Psalm 33:12-22; Exodus 20:1-21; Matthew 5:1-12
Saturday 30 May - Rev. Jerry Eve
It’s a rich feast for us today to have both the Ten Commandments (which can also be found at Deuteronomy 5) and the Beatitudes (an abbreviated version of which can be found at Luke 6).
Religion can be a touchy subject. It’s always a risk for somebody to try to be humorous about a peoples’ faith. But sometimes I think there are lessons we can learn from our reaction to satire.
I’ve chosen four clips, two of Moses and two of Jesus. Moses is played both by Charlton Heston and Mel Brooks; and Jesus by Kenneth Colley and Robert Powell.
It’s maybe helpful to know that Robert Powell’s director, Franco Zeffirelli, set out not to offend anybody, and that Mel Brooks is Jewish. Also, that Charlton Heston’s director, Cecil B DeMille, could not have used CGI.
Apologies for the language, but I do think the misinterpretation, and argument over the meaning, of Jesus’ words leading to schism within Christianity is extremely well portrayed here in Life of Brian:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id6oS3L-D9A&t=99s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w556vrpsy4w