When Jesus came to our offices a few weeks ago, guess what he did? You’re right. He confounded the supposedly wise, and he played with children.
“Jesus,” in this case, was Bruce Marchiano, the actor who portrayed Christ in Matthew, a video series based on a word-for-word presentation of the first Gospel. Leadership’s sister publication Christian Reader had done a cover story on Bruce, so he stopped by.
For six weeks prior to filming, Bruce immersed himself in studying Matthew, memorized every word of Christ, and read books about Jesus. (The most influential was Jesus: Man of Joy by Sherwood Wirt). In the film, Bruce portrays a joyful Jesus, based on Hebrews 1:9 and 12:2, believing joy set Jesus apart from everyone else.
Bruce’s exuberance was a hit with my three kids. After speaking to our staff, “Jesus” let my 11-, 9-, and 3-year-olds take him to their favorite part of Dad’s office (the drainage area in the vacant lot behind our building), where they all picked cattails, broke them open, and scattered seeds to the wind.
While I admire Bruce’s (and Jesus’) ability to attract children, I was even more interested in what Bruce had learned while walking in Christ’s sandals.
I’ve always wondered what Jesus felt toward those who reject God. How do sacrificial love and divine judgment mingle? What tone of voice does Love Incarnate use to curse cities and fig trees and Pharisees? Bruce’s unique experience offers a clue.
“Every actor wants to see the world through the eyes of the character,” Bruce said. “I prayed, ‘Lord, show me what it all looks like through your eyes.’ But when God answered that prayer, I feared for my sanity.”
It happened the day they were filming Matthew 11:20-24-“Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago. . . . But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.”
Bruce explained, “I was standing in front of five hundred people-cast members, Moroccan extras, sound and lighting crews-and suddenly, in a fraction of a second, something happened. I’m not a mystical person, but what happened was so horrible that my heart broke. I saw people living their lives in ways that God didn’t plan.
“The closest I can come to describing it would be what parents might feel if they look out the window and see their toddler walking into the street and a truck is coming. They scream for the child to come back, but the little one keeps going into the street. . .”
The horror of that impression caused Bruce to weep uncontrollably for more than an hour. He says only then did he begin to understand compassion. “It’s not just feeling sorry for people. Compassion is a heartache so intense it’s like a knife ripping you up.”
Any Christian leader knows what it’s like to be surrounded by people who don’t heed warnings, who don’t listen to God’s Word or your words. We’re tempted to become callous to the need, or paralyzed by the immenseness of it all.
After meeting Bruce, I left with three impressions. First, the depth and intensity of Jesus’ compassion. Second, Jesus was not paralyzed by desperation but continued with his mission-embracing the Cross and the work of the kingdom.
Three, amid the intensity, I’m sure he also broke a cattail or two, just to watch the seeds scatter.
Marshall Shelley is senior editor of Leadership.
1997 by Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.
