The movie Risen is about a Roman tribune under Pontius Pilate. It presents a fictional account of a Roman soldier who comes to faith after witnessing the death and resurrection of Christ. I like the movie. It is generally faithful to the Gospel accounts of Christ’s death and resurrection. All the movie’s main characters are polytheists. Pilate explains that his favorite deity is Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, because he needs wisdom to do his job. The tribune says he usually prays to Mars, the god of war. The tribune’s assistant seems to favor Poseidon.
Before he comes to faith, the tribune sees the midday darkness that occurs during the crucifixion (Matt 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44-45). When the earthquake occurs during the crucifixion (Matt 27:51), his assistant says, “Poseidon is angry.” The tribune responds that certainly one of the gods is.
The centurion at the cross sees these things. He is disturbed by what he sees and how Jesus handles His crucifixion, and is at the point of tears when he says, “This was an innocent man” (Luke 23:47). He comments that he has seen strange things at the cross that day. He is not a young soldier, but a hardened one. There is a mention of the God of the Jews. The tribune tells the centurion to get hold of his emotions.
The movie accurately presents these soldiers as superstitious people. They see the hand of some god behind all the strange events. The film shows that the tribune eventually realizes it was the God of the Jews.
Roman soldiers saw unusual events such as midday darkness and earthquakes as the work of the gods. They believed that local gods often displayed their power in the geographic region where they were worshipped. According to their superstitious beliefs, it would be natural to think that the darkness and earthquake in Judea were the work of the Jewish God.
Roman soldiers respected bravery and integrity. The words of the Lord on the cross would have caught their attention. In Luke 23:34, Jesus asks His Father to forgive the soldiers who crucified Him. The soldiers and centurion heard those words. They saw how He faced death. They also saw all the supernatural events. All these things would have drawn them to know more about the One on the cross. In the movie, Pilate tells the tribune that he has never met anybody who welcomed death more than “the Nazarene.”
In the NT, the centurion calls Christ “the Son of God.” This does not mean that he became a believer, but it does show that the Lord was reaching out to him. Maybe he later believed. In Risen, we see Roman soldiers who are being drawn to see the truth about Christ.
The movie illustrates a Biblical truth: God loves the whole world (John 3:16). Christ died for everyone who has ever lived. God reaches out to every person. He deals with them where they are. He can use what people value, or the culture in which they live, to draw them to faith. The Holy Spirit has numerous ways to convince unbelievers of the truth (John 16:8).
When people respond to what God shows them, they then need to hear the message of life. We can be the ones who tell them that eternal life is theirs if they believe in Christ for it.
The Lord can reach those we least expect. The Roman soldiers at the cross and the centurion leading them were the ones who put Him to death. They were polytheistic pagans. They were the enemies of God’s people. But we know from the Scriptures that the Lord was shining light into the darkness that engulfed them. When He does the same for people around us, may we be ready to tell them about the truth they are seeking.
