300 is a film based on a graphic novel about the battle of Thermopylae in Ancient Greece. It is graphic film with blood splattering across the screen, body parts dismembered and gore shown with no holding back. However Father has still managed to speak to me through this violent film.
The ‘Great King’, Xerxes of Persia is finally moving against the city states of Greece. While the rest of Greece watched and some of the Spartans play politics, Leonidas the king of Sparta sets off with his personal body guard of 300 hand picked warriors to meet the Persian threat. Some of the historians number the Persians at over a million.
However the Spartans are raised from birth to be the supreme warriors, trained to endure hardships and to fight against all odds. They march to the ‘Hot Gates’ a small pass on the coast through which Xerxes needs to pass on his route to Athens.
On their arrival they are met by an embassy from Xerxes. He tells them to surrender, when they refuse he proclaims that they are fools and
“OUR ARROWS WILL BLOT OUT THE SUN”
… to which a young Spartan quips …..
“THEN WE WIL FIGHT IN THE SHADE”
The battle ensues; the Spartans repel the first wave of Persian soldiers. As they force the last of the Persians over a cliff into the sea, they hear as whistling sound, an arrow storm is coming. The arrows do indeed blot out the sun, hundreds if not thousands of arrows fall from the sky. The Spartans duck behind there huge round shields impervious to the arrows as they fall around them and hit their shields. Behind the shields the Spartans start to laugh and joke about “Fighting in the shade”
The arrow storm comes to an end, up jump the spartans, smashing off the arrows stuck in thier shields with their spears they advance ahead of the field filled with arrows and prepare for the next wave of persians.
* * * * * * * *
Right then lets clear up the blood and I will tell you what Father spoke to me through this.
Let’s look at the four elements in this scene
· The arrows
· The shield
· The joke
· The moving on
The arrows are the “Flaming arrows of the evil one”[1] they are the things that are sent against us to end our joy, kill our relationship with Jesus, sow seeds of doubt, knock us, pull us down and trample us.
The shield is the “Shield of Faith”[2], one of the elements of the Christian armoury. The shield negates the arrows, stopping them getting to you, nullifying their effect its there for our protection.
The joke is on the devil, it is the Joy of the Lord which strengthens the believer and allows him or her to fight on.[3]
The moving on is what happens after the Shield of Faith has done its job and the believer can move forward onto the next battle.[4]
The Christian life is filled with situations where we come under attack from all sorts of things as we live a life serving our Lord and Saviour. These attacks will tae all sorts of forms. We will be attacked by whatever comes to the devils hands, our flesh, our friends and family, our insecurities, our guilt and fears. Now i do not believe that the devil takes a personal interest in us all or at all the time. After all he is a created being and can only be in one place at any time and he is NOT omnipresent. However he does have a number of minions and then there is our flesh.
The good news is that Father has given us a tool to defend us with, The Shield of Faith. Behind this shield we are safe and secure from whatever is thrown at us. We have to remember that it is a gift from Father not something we have screw our self up to get it and there is no work that we have to do to earn it. IT’S FREE. Faith is a gift from the Holy Spirit.[5] We should ask Father for it and as we know Father Will always give us what we need.
We can keep our joy in our Saviour and Lord, and laugh at the ones who are trying to bring us down. We will be released in what we are doing in the security that Father gives us.
Then we can move on to the next battlefield encouraged in the knowledge that we are secure in the Father through Jesus and that none of the darts of the evil one can harm us if we stand firm behind the Shield He has given us.
* * * * * * * *
In the early part of the film the emissary sent by Xerxes to request the Spartans submission, tries to cower the Spartans with the size of the Persian army and the fate awaiting those who do not bend their necks to him.
The Spartans take this as an insult and the emissary realises that he is going to be killed by the king.
He proclaims that “This is blasphemy, this is madness!”
Leonadas replies.. “This is not Madness THIS IS SPARTA!”
I would say ……
“This is not Madness, THIS IS CHRIST THE RISEN KING!!“
