THE NATIVITY STORY - A movie to see

This Christmas season we watched the movie The Nativity Story which came out a couple of years ago. I really enjoyed this movie for several reasons.

First, I loved the special effects that had the Temple in Jerusalem sitting atop the Temple Mount. Of course the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD and hasn't been rebuilt, so it isn't currently there for any movie shots. So having it in the movie had to be done by whatever magic those special effects people use. But to see it in several shots... That was cool! I enjoyed it because the Temple in Jerusalem is of special interest to me. I've been studying it for years, and have been studying it even more in recent years and months. In my opinion, the Temple, among other things, is a barometer of the relationship between humans and God: in B.C. days when the people (mainly the Jews, but not all) were in a good and right relationship with God, the Temple was vibrant and alive, used in everyday practice and well kept. When the relationship between people and God declined, when the people disregarded God (for the most part--there are always a faithful few), then the Temple fell into disrepair and was destroyed by the enemies of God's people. See? I have a special interest in the Temple in Jerusalem. Maybe we'll talk about that more sometime.

The second thing I loved about this movie was the accuracy. So much of it came straight from Scripture. There was a little extra added in like conversations between Herod and his son. Whether the movie writers wrote that in themselves or found it documented somewhere besides the Bible, I don't know. Either way, the movie was so true to the events as described in the Bible I didn't mind these "add ins" at all.

Finally, I loved the humor. The three wise men had personalities, and that was fun!

I'd like to see this movie again. And again. I'm going to look for it to buy for my home DVD library. You might like to buy or rent it for a family night at the movies, but if you have younger children be warned: there is violence in the movie that can be disturbing. I don't know what the movie is rated, but you might want to check that before you show it to your kids.

Over all, though, I recommend it highly.