Each Monday leading up to holy week, the History Channel is airing a docu-series called Jesus: His Life.The show awkwardly mixes in dramatic reenactments of the story of Jesuswith commentary from an assemblage of (mostly liberal) Bible scholars.Thetrailer to the show says that this is the life of Christ 'told throughthe eyes of those who knew Him best.' History has never done very wellwith the story of Jesus. Their mini-series The Bible (more accurately termed The Bobble) was terrible. In addition to biblical inaccuracies, it just wasn't entertaining. Jesus: His Lifeis equally dull. The mix of drama with commentary doesn't work. Thethematic scenes fail to be captivating, and the theotwits do not add anylife to the program.Given that the show is flat and fallacious,I don't know why you'd want to bother with it enough to even read myreview.
But I offer this up anyway! The following is a play-by-play ofthe first episode, examining the life of Jesus though the eyes ofJoseph. The time stamps are according to the video stream I watched onHistory's website, sans commercial breaks. And away we go!1:00 —Oh, hello Joel. Yup, Joel Osteen is the executive producer of thislittle number, so he's one of the 'experts' who will be popping up everynow and then.2:00 — The introduction is very 'This is the storyof how Jesus changed the world.' This is not going to be about howJesus was sent by God and died as an atoning sacrifice for those whowill believe in Him. This is going to be about how Jesus bucked thestatus quo and brought about a revolution of social change.
Jesus: His Life” explores the story of Jesus Christ through a unique lens: the people in his life who were closest.
This show will not present the gospel. Phrases like 'Savior of the world' might come up, but they'll never be explained. They'll be framed in a social context, not a gospel one.6:30 — Aside from some questionable theotwits, the information so far has been factual for the most part.7:45 — When Gabriel appears to Mary, he says, 'Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God.
If you choose to accept His plan, you will conceive in your womb and give birth a son.' Not only does this make the announcement to Mary staunchly Arminian, it's also pro-choice! Mary got to choose to have a baby. In Luke 1:31-32, Gabriel said, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus.' 9:00— Mary asks Gabriel, 'Why has He chosen me?' Gabriel replies, 'You arepure of heart and soul.' According to the story in Luke 1, Mary did notask that question, nor was Mary told that was the reason she was chosen.Gabriel said to her, 'Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!' When Mary was troubled, Gabriel said, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for youhave found favor with God.'
She was favored because God chose her, notbecause she merited worthiness.9:30 — James Martin says, 'Noticethat when she says yes to the angel, she doesn't ask her husband or herfather. She says to it on her own. So this is a very strong woman.' Thefeminism is strong with this one.11:00 — Dr. Otis Moss III says,'When Mary says, 'I'm pregnant, and you're not the father,' Josephprobably reacted in a typical male fashion. That's why I love the storybecause it does not sugar-coat it as making Joseph holier than thou.' That's why you love the story?
Because of your own conjecture? Notbecause it's about the birth of the Savior of the world? The show thenportrays Joseph losing his temper, breaking stuff apart and throwing itaround the house he had been building for him and Mary.13:00 —Several teachers are cited as saying that if Joseph outs Mary publiclyas having sex outside of wedlock, she could be killed under Jewish law.' Adultery is a crime punishable by death,' according to Dr. That's true (Deuteronomy 22:20-24), but it's unlikely Marywould have been put to death. The Jews couldn't exercise capitalpunishment without permission from Rome.
The Bible gives us no sensethat Mary's life was in danger. The only people being stoned to death atthat period of time were those who would preach the gospel (Acts 7:59).13:30 — Ah, Michael Curry,.14:30— Joseph is seen cleaning up the house he trashed after his rage fit.I've been waiting to see if anyone will actually quote the Scriptureitself. Matthew 1:18-19 says:Nowthe birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When His mother Maryhad been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found tobe with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being ajust man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce herquietly.Being a 'just man,' he knew what the lawsaid concerning unfaithfulness. Being 'unwilling to put her to shame,'he was not going to make a public spectacle of Mary. He knew the law wason his side.
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Rage-trashing his house is not divorcing her quietly.16:30— An angel speaks to Joseph in a dream and tells him the child inMary's womb is from the Holy Spirit. When Joseph goes back to Mary, Ihave to admit, I found the interaction between them rather touching. Butthen this lovely scene was interrupted by silly commentary.20:00 — Dr. Cargillexplains, 'There are two major problems with the census described in thegospel of Luke. The first is that the census takes place about a decadeafter Jesus has already been born.
The second problem is that Romancensuses did not require people to return to their ancestral home. Mostscholars think that Luke used this census as a device to get Mary andJoseph to Bethlehem because the prophecies say that the Messiah will beborn in the city of David, in Bethlehem of Judea.' I covered this in my book.There are no problems with the census in Luke.
The explanation issimple. Luke does not give an exact time reference to when the censustook place. He said, 'In those days,' which is an unspecific period oftime, and 'this was the first registration when Quirinius was governorof Syria.' All Luke is pointing to is that these events were part of thesame drama, not that they all happened at exactly the same time. Therewas no reason to use 'a device to get Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem.'
Matthew didn't use such an explanation in his gospel.The datesoften used by historians for the Christmas story are based on thewritings of the Jewish historian Josephus. But sometimes Josephus wasoff by as much as a decade. Why are scholars so quick to villify Lukebut justify Josephus?
Luke under the appointment of the Holy Spirit isspotless in the telling of the gospel. Oh, and contrary to Dr. Cargill'sclaims, people did return to their lands when a census was taken.21:45— Ben Witherington III says, 'Joseph and Mary barely got toBethlehem before it was time for Mary to give birth.' Not true, butthat's a minor point.
I appreciate that the show does correct the myththat Jesus was born in a barn. He was filled with family.23:30— Professor Nicola Denzey Lewis says, 'Millions of women died inchildbirth.' Millions of women in Judea died in childbirth?25:00 — Shut up, Joel.25:30— Whenever an angel appears to someone in this show and says, 'Do notbe afraid,' they're just kind of like, 'Who are you?' No one is actuallyafraid.27:30 — The show continues the myth that there were. Except they made the black wise man the lead guy now instead of the token sidekick.28:00— Right before the commercial break, Dr.
Cargill says of the magi,'Meeting Herod the Great must have been terrifying.' They probably hadno idea who he was. But gotta keep the viewers in suspense!29:00— The show has the magi arriving at night. There's no commotion in thecity. Yet the Bible says they came to Jerusalem asking, 'Where is Hewho has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose andhave come to worship Him.' When Herod the king heard this, he wastroubled, and all Jerusalem with him' (Matthew 2:2-3).
The number ofmagi and the size of their caravan were enough to alert all of Jerusalemand earn the magi an audience before Herod. This was a big deal.
Infact the question they asked, 'Where is the King of the Jews,' was askedof Jesus by Pontius Pilate over 30 years later.30:30 — The magisay, 'We followed a star. Our charts tell us it heralds the birth of amessiah.' No, they knew the star was leading them to the Messiah because.32:30 — Joseph tries to refuse the gifts of the magi. That was weird.33:00 — The Love Bishop says love things.34:00— Right before the commercial break, Joseph rebukes the magi for comingbecause they've put Jesus's life at risk.
Oh, good grief. Drama for the sake of drama.35:30 —The Love Bishop says, 'Joseph keeps getting these dreams in Matthew'sgospel. He gets the dream that tells him the child is a miracle of God.Then he gets the dream telling him to flee Palestine and go to Egypt.'
Joseph wasn't listening to dreams. He was obeying God. Matthew 2:13says, 'An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,'Rise, take the child and His mother, and flee to Egypt, and remainthere until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, todestroy Him.'
' The show doesn't depict that. Instead, the show portraysJoseph having a vision of Herod giving the order to kill baby boys inBethlehem.39:30 — Joseph and Mary barely elude the guards andget Jesus out of Bethlehem during the massacre of the innocents.
(I really thought I'd done a WWUTT video on the massacre of theinnocents. Apparently not. I'll get on that for next Christmas.)40:30— Joshua Dubois, Faith Advisor to President Obama, says, 'The holyfamily become refugees.' These comments are always more politicallyloaded than they are biblically accurate. A refugee is someone forced toleave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or have beendisplaced because of a natural disaster.
Yes, Joseph and Mary fled Judeato escape the wrath of Herod, but they never left the Roman empire.They would have gone to the Jewish settlement in Alexandria, Egypt.There they were quite secure among their own people, and they had thegifts from the magi to pay for their stay. This was not like we wouldconsider a modern-day refugee.41:00 — Dr. Moss points out thatJoseph protected his wife and a child who was not his own. 'Josephbecomes a beautiful model for fatherhood today. Where would we be if wehad more men who operated like Joseph?' I appreciate the sentiment.
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Butthe question is better asked, 'Where would we be if more men obeyedGod?' Part 2 examining the life of Jesus through the eyes of John the Baptist coming at a later time. If I think I can stomach more of this.
JESUS: HIS LIFE is an eight-part docudrama from The History Channel about the life of Jesus from the perspective of different people who knew him and encountered him, and Episode One focuses on Joseph. Episode One of JESUS: HIS LIFE contains some speculation and a couple skeptical comments from one scholar, but those comments are refuted by other people interviewed during the program, which contains dramatic scenes reflecting a strong Christian worldview and based on the Gospels of Luke and Matthew.
JESUS: HIS LIFE is an eight-part docudrama from The History Channel about the life of Jesus, told from the perspective of different people who knew him and encountered him, and Episode One focuses on Joseph. Episode One of JESUS: HIS LIFE contains some speculation and a couple skeptical comments from one scholar, but those comments are refuted by other people interviewed during the program, which contains dramatic scenes reflecting a strong Christian worldview and based on the Gospels of Luke and Matthew.Episode One of JESUS: HIS LIFE is partly narrated by speculative comments from Joseph, who took Jesus as his own son, about Joseph’s own thoughts, but it also contains dramatic scenes showing the appearances of angels to Joseph and the Virgin Mary. In the episode, those appearances convince Joseph and Mary that Jesus is the Son of God conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and the Messiah. Episode One also shows the Magi visiting King Herod the Great and the Baby Jesus. It ends with Joseph and Mary escaping to Egypt when they learn of Herod’s plans to kill Jesus. Interspersed with the dramatic scenes are short interview segments featuring scholars and Christian leaders discussing the events depicted in the New Testament documents.Episode One provides an excellent summary of the first few chapters of Matthew and Luke.
The acting in the dramatic scenes is compelling. The episode does, however, contain some speculation about what exactly Joseph was thinking during the first chapters of the Gospels According to Luke and Matthew. In two other scenes, a scholar expresses doubts about the Roman Census mentioned in the Book of Luke and about King Herod’s order to send soldiers to kill Jesus mentioned in the Book of Matthew, but other people interviewed reject his skepticism. For example, King Herod is well known as a murderous tyrant, one man says, so there’s no reason to doubt Matthew’s account of Herod’s attempt to kill Jesus by ordering his soldiers to kill all the young boys in Bethlehem. Furthermore, research by MOVIEGUIDE® shows that, at the time of Jesus, Bethlehem was a small town with only 300 to 500 people living there, so the number of boys age two and below was, at the most, 10 to 20 children.
Roman and Jewish historians probably would have no reason, then, to mention such a small albeit horrible event.Overall, therefore, the first episode has a strong Christian worldview and a high view of the biblical accounts about Joseph, Mary and the Baby Jesus. Hopefully, the other seven episodes will have the same attitude.
MOVIEGUIDE® will keep readers and listeners posted. Naturally, of course, we encourage everyone to study the Bible and its historical background and meaning to get the full effect of the biblical text as God intends. A one-hour television episode can never totally replace the experience that an in-depth study of the biblical text can give. For instance, Joel Green’s commentary, THE GOSPEL OF LUKE (Eerdmans, 1997), makes for pretty in depth, fruitful studying.
JESUS: HIS LIFE is an eight-part docudrama on The History Channel about the life of Jesus, told from the perspective of people who knew Jesus. Episode One focuses on Joseph.
It contains some speculation about what Joseph was thinking during the first chapters of the Gospels by Luke and Matthew. Also, dramatic scenes show the appearances of angels to Joseph and the Virgin Mary. Those appearances convince them that Jesus is the Son of God conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. Episode One also shows the wise men visiting King Herod and Baby Jesus. It ends with Joseph, Mary and Jesus escaping to Egypt when they learn of Herod’s plot to kill Jesus.
Finally, Episode One contains short interview segments featuring scholars and Christian leaders.Episode One provides an excellent summary of the first few chapters of Matthew and Luke. One scholar expresses doubt about a couple minor historical points, but other interviews refute his skepticism immediately after his two comments. Overall, therefore, Episode One of JESUS: HIS LIFE has a strong Christian worldview and a high view of the Bible.