The Young Messiah 2016

In the bright, sun-drenched streets of Alexandria, seven-year-old Jesus (Adam Greaves-Neal) plays joyfully with his cousins. Trouble arises when Eliezer, a cruel bully, attacks Jesus and his female cousin. Just then, Satan steps in, enticing Eliezer with an apple that leads to a tragic end for him. In the chaos that follows, the local crowd turns on Jesus, but his mother, Mary (Sara Lazzaro), shows up just in time to save her son from the angry mob. Seeking refuge, Jesus and his cousins hide in their home where they implore him to replicate his earlier miracle of reviving a dead bird.

With great stealth, Jesus ventures into Eliezer’s house, where a grim burial is being prepared. Defying the natural order, he brings Eliezer back to life, only for the resurrected bully to immediately return to his malicious ways. Eliezer’s parents, outraged, demand that Joseph (Sean Bean), Mary, and Jesus vacate Alexandria, claiming that their time there has reached its limit.

A divine dream prompts Joseph to lead his family back to Israel following Herod’s death, although Mary expresses her desire to pick Nazareth over Bethlehem as their destination, and thus they set off together.

Their journey becomes perilous when Jesus’s uncle Cleopas becomes gravely ill, his cough worsening with each step. Despite Jesus’s inner conflict about healing him, he ultimately cannot ignore the man’s desperate cries. Along the way, they stumble upon a group of rebels waiting to ambush Roman cavalry. A valiant rebel sacrifices himself to protect Jesus, while another Centurion intervenes, shielding him from a Roman soldier’s aggression.

Upon rejoining his family, Jesus discovers Cleopas in a delirious state by the banks of the Jordan River. Unable to resist the man’s heartfelt pleas, Jesus assures him of his miraculous powers. As word spreads of Jesus’s abilities, it reaches the ears of the new Jewish King who dispatches a Centurion to stop the boy’s so-called “witchcraft.”

In their approach to Nazareth, Jesus and his family witness a woman brutally defending herself and killing her attacker. Joseph and Cleopas ensure that the body receives a proper burial, and the woman, having survived her harrowing experience, joins their journey.

As they near Nazareth, they witness the brutal crucifixion of Jewish rebels at the hands of the Roman Empire. Upon arrival, they find themselves accused of banditry, but Sarah (no specific actress credited), Joseph’s wife, manages to appease the Roman soldiers with her kind hospitality, offering them sweet cakes and fine wine. In the meantime, the Centurion reports back to Herod, interrupting a belly dancing show with news of having executed a man who claimed that Jesus would return bearing a gift camel.

As Jesus is taken to the Temple for his education, he effortlessly impresses the rabbis with his immense wisdom and knowledge. However, this takes a toll on him, leading to exhaustion on his way back home. In his weakened state, Satan seizes the moment to mock Jesus, chastising him with the assertion that his modest miracles may ultimately leads to nothing.

Once he has regained his strength, Jesus seeks his parents’ permission to attend Passover celebrations in Jerusalem. His parents, however, must hunt him down after he mysteriously vanishes from Sarah’s home. Meanwhile, the Centurions track Jesus with leads obtained from a group of traveling pilgrims.

Determined to find guidance, Jesus decides to make his way to Jerusalem alone under the cover of night. Upon entering the city, he is greeted by pilgrims who generously offer him coins, which he uses to release a sacrificial dove. His path soon crosses with that of a blind rabbi, prompting Jesus to inquire about a significant incident that occurred in Bethlehem seven years ago.

Unbeknownst to him, Satan discreetly directs the Centurions to his location using the rabbi. However, the rabbi receives immediate healing from Jesus’s miraculous touch. As word spreads of this miracle, Centurion Severus confronts Jesus and his group in the temple, but he is swayed from taking any aggressive actions by the crowd that passionately identifies Jesus as the healer.

Severus, desperate to maintain his authority, concocts a story to inform Herod that Jesus has been brutally murdered at his command. Back in Nazareth, Mary enlightens Jesus with the answers he had long sought, and with a new sense of clarity, he rushes back to his family.