Review of the Skit A Warning From History: A Warning—The Bitter Lesson of the Failure of the Pharisees

By Luoxi

The skit A Warning From History shows that owing to the desolation of the church and the lack of faith of the believers, the pastor in a church arranges for a director to shoot a skit to strengthen the brothers and sisters’ faith and remind them to stay watchful and wait for the Lord’s appearance. Unexpectedly, the skit they present is a repeat of history.

The 25-minute-long humorous skit has a profound meaning. Through it, the director puts both the historical facts of two thousand years ago the Pharisees resisting the Lord Jesus and the inside story of modern pastors and elders stopping believers from investigating the true way on the same stage, which brings people to a real knowledge of the ugly face of modern pastors and elders resisting and condemning God. In this skit, the interaction between the director and the audience and the actors’ humorous performances set the audience laughing, and provide more food for thought. Shouldn’t the pastors actively lead the believers to welcome the Lord’s return? However, why does Pastor Jia say “do not listen, read, or investigate”? If we don’t investigate, can we welcome the Lord’s coming? Is the pastor standing before us a genuine Pharisee or acting a Pharisee? Pastor Jia’s authentic performance not only furthers the development of the plot, but reminds us to think: “How should we treat the return of the Lord Jesus? And how should we treat the words of pastors?”

In addition, in this skit, the historical fact is interwoven with today’s real situation, which allows us to see clearly the sinister intentions and the underhanded methods of the Pharisees using the Old Testament to judge and condemn the Lord Jesus. The actors’ performances vividly expose the nature of the Jewish Pharisees’ confusing people and resisting God, and help more people have some knowledge and discernment about them; when Pastor Jia, who plays a Pharisee, holds his wallet up instead of the Old and New Testament and then takes off his scarf, the plots instantly come back to the present situation of the religious world. Pastor Jia begins to play his own role—a modern pastor, and quotes chapters from the Bible to condemn God’s new work, impeding and restricting believers from investigating Eastern Lightning. His actions are the same as the Pharisees’ doings to the Lord Jesus in history and reflect that the path modern pastors walk is precisely the same as that of the Pharisees. We can’t help but release a sigh: The historical fact should be a warning to us! Nowadays, aren’t the vast majority of the pastors and elders following in the Pharisees’ footsteps?

When watching this skit, we seem as if we went back two thousand years ago, and personally saw the Pharisees resisting the Lord Jesus. This scene corresponds with the line of an actress, “You are not acting a Pharisee! You are exactly a modern Pharisee!” It is true. In the matter of welcoming the Lord’s return and investigating the true way, each Christian shouldn’t merely blindly obey pastors, but should have some discernment about them.

In this skit, the actors’ performances and the excellent and intelligent debates are thought-provoking. The screenwriter makes the history repeat itself via this skit, which gives many Christians a warning. I believe each person will gain a lot of enlightenment after watching it.