At Jesus' Side :: Movie :: Jericho's Blog

Pastor John Huddle reviews At Jesus' Side

Jericho — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:39:46 GMT

"As a pastor with an MFA in Creative Writing, I am always looking for creative work which celebrates and explores the significance of Jesus and the cross through art and story. Sadly, it seems the story of Jesus' last days pose a problem for many of our writers. Too easily our presentations of Jesus' life and love become overwhelmed with theological 'weight', and we fail to deliver what an audience wants - an experience with the man himself. The film "At Jesus' Side" avoids this trouble by featuring a character - Jericho, a stray dog - with whom we immediately identify as we learn of his struggles with prejudice, hatred, and emotional anger towards humans. He has been mistreated by humans - made to feel worthless when around them. And so Jericho has found a group of friends which he loves and protects, and he finds meaning in those relationships. Yet he still longs to know his own history. He wants to make sense of his story, asking repeatedly throughout the film questions all of our children will ask: Who am I? Do I matter? Can my past hurts and mistakes be overcome by any love - or anyone?

Because the narrative stays with Jericho and his tribe for a while, we grow familiar with them as characters. As characters, they are a total blast - funny, sweet, and very familiar. Unlike some Christian films, the story doesn't rush into "the churchy stuff." This is a story that would appeal to viewers unfamiliar with the church or the Christian story. Because the story remains with our gang, we learn about each member of Jericho's tribe: their faults, fears and hopes. When finally Jesus' path crosses Jericho's, we have a sense that he is in great need. Because we care about Jericho, the question rises: Can Jesus meet his need? And we really want him to! It is refreshing to see the stark contrast Jesus presents in the life of a dog who has never been loved before by a human - let alone the son of God.

In the film, Jesus is presented as a real man who interacts with people because he is full of authentic love for them. He seems to really care for people - and all God's creatures - seeing each person just as they are. He kneels down when he speaks with them. He is not afraid to touch them. His love is revealed most powerfully during his moments with Jericho, including a tastefully directed moment at the cross - a moment which focuses on Jericho's realization that Jesus, too, has been terribly mistreated at the hands of humans...to the point of death. It is this moment when Jericho realizes the power of God's forgiveness. After this experience - I don't want to give too much away - we see the results of what any pastor would describe as God's grace in Jericho's life as he takes on the nature of Jesus in his relationships, even with Psychosis, the arch villain."

Pastor John Huddle of The Westchester Church of the Nazarene in Los Angeles.

The Inner You

Jericho — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:39:21 GMT

"Jericho looked at him on that cross and wagged his little tail
Now the kind of love a dog has is a love that never fails
It's kind of like the love of God no matter what you do
A dog looks through the outer shell and loves the inner you."

Dogs weren't always man's best friend. It wasn't that the dogs didn't want to be, in fact, there was something about humans that we instinctively liked and dogs have always felt drawn toward man, but many humans were very cruel. They kicked us, threw rocks at us and laughed when we cried out in pain. A litter of puppies would be born, only to be taken from their proud mother and thrown in the river to drown. Dogs are smart. And like an elephant, we have long memories. Our ancestors learned that man was something to be feared, not loved. But they were wrong. Every human isn't like that. Maya and I both loved Jesus, and he was a man, so maybe humans weren't so bad after all.

We've made many new friends in our travels and told them all about meeting Jesus and what he taught us about forgiveness (especially toward humans.) Most of them listened, and somehow, we look at humans differently now. You can see a little bit of Jesus in all of them! If you look around you, you'll see Him in them too. He can be a little hard to see in some people, but if you look hard enough, He's in there. And if you love Him, you'll look inside and love them too. Unconditionally.

That Silent Voice

I remember when Jesus got my mother's bell out of the ground and tied it around my neck after I dug it up at the mound. (You'll learn more about that when you see the movie.) He said, "Did you know that there is a silent voice between animals and humans? Not everyone hears it, but some do." Jesus heard it. And I did too. That's how he knew my name was Jericho, (which is also the name of the city by the Dead Sea I'd lived by for most of my life before I met Him that day in Jerusalem.) That silent voice is how I knew this man Jesus wasn't like the other cruel humans I'd encountered. I remember a man we met in Damascus. His name was Paul, he'd met Jesus too, and in the same silent voice we had long conversations about that last week I spent with Him, as we walked along the road together. Paul gave us water and shared his bread with us. He was a nice man.

We're on our way back to Jerusalem now, to check on our friends and see Maya's humans. Maybe we can rest in her garden for a while, and I'll have time to blog more. We've been a lot of places on our trip and I have a lot more adventures to tell you about. So does Maya.

Love,
Jericho

And By The Way, Where's Jericho?

Jericho — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:39:14 GMT

Mary said she'd seen him at the tomb, he waited by the stone.

The gardener said, "I fed him, 'cause he just won't go home.
Next day Mary saw the stone was rolled away and she said, "Oh!
Where have they taken him, and by the way, where's Jericho?"

Where's Jericho? Right now I'm on the road with Maya. I suppose you could say we're an unlikely couple. I'm what you'd call a mutt, while Maya is a beautiful Saluki of noble lineage. But we have a story to tell. The story of my best friend, a man named Jesus.

Jesus healed my leg when he rescued me from a group of mean children who were taunting me and throwing rocks at me. When He petted me and I looked into Jesus' eyes, the pain went away and I knew I'd found a friend forever. All the anger I'd felt toward humans my whole life vanished, replaced by a kind of love I'd never known before. Unconditional love.

We're in Greece now, and the dogs in Athens have a word for it, "agape," (ah-gah-pay) There's a song that says, "Sometimes love is love between a brother and a sister. Sometimes love is love between a woman and a man. But there's a love, the kind of love that's made in Heaven. Agape love. The kind of love that understands."

That's agape love. It's unconditional love, and when I met Jesus, for the first time, I felt it!

I couldn't wait to tell Ulysses, Petra, Maya, and my other friends (even that annoying lizard, Miguel,) about it. Maya feels the same way, so we're off to tell the world!

You may have noticed that I just called my friend Miguel "that annoying lizard," which doesn't sound like a very nice thing to say about a friend, but it's the truth. He can be, at times, well... annoying. That's how he ended up in our little band. But we love him just the same, because he's our friend. I suppose we'd all prefer him not to be so annoying, but that's how he is, so we accept him as he is.

You probably know someone like Miguel, most people do. I hope you love them anyway, because that's what unconditional love is all about. But that unconditional love doesn't have to be just for your friends and family. It can, and should be for every creature God created. Even humans.

Love,

Jericho