The Greatest Christian film ever made

Recently, Christianity Today ran an article listing the top ten films about Jesus. Like all such things, it's purely a matter of taste and opinion, but there was one notable exclusion from the list. No prizes for guessing what they left out. The Last Temptation of Christ is hardly the sort of film conservative evangelicals are going to flock to. Jesus as played by Willem Dafoe is a man wracked by doubts, fallible, confused, tormented by God as much as beloved by him. It's blasphemy, and the screenwriter, Paul Schrader, is quite candid about it. In the DVD commentary he acknowledges the film as blasphemous, because it uses the figure of Christ as the symbol of man's struggle with God, with faith. And because of this it is the greatest Christian story told in cinema.

This Jesus struggles to understand God's purpose for him on Earth. He takes on the mission, but then repeatedly changes his mind about what God wants of him. Is he a good teacher, a man of love, a man of war, a sacrifice for mankind? He's never sure, but in his constant struggles he tries his best to follow what he believes God wants of him. Is there any better description of how a life of faith is led? Blind and groping, trusting in the unseen, hoping that God will make right any mistakes made in pursuit of his will.

In his final temptation, Jesus is led down off the cross believing that God is satisfied and will leave him be. He has done enough, he can now fulfil his desire for a normal life. He marries, has children, grows old. But then he is confronted by Judas, his best friend, the man he persuaded to betray him to the authorities. Judas accuses Jesus of betraying him, of turning his back on God. When he realises that he has been duped, Jesus stumbles back to Golgotha and begs God to take him back. The prayer he prays is, for me, the purest expression of the problem of faith. It's easy to convince ourselves that the desires of our own hearts are God's desires too, and it is very hard to admit when we are mistaken. This prayer sums up so much of it.

Abba, father, will you still listen
to me? Are you still there? Will you
listen to a selfish, unfaithful son?
I fought you when you called. I
resisted. I thought I knew more. I
didn't want to be your son. Can you
forgive me? I didn't fight hard
enough. I want to take your hand; I
want to save my fellow men. Father,
take me back. Make a feast. Welcome
me home. I want to be your son. I
want to pay the price. I want to be
crucified and rise again. I want to
be the Messiah.

The laughter and relief as Jesus finds himself back on the cross are as powerful an image as I can imagine. When he cries with exultation "It is accomplished!" he speaks for all of us. He is all of us. The Jesus of The Last Temptation may not be the Jesus of the Bible, but he isn't meant to be. He is a reflection on our own struggles, our conflicting desires between God and ourselves. Because of this, The Last Temptation of Christ will never be the greatest film about Jesus. But it is hard to imagine it will ever be anything less than the greatest film about Faith, about Ourselves, ever made.