The Messiah on Netflix: between confusion and inspiration

Abstract
The Netflix series The Messiah has intrigued many spectators but has encountered criticism as well. The criticism is heterogeneous: both concerned Christians, often from American protestant background, as well as sceptic secular people have rejected person and message of the mysterious al-Masiḥ. In our article it is shown that this kind of criticism should be considered part and parcel of the Messianic impact of the series. By a careful comparison between Islamic and Christian Messianic motifs it becomes clear that the series has consciously found its way amids a plethora of motifs, hereby avoiding violent and intolerant elements of classical Messianism, although apocalyptic elements are not lacking either. The device exploited frequently is „the rhetorics of evasion and of confrontation‟, by which the search for truth falls back upon the follower him- or herself. Human existence is viewed as a struggle between the superficial and the existential, as well as between the self-assured and the wounded. Al-Masiḥ seems to be capable of confronting the people with the deeper layers of their existence, while transcending barriers of religion, politics and class.