When I first saw the trailer for Netflix’s Messiah on YouTube, I thought it was an attempt to retell the story of Jesus in a modern setting, a bit like Godspell, but without the clowns and singing. Then I noticed a lot of positive comments on YouTube by Muslims who thought it was about the Muslim Jesus. Christian comments were saying it was about the Antichrist. The show is about the same questions. Who is the lead character? Is he Jesus, Al-Mahdi, the Antichrist or a fraud?
The writer and executive producer was Michael Petroni, who also wrote the screenplays for The Voyage of the Dawn Trader (2010) and The Rite (2011) which both had Christian themes. (He also butchered the Anne Rice novels The Vampire Lestat and The Queen of the Damned in his screenplay Queen of the Damned.) Another executive producer was Mark Burnett, creator of Survivor and The Apprentice. He also produced Christian themed movies and television, The Bible (2013), Son of God (2014), Women of the Bible (2014), Woodlawn (2015), AD The Bible Continues (2015) and Ben Hur (2016). They do not sound like the sort of people who would set out to create a pro-Muslim, anti-Christian propaganda piece.
Muslims believe there will be three major end-times figures – Ad-Dajjal, the Muslim equivalent of the Antichrist, Isa or Al-Masih, the Muslim Jesus and Al-Madhi. Both Al-Masih and Al-Madhi are referred to as the Messiah. They believe Isa or Jesus will first appear in Damascus. He will defer to Al-Madhi and go on a pilgrimage to Mecca. He will say that he really was a Muslim and convert Christians to Islam and implement Islamic law. Isa will kill Ad-Dajjal, the one-eyed Jewish Antichrist, who also claims to be Jesus, and his Jewish followers. Al-Mahdi will conquer Israel and will rule the world, with Islam as the only religion.
(Everything I know about Muslim eschatology comes from Antichrist Islam’s Awaited Messiah by Joel Richardson who argues that the Muslim Messiah, Al-Madhi, will really be the Antichrist of the Bible and Isa or Al-Masih is the False Prophet.)
Messiah begins a few years from now when there has been a resurgence of Islamic State and ISIL forces have besieged Damascus. A man, played by Mehdi Dehbi, with long hair and a beard, like Jesus is often portrayed, appears and preaches that God will save them. A massive sandstorm causes the ISIL army to retreat and Damascus is saved. (Apparently, Allah is not on Islamic State’s side.) He is proclaimed to be the Muslim Jesus, Isa or Al-Masih and 2000 Syrian Palestinians, including 2 young men Jbril and Samer, follow him into the desert towards the Israeli border.
During the scenes of Al-Masih walking through the desert, followed by the enthusiastic crowds, calling him the Messiah, I thought it must have looked much the same with Jesus and his followers. Except for the scene where he kicked the guy who disagreed with him.
Meanwhile, a CIA agent, Eva Geller, played by Michelle Monaghan, is worried about Al-Masih’s intentions and the unrest which could spread. She suspects he is a cult leader or a terrorist.
Al-Masih leaves his followers at the border without food and water and is arrested by the Israelis. He is interrogated by Aviram Dahan, played by Tomer Sisley. Al-Masih says he was originally Jewish, says God is his Father and calls himself the Word, a title for Jesus from John 1. He knows personal details about him which there is no way he could have known. He disappears from prison during the night, reminiscent of Peter’s miraculous escape from prison in Acts 12.
He turns up at the Dome of the Rock, where the crowd recognizes him, the Israeli police show up, a boy is shot, (it is not clear who shot him) and Al-Masih appears to bring him back to life, which the crowd records on their cameras and phones. He disappears into the crowd, again reminiscent of the Bible, and how Jesus disappeared into the crowd when they tried to kill him in Nazareth (Luke 14:29-30).
While many Muslims believe he is Al-Masih, some Muslim leaders have their doubts and accuse him of quoting infidels and misquoting the Quran, similar to how the Jewish leaders rejected Jesus.
In the small Texas town of Dilley, the local Baptist church is on the verge of closing. The minister Felix Iguero, who has an alcoholic wife, Anna, and a rebellious daughter, Rebecca, has lost his faith and, in despair, is about to burn his church down. He is interrupted by a tornado warning. Al-Masih appears and saves Rebecca and seems to protect the church from the tornado. The rest of the town is destroyed. The church is the only building left standing. Social media picks it up and Al-Masih is dubbed the “Miracle Man”.
Felix recognises Al-Masih from the news and believes he is from God, His faith is restored.
Al-Masih is arrested for entering he United states illegally and taken to a detention centre. He is interrogated by Eva who has learned that he apparently flew from Jordan to Mexico on a private jet. There is nothing miraculous about his appearance in the US and he appears to have powerful backers. like his interrogation by Aviram in Israel, Al-Masih turns the tables on his interrogator and knows personal details about Eva.
The immigration case goes to court. Outside the court his American followers are chanting, “Al-Masih!”, as though they are accepting him on Muslim terms, rather than Christian ones.
During the trial, the prosecutor points out that Al-Masih does not pray facing Mecca like a Muslim should. She asks him what religion he is. He replies, “I walk with all men.” He sounds like he is above any religion, embracing everyone. He quotes both the Bible and the Quran.
Miraculously, the conservative judge rules that he can stay in the US.
Jbril and Samer split up. Samer and most of the Palestinians, who Al-Masih left at the border, give up and head for Jordan. Jbril and a few others stay.
Eva learns that during the interrogation Al-Masih was quoting Oscar Wallace, a computer hacker and anarchist, who defected to Russia.
Al-Masih and Felix return to Dilley where thousands of pilgrims and seekers have arrived, hoping to see Al-Masih, including Staci Hardwick, played by Emily Kinney, who was last seen getting her brains blown out on The Walking Dead. Staci hopes that Al-Masih will heal her daughter of cancer. Not everyone believes in Al-Masih. Someone has painted “False God” on the church.
Avirim, who has suspended from Shin Bet, goes to Texas, buys a gun and intends to kill Al-Masih, but he loses a staring contest with him and changes his mind.
A Dilley father and son find their injured dog who has been missing since the tornado in a damaged house. The son expects Al-Masih to heal the dog. Instead, he shoots it.
Jbril, starving and thirsty on the Israeli border, hallucinates and has a vision of Al-Masih handing him a Muslim prayer mat which is wrapped around a gun. Perhaps, this is meant to suggest that Al-Masih is not what he appears and does not have peaceful intentions.
Al-Masih wants to leave Dilley. He says he will let Felix decide where they should go. Felix tells the crowd to follow them and a convoy sets off. They drive past Waco, reminding us of David Koresh who also claimed to be the Messiah and which ended badly.
Eva learns from her sources in Iran that Al-Masih’s real name is Payam Golshiri. He had been in the United States before and had studied at Williams College while Oscar Wallace was a lecturer. She suspects he is an agent of chaos, a follower of Wallace and his goals of anarchy and social disruption.
The convoy arrives in Washington DC. Although Felix appeared to decide where they were going, Al-Masih was actually dropping hints, looking east when they left Dilley and being photographed in front of Washington DC mileage marker. This is where he wants to be. They stop at the Lincoln Memorial and Al-Masih walks on the water of the Reflecting Pool. The miracle is witnessed and filmed by hundreds of people.
At the same time Jbril and the remaining refugees are allowed to cross into Israel.
The miracle triggers a “messianic revival”. University students stop going to classes and hang out like their Woodstock grandparents. There is rioting and looting on the streets of Washington DC, while in the New Jerusalem Temple of God the Christians are singing, “He has returned!”
In Jordan Samer is taken in by some Muslims who think Al-Masih is really Ad-Dajjal, the Muslim equivalent of the Antichrist. I wish more of the Christian characters were that discerning.
Eva learns from Al-Masih/ Payam’s brother Adar that their Jewish father and Christian mother were killed when they fled Iraq in 1990. He was raised by his uncle Yusuf (Joseph) who was a street magician and conman. Payam was an attention-seeker who used to like to make up stories. She also learns that Al-Masih flew to Mexico in a plane owned by a Russian company. Wallace has been hiding in Russia. She suspects the whole affair is state-sponsored social disruption, a new form of terrorism.
Al-Masih is grabbed by the secret Service and taken to President Young who is a Mormon. He tells the President he needs to withdraw all US forces from overseas (what the Russians would want), and that history has ended and the world is about to begin again.
At a press conference a reporter asks Al-Masih if he is the Messiah, he replies, “I am a message. I am here to bring about the world to come.” Felix, who was not told about the press conference, feels left out of the loop.
When Avirim and Al-Masih catch up a hotel pool, he admits he is Payam Golshiri.
Eva learns that Payam Golshiri spent seven months in a psychiatric hospital in Iran. He had a delusional disorder, a messiah complex.
President Young is reluctant to take action over Russian moves against the Baltic States. He has apparently been influenced by what Al-Masih told him and is considering withdrawing American forces from overseas.
Felix arranges with his televangelist father-in-law Edmund DeGuilles for Al-Masih to appear on his television show “God is Greater” which just happens to mean “Allahu akbar” in Arabic. During Jesus’ ministry the crowds, which followed Jesus, hoped to get something from him, a miracle or political liberation. Even his disciples were initially guilty of trying to exploit their connection to Jesus to advance themselves (Matthew 20:20-28, Luke 9:46-48, 22:24). It is much the same with Al-Masih. The crowds want something from him. Felix appears to be exploiting his connection to Al-Masih to advance himself and increase his influence through the television show.
Eva learns that Al-Masih has been in contact with Oscar Wallace during their convoy. She rings Wallace who tells her she has it wrong. Al-Masih is not his disciple. Wallace is his. His book The Cultural Terrorist is dedicated to “P.G.” – Payam Golshiri.
At Edmund DeGuilles’ megachurch the crowd is getting all worked up, waiting for Al-Masih. Instead, he gets into a car with Aviram and his team and they drive off.
Rebecca goes on stage and tells the crowd that those who are with Al-Masih will be delivered and those who are not with him will be taken by tornados and floods and swept into the wasteland; Al-Masih is the messenger and the eye of the storm. She has a seizure and collapses. Still more interesting than the messages at a lot of megachurches.
Meanwhile in Israel, Jbril has been persuaded by the Muslims who took him in to speak at a mosque about recognition of the Palestinian state. Samer has been sent by the Muslims who took him in to suicide bomb the meeting. He recognizes Jbril and changes his mind, but his handler sets the bomb off remotely. Jbril survives the blast.
The White House leaks to the media what Eva has discovered about Al-Masih/Payam Golshiri. He is quickly discredited. Staci’s daughter, who Al-Masih had supposedly healed of cancer, relapses and dies.
Felix feels betrayed. He returns to Dilley and burns down his church. He has apparently lost his faith again.
Al-Masih and Avirim are flying back to Israel on an private jet. The plane crashes in North Africa. Eva thinks the US shot it down.
Avirim wakes up in the plane wreckage. A shepherd boy tells him he was dead and Al-Masih brought him and another passenger, one of Avirim’s team, back to life. The final scene is of the other passenger kneeling before Al-Masih.
Messiah turned out to be another series which was cancelled on a cliff-hanger. In March 2020 Netflix announced there will not be a second season. We will never know if Payam Golshiri was a complete fraud or did he really have supernatural power? Is Avirim now a believer? Will Jbril see him again? Do the red flowers the plane crashed in mean anything?
Messiah is not an accurate portrayal of the Al-Masih of Islam. He does first appear in Damascus. However, he does not do what Muslims expect Al-Masih will do. There is no Ad-Dajjal or Al-Mahdi. There is no pilgrimage to Mecca or world war. He wins many Christians over, but in the end he is exposed, discredited and fails.
On one level Messiah is a political thriller about a foreign power attempting to show social disruption in the United States and exploit the religious belies of the President to achieve their agenda. We could also see Messiah as a warning how even Christians could be taken in by the Antichrist. The Bible says that when Jesus returns, he will descend from Heaven (Acts 1:11, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, Revelation 19:11-21). He will not just show up in the Middle East, like he did the first time. Jesus warned his second coming would not be like the first;
“Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many. … Then, if anyone says to you, “Look, here is the Christ!” or “There!”, do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive. if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore, if they say to you, “Look, He is in the desert!”, do not go out; or “Look, He is in the inner rooms!”, do not believe it. For as lightning comes from the east and flashed to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matthew 24:4-5, 23-27)
Christians in the southern United States like their Bible prophecy. Felix, a Baptist minister in Texas, should have been very familiar with this passage, and so should his televangelist father-in-law. Felix should have recognized that Al-Masih was a false Christ or even the Antichrist. Al-Masih is a charismatic figure. He knows how to use the media. People flock to him. He appears to have supernatural powers and claims to speak for God. He announces it is the end of history and subverts existing religious and political institutions. This is what many Christians believe the Antichrist will be like.
Instead, Felix puts more faith in his experience, his encounter with Al-Masih, rather than what the Bible says. Al-Masih may have been convincing, but the Antichrist will also be convincing. When Al-Masih is discredited, Felix loses his faith again. It looks like God gets the blame, rather than Felix realizing that he was wrong to put his faith in Al-Masih in the first place.
Malcolm Nicholson 