Phil’s question about your favorite film Jesus got me thinking about the guy we both favor, Bruce Marchiano, who played Him in both The Visual Bible: Matthew and The Visual Bible: Acts.

My first reaction when I saw Machiano in the role was, “Wow! Finally a Jesus who looks like He could possibly be a Middle Eastern Jew!” In spite of the fact that I’m a Republican (and so obviously a racist and anti-Semite), I’ve always been irritated by blonde, blue-eyed Jesuses.* Even when Hollywood set out to produce a biting, “realistic,” debunking portrayal in The Last Temptation of Christ, they cast blonde, blue-eyed Willem Dafoe.

I suppose there’s no point throwing mud at an icon unless it’s iconographic-looking.

Anyway, I liked that about Marchiano. But even better was his ground-breaking portrayal. His Jesus is full of life–an open-hearted, easy-laughing man who clearly lives each moment to its full potential and views everyone He meets as a gift from God. His suffering in His Passion is all the more wrenching for the contrast.

This, in my view, is precisely what Jesus must have been like. That’s why people were impelled to follow Him–“In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:4)

*Yeah, yeah. I know Marchiano’s got blue eyes. You can’t have everything. Especially when you’re looking for a man to play God.