Watch: The disciples meet in a new clip from Light of the World
Right from the start, they're competing for status.
With less than three months to go until its theatrical release, the makers of Light of the World—the year’s second major animated movie about Jesus—have put out a new clip from the film, in which the disciples meet each other.
You can watch the clip here:
A few points about this clip:
It begins with Peter saying, a bit repetitively, that he’ll “follow [Jesus] into the most unimaginable ordeal imaginable”.
This matches some of the bolder, and arguably rasher, statements made by the biblical Peter, who asked if he could walk on water with Jesus (Matthew 14:28) and insisted he would die with Jesus (Mark 14:31, Matthew 26:35, Luke 22:33, John 13:37).
Andrew protests that he “found” Jesus first.
In John’s gospel, Jesus meets Andrew first, and Andrew then introduces Peter to Jesus (John 1:40-42). So, yes, the biblical Andrew met Jesus first.
In John’s gospel, Andrew and Peter meet Jesus near the border of Judea and Perea, close by the Dead Sea (John 1:28), and it is only after they meet him that they all go north to Galilee (John 1:43). The meeting in this clip, on the other hand, appears to be taking place by the Sea of Galilee.
Jesus calls Peter a “rock”.
The biblical Jesus makes a point of calling Peter a “rock” twice: once in John 1:42, when the two of them first meet—that’s the passage dramatized here—and then again in Matthew 16:18, after Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah.
James and John run over and join Jesus, Peter, and Andrew, as John shouts, “Jesus! We’re coming too!”
In Mark and Matthew, the biblical Jesus calls Andrew and Peter by the edge of the lake, and then he walks over to James and John and calls them, too (Mark 1:16-20, Matthew 4:18-22). In Luke’s gospel, Jesus doesn’t call any of the fishermen until after he helps them catch some fish, and it is Peter who asks James and John to come over in their boat and help them load the fish (Luke 5:1-11).
We don’t see the miraculous catch of fish in this clip, but based on the dialogue after James and John have joined Jesus and the other two disciples (“That’s a lot of fish!”), it would seem that this clip takes place right after that miracle.
Another seven disciples run over and join them.
That adds up to eleven disciples in total, so far. Just one more to go…
In addition to the four fishermen, the gospels describe how Jesus met Philip, Nathanael (John 1:43-51), and Matthew (Matthew 9:9-13; cf Mark 2:13-17, Luke 5:27-32); it remains to be seen whether the film will depict those meetings. We don’t know how Jesus met the other five disciples (Thomas, Thaddaeus, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas Iscariot).
Judas says the fish look like “a profitable day at the market”, and Simon the Zealot identifies Judas as “the money guy”.
The biblical Judas was indeed the “keeper of the money bag” (John 12:6, 13:29).
Simon the Zealot is mentioned in all four lists of the Twelve in the New Testament (Mark 3:18, Matthew 10:4, Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13), but nothing is known about him, other than that he was part of the group. It’s not even clear what the word “Zealot” is supposed to mean, in this context: was he a political revolutionary, or just super-devout (i.e. zealous for his faith)?
Peter makes a point of telling Simon the Zealot that he, Peter, is “the rock”.
The disciples have just met each other, and already they’re competing for status. This follows the jockeying for status at the beginning of the clip, when Andrew insisted that he “found” Jesus before Peter did.
The biblical disciples competed for status all the time (Mark 9:33-35, 10:35-45; Matthew 20:20-28; Luke 9:46-48), right up until the Last Supper (Luke 22:24-27)—and arguably beyond, depending on what you make of Paul’s dismissive comment about Peter and John (and James the brother of Jesus) being “esteemed as pillars” by the early Christian community (Galatians 2:6-9).
The filmmakers have also posted a new, 60-second version of the film’s trailer:
Among other things, this trailer appears to reveal or allude to:
The baptism of Jesus (Mark 1:9-11, Matthew 3:13-17, Luke 3:21-22; see also John 1:29-34, which does not mention the baptism, per se, but does mention that John the Baptist saw the Spirit come down as a dove and remain on Jesus).
The turning of water to wine (John 2:1-11).
Jesus walking on the water (Mark 6:45-52, Matthew 14:22-33, John 6:16-21).
The triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Mark 11:7-11, Matthew 21:7-11, Luke 19:35-44, John 12:12-19).
The Crucifixion (Mark 15:21-40, Matthew 27:32-56, Luke 23:26-49, John 19:16-37).
One of the Resurrection appearances (specifically, one that is witnessed by John outdoors, à la Matthew 28:16-20, Luke 24:50, John 21, or Acts 1:4-8).
And that’s about it! The film is coming to theatres September 5. If there are any more clips between now and then, I’ll be sure to pass them along.
Previous videos for Light of the World:
The ‘The Heart of Light of the World’ video (October 26, 2024)
The teaser (November 12, 2024)
The clip of Mary talking to John about Jesus’ birth (December 20, 2024)
The children’s-ministry curriculum video (February 10, 2025)
The ‘What Is Truth?’ clip and the ‘Launch Team Introduction’ video (March 26, 2025)
The trailer (April 10, 2025)
The ‘Jesus Heals Mary Magdalene’ clip (May 21, 2025)
The Shane & Shane music video (May 30, 2025)
More information about Light of the World is available at LightoftheWorld.com.
Upcoming Bible movies and TV shows:
now-June 29, 2025 — The Chosen: Season 5 (streaming: Prime Video - US only)
June 18, 2025 — The Chosen: Season 5: Episode 3 (streaming: YouTube)
now-July 21, 2025 — Testament: Season 1 (streaming: Angel Studios, with episodes streaming on YouTube and Facebook one week after their Angel debut)
July 13-27, 2025 — The Chosen: Season 5 (streaming: Prime Video - international)
September 5, 2025 — Light of the World (theatrical: Salvation Poem Project)
November 2025 — Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints: Season 2 part 1 (streaming: Fox Nation)
December 19, 2025 — Zero A.D. (theatrical: Angel Studios)
2025 (no month specified) — The Carpenter’s Son (theatrical: Magnolia)
2025 (no month specified) — The Chosen Adventures (streaming)
2025 (no month specified) — The Promised Land: Season 1 (streaming)
2025 (no month specified) — R&B (streaming: Netflix)
Spring 2026 — The Faithful (television: Fox)
April-May 2026 — Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints: Season 2 part 2 (streaming: Fox Nation)
second half of 2026 — The Chosen: Season 6: Episodes 1-6 (streaming: Prime Video)
March 12, 2027 — The Chosen: Season 6: Finale (theatrical: Amazon MGM)
March 31, 2028 — The Chosen: Season 7: Premiere (theatrical: Amazon MGM)
no release date specified — David (theatrical)
no release date specified — House of David: Season 2 (streaming: Prime Video)
no release date specified — Jacob (theatrical: Angel Studios)
no release date specified — Judas’ Gospel (theatrical…?)
no release date specified — The Resurrection of the Christ (theatrical: Lionsgate)
who knows when Malick will finish it — The Way of the Wind (theatrical)