The History Channel’s The Bible: My Thoughts, Part 5

Week three of The Bible mini-series is now history. I am sure that once again there are an numerous critics who will feel the need to point out the “errors” in the presentation. I am encouraged by the many folks who have reached out to me and said they intend to look beyond the perceived differences to see what God may be saying to them as they watch the series, just as I stated I intended to do. As I have stated, there is more than one account where I think they have some details incorrect. But there are far more where I feel they got it right. That is encouraging.

This week my thoughts went a different direction. As I sat and watched week three, I was taken by the number of times they took a different slant on the interpretation of how an event (we both believe actually happened) may have gone down. Here are a couple of cases in point.

When Joseph is visited by the angel to tell him to go ahead and complete the marriage to Mary, it happens right out in a public environment. A child takes his hand, who then transforms into the angel of the Lord and gives the word by the Lord to Joseph. After the visitation, Joseph is alert and still in the same location and no one around him notices what has taken place. Earlier, when Mary is visited by the same angel, it also happens in the middle of the day. Now, do I think that is exactly how that scene played our 2,000 years ago? I do not know. And neither do you. But as I said to my wife as we watched it, “Now that is an interesting take on the event. God could have an angel visit someone in broad daylight and in a full crowd if he desired. Who is to say the visitation occurred in the middle of the night as he slept as we usually picture it.” He was in a dream and asleep according to Matthew, but it does not have to have been sleep as we think of it at night. There are accounts in Scripture of this sort of event in front of folks who had no idea what was taking place. In Luke, Mary’s visitation does not mention sleep at all. Whether or not I agree is not the point. It is a dramatic interpretation that comes from the mind of someone who believes Jesus birth was miraculous just as I do, and it speaks truth to me and I am sure to many who viewed it.

A second time this was well played was at the birth of Jesus. (And witnessing that scene HAD to bring tears to your eyes; the portrayal was very moving!) While I do not think the Magi and Shepherds appeared at the same time, the scene where they were all present and at once bowed to Jesus was magnificently done! The look of shock on Joseph and Mary’s face was masterful directing and incredible acting on both their parts. It showed how this young couple (although Joseph may have been in his thirties) would have probably responded to the actual worship being given to this child. In Luke it never says the Shepherds bowed down. In Matthew the Magi clearly did, just as depicted. That does not take away from the power and the beauty of the scene and God spoke peace to my heart while I watched it.

Before closing this entry, I must say that I was troubled that some tried to make the depiction of Jesus’ temptation political in 2013 by implying a Satan character was chosen to look like the current President of the United States. When you see the renowned actor who played Satan, without makeup, it makes the controversy seem even more ludicrous. My fear was that something such as that could slow the movement of folks who may actually read the Bible after watching The Bible. I will pray that is not the case, especially as we move into these final two week.