Josh Benner

Tag: Christ in culture

  • The gospel in Home Alone

    The gospel in Home Alone

    Like many Americans, one of the ways I celebrate the Christmas season is watching Christmas movies. Some of my favorites include A Muppett Christmas Carol, The Santa Claus, and Elf. But my all time favorite Christmas movie, by far, is Home Alone.

    Many classic Christmas movies have wonderful redemption themes (Christmas Carol is a great example of this). But Home Alone revolves around redemption. A couple of years ago, Les Lanpere of the Reforemd Pubcast made a video outlining redemption themes and asking if Kevin’s character finds faith in the film?

    It’s a fascinating argument that Lanpere presents (and as much as I enjoy Home Alone, he’s clearly put much more thought into it than I have). Now, it’s impossible for me to not watch Home Alone through the redemptive lens that Les gave to it.Spoiler alerts (although who hasn’t seen Home Alone?!) 

    Early in the movie, Kevin is having conflicts with several family members, his older brother, his cousins, his parents, his uncle. And he wishes that they’d all disappear. This represents sin. It’s the eve of a special family trip to Paris over Christmas.

    The following morning, Kevin gets his wish! The family is running late to the airport for their Paris trip. Through a headcount mishap, they leave, thinking that Kevin is in one of their shuttle vans. With the family off to Paris, Kevin awakens to discover that he is Home Alone. At first, he has a blast, basically doing whatever he wants but he will eventually begin to miss his family. He finds a department store Santa and expresses his wish to have them back, but he sees his powerless this figure is to bring restoration. This represents the false hope that idols can bring.

    There is a second conflict in the movie: the Wet Bandits, two burglars who have been prowling in their neighborhood and robbing houses when families are traveling. They know that the McCallister’s are going to Paris. The Wet Bandits essentially represent evil in this movie (though comically).

    Kevin finds out about their plot to strike his home. Since he knows that Santa can’t help him, on the night of their attack, he goes to church. A choir is singing hymns. Old Man Marley walks up to Kevin. He was introduced in the movie when Kevin’s brother Buzz told Kevin an urban legend about Marley being a killer. But when he introduces himself to Kevin, Marley is kind. Marley is a Messianic figure in this movie. He asks Kevin if he’s been good, Kevin admits that he has not. Marley tells Kevin he’s come to the right place. Marley also tells Kevin about a strained relationship with his son (prodigal son).

    Back at the house, Kevin works on his plans to protect his home. We all see him pray before his evening meal. The dinner scene has essentially no relevance to the movie, aside from the fact that it shows him praying. Something that the family had not previously done. The robbers are stopped time and again, but eventually catch up to Kevin. In one of the most striking theological symbols of the movie, Harry is about to “devour” Kevin (bite his fingers) when Old Man Marley comes in at the last moment to intervene and save Kevin.

    On Christmas morning, Kevin’s mother (who had been trying to get back to him throughout the film) returns home. The rest of the family follows soon after. We see restored relationships. We see the bad guys defeated.

    The movie is a masterpiece.

    Most importantly, it is a picture of the gospel. We have sinned against God, but we have a savior who has come to rescue us. Jesus was born on the first Christmas. He came to do what we could not: to reconcile us to God, to fix the relationship that had been broken. We could not do it on our own efforts (I actually take the scene of Kevin’s plan of stopping the Wet Bandits as being symbolic of this). He was eventually caught by them and needed a savior.

    That savior is Jesus. He delivers us from sin. He restores us to God. He brings us life. He came to do that for all who accept his grace and trust in him.

    Let us not trust in ourselves, let us not trust in our own pursuits, let us not trust in our own efforts or plans. Like the Santa who Kevin goes to visit, anything aside from God will fail us. We must go to the Lord himself.

    Originally published December 19, 2018

  • The gospel in Les Miserables

    Caught.

    Jean Valjean had stolen silver from the Bishop and the local authorities had caught him red handed. On his own merits, there was nothing Valjean could do to rectify the situation. He didn’t have the money to pay for it. He was guilty. But then something amazing happened. The Bishop tells the officers that the silver was a gift. He reminds Valjean that the ex-convict had even forgotten to take two silver candlesticks with him. The sacrifice for Valjean was not made by himself but by the Bishop .

    He let him go.

    Once the officers leave, it would be completely reasonable for the Bishop to say, “Ok, I got you off the hook. Now give me my stuff back.” But he doesn’t. He gives it to Valjean but with the expectation that he use those stolen items to restart his life as an honest man.

    This is a life changing event for Valjean. And it’s a great metaphor for grace. Merely canceling the debt of the condemned man would have been mercy. But the bishop rewards him. That is grace.

    In the book, over 70 pages are spent developing the Bishop’s character and describing his devotion and piety. In film and musical adaptations, he is always portrayed as a minor character but he profoundly impacts the life of the book’s protagonist. For Valjean, there is his life before encountgering the and everything changes after he experiences true love and grace. In the musical, with limited time, I feel that they do the best job they can to show the Bishop’s grace but it is tough to truly capture the full weight of the transformation that the encounter has on Valjean.

    There are so many great themes in Les Miserables which have led to the popularity of this story over the past 150 years. And the Bishop’s grace to Valjean is not the only example of sacrificial love we see in this story. It’s seen in how Fantine desperately tries to do everything she can to support Cosette. It’s seen in how Eponine helps Marius find Cosette despite the fact that Eponine is in love with Marius and she’s sacrificing her own joy (it’s not exactly the same in the book).

    But the most moving example of sacrifice is seen in the Bishop. I feel that part of the appeal to this story is the way in which it depicts the gospel. Because we are all condemned with a debt that we cannot possibly pay. While we deserve exile and punishment, a priest has personally sacrificed and taken are debt for us. And for people who know this truth, just as it is with the Bishop and Valjean, this grace is meant to transform our lives. It’s not the end in itself. There is a reason behind it.

    But remember this, my brother, see in this some higher plan. You must use this precious silver to become an honest man. By the witness of the martyrs, by the Passion and the Blood, God has raised you out of darkness; I have bought your soul for God!

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    Originally published December 24, 2014.

  • The gospel in Endgame

    Avengers_Endgame_poster.jpg
    Avengers Endgame has been in theaters for a week and it’s already the sixth highest grossing film of all time. It was 11 years ago today that Ironman was released. Over the last 11 years (and 22 movies), they’ve all built up to Avengers Endgame. (more…)