"Risen"

"Risen" is a wonderful film, which demonstrates why it makes perfect sense to believe in Jesus.  There is a logic to our Faith, which unbelievers can learn and believers should relearn....

1) Before His crucifixion, Jesus Christ made the incredible claim to be God and foretold that He would rise from the dead!

2) After authorities of the world's then most powerful empire crucified Jesus, the last thing they wanted was anyone believing that He had indeed risen from the dead!

3) The tomb was sealed with a huge stone and armed guards were stationed, to prevent Jesus' followers from moving His Body. Yet somehow, the tomb was empty on that first Easter morning.

4) While there was a rigorous search, no one then - or EVER - came forth with Christ's dead body.  Of course, that's because He rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven (and will be back!).

5) Even with our modern forensic science obsessions, no one has come up with a truly plausible alternative explanation about Jesus' body.  Rather than face up to that, many prefer to ignore reality!

6) The movie shows an inexplicable image left on burial cloth found in the tomb, which appears to be the Shroud of Turin and/or the Veil of Manoppello.  Has any other film depicted these?  While the Church has not definitively said so, I believe them to be the burial cloths described in John 20. And author Paul Badde compellingly argues that it was seeing these burial cloths that sparked the change in Jesus' pals from sheepishness to powerful witnesses.

No book or movie is going to match the actual experience of Christ's Resurrection and His offer of salvation to each of us.  Rather than focusing on Risen’s supposed limitations, we need to encourage people to see it.

Other Postings:

• Anybody remember all that stuff about the "Theology of the Body"?

• “Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so,” He added, “shall your descendants be.”