Overview
See production notesJesus of Nazareth is a carpenter in the Roman client state Judea. He is torn between his own desires and his knowledge of God's plan for him. His friend Judas Iscariot is sent to kill him for collaborating with the Romans to crucify Jewish rebels, but suspects that Jesus is the Messiah and asks him to lead a war of liberation against the Romans. While Jesus assures him that his message is one of love for mankind, Judas warns him not to harm the rebellion. Jesus starts preaching after saving prostitute Mary Magdalene from a stoning. He acquires disciples, some whom want freedom from the Romans while Jesus maintains people should tend to matters of the spirit. After being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus goes into the desert to test his connection to God, where he resists temptation by Satan. Returning from the desert, Jesus is nursed back to health by Martha and Mary of Bethany, who encourage him to marry and have children. After performing miracles, including raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus' ministry reaches Jerusalem, where he and his followers chase out money changers from the temple. He begins bleeding from his hands, which he recognizes as a sign that he must die on the cross to bring salvation to mankind and instructs Judas to give him to the Romans. Jesus convenes his disciples for a Passover seder, whereupon Judas leads a contingent of soldiers to arrest Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. Although acknowledging his virtues and their significance, Pontius Pilate tells Jesus that he must be put to death as he represents a threat to the Roman Empire; he is subsequently beaten, flogged, mocked and taken to be crucified. While on the cross, a young girl who claims to be Jesus' guardian angel tells him that, while he is the Son of God, he is not the Messiah and that God is pleased with him and wants him to be happy. She brings him down off the cross and takes him to Mary Magdalene, whom he marries. They live a happy life, but when she abruptly dies, Jesus is consoled by his angel and goes on to start a family with Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus. As an older man, Jesus encounters the apostle Paul preaching about the Messiah and tries to tell him that he is the man about whom Paul has been preaching. Paul repudiates him, saying that even if Jesus had not died on the cross, his message was the truth, and nothing would stop him from proclaiming that. Jesus debates him, stating that salvation cannot be founded on lies. Near the end of his life, with Jerusalem in the throes of rebellion, an elderly dying Jesus calls his former disciples to his bed. When Judas comes, he reveals Jesus' guardian angel is actually Satan, who tricked him into believing he did not have to give himself up to save the world. Crawling back through the burning city, Jesus reaches the site of his crucifixion and begs God to let him fulfill his purpose, stating "I want to be the Messiah!" Jesus then finds himself once more on the cross, having overcome the "last temptation" of escaping death, being married and raising a family, and the ensuing disaster that would have consequently encompassed mankind. Jesus cries out "It is accomplished!" and dies.
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- Canada, United States
- Original language
- English
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Quotes
See all quotesJesus: Brothers, my old friends! Listen to me! It's me the prophets preached about. God talked to me in the desert; he gave me a secret and told me to bring it to you. Didn't you hear me coming? I ran here to Nazareth, where I grew up, to bring you the news. The word of God is here now. Voice in Crowd: You work miracles. Make a miracle for us. Make us believe in you. Otherwise, go away. Jesus: The Messiah doesn't need miracles. He is the miracle. Now he's here. Are you ready for me? I'm here to tear down everything around you, and you know what I'm going to replace it with? Something new: God. The World of God. So take your bread and give it to the poor. What difference does it matter what you own? You have gold and silver? It's going to rot, and that rot is going to eat away your heart. All of you! There will be a flood, and there will be a fire. Everything will be destroyed. But there will be a new ark riding on that fire, and I hold the keys and I open the door, and I decide who goe
The Last Temptation of Christ (film), CC BY-SA 4.0
Saul: You had orders to kill him and you haven't done it. Now he acts like a prophet, and you follow him! Judas: Did you hear what he said back there? Saul: Yes I heard him. We took an oath against Rome. I don't see a thing against Rome around here, all I see are Jews against Jews. Judas: Then you're not listening.
The Last Temptation of Christ (film), CC BY-SA 4.0
Jeroboam: His spirit actually appeared to you. He treated you like a royal visitor. He recognized you for something. Jesus: He couldn't have recognized me for anything. I only came here to serve God. That's all. That's all God wants from me. I'm sure of it. Jeroboam: Think of how you're blessed. God actually makes himself known to you. I don't know what God wants from me. All my life I've wanted to hear God's voice. I've dedicated my life to him. Sometimes...I think I feel him, but I'm never really sure. But you always know. God took you by the hand and brought you here. Jesus: You think it's a blessing to know what God wants? I'll tell you what he wants. He wants to push me over! Can't he see what's inside of me? All my sins. Jeroboam: We all sin. Jesus: Not my sins. I'm a liar. A hypocrite. I'm afraid of everything. I don't tell the truth. I don't have the courage. When I see a woman, I blush and look away. I want her, but I don't take her, for God, and that makes me proud. Then my p
The Last Temptation of Christ (film), CC BY-SA 4.0
Rabbi: That is blasphemy. Jesus: Didn't they tell you? I am the saint of blasphemy. Don't make any mistakes, I didn't come here to bring peace, I came to bring a sword! Rabbi: Talking like that will get you killed. Jesus: Me, killed? Listen to me. This temple will be torn down in three days, torn down to the ground!
The Last Temptation of Christ (film), CC BY-SA 4.0
Jesus: Judas, my brother, I have something to tell you. I have a terrible secret from God. You know why I came to Jerusalem? Judas: Yes. This is where the revolution is going to begin. Jesus: Last night, Isaiah came to me. He had a prophecy. I saw it written. It said, "He has borne our faults; he was wounded for our transgressions, yet he opened now his mouth. Despised and rejected by all, he went forward without resisting, like a lamb led to the slaughter." Judas: I don't understand. Jesus: Judas, I am the lamb. I'm the one who's going to do. Judas: Die? You mean you're not the Messiah? Jesus: I am. Judas: That can't be. If you're the Messiah, why do you have to die? Jesus: Listen, at first, I didn't understand myself... Judas: No, you listen. Every day, you have a different plan. First it's love, then the ax, and now you have to die. What good could that do? Jesus: God only talks to me a little at a time and tells me as much as I need to know. Judas: We need you alive! Jesus: Now I f
The Last Temptation of Christ (film), CC BY-SA 4.0
Jesus: I wish there was another way, but there isn't. I have to die on the cross. Judas: I won't let you die. Jesus: You don't have a choice. Neither do I. Remember, we're bringing God and man together. They'll never be together unless I die. I'm the sacrifice... Forget everything else, understand that.
The Last Temptation of Christ (film), CC BY-SA 4.0
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