This dramatization of The Gospel According to St. John
is a work of art, beautifully staged and acted, the words coming directly from
Sacred Scripture, the American Bible Society’s Good News Bible, nothing omitted
and nothing added. A viewer can read along with the movie. Simply summarized,
it is a pure proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, God incarnate. It
begins with creation, placing Jesus, the Word, with God and actually being God,
at the creation, and ends with his post resurrection, pre ascension,
appearances to the disciples. Scottish actor Henry Cusick and Canadian
actor Daniel Kash are
excellent as Jesus and Simon Peter. Christopher Plummer is the narrator.
I don’t remember when I first heard of the movie or watched
it, but I found it very helpful a dozen or so years ago with Lutheran
Confirmation classes of students around age 12. They were spellbound. And I
found it to be a perfect aid and conversation stimulator in an Adult Bible
Study of John’s Gospel. The faintest
praise I have read is an Associated Press quote on the DVD box: “Thought
Provoking Entertainment.” I suggest it may also be, for some viewers, Life
Changing Entertainment resulting from belated realization of who Jesus was and
is and what He did and does, and what He asks of his followers.
This Wikipedia
article gives details of backers, artists, cast, and musical score and
points out the one controversial and sometimes questioned scene in the movie,
the silent presence of Mary Magdalene at the Last Supper. I would guess she was
not present there, but the Gospel of John certainly considers her a prominent
member of the close followers of Jesus. And, in writings of the first century
and earlier, it was not unusual to omit mention of women. The scene at the
Wedding at Cana, Mary, Mother of Jesus, instructing the servers to “Do
whatever he tells you,” the dialogue with the woman at the well and her
resulting evangelization of her community, the interactions with Mary and
Martha, and the important role of the women at his resurrection all speak to
the importance and prominence of the women followers of Jesus.
Check out the movie. If you get through Jesus’s dialogue
with the Samaritan Woman at the Well in John Chapter 4, I predict you will be
hooked and will end up watching the movie more than once. And of course, it is
no longer necessary to buy the DVD (photo above) since the movie is free on Amazon
Prime (Average Rating of 4.5) and on YouTube as well.