The Chosen is a seven season, 60+ episode movie/television series on the life of Jesus. Each episode is 45-60 minutes, so the entire production will be more than fifty hours long. It is a monumental project, and it is magnificent.
“The Chosen” is independently produced. There is no major film company financing it. It is funded by donations, and, by a brief initial release in theaters. Their goal is to offer it FREE to everyone on earth. Four seasons are complete and already free to live stream. Season Five was in the theaters in March and April (eight episodes adapted to be three full length movies), and it will soon also be available to live stream. It is being translated into as many languages as they have money for, and it has become a world-wide sensation. The Chosen has had a special appeal to people who have heard the name of Jesus, but know very little about him. There are many tremendous testimonies of people coming to faith after watching The Chosen. And it has received excellent reviews, even from secular critics who are oftentimes negative on anything religious.
I have watched dozens of movies on the life of Christ, and this is one of my two favorites. It is wonderful to watch, excellently done artistically and technically, along with acting that is profession and powerful; and that all comes together to make it a powerful way to get into the story of Jesus.
Here is the trailer for Season One…
Watching a good movie about Jesus can enhance our appreciation for this story, which is indeed The Greatest Story Ever Told (the title of a 1965 movie on the life of Jesus). I said “The Chosen” one was one of my two favorites. Let me say more about that.
There are many inferior movies about Jesus. There are three problems. Some earlier ones have not stood the test of time. Some are very poorly done; poorly written, technically not up to the standards we have grown used to, and with terrible acting. And some, get the story totally wrong, sometimes even wickedly wrong.
The two best are The Chosen, and Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus of Nazareth is a six-hour movie that was first televised as a four night mini-series during Holy Week of 1977. Until The Chosen, that was my favorite. It still is my favorite for a familiar retelling of the basic story. There are, of course, creative additions to the Biblical account, but Jesus of Nazareth starts with the birth of Jesus, and goes through the story from beginning to end in a way you would recognize.
The Chosen takes a different approach. Like Jesus of Nazareth, it hits all the high points of the story of Jesus in an accurate way, one that respects the true story and makes it come alive in wonderful ways; but it does that by adding a large, creative ‘back story’ that is not in the Bible at all. It is probably 50% Bible story and 50% creative back story, and that bothers some people. And some do not like it at all for that reason.
The first season of The Chosen does not start with Jesus’ birth, but there is a flashback to that in a later season. The opening scene has Nicodemus coming into Capernaum; there is a demon possessed wild prostitute, later known as Mary Magdalene (also called ‘Lilith’ sometimes—so don’t let that confuse you; her name becomes very important); there are stern and sometimes ruthless Roman soldiers; Matthew the tax collector is portrayed as autistic; and then there is Peter, a brash, outspoken cashed strapped fisherman who is a schemer and a scammer, and Andrew his brother who is quieter and, unlike Peter (in the beginning), Andrew has a conscience.
One scene in the first episode has Peter in a fist fight with his brother-in-law, and brother Andrew is taking bets; so you might be asking ‘Where’s that in the Bible?’ It isn’t, but this, and other scenes, are setting the stage for Peter’s confession, ‘Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.’ Jesus appears only for a few minutes at the end of this first episode, but when he does appear, the scene is amazing, because of how the back story has been building up to that point.
Therefore, it is very important to understand how the back story works. Therefore, I am going to include here an eight-minute scene from the second episode of season three. Here’s what is in the Bible. There are two disciples named James: James, the son of Zebedee, the brother of John (also known as James the Greater), and James, the son of Alphaeus (also known as James the Lesser). That’s in the Gospels. In The Chosen, they are called Big James and Little James. Little James is portrayed as handicapped. That part is not in the Bible, but Jesus did meet and heal many handicapped people, and, there are many people now with physical problems who are watching the show. So, The Chosen builds a back story about little James, that is not in the Bible, in order to teach us some things that are in the Bible—about healing and about not understanding God ways. In this scene, Little James has a question for Jesus. Little James has been with Jesus and Jesus has been healing people all over the place– but he has not healed Little James. Little James limps, he is always in pain, and sometimes, he even has to be carried by the other disciples. Now, Jesus is sending the disciples out, two by two, to preach, and to heal. And Little James is wondering about that. Here is the scene…
Isn’t that terrific? There is a made-up back story that sets the stage for the teaching of some powerful and deep Biblical truths. So, throughout The Chosen enjoy the creative back story as you would any movie, and then watch how, as it connects to the Bible Story, it makes the Bible come alive better than any movie ever.
Can you understand how that scene would speak to someone who has prayed for healing, but is not being healed? The back story of Mary Magdalene portrays a really messed up life; just like many who are watching have messed up lives. Matthew is very awkward socially, like many folks who are watching. Peter is carrying a big grudge and much hatred; like many who are watching. (continued…)
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