Reply #6: The difference is: In "Last Temptation"... [View All]

[JHB]

...he still died on the cross. All the stuff about bedding Magdalene, and marrying Lazarus's sisters, and living to be an old man was the devil's "last temptation".

You may recall the standard story (also seen in the movie), where before that last trip to Jerusalem Jesus goes into the desert and the devil tries to tempt him into forsaking his destiny -- with promises of riches, with promises of power, etc. Jesus, even in his mortal manifestation, isn't swayed by these. He will go to his destiny to suffer for the sins of all mankind.

But when Jesus is up on the cross, the devil tries again, with one last temptation, one that would really tempt Jesus: to take all that weight off his shoulders, and let him live a long, happy life as an ordinary man. That would mean turning the world and mankind over to the devil, so in the end he rejects it, but it was tempting.

I find it ironic that the groups that most emphasize Jesus's "suffering for YOUR sins" seemed to be first in line to excoriate the movie, when this is probably the only movie that emphasizes the mortal side of "Jesus as both God and man", and makes you feel he actually sacrificed something.