Killing Jesus—the Movie
I saw a lot of problems in the movie, but since I like to be positive, I will start with things that were good.
The costumes were very good. Very authentic. And the scenery was very authentic too. I had heard the film was made in Morocco, and obviously the area there is similar to Israel.
The acting was also very good. The story is believable, and the actors do a good job of communicating the account of the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth.
When the wise men came to worship Jesus, it is clear that Jesus was not an infant in the manger. That is true. The Bible makes clear that the wise men “entered the house where the child and his mother, Mary, were” (Matt. 2:11). This was not the stable or cave where Jesus was born.
Herod had the male babies killed. That is correct. No female babies were murdered. Matthew 2:16 says it was the boys only who were killed.
In several scenes, Jesus is seen talking to his mother and one of his brothers, James. James does not believe in Jesus as the Messiah. That is true. None of his family (apart from Joseph and Mary) believed in him during his life.
When Herod the Great dies, his son Antipas watches it happen and does nothing to help. This is probably true. Herod was an evil man and had many of his family killed.
Now onto problems with the movie. There are not a few.
The wise men come to Herod the Great. They understand him and are understood by him. But they were from the east, so it seems logical that they wouldn’t have spoken the same language as Herod. So why don’t they speak through interpreters?
Why are there three wise men? I know that’s the commonly assumed number, but we don’t actually know how many there really were.
Herod told one of the wise men he wanted visit the child to “venerate him” (Jesus). No, he said he wanted to worship him. Matthew 2:8 says “worship.” The Greek word is a word that always means to worship. Venerate can be part of worship, but it is by itself less than worship.
When the wise men come to give gifts to Jesus, the Bible says they brought “gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matt. 2:11, NLT).It seems that they bring some gold jewelry, but we do not see frankincense and myrrh.
The movie did not show that the wise men were told to go home a different way. Matthew 2:12 says that God had warned them in a dream to go home a different way and not speak to Herod. So we are left with not really knowing why Herod had the male babies killed.
Joseph tells Mary that they must go to Egypt because of the adulation of the wise men. There’s no evidence in Scripture that he said any such thing. In fact, the Bible makes it clear that they went to Egypt because God told Joseph in a dream that they were to go. (Matt. 2:13)
After Joseph takes Mary and the baby Jesus to Egypt, they are still there after 10 years. Matt. 2:19-20 say that after Herod died, God told Joseph in another dream to go back to Israel. So it’s very unlikely that they were there for 10 years. But in the movie, the boy Jesus doesn’t look 10 or 11 at all. He looks much younger. In fact, on IMDB it identifies the boy who played Jesus at the age of 8 (Zoubir Abou Alfadel). We don’t know how long they were in Egypt, but the numbers in the movie don’t add up.
There is nothing said about Jesus going to the Temple at age 12. I realize that you can’t show every detail in the movie, but there were things that were shown that have no biblical basis. So why not cut one of those scenes and put in his visit to the Temple?
The man who takes Herod the Great’s place after Herod dies is identified as Herod Antipas. But that’s not true. It was Herod Archelaus (Matt. 2:22), the brother of Herod Antipas. He ruled from 4 b.c. to a.d. 6. Archelaus was ethnarch of Samaria, Judea, and Idumea. But Antipas is seen throughout the movie. Antipas ruled from a.d. 6 to a.d. 39, so he came after Archelaus. The movie never mentions Archelaus.
Elizabeth is introduced as a cousin to Mary. The Greek word isn’t that specific (Luke 1:36). It simply means someone related by blood. We don’t know how she was related to Mary.
There is an interesting story about Pilate’s wife. She is very angry and claims that some Jews attacked and disrespected her, showing a garment stained with blood. No evidence of that in the Bible. Why make this up? It would be better to delete scenes like this and put in things that did happen. Like Jesus going to the Temple at age 12 (Luke 2:42-49).
John the Baptist mentions the new birth when he baptizes people. John never talked about a new birth. Jesus talked about being born again (John 3:3), and James and Peter talked about a new birth (Jas. 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:3, HCSB; 1 Pet. 1:23, The Message).
When Jesus is talking with John the Baptist, he does not know how John knows about him. He says, “How could you know me?” He seems clueless. That is just absurd. Jesus knew all because he was God incarnate. The Bible makes clear that Jesus knew what was in humans (John 2:25).
At Jesus baptism, the dove (the Holy Spirit) is absent. The Bible says that the Spirit descended like a dove and lit on Jesus (Matt. 3:16). Again, I know you can’t put everything in the movie, but why not take our some of the fluff and put what actually happened?
Jesus first miracle appears to be causing Peter to gather a giant net full of fish. But Jesus seems to attribute it to an answer to prayer. He says, “Thank the Lord” and “We prayed.” But Peter tells James and John that it was Jesus who caused the miracle. The fact is that Jesus’ first miracle was changing the water into wine. John 2:11 says that this miracle at Cana was the beginning of his miracles.
Jesus is sometimes shown almost shirtless. He appears much too skinny to be a carpenter.
Jesus casts out a demon from a boy, but the way he does it is quite strange. He never says, “Be gone” or anything like that. He just strokes the boy’s head, and the demon seems to leave him, but the boy appears to be dead. Peter comes out and tells the people gathered that the boy is dead. But Jesus prays and he seems to come back to life. This is nothing like the purging of demons in the New Testament.
When the sick are cured, Jesus says it’s by the hand of God. He takes no credit for any miracles. That’s not the Jesus of the New Testament.
Jesus at one point says, “Destroy this Temple” as a command. John 2:19 does say, “‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up’” (NLT). It is clear from the Greek that the word “destroy” is an aorist active imperative. But the language is clear that Jesus wasn’t telling them to destroy the Temple. It was more like he was saying, “If you destroy this Temple, I will raise it up in three days.”
When Judas comes to follow Jesus, he volunteers. No, Jesus picked all twelve of his disciples. Matthew 10:14; Mark 3:13-19; Luke 6:13 indicate that Jesus picked all twelve himself.
When Jesus was presumably curing a leper, he appeared to be cleaning the leprous wounds. That is absurd. Jesus healed the leper, and he healed many lepers (Luke 17:12-17).
In one scene, Jesus is preaching the Sermon on the Mount before a crowd. No, he preached this to his disciples. Matthew 5:1-2 make this clear. In that Sermon, he prays the Lord’s Prayer, but he gets it wrong. He says, “Deliver us from evil.” But the Greek (and all modern versions) say, “Deliver us from the Evil One.”
Herodias (wife of Herod Antipas) suggested to her husband that when her daughter Salome was going to dance before him, he should give her whatever she wanted. But this isn’t what the Bible says. The Bible says it was Antipas’s birthday, and she danced. When she was finished, “he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she said, ‘Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.’ The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted” (Matt. 14:7-9).
Salome also didn’t whisper her request to Antipas. That’s the whole reason he gave her what she requested. Because everyone heard what he had said to her and ostensibly what she said to him.
John the Baptist’s head was to be brought out on a platter (Matt 14:11). Didn’t happen in the movie. And why does Salome (daughter of Herodias) show such shock and dismay at seeing the head of John the Baptist? I’m quite sure she enjoyed seeing it. She as was as evil as Antipas and her mother.
When Jesus asks his disciples who they think he was, Peter says that he is the “Anointed One, the Son of the living God.” But on a recent O’Reilly Factor, Bill said they never used the word “Christ” because that term came later. Not true. And “Anointed One” means “Christ.”
There is a scene where the Jewish leaders want to put a woman to death who was caught in the act of adultery. This is from John 7:53 to 8:11. But if this is a history as Bill is fond of saying, that shouldn’t be in the movie. John didn’t write those verses, and there is good evidence to support this.
Also, in that same scene, why does Jesus not write on the ground, which he did twice? (John 8:6, 8)
Why is Pilate shown with a beard? Romans were typically clean-shaven, especially those of higher rank.
There is a scene of Herod and his wife in a bath. I’m sure that happened, but why focus on it? Instead, put in a scene that actually happened (like the dove at Jesus’ baptism).
Jesus says that in the kingdom of God, there are no thrones or crowns or rule of nations. Not true. Revelation 4:4 and 10 make it clear that there are thrones and crowns in heaven.
In one scene, Jesus appears to be in the Garden of Gethsemane with Mary Magdalene. He says he came there “to control my anger and frustration.” Couldn’t be. If one has to control one’s anger, that means it’s out of control and in sin. But Jesus never sinned. Hebrews 4:15 and 9:28 both say he was “without sin.”
When Jesus threw the moneychangers out of the Temple, it appears that Judas Iscariot says, “Behold, the King of the Jews!” I highly doubt that.
Also, why does IMDB list his name as “Judas Isacriot”? The name is Iscariot.
When Jesus is arrested, one of his disciples cuts off an ear from one of the men. That is true. Peter did that (John 18:10). But Jesus did not heal the man in the movie, though he did in fact restore his ear (Luke 22:51).
When two disciples are bringing the donkey for Jesus to ride into Jerusalem, they tell Judas about some of the prophecies of the Messiah. One says that he will be beaten, spat upon, and killed. The disciples did nothing of the sort. They always showed shock when Jesus told them that this would happen to him.
As Jesus is being taken away, he says, “Saves yourselves—for me! You must live!” Not true. Jesus never said anything of the sort, nor would he.
When Peter denies Jesus, a woman challenges him. The same woman comes back later and challenges him again. I doubt that. I think there were three different individuals who challenged Peter.
When Judas is feeling remorse, he is in the country. A young man with some goats comes along. He buys the man’s rope (which was tied to a goat) for 30 pieces of silver. But the Bible says he tried to give the money back to the chief priests and elders, (Matt. 27:3) He ended up casting them down in the Temple (v. 5), and they took the money and bought a field to bury strangers in (v. 7).
After the third time that Peter has denied Jesus, the Bible says he “wept bitterly” (Matt. 26:75; Luke 22:62). Luke Didn’t happen in the movie.
When Jesus is before Antipas, he says that he’s giving him a “purple robe of royal office.” But the robe is clearly red.
Pilate’s wife never gives him a message to warn Pilate not to have anything to do with Jesus, “Leave that innocent man alone, because I had a terrible nightmare about him last night” (Matt. 27:19, NLT).
When Jesus is carrying his cross, where is the man who carried it for him? (Luke 23:26).
The sign above Jesus reads, “INRI.” Not true. INRI is an abbreviation for a Latin phrase that means, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” But the Bible says this phrase was in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and it was not abbreviated (John 19:19-20).
At the crucifixion, the other criminals are too far away to speak to him. And there is no communication there. But they did talk to Jesus and unlike the movie, the Bible says that they were on either side of Jesus (John 19:18).
When Jesus is placed on the shroud before being buried, he actually doesn’t look too bad. But the truth is that he was very bloody.
When the chief priest comes to Pilate asking for a guard for the tomb, Pilate mocks him. As he is talking to his wife about what they wanted, he says it would be “a waste of Roman soldiers’ efforts” to guard the tomb. So he apparently doesn’t have it guarded. Wow.
Jesus’ mother is shown at the tomb after Jesus rose from the dead. The Bible names the women who were at the tomb, and Mary the mother of Jesus isn’t among them. Mary Magdalene (John 20:1), the other Mary (Matt. 28:1, but it is very doubtful that this was Jesus’ mother, for Luke 24:10 says it was the mother of James) Joanna (Luke 24:10), and Salome (Mark 16:1, but certainly not the daughter of Herodias).
At the end of the movie, the narrator talks about what happened to the disciples. He says that “according to tradition, John was exiled.” It is not tradition. Revelation 1:9 makes it clear that he was exiled to Patmos.
The narrator also says that scholar’s debate John’s authorship of the Gospel of John. No real scholar doubts this.
On a recent O’Reilly Factor, Martha McCallum said in talking about miracles, there was the miracle of the loaves and fishes. That was not in the movie at all.
It appears that Haaz Sleiman, who played Jesus, was hired because he was Middle Eastern and looked the part. But Mr. Sleiman is a Muslim (although he admits he is a Muslim in name only). No good Muslim would ever play Jesus. Muslims do not believe Jesus is the Son of God, nor do they believe he was crucified.
Perhaps the worst
part of this movie is at the end. Some disciples go to the tomb and find it
empty. But we never see Jesus. Why do we not see the resurrected Jesus? That’s the
whole message of the gospel (1 Cor. 15:4)!
The really sad thing is that it appears that whoever wrote the script feels the same way Bill does about the Bible. They don’t believe it’s the Word of God, so it’s not a big deal if we don’t accurately record what it says. That is a shame. This could have been a very good movie. In the end, the movie is just as bad as the book, if not worse, but for different reasons.
