie. Having said that, this borders on blaspheming the divinity of Christ. It is true that Christ was fully human, but he was also fully divine. This movie loses all sense of his divinity. Perhaps even more troubling, its sense of his humanity has much more to do with a feel good Californian in the later 20th century (refer to Dogma's "Buddy Jesus") than it has anything to do with a first century Middle-Easterner.
I mean, did the director of this "film" consult any actual scholars when creating this debacle?! Clearly, they allowed their conception of what "love" and "compassion" mean to make Jesus in their own image. From Jesus screaming in hysteria at the Pharisees to sobbing like a baby over Jerusalem; from his "game-plan" style prophesying to his oh-so-unauthoritative "not-so" Great Commission; from his disciples looking like they are bored out of their minds to his "come on guys follow me" gestures---this movie renders ridiculous the incarnate Logos.
Someone once said that Ed Wood's "Plan 9 from Outer Space" was a hymn to all those who tried to create something memorable and failed miserably every step of the way. While not taking anything away from the infamy of Ed, all those involved in the production of this movie do likewise.
This movie is symptomatic of some very serious problems in the way American Christianity views the Christ. Understandably, people latch on to the fact that the Gospel writers refer to him as Jesus more often than with any other title. However, the disciples throughout the Gospels, as well as the writers of Acts and all of the epistles almost universally use such titles as Lord, Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, and Master. John falls down before him in revelation as a dead man. No one could possibly do the same before Bruce Marchiano's portrayal.
I can appreciate the energy and time and sense of devotion that was invested in this movie. Having said that, this borders on blaspheming the divinity of Christ. It is true that Christ was fully human, but he was also fully divine. This movie loses all sense of his divinity. Perhaps even more troubling, its sense of his humanity has much more to do with a feel good Californian in the later 20th century (refer to Dogma's "Buddy Jesus") than it has anything to do with a first century Middle-Easterner.
I mean, did the director of this "film" consult any actual scholars when creating this debacle?! Clearly, they allowed their conception of what "love" and "compassion" mean to make Jesus in their own image. From Jesus screaming in hysteria at the Pharisees to sobbing like a baby over Jerusalem; from his "game-plan" style prophesying to his oh-so-unauthoritative "not-so" Great Commission; from his disciples looking like they are bored out of their minds to his "come on guys follow me" gestures---this movie renders ridiculous the incarnate Logos.
Someone once said that Ed Wood's "Plan 9 from Outer Space" was a hymn to all those who tried to create something memorable and failed miserably every step of the way. While not taking anything away from the infamy of Ed, all those involved in the production of this movie do likewise.
This movie is symptomatic of some very serious problems in the way American Christianity views the Christ. Understandably, people latch on to the fact that the Gospel writers refer to him as Jesus more often than with any other title. However, the disciples throughout the Gospels, as well as the writers of Acts and all of the epistles almost universally use such titles as Lord, Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, and Master. John falls down before him in revelation as a dead man. No one could possibly do the same before Bruce Marchiano's portrayal.