A Mashup of the Story of Doubting Thomas
as portrayed in the "Son of God" movie (2014)
and the song "When You Believe" from Prince of Egypt
Always loved the song "When You Believe" from Prince of Egypt. I had it stuck in my head when I happened across the scenes of Doubting Thomas in the Son of God movie and thought it was a great fit. Hope you like it. Below is a scene and discussion handout I created for classroom use.
I dropped the dialog between Jesus and Thomas in favor of the child's voice from Prince of Egypt and the quietness of the moment. The facial expressions kind of say it all anyway, don't you think? (I'd be asking my kids about that.) The Hebrew lyrics heard in "When You Believe" are powerful when you know what they mean. I've attached the translation of what the children are singing in Hebrew. It's the "Song of the Sea" from Exodus 15:1, "I will sing to the Lord for he has triumphed/"
Right after the scene between Jesus and Thomas we see Thomas with Jesus and the disciples at the Great Commission and Ascension. At the very end, something worth noting happens, we see John throw his arm around Thomas.
Not so coincidentally, at the end of Prince of Egypt as "When You Believe" is crescendo-ing, Moses has led the people to the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments -- their instructions. Jesus' Ascension parallels this. It's when he gives his final instructions to us on the Mt of Ascension.
Here's a graphic you can turn into an activity. It features 8 key scenes from the video that you can rewind to and ask your kids "what's going on here?" I put questions with each scene on the second page of the PDF that I've attached. Feel free to adapt as needed.
Click to enlarge the graphic, or view the PDF (attached)
The original song was written and composed by Stephen Schwartz, the same fellow who did Godspell and Wicked and many other familiar musicals. The version in the movie and its lyrics were also recorded by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey in a R&B version.
ATTACHED are the lyrics heard in the movie and my mashup.
"Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill"
FYI: Here's the video clip from Prince of Egypt featuring this song and scenes from the Exodus.
BTW. There are some very interesting parallels between Moses and Jesus, the Exodus and Jesus' story
Both Moses and Jesus spoke truth to power
Both Moses and Jesus faced retaliation
Both Moses and Jesus were rejected
Both Moses and Jesus had their DOUBTERS !
Both Moses and Jesus led a deliverance
Both delivered their people from bondage/slavery
Both led them to a "new land" --the Promised Land and The Kingdom of God
Both came from the wilderness and went up mountains
Both gave their people new rules for living
Both left their followers with instructions for what to do after they were gone
The big difference is that the first time around God sent Moses,
but when the time was right, God sent himself through Jesus Christ.
Here's an interesting YouTube video sharing more specific parallels between Moses and Jesus.
