Son of God: Their Empire, His Kingdom, reviewed by Kevin Williams
Son of God: Their Empire, His Kingdom (20th Century Fox). Actors: Darwin Shaw, Sebastian Knapp, Paul Knops, and Darcie Lincoln. Directors: Christopher Spencer. Music by Hans Zimmer.
Son of God begins with John’s gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” and ends with Jesus before John on the Isle of Patmos, in Revelation 1:17 “Fear not; I am the first and the last.” What falls between is a cinematic, 138-minute encapsulation of the life of Christ.
For the unchurched, this will undoubtedly present a Jesus that is within the boundaries of creative license and tells the story of Christ with great production value, first rate acting, believable costumes and sets, a remarkable soundtrack by Hans Zimmer (Pirates of the Caribbean, Batman Begins), and some very well-executed directing. It is rated PG-13, but that can only be attributed to the violence of the crucifixion, which spares little of Rome’s brutality.
We get a glimpse into Peter, John, Judas, a hint of Thomas, and short but wonderfully poignant episode with Matthew, but nothing of the other disciples. Mary Magdalene is there as well, almost always with Jesus and the twelve, but solitary woman traveling with a rabbi and 12 men across the Israeli countryside simply is not probable.
Eight minutes is given to carry us from Adam and Eve to the wise men standing before Mary and Joseph with the newborn Jesus. It happens quickly, but anyone with even a passing familiarity with the Scripture can keep up. The film truly begins as Jesus walks toward the Sea of Galilee.
On the one hand, the film is very conscientious of the Jewish people. For instance, “Jewish” is routinely the word of choice over “Jews,” the latter considered derogatory within modern Jewish society. The details: from daily life, customs, and dress are followed, but not always. For instance, the tzit-tzit fringes of the prayer shawls of the Pharisees would most certainly have had the Torah-required tekhelet (blue) threads, but few will catch the omission.
For the churched and biblically literate, let us simply say, you will like the book better than the movie. There were few scenes I did not find some problem with its non-adherence to the Bible. There are many liberties taken from Peter fishing to almost no one there to hear the Sermon on the Mount, to name two quick examples. There are many, many more.
The Pharisees are immediately set up as Jesus’ adversaries, but curiously, it is always the same Pharisee, which hardly makes the case for the cause of all Pharisees as antagonists. That is until Nicodemus comes along. He seems to be a willing cohort or even snitch of the High Priest, Caiaphas. Granted, Nicodemus was in the Sanhedrin and Scripture refers to him as “the” teacher of Israel (John 3:10), but that he might be a co-conspirator with Caiaphas is certainly extra-biblical.
That said, Nicodemus is perhaps the one person in the movie with the most character development, going from antagonist, to curious, to empathetic, to defender of Jesus before the Sanhedrin.
For those who saw the History Channel’s The Bible series in 2013, Diogo Morgado once again plays Jesus, and does so wonderfully. Morgado is entirely believable in the role, with a warm smile, compassionate eyes, and a piercing stare. The miracles are carried out without special affects and seem quite natural, which I appreciated.
There is editorializing in the film. For instance the people seem entirely subject to thinking on Jesus for patriotic, nationalistic reasons only, with no clue to his spiritual cause. No doubt some of that was evident at the time, but in The Son of God, that seems to be the only reason to follow Jesus.
Matthew writes that the wife of Pontius Pilate had a dream, and that too is portrayed in the movie. For me, one of the finest moments is when Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane praying for the cup to pass, as Caiaphas prays confidently in the temple assuming he has handled the Jesus affair righteously. Meanwhile Pilate’s wife prays to her idol. The juxtaposition of the three divergent prayers strikes a chord.
Someone who reveres the Word of God or has some knowledge of Jewish culture in the biblical age, will find much wrong with The Son of God. I could go at length with the many inaccuracies. But for people like my parents who have almost no church upbringing or discipleship, this film will touch them, and I will share it with them hoping it opens up a dialogue to share the true Messiah of Scripture. If we can all approach it with that attitude, then this film can do much good.
Reviewed by Kevin M. Williams
