Is the The Gospel of John a movie?  I thought it was a book of the Bible.  It's both! 

I was invited to see this latter picture; I passed up that chance because I was tired and my friends wanted to go late in the evening.

God knew that when the time was right for me to view this film.  A new acquaintance offered to loan me The Gospel of John on DVD.  I highly recommend this film.  It should not be ignored in deference to the highly aclaimed The Passion of the Christ, released in January 2004. Click here to read my review of The Passion.

I've never been a fan of these movies depicting Christ's life.  Some that I've watched have moved slowly and sometimes I wondered who the characters were.  Although I never saw info as to which version of the Bible was being used, I was able to follow along with my own as the story unfolded.  The director of this movie did a great job of taking the actual words of the Bible and bringing them to life.  What the audience heard was the Bible being read; however, the various characters said their lines on cue.  Watching The Gospel of John was like being a voyeur; one felt like the fly on the wall watching the action take place around him--with a narrator that explained what was going on.  I found this appealing.

The sets were well-done and the scenery and costumes were well-chosen.  One could believe this was Israel of 2000 years ago. The actors who played Christ and his friends were well-chosen, being men who could do a good day's labor on the ocean. It was believable when we saw Christ thrashing the money-changers at the temple. They worked hard and were men of integrity.

Because there is no evidence that Christ ever married, my guess is that readers of the Bible tend to imagine stark bachelor quarters for Christ and his friends.  However, we know from the gospel of Matthew  that the disciple, Simon Peter, was married if he had a mother-in-law ( Matthew 8:14 ).  It is conceivable that most of the disciples were married as men of the times usually married by a certain age.  In this living-illustration of the written work, women were in evidence, quietly moving about their tasks when not being an active part of the script.  We were able to identify Mary, the mother of Jesus, Lararus's sisters, Mary and Martha, among others. Jesus' concern about the future of his mother ( John 19:26-27 ) clearly showed that he loved his earthly family.

This movie, The Gospel of John brought the life and times of Christ into my living room. I feel I have a better grasp on what it was like back then.  In addition, because I heard the characters saying the lines that I had read many times in my own Bible, the scriptures became alive.

If you, the reader, have any curiosity about Jesus, I highly recommend viewing The Gospel of John.  It is indeed a good depiction of the life and times of Jesus Christ.