So it’s Easter Sunday and I can’t help but feel like it’s kinda my job to contribute today so here you go friends its only...

An Easter Thread of a Jesus Scholar’s Favourite Jesus’s in Media

JOHN CONNOR (Terminator 2): John was probably one of the first Jesus-figures I was aware of, and he’s still a favourite

Sarcastic, street-smart & incredibly emotionally vunerable, John shows how daunting, confusing and humbling being a child saviour would be.

NEO (The Matrix): More so than any Jesus before him, Neo for me exemplifies Jesus in love.

It is exceedingly rare for a Jesus/Christ character to demonstrate sexual love on screen and boy does Neo demonstrate sexual love for Trinity.

In the end he risks the world for it.

JESUS (Jesus Christ Superstar): JC in JCSS is actually quite unlikeable, esp. in the 1973 film version, but I personally love how this ‘Judas POV’ narrative makes the story of the passion all the more fresh.

One of the best Gethsemane’s in the game.

YUNA (Final Fantasy X): Yuna was one of the earliest versions of a woman as Christ-figure in video games, in a game that heavily critiqued organised religion.

Shy, sweet & ultimately deep in love, Yuna’s humanity is emblematic of portrayals of ‘soft’ Jesus’s post 1980s.

JESUS (The Last Temptation of Christ): Hands down my favourite portrayal of Jesus is done by a fearless Willem Dafoe.

This film was amazingly influential in terms of shifting the entire trajectory of how we view Jesus in English/North American society.

BRIAN (Life of Brian): The whole gag of this groundbreaking comedy was that Brian isn’t Jesus, but of course, in the end, he kinda is.

Those outside of Biblical Studies might appreciate knowing that LOB is widely known as one of the most Biblically accurate Jesus films ever.