Hi. Welcome to my recap and reaction to The Chosen, the crowd-funded, first ever multi-season TV series about the life of Jesus and his disciples. You can find my prior posts about the show HERE.
THE QUICK AND CLEAN SUMMARY:
From wiki:
During shiva for the martyred Big James in AD 44, John interviews fellow disciples as he writes their eyewitness stories for his book. In Sychar, AD 26, Big James (Abe Martell) and John plow a field while Jesus continues to teach the Samaritans. Thomas and Ramah arrive and join the group. Tension builds among the disciples as they wrestle with the increasing fame of Jesus in Samaria. Jesus and his students have dinner with Melech, a former robber-now-crippled. In the morning, Melech is healed. Big James and John assume leadership roles, but the other disciples oppose their presumptions. When James and John try to present their plans to Jesus, a group of Samaritans shows extreme hostility towards them. James and John ask Jesus to rain fire to destroy the Samaritans, and Jesus rebukes James and John for their prejudice. After the near-violent encounter, Jesus gives them a new nickname: “the sons of thunder.” Invited to a synagogue to read a scroll of Moses, Jesus reads the first scroll of Genesis, and in AD 44, John writes the introduction for his book as he reminisces it.
THE EXTRA DUSTY RECAP:
The episode starts just after the martyrdom of Big James in 44 AD. John is interviewing the other disciples, as well as Mary Magdalene, and Mary the Mother of Jesus, as they gather for Shiva. He wants to collect their memories for the Gospel he is writing. It is discussed that Matthew also intends to write a Gospel. John spends the most time with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and shares that he wants to start at the very beginning of Jesus’ story – even before the Garden of Eden. They are interrupted by the sound of thunder, and Mary comments that she cannot hear that sound without thinking of “you two,” referring to John and Big James. As John muses over how to start his book, she tells him that he will think of something and advises him to take his time.
In the present, Big James and John are tilling and planting a field while discussing how much they do not like the Samaritans. John wonders aloud why they were chosen for this task, rather than going with the rest.
James: We’re good workers. And maybe He knows we don’t like Samaritans.
John: Maybe Jesus just likes us best?
James: Yes, that must be it.
Thomas and Ramah are traveling to Samaria, though Ramah’s father is not happy about this due to concerns over safety for Ramah in Samaritan lands. As if to prove his point, when Thomas hails a group of Samaritans, intending to ask directions, he is met with hostility for being a Jew.
In Sychar, Samaria, Simon and the others talk while Jesus rests alone in His room between gatherings for teaching. There is a growing crowd as those who heard Jesus preach earlier appear to have left and returned with family and friends. As Simon and Matthew bicker over how to proceed, Andrew goes to ask Jesus inside, only to find him gone. The group divides to find him.
As His disciples search for him, Jesus is helping a man repair an axle on his cart. The man He helps is so pleased with the repair that he suggests Jesus remain in Samaria and open a shop. Just then, Jesus sees the woman he met at the well. The other man comments to Jesus that she is going to introduce him to every Samaritan in the country.
Matthew stayed behind to wait for Jesus’ return, at the place where they are staying, so he is there to greet Thomas, Ramah, and her father when they arrive. Matthew does not know who they are, and thus tries to keep them out, but Mary Magdalene recognizes them from the wedding in Cana and invites them in. As Thomas and Matthew talk uncomfortably and somewhat competitively with one another, it becomes clear that they have overlapping skills with respect to organization. They are interrupted in this by James and John’s arrival.
We return to Jesus teaching the parable of the 100 sheep (Matt 18:12-14) to a shepherd in a crowd that has formed around him. As he teaches, the disciples find him. Simon quietly comments to the others that you cannot tell Jew from Samaritan by the way they are listening.
Later, they return to the place they are staying with Jesus and greet Thomas, Ramah, and her father. Jesus makes plans to speak with Ramah’s father in the morning, after they both have had an opportunity to rest, then goes to meet with James and John to congratulate them over the work they did that day. He finds them eating inside. Jesus instructs the two men to tell the others about the work they did today when they finish eating.
The following morning, the disciples set out with James and John to make preparations for a dinner later. After letting the others know what Jesus planned for them to buy, James and John again leave, noting to Simon that there are too many Samaritans out.
As Simon is shopping, he runs into the woman at the well. She immediately asks whether Jesus is on his way to teach, and he calms her, noting that they are only shopping. She then starts to tell the wine merchant about Jesus, but the woman selling the wine skins repeats her words before she can get them out – making it plain she has had this conversation with her many times already.
Jesus meets privately with Ramah’s father. He first thanks Jesus for what he did at the wedding, protecting the reputation of his vineyard and also that of his daughter and Thomas. He tells Jesus bluntly that the only reason he is allowing his daughter to be here is because of the debt he feels that he owes. Jesus thanks him for his honesty, but Ramah’s father does not wish to continue talking. He then leaves her behind and sets out on his return journey from Samaria, without his daughter. On his way, he meets Thomas and warns him that following Jesus is foolishness. He tells Thomas that he will see him again, when Thomas comes to ask him for his daughter’s hand. He tells Thomas bluntly that he does not know what he will say when that day comes. Before he goes, he instructs Thomas to keep her safe.
Jesus visits the field that James and John cleared, tilled, and sewed, telling them they did well. Jesus tells the others that this is where they will be dining tonight. They go to meet the owner of the field, who had not been there for John and James’ work, and he tells them that he owes them a debt of gratitude. We see that he is crippled. The crippled man asks Jesus what the catch is for his help, and Jesus replies that Fortina – the woman at the well – had told them that he was in need. When he tells Jesus that he has no food, not even for himself and his family, Jesus shows him that they purchased and brought food.
That night, as they eat together, Jesus tells them that he is here to preach the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus asks the landowner about his leg injury, and the man reluctantly confesses to injuring himself during an attempted robbery. He tells Jesus that He should not have helped him. He confesses bitterly that he thinks about the Jew he robbed every day, and how he and his accomplice left him there – perhaps murdering him. Jesus tells him that the man didn’t die. The Samaritan weeps in relief at this news. He asks Jesus why He came out to meet him, when everyone in the town is falling down at His feet. Jesus tells him that the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to search for the one that went astray. Jesus tells the man that he wants him to believe His words, to return to synagogue, and to learn about the Torah and let it effect his heart. As they leave to go back into town, due to the arriving dark, Jesus jokes that they do not know who might be lying in wait to ambush them along the way.
Jesus: Too soon?
The man laughs and they embrace before parting. The group returns to town and stays with an older man and Fortina – the woman at the well. The man warns them that he only has fine rooms, but Fortina adds that this must still be better than sleeping on the ground. He then tells them that one of the rooms is haunted by his dead grandmother. Jesus says that He will take that one and goes inside.
The following morning, the injured Samaritan man finds that his leg is completely healed. He celebrates joyously with his family. From His bed, Jesus smiles. The disciples see this and learn what has happened. John is amazed that Jesus does not even have to be present to perform miracles.
Later, Jesus leaves them to walk alone in the city as they make plans for the day. John and Big James, bolstered by Jesus’ praise of their work in the field, outline a plan for what they should do going forward. They also chide the others – particularly Simon – for losing Jesus the previous day. The group votes on whether to follow James and John’s plan, and vote against it.
Big James and John leave, somewhat angrily, and go to look for Jesus. When they find Him, they are on the scene as a group of Samaritan throw things and then spit at them. James and John shout at them, calling them filthy dogs, and then asking Jesus to rain down bolts of lightning on them. Jesus rebukes them.
Jesus: These people that you hate so much are believing in me without even seeing miracles. It’s the message, the truth that we’re giving them. And you’re going to get in the way of that because a few people from a region you don’t like were mean to you. They are not worthy? And you’re so much better? You’re more worthy? Well let me tell you something… you’re not! That’s the whole point! It’s why I’m here.
James and John apologize. They vow to be more humble.
Jesus: You wanted to use the power of God… to bring down fire… to burn these people up?
John: Well it sounds a lot worse when you say it that way.
Jesus tells the two of them that they are like a storm on the sea. He tells them that he will be calling them the Sons of Thunder from now on. As they walk, the other disciples meet him, along with the local priest. He greets Jesus warmly and asks him to read from the scroll of Moss in their synagogue.
As Jesus is deciding what scroll to read from, he discusses the decision with John, who tells Jesus he does not feel worthy to make suggestions. Jesus asks him about worthiness. John finally suggests that Jesus could start at the beginning. Jesus quotes David, saying “by the Word of the Lord, the heavens were made.” John says that the Greeks use “Word” to describe divine reason. Jesus tells him that He likes that.
Jesus reads from Genesis 1, and the episode flashes forward again to John composing his Gospel, cutting back and forth between His reading of Genesis and John’s recitation of the beginning of his Gospel. As he writes again, in 44 AD, it thunders again outside, just as it did earlier in the episode.
REACTION:
Jesus gave his disciples awesome nicknames. Simon became Cephas/Petros/The Rock (we’ll get to that later in the series.) James and John, the other two of Jesus’s Big 3 were “The Sons of Thunder.” We see how they got that nickname in this episode.
As the first season really focused on Simon, Matthew, and Mary Magdalene, season 2 opens with a focus on James and John – the latter in particular. This is an important development inasmuch as Simon Peter, James, and John are regarded as the three leaders from the group.
The episode opens nearly twenty years in the future, after the martyrdom of the aforementioned James, or “James the Great.” He was the first of the Apostles to become a martyr and his death is actually recorded in the Book of Acts, Chapter 12.
12 About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. 2 He killed James the brother of John with the sword, 3 and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread.
Most scholars believe based on tradition and records that this happened in 44 AD, as the episode recites. There is also some scholarly belief that the nickname for James and John was based on their temper, as depicted within the episode, though the text itself does not state that this is definitely the explanation (from wiki)
The Acts of the Apostles records that “Herod the king” (usually identified with Herod Agrippa) had James executed by the sword. Nixon suggests that this may have been caused by James’s fiery temper, in which he and his brother earned the nickname Boanerges or “Sons of Thunder”. F. F. Bruce contrasts this story to that of the Liberation of Saint Peter, and writes that the proposition that “James should die while Peter should escape” is a “mystery of divine providence.”
I thought the flashforward and then back was really effective. The lesson impressed upon the James and John in this episode is emphasized when we see what they become later – and that it cost James his life.
The flashforward is during “shiva” which is the traditional mourning period in Judaism. The disciples have come back together to mourn James. This creates an opportunity for John to begin acquiring the notes that he would later use to write his Gospel. The show very subtly hints at the length of time into the future that the final product will be written, with Mary the Mother of Jesus telling John to take his time. Most scholars believe that John’s Gospel was the last to be written, near the end of the 1st century.
A lot of this episode is built around educated conjecture. We certainly know from the text of the Bible that Jesus preached in Samaria for a while. Scholars believe that James and John were famous for their tempers – so much so that Jesus gave them a cool nickname. However, the rest is largely unknown. This is again a case of whether you think the show should exist or not. if you are okay with script-writers making educated guesses about what the ministry in Samaria might have looked like – provided that it does not provide outright contradiction – then you’ll probably enjoy this episode. If you do not like that type of thing, then you will not like this episode.
As I have sat through innumerable sermons wherein the pastor provides educated conjecture about the context of the text, I do not mind. The show does not purport to be the actual Scriptures. It purports to be a TV show wherein the creator hopes the product drives the interest of people toward the Scriptures. I think this episode is successful on that front. None of the conjecture really struck a wrong note for me.
With all of that said, I liked that this episode made clear in stark terms how revolutionary it was for Jesus to preach to the Samaritans at all. Sometimes it can be difficult to picture animosity between groups – particularly ancient groups of which one is not a member – and the episode makes these bitter sentiments real. Think of two present-day groups wherein both sides genuinely loathe each other, and then imagine someone trying to bridge that gap. That is what is happening here in Jesus’s ministry. This is also why it makes sense for the show that this would be particularly difficult for some of Christ’s disciples.
The callback to the woman at the well in this episode is highly entertaining. We get to see exactly why Jesus chose to speak with her. He knew she’d go tell everyone. There’s a great lesson in this, too. Jesus saw in her a potential that nobody else saw and she’s radiant with joy after he helps her to see this in herself, too. Again, this is not in the text but it makes sense within the context of the text. We see her telling everyone about him in the text, after she meets him. Why wouldn’t she continue that?
The episode brings Thomas and Ramah into the main cast, and I think it makes a lot of sense for Ramah’s father to be both concerned and skeptical. These are real people, in a real historical context, living dangerous lives – as the show’s open proves. It would feel inauthentic if everything was too smooth.
The acting was, as always, excellent. I remain impressed in particular with the presence of Jonathan Roumie on the screen. Jesus is an impossible person to convey fully. In a lot of film adaptations, “Jesus” comes across as cold and kind of wimpy. Roumie’s Jesus is warm, strong, and charismatic – the sort of person who could attract and effectively lead men of all kinds of backgrounds, including rough ones. When he needs to, Roumie’s Jesus can rebuke forcefully and believably, as we saw in this episode. He can also laugh with and empathetically embrace people. He seems always to be strong and in charge.
Overall, this is a good start to the second season. There is some tension and animosity among the disciples that they need to work through. There is room for a lot of growth on a person-by-person basis, too. The story is engrossing and at least t to this point, I have not felt as though the conjectures made to make the story possible have been wildly off-base. I’m looking forward to revisiting the tension of Jesus’s ministry with the local Jewish authorizes and the also the Roman authorizes.