When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
Luke 24:13-35
It is unusual for me to write about a television show. Reality tends to be much more interesting, compelling – and, well, real. Once in a while, however, Rebekah and I will stumble across something that entertains, informs, inspires, and makes us think all at the same time.
Hence this column on “The Chosen“. I understand the series has been out for a while, but this is the first time we have seen it. Additionally, I’m talking about it here because the story fits in with the fundamental reason this blog exists.
Why this blog exists:
This blog exists as a vehicle to help me tell the simple heart of the Good News story as it plays out, in and through my day to day. It is my hope that as you read along, looking over my shoulder to watch me journal my life, some of the light and the life and and the grace and the mercy and the promise that is Jesus comes through. I pray that I am a credible testimony to God’s invitational love.
In short, I believe that Season One of “The Chosen” – which we watched, two at a time, this past week – is a credible testimony to God’s invitational love.
This is the first time I have encountered a completely believable Jesus in a dramatization. And, in case anyone is concerned about things like interpretation, and “correct” doctrine, and accuracy, and “the right” theology, all I can say is that everything we think we “know” is already in large part interpretation and conjecture, and our judgments necessarily subjective.
The most important question for me, then, just like looking at an impressionist painting by Monet, or the swirly colors of a Van Gogh sky, or the brilliant splashes when Peter Max paints the Statue of Liberty, is not “Are the details photographically accurate?” but, “Does this tell the story of God’s faithful love, and invite us in?”
Telling the Story:
So, does The Chosen tell the story? Does it tell the good story of God breaking in through time and space to reach people like us and to offer healing love?
For me the answer is yes.
My favorite characterizations so far are Jesus, Matthew (so “on the spectrum”!), Mary, Quintus (though I suspect he will become darker in the seasons to come), and the one I identify with the most, Nicodemus.
No spoilers, please, if you have already seen the other seasons (although I am quite familiar with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John’s version of events!). But I am genuinely captivated by this production.
I’ve got to tell you, watching the constant smile dancing around the eyes of Jesus, I see God’s love resonate so beautifully. And I find myself asking the following question every day, “When I spend time with someone, anyone, do they go away feeling encouraged, cared for, heard, challenged, loved, and in some way healed?”
Even just one of those. Every time. Every person.
As the hymn from my childhood goes, “I love to tell the story….” – DEREK
I have seen the story and found it to be compelling and true to scripture. Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus, does, in my view, an outstanding job and is deserving of many awards and accolades, as are many of the other actors.
Derek AMEN.
The writers, producers and director deserve a lot of credit for the beauty of The Chosen as well. If you have a chance to see some of the clips from production or interviews of the actors take a little time to watch. Amazing how God has worked to tell His story. I am forever changed in how I picture Jesus.