Crushing Snakes Part 3: Death’s Defeat

 

Starting Time: 1:41

 

 

 

Crushing Snakes: Part 1 and Part 2

 

The skull key of gold around Jesus’ neck is a great addition to the story because it allows for another story plot line from scripture to unfold using foreshadowing of

 

What this key is for. Of course this is liberty taken by the artists because it is not mentioned in Revelation 19. We find the first description of Jesus in Revelation 1 at the beginning of the vision John is given. In verse 18, Jesus says, “I have the keys of Death and Hades.” 

 

This is where the filmmakers are going. This key around Jesus’ neck could be one key to represent death and hades.  However, as we will find out in the next scene, it could be one of two keys.  Before we get there we need to see more awesome “Anime Jesus.”

 

We see all over the fort of the three heroes that their friends are coming back to life. They are hugging and embracing at the miracle they are all witnessing. The next camera shot is from the air looking down with the birds eye view of Satan’s army all lined up making a path for Jesus on his horse leading his saints in victory at his arrival.

 

The camera again points to the sky as more angles descend from heaven as comets hailing the earth. Upon impact they arise in a fighting stance with a white shield in front of them as the heavenly forward guard. The camera pans to Jesus who is clearly still about to do something, he has a fierce look in his eyes. Armageddon has ended but there are two more things he must do. One is to deal with Satan, the dragon, or the serpent, whatever name he is given. However, the next scene shifts to what looks like Hades, or an underworldly place. 

 

We could debate about what Hades is, or who is there, but the film creators use this as a place to represent a character. In front of a giant door we see a hooded figure with a skull and horns on top of his head, circling his key ring as if unable to find the right key he needs. We see Jesus, the angels and the saints in the background. Then in a moment of comedy, he jumps, realizing something was behind him.

 

The key he is missing is the one Jesus has around his neck and the character is then implied to be death. This concept is taken from 1 Corinthians 15:26 when paul is telling the Corinthians about our own bodily resurrection at Jesus’ second coming. We read, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” 

 

The character by the door then is Death. Death does a half turn to look at what is behind him and jumps with fear and trembles at the sight of Jesus with a key around his neck.  The camera focuses on Jesus then turns back to death and we see a key around Death. We now understand and assume that Death, comically, lost the key to Hades. The reality is that he lost it when Jesus died on the cross. Some people believe that Jesus, during his three days in the grave, went to satan and took the keys of death as a symbol of him overcoming death. In the video here we see a slight variation that makes for a good visual representation.

 

Jesus’ mission is to take death’s key, and thus fulfilling the passage Paul wrote to the Corinthians. I think this was a very clever and creative way to include a component to a biblical understanding of not just end times but of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross which is that he overcame death himself. Our future hope and glory is that someday Jesus is going to defeat death for everyone and that is what we get to see visually here.

 

As far as our video is concerned, this scene is used to show Jesus transform into what is described in Revelation 19. Jesus turns and walks away from death and his robe turns red, representing the sacrifice in his own blood that was shed. He leaves a trail of blood on the ground and an angel sticks his sword in this blood.

 

The focus is back on the figure of Death who was pretending to be afraid, and after Jesus turns his back, Death jumps back onto the door and turns into this metallic creature with four legs of blades, not in scripture just imagery, and pulls out two more blades of arms and dashes toward Jesus. This is a classic anime action sequence where there is a frozen image with a blurred moving background to create the illusion of movement.

 

Then Death suddenly stops with his makeshift eyes surprised. The angel who has his sword in the ground impals Death and we see a sword dipped in blood.

 

This comes from, Isaiah 34:16: “The sword of the LORD is bathed in blood, it is covered with fat– the blood of lambs and goats, fat from the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.”

 

Blood represents sacrifice and judgement which is all found at the cross. The spilling of Jesus’ blood brought forgiveness and took on God’s judgement for us. 

 

We then see the killer “finishing move” where the angel slices what looks like the air and the next image is of death with all his limbs cut off in the air as if done with one move.

 

Then we see the saints with bow and arrow in hand and the arrows have been dipped in blood as well.  This seemed very specific so I had to search for this reference and found it mentioned in Deuteronomy 32. Moses is singing commands to the Israelites while on his death bead.  In this chapter he is speaking for God and in one particular section Moses tells of God’s judgement. We read in verse 41 and 42 that God will take vengeance on his enemies. It seems like a foreshadowing of what God is going to do when the final judgement arrives. In verse 42 it says, “I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh–with the blood of the slain and the captives.” 

This seems to fit the imagery in the video, the ones with the arrows are the slain and captive and God is using their death and enslavement as judgement against God’s enemies. Death, theologically, is an enemy of God. He didn’t intend for us to die, but sin is what brought death and which is why Jesus has and will defeat death.

 

The next shot in the video is of death disintegrated into a pile of ash and his half skull falls to the ground. 

 

1 Corinthians 15:54-56

“54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

55 “O death, where is your victory?

    O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Then Jesus crushes death as he walks toward the giant door, presumably to open it with the key that he came with, the one to hades. This leaves one more key to be used, the one that represents death which is now in the possession of Jesus.

 

The next image is of Jesus’ face, now with blood dripping down. Several things can be taken away from this image but the most important is timing. The blood from the head represents the crown of thorns he bore which would cause this would. More importantly, to show his sacrifice; the timing of this blood is when death is defeated. This is very intentionally placed to represent several central components of the Christian faith and where we will end.

 

We find this transaction of the shedding of blood as our salvation in every book of the New Testament. Some authors intentionally borrow from the Old Testament book of Isaiah,, specifically chapter 53. On your own time, I would encourage you to read all 12 verses. You will find many familiar words.

 

“Pierced for our transgressions…crushed for our iniquities.” (v5)

 

“He was oppressed and afflicted…” (v7)

 

“..because he poured out his soul to death

    and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

    and makes intercession for the transgressors.” (12b)

 

Jesus poured out his soul, his life blood to death, so that he could overcome death for us all. The scene of Jesus crushing death is there because he first succumbed to death on the cross. 

 

The image of blood now appearing on his face in this video, at his second coming, gives us the imagery of how this defeat of death is accomplished.

 

The anime factor here is that it appears both like a tattoo or even more so, war paint, to show that he is ready for battle. This blood stain on the side of his face remains throughout the rest of the video depicting warrior Jesus.

 

Enter, the next scene, we find the fallen angel Lucifer sitting at the foot of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  

 

The rest of the video, two minutes, is devoted to this shadow between Jesus and Satan. Without doing the rest of the work for you, I will highlight things to look for and encourage you to find out where the images in scripture come from.

 

Starting at 2:48

 

-Jesus breathes and a sword appears in his hands 

-Satan has a crown on

-Satan transforms into a beast

-Hadouken Jesus (This is clearly an anime reference at its finest and not in scripture. I also thought of naming this “Kamehameha Jesus.”)

–Satan is surrounded by angels and a pit of fire opens up around him

-Jesus places a key around Satan’s neck

-Jesus looks at the camera in the last cutscene and a crown appears.

Check out the lyrics here.

Enjoy the finale.

 

In Truth & Love,

Matthew J. Diaz