“We Must Find The Body” Easter 2021 Thoughts

By Allen Weed • President, interlinc • Nashville, Tennessee

I remember as a new believer hearing noted apologist, Josh McDowell, talk about the resurrection of Jesus as a historical fact. Not some sort of Santa Claus story but an event that actually took place.

That message made such an impact on me as a college student that I hoped a filmmaker sometime, somewhere, someday would take that same non-religious approach to the production of a film about the resurrection.

Well, in 2016 someone actually did and it remains one of my favorites!  Risen examines the Gospel events from the perspective of a skeptic charged with proving the resurrection false. The film follows the story of a Roman military tribune named Clavius (Joseph Fiennes) who is second-in-command to Pontius Pilate.

The unbelieving Clavius saw Jesus die and then was tasked with dispelling the rumors that Christ would rise from the dead. However, when Clavius and his aide Lucius set out to secure Jesus’ body and ensure that His followers had not stolen it and claimed resurrection, they were totally bewildered when the body of Jesus went missing. They were on a race against the clock to find the body of Jesus and prevent an uprising in Jerusalem.

Christians know that the resurrection was no hoax, but watching an unbelieving skeptic unravel the mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection brings a new perspective to the Gospel account of the most important event in human history.

This week as you reflect on and share with your students our Savior’s death, burial, and resurrection, take a peek at what Pontius Pilate’s conversation with Clavius might have been when he asserted “We must find the body”.

Our Easter Resource loaded with music, teaching session, and movie clips is free for our members!

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