Lent is a religious observance held by many Christian denominations starting with Ash Wednesday and ending with Easter Sunday. If your Christian denomination does not celebrate the Lenten season, it doesn't mean we cannot take the time to reflect on the wonderful finished work of Christ.
In its true essence, the Lenten season is a time to remember, reflect on and celebrate God's redemptive work for all mankind through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. This is not something that only one sector of Christianity celebrates, but one that we all share.
And one way to reflect on God's work is through film. I'm not saying it's more important than Bible reading and prayer, but we must take every opportunity to absorb God's work. Film can be a good way to do just that.
Here are four movies to watch during the Lenten season that will help you appreciate God's finished work.
Released just last Feb. 19, "Risen" is a movie that tells the tale of an unbelieving Roman soldier assigned to retrieve the body of the post-execution Jesus. After a series of events and revelations come to the Roman military tribune Clavius (played by Joseph Fiennes), he is confronted by the truth that this man everyone thought was dead might be alive and may be more than just a man.
One of the most recent film adaptations narrating the day that Jesus was executed, "The Passion of the Christ" paints a clear and graphic picture of the torture that Jesus had to go through. The film stars Jim Caviezel, Monica Bellucci and Maia Morgenstern and was released back in 2004.
Christopher Spencer's version of the film telling the tale of the ministry of Jesus tells more than just His death, but narrates as well the miracles, preachings and tension that followed Jesus as He and His twelve disciples travelled all over to proclaim the good news. The film stars Diogo Morgado, Darwin Shaw and Sebastian Knapp.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
Although this film is not a depiction of God's work of redemption through the life of Christ, C.S. Lewis kept it no secret that the fantasy story is a parallelism of the story of Jesus. In the story of "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe," Aslan illustrates Jesus who gave up His life in exchange for Edmund Pevensie, but comes back to life after death could not take hold of him.
