Mary 2024

After years of praying for a child, the angel Gabriel (Dudley O’Shaughnessy) appears to Joachim (Ori Pfeffer) in 18 BC and tells him that he will have a daughter. Joachim had withdrawn to the desert and fasted for 40 days believing that the Lord denied him a child as punishment.

In exchange, Joachim and his wife, Anne (Hilla Vidor), are to dedicate their daughter to the service of God upon Gabriel’s return. The daughter is to dwell in His temple.

Nine months later, Anne (Noa Cohen) gives birth to Mary in Nazareth. Joachim is an olive farmer and Mary grows up on her family farm.

Elsewhere, Herod the Great (Anthony Hopkins) Roman client king of Judea, announces plans to rebuild the Second Temple in 17 BC. Herod’s tyrannical rule had sparked an uprising among the Judeans. The Second Temple was a Hebrew temple in Jerusalem that was built to replace the First Temple, which was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. The Second Temple was built on the site of the First Temple after the Persian conquest of the Babylonian Empire in 539 BC. Zerubbabel began construction in 521 BC, and the temple was completed around 516 BC. King Herod the Great renovated and expanded the temple complex around 17 BC, which became known as Herod’s Temple.

The Hebrews considered the Second Temple a monument to Harod’s vanity and desire for Roman approval. Harod was considered a puppet of Rome, who shed Hebrew blood to get the throne. People wanted to follow Aristobulus, the High Priest for the path back to God.

Fearing the growing threats to his throne, he orders the death of Aristobulus (Salim Benmoussa) the high priest and the brother of his wife, Mariamne (Mili Avital). Marcellus (Gudmundur Thorvaldsson), a Roman military officer under Herod’s command, assassinates Aristobulus.

When Mariamne protests, Herod stabs her himself.

Herod’s sister Salome (Stephanie Nur) tells Herod about the rumors of a Hebrew savior. The rumors were being spread by Castobarus, Salome’s husband.

Years later, Anne is visited by Gabriel, reminding her of their promise. Joachim and Anne reveal the truth to Mary and present Mary to the Second Temple in Jerusalem to be consecrated to God in 6 BC.

She is met by Anna (Susan Brown) the Prophetess and Baba Ben Buta (Mehmet Kurtulus) a Hebrew sage who had advised Herod to build the Second Temple for atonement.

Mary is educated in the temple until she is a teenager. Mary serves the Lord through her work of washing the floors and polishing the brass items. Mary is also kind and gives the left-over food of the temple to the beggars and destitute outside.

Mary is visited by Lucifer (Eamon Farren) and tempted with pleasures of the flesh. However, Mary is steadfast in her commitment to God. Lucifer is then confronted by Gabriel and chased away.

Herod installs the Aquila of the Roman empire on the walls of the Second Temple. When Baba Ben Buta objects, Herod removes his crown and replaces it with crown made of porcupine quills. Baba Ben Buta is blinded due to this punishment. When Herod looks at Mary in the crowds, he has a vision of Jesus’ crucifixion. Marcellus tries to assassinate Mary, but she is saved by Anna, who intervenes and asks Marcellus to leave.

While washing clothes in a stream, she meets Joseph (Ido Tako) a Galilean carpenter, who is immediately enamored with her and briskly asks Joachim and Anne for her hand in marriage. They agree when they realize that it was Gabriel who had guided Joseph to the stream that day. Mary objects as she is promised to the Lord, but Anne explains that Gabriel had appeared again, and hence this was the right path and meant to be.

After her betrothal in the Second Temple (in the presence of Anna, and presided by Baba Ben Buta), Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her that she will bear a son and name him Jesus, who will rule over the house of David. Mary is skeptical as she cannot bear a child while being in the service of the Lord. Mary became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit, while still a virgin, meaning she conceived without sexual intercourse with her betrothed Joseph

When the High Priests find out about Mary’s pregnancy, they cast her out of the temple (even though she claims that she never broke her vow to the Lord), though Anna tells her she will return someday.

Mary tells Anne about her pregnancy, and Anne sends her to stay with her cousin Elizabeth (Keren Tzur) in Ein Karem, who is also pregnant. The news of Mary’s pregnancy begins to spread, and rumors circulate about her supposed promiscuity. Even Joachim refuses to believe Mary. When Mary goes to the city to explain herself to Joseph, she is nearly stoned by a mob (led by Lucifer himself who tries to incite Joseph into throwing the first stone), but Joseph helps her escape. He assures her that he does not care what people think and promises to love both her and the child.

Mary and Joseph are married, but soon enter into hiding and travel to Bethlehem after their house is vandalized. They are attacked by zealots on their way, who manage to kill Joachim.

Herod’s reign becomes increasingly tyrannical, causing unrest among Hebrews who wish to restore the House of David. Herod learns that the King of the Hebrews is soon to be born in Bethlehem, threatening his throne. The birth will be marked by the arrival of a bright wandering star, rising higher and brighter in the sky than all others, that will point to the house of birth.

When Mary goes into labor, Joseph seeks out shelter at several inns but is told that there are no rooms due to the influx of pilgrims in the city for the birth of the Messiah.

They find a stable, and Mary finally gives birth to Jesus in AD 1, the Year of the Lord. The birth of the baby is attended by 3 wise men Balthazar (Almoctar Moumouni Seydou), Caspar (Saikat Ahamed) and Melchior (Jay Willick), who bring gifts for the King of the Hebrews.

Upon hearing of Jesus’s birth, Herod orders the Massacre of the Innocents (the assassination of every male infant in the city of Bethlehem), and Mary and Joseph flee for Egypt. They find shelter with a family along the way but are soon found by Herod’s guards.

After managing to escape, Mary and Joseph know that they cannot reach Egypt as they have no food.

Meanwhile all the infants born in Bethlehem are presented to Herod and he is told that the Messiah managed to escape. Herod goes berserk, and is even visited by Gabriel, who declares that Herod’s reign is coming to an end. All the Hebrew nobles leave Herod’s court.

Mary and Joseph return to Jerusalem, where the reign of Herod has ended and they present Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem.