The power struggle between Jesus and Satan, at the beginning of “Son of Man”, set the theme for the entire movie. The struggle, while seemingly a struggle between two people, was a struggle between two forces, good and evil. Throughout the film, as bad things are going on, Satan always appears with the evil doers, or right before them. This is the director’s way of showing that there are forces, that are not of this world but who control (or have influence over) the goings on in this world. The character of Jesus, in this film (and in general really), is the embodiment of good. Throughout the movie he is going around and healing helpless people (such as young children), forgiving sinners (the adulteress), and comforting the weak and broken hearted. The last comforting the weak and broken hearted comes in when he lifts the woman, who had come to pour oil on his feet, to her feet, and when he and the disciples comfort the children whose parents and left them in the road as a sign of protest.
The struggle for good went beyond just helping people, to fighting a corrupt government. Before I started taking Jesus in history and culture, I never saw Jesus as a political figure in the first century. I knew that people would vote based on whether or not a candidate was “Christian”, but I never thought of Jesus being involved in the politics of his own time. “Son of Man” showed how Jesus could go from being kind and loving towards the unfortunate people around him and then turn and be very upset with the government officials. The story also placed Jesus in Africa, in a very difficult circumstance, not unlike the one that was going on in ancient Roman times. Christians today often look at the story of Jesus as a nice story. They see an Arian man who healed people and said a few nice things about Heaven and how to live well. “Son of Man”, as well as this class, helped to change that view for me.
The struggle for good went beyond just helping people, to fighting a corrupt government. Before I started taking Jesus in history and culture, I never saw Jesus as a political figure in the first century. I knew that people would vote based on whether or not a candidate was “Christian”, but I never thought of Jesus being involved in the politics of his own time. “Son of Man” showed how Jesus could go from being kind and loving towards the unfortunate people around him and then turn and be very upset with the government officials. The story also placed Jesus in Africa, in a very difficult circumstance, not unlike the one that was going on in ancient Roman times. Christians today often look at the story of Jesus as a nice story. They see an Arian man who healed people and said a few nice things about Heaven and how to live well. “Son of Man”, as well as this class, helped to change that view for me.
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