Son of God Movie Analysis

Originally written: 3/11/14

Last Thursday I watched the movie Son of God. I have found that some Christians are liking this movie and others are really disliking it. The ones who like the movie don’t seem to be bothered so much by some of the inaccuracies, whereas those who dislike the movie seem to be very bothered by it. What is it that causes one Christian to be bothered by it and another Christian to hardly be bothered at all? In this paper, we will seek to find the answer to this question. However, I am the Christian who seems hardly bothered by the inaccuracies in the movie and here’s why: The inaccuracies are not worth being upset over; the gospel is of primary importance; Biblical accuracy is not to be expected from Hollywood; and I approached the movie with both an open and closed mind.

First off, I would like to say that I highly respect God’s Word and everything it tells us. My desire is for the truth and also to know the truth. If you know me, you would know that I am very passionate for the truth and about sticking to the Word of God as closely as possible. How then can one as passionate as I, be so unpassionate when it comes to the errors in this movie? Well, the thing is, most of the inaccuracies in the movie were of little significance. For example, we have the tomb being broken in pieces rather than being rolled away from Jesus’ tomb. We also have Lazarus coming out of his tomb in normal attire, not his grave clothes. May I ask, how important are these small details? Would they be important enough that it would upset you greatly if you watched the movie? Why? How much weight do they carry in the interpretation of God’s Word or application to our lives? Do they carry any weight in this regard? If not, why be so passionate about it? “Well, it’s God’s Word!” one might say. Yes indeed, that is true. But here’s my point: I think it is a tragic thing for someone to be so focused on these minute details that they lose focus on what is really important. Jesus is the Son of God! He is the Savior of the world. He came to take upon Himself your sins and my sins. He has risen from the dead and commissioned us to preach the good news! What an awesome message! Let us have these truths sink into our hearts as we watch the Son of God. And how wonderful it is that we live in such a country that would play this movie in theaters all across the United States. We are truly blessed. Think of the people that might be saved watching this movie. In Philippians 1 Paul speaks about people who are proclaiming the gospel. There are those who are proclaiming it out of pure motives, and then there are those who are proclaiming the gospel out of envy, strife, and selfish ambition, seeking to cause him distress in his imprisonment. But how does Paul respond to this? He says, “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice” (verse 18). I think the same principle applies to this movie. Although there are things here and there that the movie left out or changed in some way, let us still rejoice, for the gospel is being proclaimed! May we have a greater desire for the truth of the gospel than for the truth of small details that do not hold much weight.

However, let me give a few other examples of things that the movie did not portray correctly according to the accuracy of the Bible. There was one part in the movie that I was pretty bummed out about. It was when Jesus called Peter right after Peter listened to Jesus and threw out his nets to get a great catch of fish. When Peter looked at Jesus he seemed just a little amazed that Jesus knew the fish were out there. I just thought it would be a lot more epic if Peter were to accurately fall down at Jesus’ feet and say, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8). But that didn’t happen in the movie. They also didn’t include the other disciples in the boat during this time, nor the other boat that came to help with gathering the fish.

I really do think that if people are going to make a film on something in the Bible, they should stick to the script of the Bible as closely as possible. But what do you expect? It’s a movie. If I want accuracy, I’ll read my Bible. If I want a visual aid, I’ll watch a movie. Not all visual aids were accurate; however, if you know your Bible or seek to know it even more, then you will find these errors. Will not Christians be benefitted from watching this movie if it causes them to read their Bibles more? If you know your Bible, then you can just fill in or correct missing and imperfect details. After all, Jesus’ entire life can’t be accurately and completely told within just a few hours sitting in a theater. Movies can help establish within our own minds what we think and what we believe. This, I believe, is helpful. I also found the movie quite entertaining though.

This movie has opened my mind to things I haven’t thought about before. For example, when Jesus is telling the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector from Luke 18:9-14, in the movie He is looking into the eyes of a Pharisee and also a tax collector when He tells it. He then calls Matthew from his tax collector booth to follow Him. According to my search of the Bible, these things don’t line up. However, although Matthew isn’t the one called during the telling of this parable, don’t you think it is still possible for Jesus to have looked in these people’s eyes when He said it? After all, verse 9 seems to indicate that.

Another thing I noticed that I didn’t consider before was during the feeding of the five thousand (John 6). In the movie, after the crowd had eaten enough food, the crowds were shouting out, “Messiah! Messiah!” Now, the Bible doesn’t say that these people said this, so does that mean we should get upset about this inaccuracy? I do not think so. I think this is an inference the creators of the movie made; and may I say, this inference seems to agree with the Bible more than it disagrees with it because verse 15 says, “So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.” So the crowds were trying to make Jesus king. To them, Messiah meant someone who would save them from the oppression from the Roman government. They wanted Jesus to overthrow this evil government. I think that the movie did a very good job conveying just how oppressed the citizens were because of Roman rule.

In addition, the movie clearly conveyed that Jesus was the Son of God. In no other Jesus movie that I have seen is it made more evident that Jesus is God than in this movie. Many times throughout the movie Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). Other Scriptures are also quoted throughout. In the beginning of the movie it takes a John 1 perspective, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God…” During the quoting of this verse, the movie displays various times in history, saying that Jesus was there. When the world was created, when Adam and Eve walked in the Garden, when Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed with fire and brimstone, and when Moses stood before the burning bush. Jesus was there. He was God and He is God. It was a really powerful introduction to the movie.

When Jesus lifted the basket up and gave thanks to God, it reminded me of George Muller and how he had such a faith that he gave thanks to God even though he had hardly anything or even nothing for the orphans to eat.

Another thing the movie does is it gives us some of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount throughout the movie. In the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus paraphrases a section of Matthew 6:25-34. He tells the crowd not to worry about their life because even the birds are taken care of by God. God will likewise provide for their needs. Therefore, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Now, just because the Sermon on the Mount is not spoken of in the Biblical accounts of the feeding of the five thousand, does that mean Jesus could not have spoken any of His same messages or paraphrases of His previous messages later on to some other crowd? Does not John say in closing his book, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written” (Jn. 21:25)? Can we at least consider the possibility?

In these ways, the Son of God movie has opened my mind to more possibilities. However, if Jesus were to say something that were to clearly contradict the theology of Scripture, or if something absolutely essential was left out, then I think we would have a problem. If this movie ended before Jesus raises from the dead, then I would be very upset and walk right out of the theater. But I would probably walk out anyway because the movie would be over. Overall though, I think we should try to find the good in this movie more than looking for the bad. In this way, I think it would have the best effect upon our hearts and our spiritual growth. May we always be praising and thanking God for dying on the cross for us, taking away our sins, and giving us new life. We don’t deserve any of it. Praise be to God for the gospel and all his mercies.