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The Film “Risen” Is Wrong about Where Jesus Ascended to Heaven

The Film “Risen” Is Wrong about Where Jesus Ascended to Heaven

Last updated on: October 27, 2016 at 1:14 am by Kermit Zarley

The Film “Risen” Is Wrong about Where Jesus Ascended to Heaven 2016-10-27T01:14:40-07:00 Kermit Zarley

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Hollywood has produced over a hundred films about Jesus. Oftentimes, the screenwriter(s) depend mostly on the New Testament accounts about Jesus or only one of its four gospels. And when they do, they often don’t know much about the New Testament or employ New Testament scholars as consultants. The result is that the film often presents some material about Jesus that conflicts with the New Testament. And I’m not referring to material included in the film which is fictional, some of which is necessary in making a Jesus film.

An example of something in a Jesus film that conflicts with the New Testament is the most recent Hollywood film about Jesus, which is named “Risen.” It is a story from the perspective of a Roman centurion about Jesus between the time of his resurrection and his ascension to heaven as believed by Jesus disciples. I think this is a interesting perspective from which to make a film.

I still have not seen “Risen.” But I understand that it presents Jesus ascending to heaven from Galilee. Of course, this is quite wrong according to the book of Acts in the New Testament. Was the screenwriter(s) relying exclusively on the New Testament gospels in making this important decision about the risen Jesus? If so, they still got it wrong. And why do I say “important”?

The most important aspect of a film that purports to present actual history, especially about the resurrected Jesus which involves the supernatural, is its believability for moviegoers. And many, if not most, moviegoers who see such a film about Jesus will be professing Christians who believe in the Bible. Thus, it is important to get it right about what the Bible says of this important event about Jesus–his resurrected body ascending up into the sky, disappearing from the sight of his disciples, and, according to the Bible, his going to heaven.

Nearly all New Testament scholars believe that Luke–a medical doctor who accompanied the Apostle Paul on some of his missionary journeys–wrote the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts in the New Testament (NT). Luke provides more information in these two documents about Jesus’ heavenly ascension than do any of the other three NT gospels. Luke concludes his gospel by saying of the resurrected/risen Jesus and his disciples, “Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing the, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God” (Luke 24.50-53 NRSV).

Luke obviously means Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem and that from there he lead them out as far as Bethany, from where he ascended, because Luke says that after Jesus ascended the disciples “returned to Jerusalem.” So, Luke is quite clear in his Gospel of Luke that Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives, where part of the vicinity of Bethany was located, so that Jesus did not ascend to heaven from Galilee as in the movie “Risen.”

But Luke is even more specific in his book of Acts about Jesus’ ascension to heaven. Luke relates therein, which is not in the four NT gospels, that Jesus “presented himself alive to them [his apostles] by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father” (Acts 1.3-4).

Thus, Luke herein says the time period between Jesus’ resurrection and his heavenly ascension was forty days. And Luke says at the end of this forty days Jesus and his apostles were in Jerusalem. That corresponds with what Luke says in Luke 24.50-53 quoted above. Luke then quoted Jesus about “the promise of the Father,” which is that “you will baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1.5).

Luke then says the apostles asked Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1.6). That was the great promise of the Old Testament for which Jews had hoped, and many of them then believed that God would send a Messiah, meaning “anointed one,” to accomplish it. Jesus apostles asked him this question because they believed he was that Messiah.

Jesus then answered that it was not for them to know when God would do that; rather, they would soon receive the Holy Spirit for empowerment to preach the good news about him (Acts 1.7-8). Then Luke writes, “When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’ Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem” (vv. 9-12). Christians have rightly believed that the “two men” were angels.

Then, with all of this very clear biblical narrative that Luke relates about the location from which Jesus ascended to heaven–which was from the Mount of Olives right next to Jerusalem on its eastern side–why did those who made the “Risen” film have Jesus ascending from someplace in Galilee, which is at least fifty miles north of Jerusalem?

Many scholars of the New Testament do not believe everything in it. And some of them are only historians and therefore not professing Christians. That is the case with many historical critics of the New Testament and some Jesus researcher. These folks believe there are contradictions when comparing especially the four gospels in the New Testament.

For example, the Gospel of Matthew records that some of Jesus’ female disciples went to his tomb early Sunday morning following his death and entombment, they discovered the tomb empty, and an angel appeared to tell them, “go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him'” (Matt. 28.7). A few verses later we read, “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted” (vv. 16-17). The book then concludes with Jesus’ message about the so-called Great Commission.

This data in Matthew about Jesus appearing to his male disciples in Galilee, with no corresponding mention of that also happening at Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, is affirmed in the Gospel of Mark. It also relates that the women went to the tomb early Sunday morning, discovered it empty and thus Jesus’ deceased body not there as expected, and an angel appeared saying to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him” (Mark 16.6-7).

Therefore, the gospels of Matthew and Mark don’t mention Jesus appearing to his male disciples at Jerusalem, but in Galilee. Many historical critics therefore allege there is a contradiction between Luke and these two gospels, not to mention Acts, concerning where the resurrected Jesus appeared to his male disciples. In my opinion, this allegation shows how biased historical critics can be since they portend toward skepticism. On the contrary, the gospels of Matthew and Mark merely record different details compared to those of the Gospel of Luke that do not necessarily contradict each other.

The Gospel of Luke shows the bias of historical critics about their allegation that the New Testament contradicts itself regarding where Jesus appeared to his male disciples. Luke says two of them were traveling Easter afternoon from Jerusalem to “a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem” (Luke 24.13), when they encountered the risen Jesus. Luke records a detailed conversation and says the two returned to Jerusalem where they found the other disciples gathered in what was probably the Upper Room (vv. 14-35). Then the risen Jesus appeared to them that evening and spoke to them (v. 36).

But the Gospel of John exposes even further this bias of historical critics. It also says the disciples were gathered together that Sunday night in Jerusalem where the risen appeared to them, and it adds that the Apostle Thomas was not among them (John 20.19-25). This gospel then says, “A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them” (v. 26). Then Jesus showed his healed body wounds to doubting Thomas, who then said to him, “My Lord and my God!” (v. 28).

It seems that the makers of the movie “Risen” have appealed to these historical critics, or merely concluded on their own as they do, that Jesus appeared to his disciples in Galilee after they returned home there, and that must be where Jesus ascended from heaven. But we have seen that this clearly contradicts both the Gospel of Luke and his book of Acts.

So, what was the movement of Jesus disciples, who were from Galilee as Jesus was, during the forty days between Jesus’ resurrection and his ascension to heaven? To answer that question we must first consider why they were there in Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified.

Jesus and his disciples were attending the Passover feast which included the week of Unleavened Bread. According to Torah, they had to remain there in Jerusalem until the feast was finished. That is why they were still there one week after Easter. They probably would have started their three-day journey home to Galilee the next day. Sometime after they returned home, it seems the risen Jesus appeared to his disciples one day on a mountain in Galilee. The Apostle Paul reports the tradition that the risen Jesus “appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died” (1 Corinthians 15.6). It probably occurred in Galilee.

So, there is no contradiction in any of the details in first five books of the New Testament about where the risen Jesus appeared to his disciples between the time of his resurrection from the dead and his ascension to heaven. And there should be no confusion about where Jesus ascended to heaven, which was from the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem.

Finally, Torah required that men living in Judea and Galilee attend three of the seven feasts of Israel in Jerusalem every year: Feast of Passover/Unleavened Bread, Feast of Pentecost, and Feast of Tabernacles. So, after Jesus’ disciples returned home to Galilee, they were supposed to go back to Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost, which means “fifty,” to celebrate it as well. That is what they must have done. For we have seen that Luke in both his gospel and Acts have Jesus with his disciples in Jerusalem at the end of the forty days after his resurrection and that he then ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives. And it was only ten days after that, Luke tells us in Acts 2, that the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus’ disciples at Jerusalem during the Day of Pentecost with much power, and that is what started their great evangelistic mission of the world.

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