ARMAGEDDON (1998)


There are often tales told, the kind of stories that arrest your interest, kindling curiosity, clawing out a desire to witness the outcome of the characters fates. There are often tales told, that give a deeper message, an allegory of something much bigger than the story can portray within its own boundaries. There are often tales told, that capture our ears, or eyes; a feast for the senses. Yet films that offer all these things are rare, so we remember them, and watch them time and time again even though it will be the same, because we will have changed since we last viewed it, so we might see something newer, fresher, a resonation evolution…

The parable from cinema I proffer to you today is the mighty, lofty, all exploding, space whizzing: Armageddon. And for me, it has all the elements that I previously mentioned.

The title of the movie, named after the location in the 'Megiddo Valley' of the Israelites (Mount of Megiddo) is prophesied to be the place that God and the forces of evil will battle in during the end-times…

"And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon" 

- Revelations 16:12  

And during the film, the good inside of Mankind battles the cruelty of the vast, seemingly uncaring universe. And Man was helped, in order to find the best in himself to defeat the worse of fates for humanity.

It's a Michael Bay film, written in part by the ever increasing legend, JJ. Abrams.

The film is the first science-fiction entertainment project that NASA has ever allowed the cast of to wear their 3 million dollar space-suits during filming.

This film also depicted the twin-towers tragedy 3 years before it happened, even down to the size and placement of the devastating holes.

Twin Towers Scene from Armageddon

But more importantly, if you let it, this film will break your heart at the end.

Here's the link to the screenplay, if you've never read one it's worth doing: http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Armageddon.html

Okay, the parable is as follows:

There was a man named, 'Harry'; a father who loved his child. 

And his work was to dig deep into the seas, and the Earth, to find the precious material within it.

Yet Harry, the father who loved his child, was becoming more and more estranged from the one he loved because his child didn't understand him, or his motives. 

Then, the powerful leaders of the earth came before this simple, and humble man, and asked for his help because a HUGE asteroid was hurtling towards the earth, which would, without any doubt, destroy everyone on the planet. 

"My God that little thing is so fragile"
Apollo 11 Astronaut

The massive plan to save humanity was then hatched:
Harry would travel into space, use his unique skills to burrow into the hurtling asteroid, and then place a nuclear device into the hole enabling the blast's force to tear the asteroid in two, saving the planet.

So, Harry goes into space with his friends and some government astronauts to try to land on the huge piece of rock and ice travelling at thousands of miles per hour. 

They finally land, and after many trials, heartaches, self-sacrifice and overcoming the odds, the hole is dug into the fissure deep enough to place the nuclear device... but it can no longer be detonated by remote control, one man has to stay behind and push the button; giving up his life that humanity might live.

Obviously a gospel allegory is easy to find within this tale of self-sacrifice.
As is our Heavenly Father's love for us, echoed through that fathers (Harry's) love towards his child -
"For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'we are his offspring."

Acts 17:28

"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God!"
1 John 3:1

And the obvious parallel to Jesus, the Christ, is, well, obvious! That one man should offer up his own life to save the whole of humanity from a destruction - to use his very being to defend the weak, needy, lost, and frightened… to use love to defeat death.

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."
John 10:11

"And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!"
Philippians 2:8

When Harry gave his life in the film to save ours, we all felt that sense of profound sacrifice (which is love) and we felt the immense resolve that it must take to be that kind of rarity: a hero!

On this planet there are many good people each day that give up all that they have; their very lives, that we might live. Real-life heroes. They are:

Firemen, police officers, soldiers, coastguards, secret service personel, medical staff, rescue experts, sailors, pilots, missionaries, foreign aid workers, ambassadors, the stranger who sees the lost and frightened in peril and in an instant steps in the way, the parent shielding their children against calamity, the unknown hero that resides within us all…

And it is wonderfully commendable because, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" - Jesus himself said this about himself, and I believe he also meant for us to learn the lesson of self-sacrifice for the stranger as much as with the friend, and to do right by following his teachings...

That we should be willing to lay our lives down if absolutely necessary, for love, whether we intimately know the face of the person we are to give our lives up for or not. And also to live for others (which the very selfish would deem a slow death!) not to exist just pleasing ourselves. I also believe he calls us to give our hearts and lives over to him, to die to self, because he is our true friend.

But only one human being has ever laid down his perfectly lived life to save all humanity for all time. This was done on the cross, when humanity nailed an innocent man (a man that lived for others, freed the captives, healed the most miserable and alienated of society, and brought light into the dark world) to a tree. As we've covered his name is Jesus.

He also loved us, and is still able to LOVE us.

Yet, unlike Harry, Jesus rose again! And he offers us all an opportunity to live IN him, to be shepherded through this life. 

To become what we were designed for and to be right, clean, known, and to know God's love and forgiveness.

It's a harsh world here, and everything is out to get us - even big old rocks in space. But there is a true hero that will never abandon us, and can save us no matter the calamity. His name is the name above all names: Jesus.

And he knows your name, even though you're a little dot on a big scary planet. He knows every hair on your beautiful head, and every breath you'll ever take… he loves you without condition; because no one is too guilty to love and too low to be served by him.

Choose him, in your heart, right now… for a hero is hard to find, but he can show you how he was a hero for you before you were even born (no other man can claim that!) And just so you know: he can make YOU a hero too. A hero of faith.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest... I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the father"
- Jesus 

...

Harry: You gotta have some kind of backup plan, right?

Truman: No, we don't have a backup plan. This is it.