Son of God

Son of God, My Take (spoilers alert)

I went to see the movie Son of God recently. I was very impressed. This movie was based somewhat on the TV miniseries I believe of last year called The Bible. I took issue with some of the liberties of that miniseries, but I must say, I think maybe they listened when doing this film. It is very accurate. Is it perfect? Of course not, and I’ll get to that.

The film begins with the apostle John narrating. He’s recalling what he wrote in John 1. They quote him accurately: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (v. 1). I’m glad they got that right. The Word was God. Not the Word was a god as the Jehovah False Witness Bible has it. No, the Word was God. The movie is called the Son of God, but it could easily be called God the Son.

The first miracle they show Jesus doing was the healing of the man who was dropped through the roof (Matt. 9; Mark 2; Luke 5). I know that wasn’t his first miracle. Changing the water into wine was (John 2). But it’s okay. The film makes a big deal about when Jesus told the Pharisees, “Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Get up and walk’?” That is important, because right from the beginning, we see that Jesus is not just another rabbi. He is the Son of God.

The character of Nicodemus is a bit odd. He is pretty tight with Caiaphas, the High Priest, throughout the film. It is not until late in the film that he goes to Jesus for his “You must be born again” talk. In fact, it takes place after Palm Sunday. I don’t think he went to see Jesus that late in his ministry. I think that’s inaccurate. But do I know for sure? No. So it’s not a big deal.

When Jesus first meets Peter, he gets into Peter’s boat. Peter is rather surprised. Peter tells him there are no fish in the water that day. Jesus doesn’t tell him to go out and cast his nets again; Peter just does it. And he is shocked when the fish nearly come leaping into the nets. He questions Jesus about what he wants with him. Jesus tells him that he wants to make him a fisher of men. Peter asks, “What are we going to do?” Jesus replies, “Change the world.” Now, I know Jesus didn’t say it like that, but you have to admit, it’s a great line. And the fact is that Jesus was going to change the world with Peter and the other apostles.

Jesus tells Peter that he will deny him three times. We see two of those denials, but for whatever reason, we don’t see the last one. Yet Peter later says he had denied Christ three times.

Jesus doesn’t do as many miracles as you find in the Gospels. Of course, that would make for a very long movie if he did. They show him raising Lazarus. They compress that scene quite a bit. Nothing is said about Jesus taking his time to get there or about Mary and Martha telling Jesus that if he had been there, their brother would not have died. But the raising of Lazarus is pretty cool. And the people are so very happy to see him.

They show the scene in John 8 about the woman caught in adultery. Again, they compress the scene quite a bit. And yes, I know the better manuscripts do not contain this. Did this actually happen? I don’t know, but it’s so in character with who Jesus is that it very well could have. I don’t have a problem with its inclusion. It is in most Bibles.

Most of the other scenes in the movie are pretty biblically accurate, although they leave out some details. Would I have done it that way? Hard to say. I know they’re up against time constraints. They do get the essence of what actually happened, so I really can’t fault them.

The crucifixion was hard to watch. They do show it in detail. One part that I think was inaccurate was when Pilate orders him to be whipped with “40 lashes.” That was a Jewish thing. (See Deuteronomy 25:3.) The Romans didn’t care a bit how many times someone was beaten.

When the High Priest comes to Pilate to ask about the writing that will be put on the cross, Pilate hasn’t written it yet. The High Priest objects to what he will write. Pilate says, What I’ve ordered, I’ve ordered. The Bible says the religious leaders came after Pilate had written it to question what was written (John 19:22). Inaccurate, yes, but not a big deal.

After Jesus was raised, the scene with Thomas is not quite the way it happened. They take out the part where Thomas isn’t there and says he won’t believe it unless he sees for himself. Again, yes, it’s inaccurate, but not that big a deal.

The movie lasts 2 hours 18 minutes. How many of you know the time listed on a movie always includes the credits? It does. It was time well spent. It’s sad that I was the only one in the theater to see this movie. Please go see it if you can. You won’t be disappointed. Or get it on DVD when it comes out. This is a keeper. Jesus is the Son of God.