The Blood of Jesus

At the riverside baptism of Sister Martha Ann Jackson, two members of a Southern black church congregation, Sister Ellerby and Sister Jenkins, discuss Martha's three-month-old marriage to the godless Ras Jackson and agree that, because of his wayward behavior, she is not ready for religion. After the baptism, Sister Jenkins escorts Martha home and advises her to get some rest. As she is leaving, Sister Jenkins encounters Ras, who missed the baptism and is returning home from a hunting trip. When Ras's wife presses him with questions about his hunting trip and the hog he captured, he confesses that it was a neighbor's hog that he killed. Ras begrudgingly joins his wife in prayer and then sets down his rifle, which falls to the ground and fires a bullet. The bullet strikes Martha, passes through her and hits a picture of Jesus Christ. On her deathbed, Martha is visited by a heavenly angel, who takes her spirit to a mystical graveyard where those whose lives have been cut short by the sins of others walk in silence. The angel tells Martha that this is not the place for her yet, and sends her on a journey down the highway of life to the crossroads of life and death. No sooner does the angel warn Martha to beware of hypocrites and false prophets, than she is tempted by Judas Green, Satan's emissary, who dresses her in fancy clothes and takes her to a nightclub in the city. While Martha is entertained by an acrobat and a jazz singer, Judas makes arrangements with sleazy roadhouse operator Rufus Brown to hire her as one of his "girls." Martha is tempted with the promise of abundant wealth for little work, but she changes her mind just before she is to begin her job. Claiming that he invested money in her clothing, Brown ignores her pleas and insists that she go to work immediately. Martha eventually takes the advice of the angel and flees the roadhouse, only to be chased by a customer who mistakes her for the escort who picked his pocket. The man and his friends chase Martha to the crossroads of eternal life and death, where Satan and a jazz band assembled on the back of a flatbed truck are waiting for her. Martha collapses at the crossroads but is saved by the angel, who sends away the men who have been chasing her. As the crossroads sign is transformed into a crucifix and drops of Jesus Christ's blood land on Martha's forehead, she is revived and returned to life. Ras is amazed at Martha's miraculous recovery, and they fall into an embrace under the watchful eye of the angel.