The Book is Better than the Movie!

March 23, 2025

Marie and I watched the movie “The Last Supper” yesterday. It was a pretty good way to spend a Tuesday evening with my bride. However, I have the same reservations about this movie as I do about most other “Bible-based” movies. First of all, and most importantly, DON’T GET YOUR THEOLOGY FROM THE MOVIES! The writers and directors of these movies all take quite a bit of poetic license to tell their particular slant on a bible event. They have to because even if you take the longest recorded sermon of Jesus in the Bible, the “Sermon on the Mount” and shoot the movie verbatim from the Bible, the movie would be maybe twenty minutes long. So, understand going in that most of this movie (and other “Bible-based” movies) isn’t taken from the Bible as much as it is taken from the imagination of the writers, producers, and directors. Knowing that upfront, I thought the powers that be behind “The Last Supper” told a good story. I especially thought the scenes showing Judas Iscariot wrestling with the thoughts put into his head by Satan were good. I also thought having a snake in these “Satan scenes” was a nice touch borrowed from the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Much like the movie “The Passion of the Christ” this movie serves as a reminder of the agony and humiliation Jesus went through when the wrath of God was poured out upon Him. It also made me thankful for God’s amazing grace in making a way to bring us back to Him. Finally, as I watched the scenes of Jesus being arrested, beaten, tried, and crucified, I wondered, not for the first time, what a stupid rabbit and a bunch of candied eggs have to do with any of this. Nothing, that’s what. Remember this. Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and He doesn’t share Easter with a silly rabbit or Christmas with a jolly man in a red suit who shouts, “ho, ho, ho.” Satan is all about offering substitutes for who God is and what God does. Watching the cruelty and violence that was done to Jesus is hard to watch, so Satan provides a substitute. Candy, presents, easter eggs, the Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus are easy on the eyes and taste buds, but y’all, what Jesus suffered and the blood that flowed on the cross pays our sin debt and delivers peace with God for those who trust in the finished work of Jesus. All Easter candy does is make us fat! So, look to your Bible for your theology. Humble yourself before the Lord, Jesus Christ and be thankful for God’s gift of salvation, and never forget that Jesus died for you.