LTN Advent Calendar 2018: Faith and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

As we enter the season of Christmas, the Love Thy Nerd writers want to share moments from nerd culture that resonate with them and reflect the weeks of the Advent calendar.

Week Two – Faith – Bethlehem Candle

By faith did Mary and Joseph accept the words of the angels that their unborn child was the one prophesied, the one to finally deliver the children of Israel once and for all from their cycle of miseries. By faith did they leave their home in Nazareth, though Mary was far along in the pregnancy, and make the trip to Bethlehem for the census. By faith did Micah record the inspiration of the Spirit hundreds of years before, believing that all these things would come to pass to fulfill the prophecies. The healing power would be born in Bethlehem.

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.”
Therefore Israel will be abandoned
until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.
He will stand and shepherd his flock
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
will reach to the ends of the earth.”  Micah 5:2-4

The Doctors Jones have a strained relationship at the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Though they’re brought closer through the capers of the film, Indy has to take his father on faith in the final scene as he navigates a booby-trapped temple. He has only some scribbled notes to guide him past razor-sharp blades, crumbling tiles, a seemingly sheer drop, and a room full of vessels that pretend to be the Grail. Indy doesn’t care about the Grail for himself—it belongs in a museum—but he’s in desperate need of its healing power for his father, bleeding out in the antechamber. Because of the power of the Grail, they are able to not only escape the temple and the Nazis but have time to repair their relationship.

You can read Week One here.

Featured image “candle” by davidpwhelan (Morguefile license, resized).