Film Review "Who’s Nailing God to the Cross Again?"

By Xiaoxiao, United States

Who’s Nailing God to the Cross Again is a film, through which people can both look back on history and reflect. As soon as I saw the title, I was attracted and immediately thought of the Pharisees of Judaism. Two thousand years ago, the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees of Judaism finally nailed the Lord Jesus to the cross because the Lord Jesus was not named Messiah, which wasn’t in line with their notions and because most people all followed the Lord Jesus, which made them afraid of losing their position and job. This historical fact gives Christians an eternal pain. However, today, two thousand years later, such a film is playing. Looking carefully, I found the focal point of the title is the word “again”. It is not hard to see that this film is not a documentary about history, but a present-day film about the reappearance of history.

In only dozens of seconds of opener, the heavy background music matches very well with the pictures, such as the red-hot iron nail, the cross and so on. This has attracted me deeply, as if I went back to the age of the Lord Jesus’ crucifixion. I can’t help praising the directors’ ingenious design and the editors’ skill of editing.

At the beginning of this film, the directors get straight to the point and quote Matthew 23:33-35 in the Bible to explain the subject. Next, the believers put forward acute questions, causing a discussion among them. Everyone is worried about whether they will resist God like the Pharisees when the Lord returns.

Eastern Lightning testifies that the Lord Jesus has already come back and He’s the incarnate Almighty God, which has already become the hottest topic in recent years. It can be said that many brothers and sisters in the Lord also want to know about Eastern Lightning. In the film, Zhen Mudao’s explanation of the words “Eastern Lightning” obviously makes on-the-scene people reflect on themselves. On the contrary, Pastor Gu says, “Anyone who witnesses God incarnate is false and is a heretic.” He is too arbitrary and these words are just the same as the words “You are not Christ unless you are called the Messiah” said by the Pharisees of that time. Thus, this wonderful religious internal debate commences a prelude for the film.

 At night, it can be seen that Co-worker Diao comes rapidly from a distance. The close-up shots of the hurried footsteps fully tell viewers that something major has happened. What’s happening? Why does Co-worker Diao come to Pastor Gu’s home in a hurry in the night? As expected, what Pastor Gu and Elder Wang are most worried about has happened. It exceeds all expectations that Yang Ming’en, who has a solid foundation in his belief and knows the Bible well, leads over thirty believers to accept Eastern Lightning. The pastor and the elder are greatly agitated because of this news. After having a discussion, they immediately take action …

Why do the pastor and the elder have such an unusual attitude to believers’ investigating the true way? I believe that many people will be in doubt about this. That the pastor and the elder try their best to resist Eastern Lightning is really thought-provoking. In recent years, why do so many believers who truly believe in the Lord and pursue actively in the religious world all accept Eastern Lightning one by one? This question is really worthy of our attention!

Pastor Gu comes to Yang Ming’en’s home to disturb, which is the second round of the internal debate between the religious people. The words with which Yang Ming’en refutes Pastor Gu prove that Yang Ming’en has true thoughts and insight instead of being ignorant. Thus, he won’t accept Eastern Lightning at random, nor will he do it in a muddle. Without any doubt, he accepts it through seeking and investigating. These phenomena are all capable of being able to illustrate the issue. I thought it over carefully: It’s really like that. Seeking and investigating the true way, we don’t need any arguing or fighting. As long as we quiet our hearts and seek and pray, God will reveal His will to us. Just as the Lord Jesus once plainly told us, “**Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you**” (Matthew 7:7). “**Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me**” (Revelation 3:20). So, that Liu Shaode pleads for Pastor Gu at that time betrays himself and adds a sense of humor to the film.

In this religious internal discussion, it is so clear that Pastor Gu not only believes that he’ll be raptured into the kingdom of heaven if he waits for the Lord’s return, but insists on hindering the believers from investigating Eastern Lightning. Yang Ming’en says, “If you nail God to the cross again, you’ll commit a great sin.” These words are the same as Gamaliel’s advice to the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees in that age, but Pastor Gu plugs his ears and refuses to listen. So, his obstinate attitude finally brings him a tragic ending. Later, the exciting plot changes to a soliloquy of Pastor Gu, which reveals the religious leaders’ inner world without reservation.

It’s hard to believe that more than a hundred people have accepted Eastern Lightning in less than two months’ time. Eastern Lightning develops with such great speed, so does it really have the work of the Holy Spirit?

Pastor Gu sees that many brothers and sisters who pursue more actively in the church all believe in Eastern Lightning, so he is on tenterhooks and tries his best to plot new strategies. He and the co-workers study the book named The Word Appears in the Flesh together, attempting to find fault to attack Eastern Lightning. However, to their surprise, not only does this book have no flaws, but the words within this book are so fresh, authoritative and powerful. Seeing this, do you also remember the words in the Bible, “**I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth**” (John 16:12-13)? Is it possible that Almighty God is truly the return of the Lord Jesus?

When hearing that there are videos of the choir, MVs, and a variety of videos in the Church of Almighty God, the pastor turns pale at once. While they are planning to cooperate with the CCP government to arrest the gospel preachers from the Church of Almighty God, Pastor Gu’s wife says some words, which break the calm and disrupt their conversation. These words, strict and impartial, are completely in line with the Lord’s teachings, but Pastor Gu shows antipathy to the words, so a wonderful debate is showing between them. At the same time, Pastor Gu’s true face of hindering the believers from investigating the true way is exposed thoroughly.

As the conflict intensities, the story progresses. In a meeting, Liu Shaode wants to make use of the May 28 Shandong Zhaoyuan Case to frame the Church of Almighty God. The person with a discerning eye knows that this case is intentionally fabricated by the CCP with a lot of doubts in it and totally is used to oppress and persecute the Church of Almighty God. Unexpectedly, today, the religious world brings up this case and purposely says the same words as the CCP government to threaten believers with this false news. In order to prevent believers from investigating the true way, the pastor and the elder really stop at nothing. They even believe the devilish words of the atheistic CCP government and help it spread these words. I can’t help but associate these acts with the actions of the Pharisees’ resisting the Lord Jesus.

After a fiery debate with the pastor and the elder, the believers focus their stands on how to investigate the true way. Some think that they should investigate the true way according to God’s words instead of the words of the CCP government, pastors and elders. Many believers agree with this opinion. Beyond all our expectations, in order to preserve their position and job, the pastor and the elder actually say, “I’d rather be punished than accept it”. They stubbornly resist and condemn Eastern Lightning, as if the Pharisees reappear. I cannot but think of the words in the Bible, “**But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in**” (Matthew 23:13). I would like to ask: Are these actions of pastors and elders, after all, protecting believers or harming and ruining them? This question is actually worthy of being deeply discussed. Though believers remind and exhort them time and again, the pastor and the elder still continue to do evils. They even fabricate varied rumors of slandering and condemning the Church of Almighty God on the Internet. It’s unbelievable that all kinds of the negative propaganda about Eastern Lightning form in this way! How harmful these rumors are!

With a piece of intensive background music, a group of shots disclose the pastor’s and the elder’s evil deeds of colluding with the CCP government to resist God and arrest believers. Regardless of how they disturb and impair, it doesn’t work and a lot of believers still accept Eastern Lightning. Just as Gamaliel said, “And now I say to you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nothing: But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it; lest haply you be found even to fight against God” (Acts 5:38-39).

As the old saying goes “Those who do injustice are doomed to destruction.” Elder Wang dies in a car accident on the way when he leads the policemen of the CCP to crazily arrest the witnesses of Eastern Lightning. Pastor Gu is deeply shocked by Elder Wang’s death, so he gets into a panic and is driven to distraction all day. He again and again says, “Woe to you!” “Woe to you!” These words are not only a summary of his deeds but a warning to other pastors with the same actions as him!

Who’s nailing God to the cross again? After finishing watching this film, we all have a clear answer. This film not only reveals the true fact but warns the people of the future not to walk the path of the Pharisees again and not to follow in their footsteps.