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Matthew 4:1-11
By Martin Kich

SCRIPTURE & SCREEN: Matthew 4:1-11

In this well-known passage, the devil tempts Jesus with the kinds of things that ambitious people yearn for in this earthly life, with the kinds of thing for which they might be tempted to barter even their eternal salvation. This theme has been most pointedly played out in the various re-workings of the Faust story, in which the protagonists "sells his soul" to the devil in order to achieve his earthly ambitions.

Cinematically, the devil has typically been more of a caricature than a truly sinister presence. In the still harrowing film The Exorcist, we see him in the terrible transformation of a pretty girl into a vomit-spewing, foul-mouthed, demonic presence. But because the devil seems strangely confined with the girl to her bedroom, the manifestations of his corrosive power ultimately seem more a sometimes shocking and often disgusting carnival act than a real threat to whatever goodness exists in the world.

A number of the most prominent actors of the generation now becoming somewhat geriatric have tried to play the devil. In Angel Heart, Robert DeNiro tries to create a lot of subtle distinctions... (continued in Lectionary Homiletics/GoodPreacher.com)

Matthew 17:1-9
By Martin Kich

SCRIPTURE & SCREEN

In this passage, Jesus takes four of his disciples to a mountain top, where he is transfigured before them and speaks with Moses and the prophet Elijah. At the end of the day, as they are descending the mountain, Jesus tells his disciples to remain silent about what they have witnessed until after his resurrection.

This passage is difficult to illustrate through films unless one focuses on the elements of the situation, rather than on the essence of it. If one keeps that observation in mind, then my choice to focus on Melvin and Howard in this article may seem, perhaps, a little less strange.

Both the biblical passage and the film are set in remote locations. Both involve an unexpected face-to-face meeting between larger-than-life figures and ordinary people. In each instance, a secret is kept—albeit deliberately in the biblical passage but unknowingly in the film. And, in the end, when the events are publicly revealed, they are received with the same widespread skepticism—though the reaction is related in later books of the Bible, whereas it is very central to the film.

Melvin and Howard is based on the real-life controversy...(continued in Lectionary Homiletics/GoodPreacher.com)

Subscribers have access to approximately 60 articles (like this one) on the texts for this week. These articles are not just exegetical articles but essays (and sermons) on the texts from theological, pastoral, arts, and homiletical perpectives.

Matthew 4:12-23
By Dan R. Dick

Scripture and Screen

There is an absolutely stunning scene in John Duigan’s subtle 1989 masterpiece, Romero. Recounting the rise of Archbishop Oscar Romero during the guerilla insurrection in El Salvador in the late 1970s and 80s, the film provides a powerful look at one man’s faith and the effect it had on so many other lives. Archbishop Romero protested the terror campaign launched against the guerilla soldiers, and in retaliation the El Salvadoran government closed churches and assassinated priests.

In one scene, Archbishop Romero—portrayed beautifully by Raul Julia—is leading worship in the sanctuary of a small village. Government troops assisted by American soldiers enter the village, proceed to the church, and demand that everyone leave immediately. Timidly, and with evident unease, Bishop Romero faces the leader of the soldiers. The soldier mocks and humiliates him, physically forcing him to leave the church. As he stands outside the sanctuary, he looks at the faces of the people of the village, realizing he has let them down. With resolve, he returns to the church.

Marching up the aisle, he ignores the shouts of the military men and begins to gather up the host that was scattered on the floor during the first altercation. Refusing to acknowledge the soldiers, Romero humbly gathers the wafers. The commanding officer pulls his rifle and begins spraying the front of the church with gunfire, just over Romero’s prostrate form, destroying everything on the altar. Once more, Romero is lifted to his feet and forcibly evicted from the church.

Visibly shaken and distraught, Bishop Romero gets in his car and his driver pulls away, leaving a cloud of dust. The villagers watch the car dwindle in the distance, despair and defeat on each face. There is an oppressive sense of hopelessness and fear saturating the scene. As people begin to disperse, the sound of an engine can be heard just prior to the Archbishop’s car emerging from the dust cloud. With new resolve, Romero steps from his car, and his driver helps him put on his vestments—robe and stole of his office. With head held high, he moves toward the doors of the small church. The camera pans across the faces of the men and women—young and old—in the crowd. Eyes sparkle and jaws set and people begin to fall in formation behind the Archbishop. As one body, knit and joined in spiritual courage and righteousness, they march to the church, standing toe-to-toe with the commander. For a brief moment, he and Romero freeze in a stare-down, then the commander looks away and lowers his gun. Romero and the villagers reclaim God’s house, defeating the powers and principalities of this world by faith and authentic Christian discipleship.

Bishop Oscar Romero began as a simple priest and died as a Christian martyr when he was killed during a communion service in March 1980. His faith, courage, and conviction sustained him through terrible days in El Salvador, and inspired thousands of people to act for the greater good and stand up for what was right. It is no wonder that people found the courage to follow his powerful example.

Romero’s story makes today’s scripture passage from Matthew all the more remarkable. It is one thing to earn people’s support and devotion, but it is something quite different to claim such devotion based on reputation or hearsay. Matthew’s gospel gives the impression that Jesus arrives at the Sea of Galilee and during brief and random encounters, extends the invitation to follow to four young men—Peter, Andrew, James, and John. Without hesitation –immediately—these men dropped what they were doing, left home, and family, and livelihood, and followed an itinerant preacher from Nazareth.

On what did these men base their faith and devotion? How, in the briefest of encounters, did these men decide to change their entire lives? Where did they gain the courage and commitment to enter into the unknown with a perfect stranger? The gospels don’t tell us, but what they reveal to us about who Jesus really was help us, today, to understand. There was something significant in the very person of Jesus that spoke volumes that gave confidence, communicated truth, and inspired trust.

Archbishop Oscar Romero earned deep trust through the integrity of his words and actions. Apparent to all, he was not powerful or any match for the army. But his willingness to die for what he believed in and his unwavering trust in God showed others they could trust this humble man. That same integrity appears constantly in the retelling of the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth. In the face of such nobility and grace, it isn’t really very difficult to imagine people joyfully leaving all they had to follow a preacher the likes of which the world had never known before.

Dan R. Dick (from Lectionary Homiletics/GoodPreacher.com)

John 1:29-42
By Martin Kich

Subscribers have access to approximately 60 articles (like the one below) on the texts for this week. These articles are not just exegetical articles but essays (and sermons) on the texts from theological, pastoral, arts, and homiletical perpectives.

Scripture & Screen: John 1:29-42

In this passage John acknowledges that he is preparing the way for Jesus. In the classic western, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962, directed by John Ford), this theme of the precursor giving way to the savior is given a number of ironic turns...(continued in GoodPreacher.com/Back Issues)

Matthew 3:13-17
By Martin Kich

SCRIPTURE & SCREEN : Matthew 3:13-17

The closing of this passage presents the relationship between God the Father and Jesus as the idealized prototype for relationships between fathers and sons. The Son is everything that the Father might expect him to be, and therefore, the Father takes great pleasure and great pride in the Son’s character and actions.

Of course, far more contemporary novels and films explore strained, rather than ideal, relationships between fathers and sons. One of the more complex explorations of father-son relationships in recent films is presented in Road to Perdition. A gangster film set during the Great Depression, Road to Perdition is unusual for films of its kind because it emphasizes character development and complex relationships over violent action. Indeed, this emphasis might seem even more unlikely when one considers that the screenplay was adapted from a pulp-oriented graphic novel by Max Allan Collins, a veteran mystery-detective and crime novelist and a notable commentator on the conventions of the genres.

The main character of Road to Perdition is Michael Sullivan, Sr., played by Tom Hanks...(continued in Lectionary Homiletics/GoodPreacher.com)

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