Title: Ben-Hur
Starring: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins
Directed by: William Wyler
Number on the AFI List: 100 (ugh)
Year: 1959
"And I felt his voice take the sword out of my hand." - Judah Ben-Hur
I was skeptical when I started this movie because of the length of it.
However, now I am FLOORED. Absolutely floored. What a
beautiful story of redemption and hope. I’ve had a chance to study
the Inter-testamental period and the Gospels over the past month through my
internship at Reality LA, so it was really cool to be able to follow the
historical context in a fresh light. Judah Ben-Hur, played by Charlton Heston
in his Pre-Moses days (PM for short), is the prince of Judea. He is friends with a Roman tribune, Messala (Stephen Boyd), but their friendship is torn apart by Ben-Hur's loyalty to God and Messala's loyalty to the state. Messala falsely accuses Ben-Hur and his mother and sister of trying to harm him after a roof tile accidentally falls on his parade. Ben-Hur is taken as a slave, and then we follow his epic journey to seek revenge on Messala and find his mother and sister. The Lord is gracious to Ben-Hur, giving him favor with other Roman soldiers, until he becomes a hailed tribune himself. It is not until witnessing Jesus' death on the cross that Ben-Hur finally forgives Messala, in a beautiful ending that I will be thinking about for a long time.
I loved the concept of following a man’s
life during the same time as Jesus’ life on earth without
focusing on Jesus, and yet Jesus saves the day. How could he not? Ben-Hur’s
story is every man’s life, living a life of
reliance upon self and strength, envy and revenge, until the Suffering Servant
breaks the cycle. I love how when Ben-Hur prayed for God to give him strength,
Jesus gave him water. I literally hollered when that happened. Jesus gave
Ben-Hur strength to do the task set before him when giving him water, and Ben
Hur returned the favor on Christ’s walk to Golgotha. The
beauty of the ending still has me in awe. The kingdom of God came down upon
Ben-Hur and his family and changed the course of their life. As the blood of
Jesus fell with the rain, healing, forgiveness, and grace reordered their
future to one of hope and love. “By His stripes we are
healed.” Isaiah 53:5. All of the fighting Ben-Hur had to do to
redeem himself was lifted off of His shoulders as the freedom of Christ fell
upon his household.
This movie was a tremendous encouragement to me in the midst
of a difficult health and life battle of my own. The beauty of seeing the
kingdom of God has renewed my hope. So thank you, William Wyler, for creating a
truth filled movie.
Thank you, Jesus, for suffering for the sake of our
forgiveness.
Favorite moment: The ending *spoilers!*
Will I watch it again: I’m tempted to start over
the whole 3.5 hours!
No comments:
Post a Comment