Clavius

"I have seen two things which cannot reconcile.  A man dead without question, and that same man alive again.  I pursue Him, the Nazarene, to feret the truth.
~Clavius~

In the film Risen, the main character, Roman Tribune Clavius, is faced with a life changing event.   This warrior, who had seen countless Roman battles of conquest, had  just witnessed the very same man whom he had supervised the execution of alive yet again!  Who was this Nazarene, this Jesus?   In his black and white world, Jesus should have still been entombed just where He had been laid after His death.  A death which he witnessed!  Now, as he stood looking upon this Jesus among His disciples, everything that Clavius had known has come into question.  It is here that he makes his decision to follow the disciples of Jesus as they travel to meet Him once again in Galilee.  For if he can question this man Jesus, he may somehow shed some light on what he has witnessed.  So his quest begins.

And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"  Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed.  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
John 20: 27-29 NKJV

Of course, Clavius was not the only one who had trouble believing the resurection of the Lord Jesus.  No, he had plenty of company.  Even Thomas, one of Jesus' disciples, who had spent so much time with Jesus when He was alive, doubted the presence of his Lord.  It is not until the "Doubting Thomas" feels the very wounds of Jesus that he finally believes and proclaims his risen Lord.  Although only a screen version of one mans struggle to believe, I believe that we can learn alot from this Roman Clavius.  Be he based on a real man or not, it is in his actions that we can learn our lesson.  For after seeing Jesus crucified, Clavius trusted in his senses that He was dead.  His eyes had seen, so he believed.  When others raise doubts of the death of Christ, it is Clavius who pursues the truth.  As we see in John 20:29, Jesus counts those who have never seen Him yet still believe as blessed.  This is where the majority of christians today stand.  We ourselves have no memory of encountering Jesus, yet we believe He exists.  This, is our own faith.  Scripture may tell us of our risen Lord, yet it is our faith that holds the belief in our hearts.  Like Clavius, we seek the truth.

~Scott~