Son of God Movie

By Dietrich Bondurant
3/1/14

I watched “Son of God” today and being a movie fan, and a follower of Jesus Christ, and an overall opinionated guy, I felt compelled to write a review.  Let me begin by saying that I highly recommend this movie to everyone. Whether you are a believer, a skeptic, any age, you should see it!

Please keep in mind that it is merely a “cliff notes” version of Christ’s earthly ministry.  Many details are left out.  And sometimes two or more stories are blended together.  For example mixing the call of Matthew with the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.  Or mixing the Wise Men’s visit with the nativity (A common mixture we see at Christmas time).  And some events are presented out of order. For example Jesus’ rejection in His hometown which happened early in His ministry is shown following His raising Lazarus from the dead which happened near the end of His ministry.  Another example was the famous conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus that includes John 3:16 being presented in the movie as late in His ministry when according to the scriptures it was much earlier.  Also some minor details are added.  The movie shows the guards not allowing any of Jesus’ followers into the courtyard where Pilate was about to ask the crowd what to do with Jesus. And at the Last Supper the movie showed Jesus saying that whoever ate a certain piece of the bread would be His betrayer and He proceeded to nearly force Judas to eat it.  And some characters were missing from the story such as Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus, the other women who accompanied Mary Magdalene to the tomb (according to some of the Gospels), Herod, and others.  I realize for a movie they have to take some license with the storytelling so there is a flow, but I was disappointed with changes like having Jesus go inside Lazarus’ tomb rather than the biblical account where He stood outside and called him to come out.  And I think the movie really missed a chance at a cool scene by not showing the guards and entire mob that came to arrest Jesus in the garden fall to the ground when Jesus answered and said “I am He” as the scriptures portray.

Other than Jesus looking way too European and not enough Jewish (common mistake in presenting Jesus), I thought the casting was done very well. I thought Peter was particularly cast well.  Roma Downey, who was also one of the producers, was moving as Jesus’ mother Mary.  Most of the acting was pretty good.  I really liked how they portrayed Jesus smiling and touching folks like He loved them – as opposed to the stoic standoffish versions of Him we’ve seen in older movies.  The scenery was great besides the Jerusalem shots which seemed too computer generated.  The filming, lighting, and music was all as good as we have come to expect from Hollywood these days.

Now I realize there will be some well intended Christians who will say God can’t use worldly, lustful, morally corrupt Hollywood to accomplish anything good.  They will say that Hollywood has no business attempting to portray anything Biblical much less Jesus Himself.  My response to that is this:  Just look at what God did 10 years ago using the money and talents of an extremely flawed individual like Mel Gibson!  (In fact, God is in the business of using flawed people to accomplish His work)  Not only was it one of the largest worldwide box office hits of all time it also gave mankind our best insight visually into what Christ went threw during his last few days.  Now, with Son of God, we have a movie that overviews Jesus’ life in a way that nearly compels the viewer to want to know more!  And because of its release in so many countries and languages it will present the gospel to hundreds of millions of people worldwide doing more good than any single great Christian missionary throughout history with the exception of Paul – I say that only for his part in writing most of the New Testament.  Also, these well intended Christians will get hung up on some of the details I mentioned earlier, believing that any change whatsoever to the Biblical narrative amounts to absolute blasphemy.  Some will even preach against it as the work of the devil.  For those who would consider the Son of God movie as evil let me remind you that the Pharisees of Jesus’ day considered Him and His followers to be evil.  So do not be a Pharisee!

I am thrilled that this movie was made.  I believe God’s hand is on it and it will be become one of the most powerful tools He has ever used to advance the Gospel.  It will stimulate millions to get out their Bibles to learn more about this Jewish teacher Who turned the world upside down!   Praise the Lord!