Gospel elephant
JESUS THE HERO
By Andy Frost
Big Book Media. £9.99
Running time: 15 minutes
Jesus the Hero is one part of a series of seven DVDs ‘offering seven fresh perspectives on the very character of Jesus’.
The DVD is beautifully shot and combines Andy Frost speaking to camera on location in Palestine with a spectacular dramatisation of the story of the arrest, trial and death of Jesus interspersed throughout. Frost takes us through four crucifixion events from Matthew’s Gospel: the sky turning black, the temple curtain being torn, the earth shaking and the opening of the graves. At each point he explains the significance of these signs, pointing to the greater spiritual and cosmic significance of the death of Christ.
The concept of the DVD is a good one; core truths explained simply in a way which is easy to access for the many non-readers in our congregations. While there are lots of other laudable things about the DVD and everything Frost says is true and helpful and put across well, the elephant in the room is the failure to mention the wrath-bearing nature of Jesus’s death as he faces God’s judgment for our sin. It’s actually quite difficult to understand the darkness without it, but the DVD manages to explain it as the evil in the world being dealt with. I hesitate to make this comment because this might be the subject of one of the other six films, but it’s such a big omission in an otherwise helpful DVD that I fear it might be a case of style over content.
Steve Palframan,
pastor, Aigburth Community Church, Liverpool
