Everybody knows who Jesus Christ is and His story of hope and salvation through His crucifixion.
However, people know little about His childhood days and His upbringing. This is what the film "The Young Messiah" seeks to do—to let the world know what Jesus was like when He was only seven years old.
In an interview with The Gospel Herald, Director Cyrus Nowrasteh said Jesus was a very curious and bright child who already knew there was something different about Him.
"He wants to know what that is and why that is," said Nowrasteh. "He sets about on a journey to find that out over the course of the movie. There's no more important aspect than that going on at that time. Even in an everyday child's life, that's the age of the dawn of reason, that's when the concept of mortality becomes engrained in a child, that He's separate from his mother, that He's going to die, that there are larger issues and questions out there. Who am I? Why am I? I think seven was really a perfect age to explore."
At the same time, Nowrasteh said a lot of parents will relate to the ordeals faced by Joseph and Mary in raising Jesus only for the latter to die on the cross.
"Families watching this film will get a window into Joseph and Mary as parents, unlike any film they've seen before," he said. "We have to go inside the holy family. Otherwise, you can't tell the story. So often in movies they've been portrayed as icons that you never really connect or relate to as characters, you never get an emotional connection to them, they're purely iconic."
The film might be considered historical fiction, but Nowrasteh said they took great care in researching the New Testament about Jesus' youth. They also sought the help of theological scholars, pastors, and priests to make sure that the film stays true to His life.
"We wanted to do something that was reverential and respectful, and it was a kind of informed and educated conjecture," Nowrasteh explained. "Of course, the best research is in the Bible itself, because even though it doesn't cover Jesus at age seven, Jesus during His ministry is certainly revealed in the Bible, and our guidepost for how to write the child Jesus is right there, because we want our child Jesus to be as consistent as possible with Jesus as an adult. That was really the best guide. We wanted to be as theologically orthodox as possible, so we had pastors, consultants and advisors who know that world inside out watch the movie and read early drafts of the script."
