The Chosen

9-8-21 Glenda Simpkins Hoffman

In the first week of pastoral leave back in May, I learned about The Chosen. This remarkable, viewer-funded show offers a glimpse of what the daily and extraordinary life of Jesus Christ and his disciples might have looked like 2,000 years ago. We as viewers are invited into this story.  Two seasons with eight episodes each have been completed, and they plan to do eight seasons in order to complete the series. You can watch it on Youtube or on the Youversion Bible app by clicking the “More” Tab and going to “Videos”.

 The first few episodes introduce four disciples: Peter, Andrew, John, and James. If you are following the VPC daily devotions, you have read the account in the Gospel of Mark 1:16-20: “As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.” 

The Chosen admittedly goes beyond the accounts in this and the other Gospels. However, the suggested back story is plausible in that it reveals the reality of what it meant to live under the  guilt of sin, the demands of religious leaders, and the oppression of the Roman Empire. We get a better picture of why the disciples were eager and willing to drop their nets and rearrange their lives to follow Jesus. They don’t understand everything about what it will involve; however,  they believed Jesus was the long-awaited King of Israel, so they followed him. 

We don’t meet Jesus until the third episode. He’s essentially camping. There is a long, silent scene showing his concentrated efforts to start a fire and keep it going so that he can cook a meal. He spends a lot of time gathering firewood and other things he needs for living and doing his woodwork.  

At one point, he cuts himself and has to bandage his bleeding wound. We see him walking, talking with his Father, living life as a first-century Jew might while traveling. This kind of detail is not in the Bible, and my writing about it may sound boring. But in fact, I was deeply moved as I gained a better picture of Jesus’ humanity and what his life was really like. This is what it means for Jesus to become incarnate, God in the flesh in all the messiness of life on earth.  

Jesus’ first encounter in the series is with a young girl. He gives her a toy he made, and the next day she returns with a friend. And then more friends until there is a group of children spending time with Jesus, listening to his stories and teaching, learning how to  pray, fishing, and laughing a lot. It’s touching to see Jesus spending so much time with children, and his deep love and affection for them and their love for him.  

As he is about to move on, they ask him what he is going to do, and he explains that he is going to call others to follow him, and that he hopes they will ask good questions and listen to his answers as they have. “And, I hope, when the time comes, they will tell others about me like you have.”  

This is a good summary of what it means to be the chosen. We commit to listening to Jesus’ word, learning what it means to follow him, and telling others about him. Most of us aren’t called to leave family or vocations. Rather, we do this in the midst of our everyday, ordinary lives. We do this in the midst of the obligations we have of working, shopping, cooking, house cleaning, and so on.  

Throughout the series, Jesus and his disciples have to think and strategize about where they will stay, how they will acquire food and who is going to prepare it. The daily logistics of life on the road are a part of the story. Jesus and the disciples had daily responsibilities and challenges related to living, and it was in the midst of that they were faithful to share the good news with others. 

Along with daily responsibilities, Jesus also had to deal with friction and quarrels among this newly formed group of followers as well as the hostility they had toward outsiders. We see how egos got in the way of listening to Jesus and living in community with others. Humility, self-control, and sacrifice still needed to be learned.  

 It’s easy to think of Jesus hurting or struggling and think, “but he is God,” so it can’t be so bad for him. We mustn’t forget that he is fully God and fully human, so he did not escape the struggle, grief, or pain we experience. Jesus faithfully lived out his mission as he proclaimed and taught the good news in the midst of real-life, human challenges.  

 I really do love the way The Chosen reveals Jesus’ humanity in all its vulnerability. But I also appreciated seeing how he told jokes, laughed a lot, shared stories, and was even at times sarcastic.  

As in the Gospels, Jesus’ divinity is revealed as well. We witness Jesus manifesting the power of the kingdom by healing paralytics, casting out demons, turning water into wine, and disclosing knowledge that only God could have as he did in a conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well.  

The result is that people flock to him to hear him teach and to have him touch them and make them well. As lives are changed, the word spreads rapidly about who Jesus is and what he has done in offering forgiveness, healing wounds, and restoring life. People can’t stop sharing what they have seen and heard and experienced.  

The characterization of Christ as played by Jonathan Roumie is charming, enthralling, and heart-wrenching. I have found myself weeping because the writing, acting, and cinematography so masterfully depict the goodness, beauty, and truth of our Lord Jesus—his humanity and divinity. I found myself drawn into the story and the good news of Jesus in a fresh way that created in me a longing and desire “to see him more clearly, love him more dearly, and follow him more nearly day by day.”  

Among all the choices available to stream or binge these days, I highly recommend you check out The Chosen. It is a gift of grace. You can watch on Youtube or on the Youversion Bible app by clicking the “More” Tab and going to “Videos”.