March 5 2016: If you're looking for a movie in this Resurrection season to take someone to see, may I humbly suggest you go see RISEN. I went to see it last evening, the 4:30 showing. To my surprise, I was the only person in the theater showing this movie that has nine other films playing. However, I wasn't alone; the Lord was there too and He spoke to me in whispers while the movie played, and we watched this movie together. I became completely immersed in the story, which although fictional it still remained faithful to the true account in Scripture.
RISEN is about events which took place 1,983 years ago. It is a story told from the perspective of a fictional veteran Roman soldier named Clavius. Clavius is the Tribune Cohort of the Legio X Fretensis (Tenth Legion of the Sicily Straits) stationed just outside the walls of Jerusalem. The first cohort of the Roman 10th Legion consisted of five centurions leading eight hundred soldiers. The only person of a higher rank than Tribune Clavius is Pontius Pilate, the Roman Prefect of Judea.
RISEN opens on the day in 33 AD when our Lord and Messiah Yeshua was crucified exactly as prophesied by the angel Gabriel in Daniel 9:26a, thereby closing out the 69th week. This is what the Lord whispered, reminding that we literally stand an inhale away from Daniel 9:26c and the advent of Daniel 9:27, the 70th Week. The passing of the previous 1,983 years have been but a twinkling in His eye.
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| Golgotha, the hill outside Jerusalem that looks like a human skull. |
Tribune Clavius had returned to report to Pilate about a successful battle against Jewish zealots, and is informed of the crucifixion taking place; that he should depart to see to its finality. As the Tribune arrives at Golgotha outside the eastern wall of Jerusalem, approximately 350 yards from the front entrance of the Temple and in front of the Mount of Olives, he is an eyewitness to Yeshua's death on the Cross; His face is seared into the Tribune's mind.
Upon returning to Pontius Pilate to report on the finality of the crucifixion, Clavius arrives concurrently with the Temple High Priests, led by Caiaphas, who inform that the threat to Roman rule posed by Yeshua has not yet ended because Yeshua's followers will steal his body and claim that He has risen from the dead in three days time.
Tribune Clavius and his cohort of Legio X Fretensis soldiers are tasked by Caiaphas and Pilate to ensure that the body of Yeshua remains in His tomb. Accordingly, a great cylindrical stone is rolled in front of the tomb's entrance and strapped in place by heavy ropes anchored in solid rock by iron pins. Roman Prefecture seals are also placed upon the ropes to signify they are not to be touched by human hands wielding any blade. The security of this tomb is believed to be of the highest order... until the third day arrives.
Arriving at the tomb Clavius discovers the Prefecture's seals have been melted, the heavy ropes snapped lengthwise, and the tombstone has been thrown several yards clear of the tomb entrance. So begins the frantic search for the body of Yeshua for Tribune Clavius, his Centurions and their cohort of Roman Legio X soldiers. The Tribune cannot believe his eyes, and in his search for Yeshua's body he seeks only the truth of the matter.
The rest of this film you will have to see for yourself, preferably with someone who has not yet found salvation in Yeshua Messiah. Chances are good they will also find Yeshua in a similar journey of discovery through witnessing. RISEN is an excellent vehicle to that highly desirable end. I highly recommend RISEN, it is a five-star movie in my opinion. Rated PG-13.
