The Word [Jesus] became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.

(John 1:14, The Message)

As The Chosen opens we see Jesus, the living, breathing, compelling Son of God who lives in the neighborhood. His ministry in Galilee is just beginning. As a rabbi, Jesus chooses his followers—twelve men from diverse backgrounds. There are two sets of brothers but most of the others don’t know one another. And none of them fully comprehend what it all means, but they willingly follow Jesus. Several women, including Mary, his mother, are part of the group and help support the ministry.

Here is the trailer to the first season of The Chosen. If you have been watching the series you will remember these scenes. If you have not been watching, this will give you a glimpse of the action.

 

I want to share the reasons I recommend this adaptation of Jesus’ life and ministry. I will be weaving in comments of some of my Facebook friends who responded when invited to do so. Their words will be in italics.

Here’s Why I Recommend The Chosen

1. The realness of Jesus

There have been many portrayals of Jesus in movies over the years. (I found a list of films about Jesus. The earliest film on the list was Life and Passion of Christ, filmed in 1907.) Each actor who portrayed Jesus had his own way of relating to the disciples and the crowds. We often get the impression that Jesus is beyond human emotions. But in The Chosen the actor who plays Jesus is very relatable.

~ I absolutely love how real it makes Jesus and the disciples. They show better than anything I’ve ever seen how Jesus was both fully man and fully God. He did miracles and healed the lame and sick, but he also got tired, needed to eat and sleep, and had real life issue to handle. ~ Jesse

~ One of my very most favorite things about this series is how they have brought the kindness and humanity of Jesus in a tangible way. I love how they capture Jesus’ playful side, how he banters and jokes with his friends and disciples. The show is a beautiful depiction of a Jesus who is not far off and un-relatable and judgmental, but one who is close and near and desiring to walk with us. ~ Kate

2. The humanity of the disciples 

Not just the twelve disciples but also the women in the story struggle to understand Jesus. Some can’t completely trust him. They grapple with power struggles, longing for personal space, and feelings of inadequacy among the group members. In spite of it all, they stay.

~ The disciples are so human, so relatable! I especially felt this during the latest episode when they didn’t really know what they were doing as God’s power was displayed through them while they healed people! It’s so good!! ~ Laurie

3. Jesus’ acceptance of the women

Women had little value in Jesus’ day. They were generally not educated and they were not allowed to worship in the synagogue with the men. “[Jesus] measured men and women by the same standards, the inner qualities of character…” (source). His concerns for their relationships, spiritual issues, and difficult daily lives must have been a breath of fresh air to the women he encountered. And The Chosen does a beautiful job with this.

4. The harshness of daily life 

In The Chosen we see the rigors of  daily life in Jesus’ time. Drawing well water every day is beyond our imagination. Their lives were controlled by the Romans, a hostile foreign power who ruled over their homeland. Even their own Jewish laws laid burdens on the shoulders of the people.

~ Seeing the reality of how the early Christians lived, the starkness of it, has been eye-opening. Rose colored glasses OFF! ~ Sandee

5. The storytelling

In my research for this post I have seen the question that you already may have considered: Is The Chosen biblical? There are people in the story that are not in the Scripture. Some of the backstories of the disciples are pretty unexpected. (For example, Matthew is portrayed as being on the autism spectrum.) This is not a line and verse telling of the story of Jesus’ life and ministry from the Bible.

I’m not a novelist, but I have read plenty of biblical fiction. And I know that much of The Chosen’s content is extra-biblical. Think about authors like Francine Rivers, Boede and Brock Thorne, Mesa Andrews, and Davis Bunn. Each of these excellent writers study the biblical text, historical documents, and the culture of the time the story is set. Then they write their books that tell their story. Dallas Jenkins, director of The Chosen, calls the writing part “artistic imagination.”

In an interview with Ben Shapiro, Dallas Jenkins explained this process, adding, ” I, personally, as a believer, want to never contradict the character or the intentions of Jesus and the Gospels.”

~ At first I was most impressed with the details of everyday life in what has always seemed like a far-away time. Then the people became as real as the people around me today. The backstories I know are fictionalized, but they serve to deepen our understanding of motivations and character. When Jesus came, he changed whom he chose. He’s still doing that through the Holy Spirit, and it’s marvelous! ~ Joan

In closing, The Chosen presents Jesus as the living, breathing, compelling Son of God who lives in the neighborhood. He walks among ordinary humans, like us. Little by little we, like the disciples, come to understand him. Some will follow him, though not all. We see Jesus’ regard for the overlooked, like the women of his day and people broken by sickness, poverty, class,

Keeping our eyes on Jesus,

Ginger