Our gods create us. And then we create our gods. Or something like that.
We were raised–you and I–in a religious tradition that taught us that God created us in His own image. And then He and Christ sent us to earth 100% unaware of Him and the life we lived before our birth. From day one we’re taught who and what God is. We had the responsibility to learn what our relationship is to Him, what His plan is for us, how we have to act in order to receive His blessings and be guided by His spirit. We learn line upon line, precept upon precept. And I’d add experience by experience. Essentially, we spend our life creating God through study and experience.
That’s essentially what The Last Temptation of Christ is: one man–in this case Jesus of Nazareth–and his experience in navigating his relationship with God. I mean, really, that’s it. It’s not a secret that conservative Christians find this film controversial at best, blasphemous at worst. I remember asking my parents about it when I was probably in my early teens. I wouldn’t say their reaction was shocking but they strongly suggested the film was anti-Plan of Salvation which depicted Christ as a man who, at the moment of truth, walked away from completing His role as Savior of the World. Essentially choosing to not go through with the Atonement.
First of all, I fully admit the movie isn’t for everyone. Near the beginning it does depict Mary Magdalen's life of prostitution. I personally wouldn’t say it depicts it explicitly though I know some would. It shows a room full of men waiting from morning to sundown for their chance to visit her. For me it showed the sad, filthy, depressed, marginalized state Mary lived in before accepting Christ. (The film shows they knew each other well even before he became “Christ” which I think added an interesting and deeper element to their relationship.) I don’t remember exactly how the Bible describes her prostitution but it certainly doesn't depict it in a way that shows just how low of a state Mary was in before she was forgiven by Christ which I think minimizes the impact of her redemption. I think sometimes we have to see a thing to understand it. We can’t rely only on our own mental constructions which are based only on our own experiences..
Also, as expected, the film does show the physical torture Christ endured at the hands of the Romans and it graphically represents a number of crucifixions. But none of the bloodletting comes remotely close to what was depicted in the 2004 film The Passion of the Christ which was accepted by many as a true and accurate representation of what Christ endured. I saw it with my dad in the theater. There was so much blood. And I’m not saying there wouldn’t have been that much blood and horror in a torturing and crucifixion. Just for the sake of this review, I’m saying Temptation wasn’t even close.
Moving on to what really impressed me about the film and this is where the first line of this review comes in: Our gods create us and then we create our gods. For me in my religious experiences, I was taught and learned on my own that Christ was mortal, fallible, learned like we learned line upon line. That He had to learn about his role as Savior–He wasn’t born with any more knowledge that you or I was. And that’s how Jesus is depicted in Temptation. He has worries, concerns, self-doubt. Anxiety. He describes himself as full of fear. Uncertainty in His role. Questioning why God would choose Him. Not knowing what to say or teach. That, to me, is the God I created for myself. The Jesus in Temptation resonates with me as the true Jesus. I don’t mean Willem Defoe, I mean a mortal man called to perform an immortal task. I cared about him. I felt for him and what he was going through. His mortality. His humanity. His fear. At one point he said all he had inside himself was fear. That I can relate to.
Another cool thing was Jesus was friends with Judas. Like best friends. And Judas didn’t “betray” Jesus, he helped Jesus accomplish his mission by alerting the Romans when it was time.
I don’t know if you’ll watch it or not so I’m just going to say *spoilers ahead* just in case.
As we’re taught, Christ asks God to let the cup pass from his lips. This is depicted in the movie as the “last temptation.” While He is on the cross a little girl comes to the foot of the cross and tells Jesus that she is His guardian angel and that He doesn’t have to literally die. Much like Abraham didn’t have to end up killing Isaac, she was there to tell him he didn’t have to suffer anymore. He is so relieved and grateful. So she gets him down from the cross and he goes on to live a peaceful life first with Mary Magdalene and then with Mary and Martha. (It suggests the three of them share a home and family.) Jesus grows older. At one point he comes across Paul preaching to a handful of people. Paul is preaching the gospel of Christ as we know it in the Bible–namely that Jesus did die on the cross and was resurrected three days later. Jesus can’t help himself but to confront Paul and tell him it’s a lie. That he himself is Jesus and that he didn’t die nor was resurrected and that he must stop preaching or he’d tell the people the truth. Paul laughs and tells him to go ahead. It’s not the truth that is moving the people, it is the story of a savior that has died for their sins and was resurrected. A frustrated Jesus moves on and returns home. At the end of His life, some of the apostles come to visit Jesus while Jerusalem is burning. Judas is angry with him because he didn’t follow through with his plan–his calling–to allow himself to be crucified. Jesus points to the guardian angel in the corner and says that she told him he didn’t have to die. Judas tells Jesus to look closely at the angel and Jesus watches as she turns into Satan.
In a moment of crushing devastation Jesus realizes his mistake. He sees that He failed His last temptation. He couldn’t go through with death. After the realization comes remorse. Then anger. Then desperation as He pleads to God to give Him another chance. Another chance to die. That He not just realizes His absolute responsibility to die but that He wants to fulfill His calling.
At that moment, the scene cuts to Jesus back on the cross at the same moment His “guardian angel” appeared. He realizes He hadn’t actually stepped down from the cross. That nothing had actually happened after He had come down from the cross. In a moment of beatification He accepts His role, His calling and died with His eyes looking up to heaven full of peace..
So that’s it. That is the last temptation. It might look different than what we grew up with but the principle is the same. Christ was given the choice and He did struggle making the decision but He ended up accepting the responsibility to complete the atonement. In my opinion, this film was ahead of its time. I think Christ has evolved over the decades of my life from a distant, generic God to a person, a mortal, a brother, a confidant. Just like we’ve always been taught He was. I think if this film came out now it would be received very differently than it was in 1988. Depending on its rating I think a lot of members of the church would see it and talk about it and relate to it.
Three final thoughts.
One: the language is simple plain-spoken English. It’s so refreshing to me to hear Jesus using simple conversational language to teach people.
Two: David Bowie(!) has a cameo as Pontious Pilate. It’s awesome! He’s so good. Very understated acting. Very simple language. He and Jesus sit alone in an empty hall and just talk about the situation. There’s no judgement or anger. Just a matter of fact, “Do you know what has to happen now?” It’s awesome. Definitely a tiny gem.
Three: Peter Gabriel wrote the score!
Fun fact: while I’ve been writing this review I’ve been watching The Matrix which is awesome and totally holds up despite being 24 years old.
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