The first trailer for The Young Messiah, the film based on Anne Rice’s novel Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, is here. Check it out below the jump.
Here is the trailer itself:
I especially like how the trailer quotes Philippians 2:7-8, a passage from one of Paul’s epistles that many scholars think is based on an even earlier Christian hymn.
However, while the passage emphasizes the self-emptying of Jesus — that is, how God the Son made himself nothing to become human — the trailer indicates that the film will show Jesus performing miracles at a very young age, instead of waiting until he is an adult as many Christians believe he did (based on passages like John 2:11).
This suggests that, as far as the film is concerned, Jesus may have emptied himself insofar as he doesn’t seem to be aware of his divine origins — he emptied his mind, in other words — but he did not empty himself of his power all that much. Jesus may still have to grow “in wisdom and stature”, but not necessarily in other ways.
Then again, the trailer does show Mary telling Jesus to wait before showing his power again. So the idea that he waited is reflected in the script in some fashion.
Mary also mentions in the trailer that she was 14 years old when she gave birth to Jesus, and that a “light” spoke to her at the Annunciation. I am curious to see if any of the hardcore literalists out there will object to the fact that she consistently calls this light “it”, and that she never explicitly calls this light an “angel” or “he”.
And, of course, the trailer focuses on the Roman officer played by Sean Bean, who is apparently told by one of the Herods to track down Jesus. I don’t remember any subplot like this in the book, but it’s possible I’m forgetting something.
The film is currently set to come out March 11, 2016 — two weeks before Easter.
Check out earlier trailers and other videos here:
- The ‘Extended Look’ featurette (September 15, 2015)
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