He Is Risen!

But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did  not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  "He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."  And they remembered His words.  Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven  and to all the rest.
Luke 24: 2-8 NKJV

I usually don't get into the practice of writing critiques of films.  If I like a movie, I'll usually recomend it without giving away too much of the plot to someone who has not seen it.  Besides, who wants to go and see a movie where they basically already know what happens?   You may as well just wait for the DVD to come out!  I will, however, bend one of my own rules in this case.  While not giving away too much of the film, I can give a potential viewer a sense of what the film entails.  So it is with the recent faith based film Risen.  I hate to use the term "Faith Based" when refering to anything, but I guess it's appropriate in this case.  For modern day Hollywood has recently done their best to distance themselves from anything having to do with religion unless it was some inter galactic, science fiction form of combat karma.  I apolagize to any and all Star Wars fans out there, but your force is NOT religion as far as this discussion goes!  With that out of the way, I enjoyed the movie Risen for the most part and felt it remained pretty scripturally accurate.  It is my pleasure to recomend it to anyone who wishes to see this take on the resurection story.
I have always enjoyed the passage in Luke 24:5 as a good  description of the resurection of Jesus.  For the women who journeyed to his tomb that morning were fully expecting to see his body lying there.  Imagine their shock when they encountered his empty grave!  Add to that the cameo apprearance of the heavenly angels informing them of their Lords resurection.  The film does not depict in any way the events of the actual resurection, only the aftermath of the broken seal, torn ropes and rolled away stone.  However, one gets the idea the film makers were trying to get across.  Most of the film centers around one Roman Tribune soldier who carries out the orders of the infamous Pontious Pilate.  One recalls that it is Pilate who, only days before, symbolically washed his hands of the death of Jesus.  Now, it is Pilate who seeks the body of the Christ to satisfy the Jewish authorities who fear that his disciples may steal his body and make claim that this self proclaimed messiah has indeed risen from the grave.  While adding the usual Hollywood spin, I feel the film stays pretty close to scripture, with a few exceptions.
I've heard it said by a pastor in the media following the release of Risen that it did a good job of delivering the story of the resurection of Jesus to an unbelieving world.  With this I agree 100%.  However, I continue to question whether most of the world does not believe in Jesus or if it is just more media spin.  However,  as the physician Luke tells us, why do we continue to seek the living among the dead?

~Scott~