Go Watch Jesus of Nazareth

Recently, a friend of mine requested I watch the 1977 miniseries Jesus of Nazareth, directed by Italian Senator Franco Zeffirelli.  I was surprisingly endeared to this miniseries and felt that it was an extremely powerful watch, especially under Quarantine.  So I wanted to talk about it here and give a review.  Mostly though, I will be discussing why I enjoyed it.

The film is a very straightforward reproduction of the life of Christ throughout the New Testament.  The film goes through the major part of his life from his birth to meeting with sinners to his parables to arriving in Jerusalem to his crucifixion and resurrection.  In addition, it actively provides context to events by showing the Romans, Pharisees, and other people as well in the miniseries to understand the stakes for Christ and everyone’s reaction to him.

Before commenting on the film itself, it is worth noting the members of the cast.  The film includes Anne Bancroft, Ernest Borgnine, James Earl Jones, Stacy Keach, Ian McShane, Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasence, Christopher Plummer, Peter Ustinov, and Michael York.  Those are the names I immediately recognize, but there are still many more that make up the cast.  So the film is full of extremely talented people turning excellent performances that a viewer probably wouldn’t see together elsewhere.

Now, the strength of the film is in its handling of Christ as he deals with the world around him and overcoming skepticism or fear of his message.  The events are played as they would have happened in the bible and the impact is felt as well.  This miniseries gives a real impression of the power and impact of the people involved.

Christ himself is portrayed as very human.  He actually feels emotions such as anger, joy, and everything else one would expect from an actual person.  It serves as a reminder that Christ was both man and God.

However, we are reminded of his God status by the fact that he rarely fits in with human customs.  From eating with sinners to saying he will not support open revolution against the Romans, his entire focus is promoting the kingdom that is to come instead of making peace with the existing world.  As a result, he does not fit in with man and people, even his own disciples, often avoid him.

This does really remind the viewer of God’s goals: save the sinners and protect the faith.  Christ does reachout throughout the film to sinners and only gets angry when the church is being used for personal gain or at odds with salvation.  It clarifies the goals of Christianity and reminds the viewer what Christ came to do on earth.

This therefore is a pretty strong reminder of why Christ is never popular, even when the church is at times in high regard.  Christ himself is aimed at the salvation of mankind, not man’s own satisfaction in this life as it is often fleeting and easy to lose.  This is why he is often rejected by the Pharisees, the Romans, and others as they cannot benefit from his message in this life.

Still, he provides hope to many as he reunites salvation with God and gives a reminder that there is hope for the blind, the outsider, and all others as God gives his salvation to all.  This is perhaps best symbolized by the fact that the Centurion is one of the most (if not the most) faithful person Christ meets.  The Lord’s message is no longer for the Israelites but instead everyone.

Christ says his Kingdom is not of this world and that is why he and his followers are persecuted.  If it cannot be used to support the goals of those in power, it is forgotten.  The film reminds us that often being at odds with the status quo is often why something will inevitably be hated.

The film is a strong example of how to communicate ideas or a message.  Instead of trying to bend out a propaganda piece, it merely shows the life of Christ as written and provides a better understanding of everything going on at the time.  For this reason, I highly recommend a watch as it will remind us of the message of the one true Lord and savior.

At this time, there is a movement to erase history and control morality that has an unsurprising distaste for Christ.  I highly recommend this film as it reminds us of a higher calling and men’s motives in response.  Fortunately, it is on YouTube so if you have 6 hours (seriously), give it a watch.