Greg Laurie: ‘Rise of Skywalker’ Emulates the True Story of Good vs. Evil

Warning: There are a few spoiler alerts in this column, so if you have not seen Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker yet, you may want to skip to the last few paragraphs.

I remember when the first films came out and the excitement they generated across America and the world. Along with Jaws, they were the first real blockbuster movies, and they forever changed Hollywood and our expectation when we go to the theater now.

But this latest edition, directed by J.J. Abrams, brings clarity to the whole series along with some surprise appearances from Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). There is also a fitting send-off of Princess Leia, played by the late Carrie Fisher.

The new lead character, Rey, has been the point of reference to a whole new generation of Star Wars fans along with her friends and fellow fighters Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac). The beloved characters of the Star Wars franchise Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 are there, along with some new droids.

What I love about this new film, The Rise of Skywalker, is that it has a classic good vs. evil plot with some surprising spiritual overtones.

There is an evil character known as Emperor Palpatine who is ultimately defeated by a courageous Jedi who dies in the process and then is resurrected.

Sound familiar?

That is the Christmas story in a nutshell: Satan trying to stop the arrival of the Messiah, who was to be born in a manger in Bethlehem. But somehow, a red dragon trying to eat a baby does not seem like the best Christmas display in front of your house, yet it actually is biblical.

Of course, the dragon, or the devil, did not succeed.

If you think about it, the crucifixion was a rare moment in time when Satan and Almighty God were working toward a single event with different objectives.

Greg Laurie is an author, evangelist, pastor and founder of the Harvest churches in California and Hawaii and Harvest Crusades. He is the bestselling author of several books, and his newest book is Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon.

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