Saturday Night Live has been known for pushing the envelope over its 37 year history with NBC. This past Saturday night (Feb 16th), SNL brought Jesus into a comedic sketch where the carpenter from Nazareth takes his revenge on the Romans.

Christoph Waltz, most notably known for Inglorious Bastards & Django Unchained, hosted SNL this past weekend. Waltz plays Jesus as seen in the movie trailer of a new Quentin Tarantino parody film called “DJesus Uncrossed.” No, Tarantino isn’t really doing a film about Jesus (though that would be interesting), it’s just a bit of SNL humor.

Humor can certainly offend our religious sensibilities, especially if a person thinks that shows like SNL are of the devil. But it also has a way of holding a mirror to the inconsistencies and hypocrisies of our faith, that’s of course if we will let it. It’s time that we start listening to our critics.

I believe that SNL’s portrayal of a “kick ass” Jesus is representative of the bad theology and sloppy biblical hermeneutics that’s so often prevalent among believers who have shaped for themselves an American gun-slinging Jesus—a Jesus that is unlike the Christ revealed in the Gospels.

In fact, I believe SNL has done us a favor. What do you think?

How does this SNL skit about Jesus make you feel? Do you see any inconsistencies with the Jesus of the Gospels and the Jesus that’s often portrayed in the lives of Christians who believe in violence toward enemies? How should Christian’s respond to SNL’s parody of Jesus?