A friend from our Bible study group recommended that we watch the TV series “The Chosen” – the story of Jesus of Nazareth.
Neil searched it on the internet, and we started to watch the first episode, but with my poor hearing, I couldn’t understand the accents. Plus, it seemed to be such a visually dark show that we shut it off shortly after it began. However, both my friend and God have been after me for a while to give it another chance, so we tried again.
This time, we downloaded “The Chosen” app, and when we did that, we were able to access closed captioning, as well. That surely was a blessing to me.
The first show was still dark, as many of the scenes are filmed at night and, of course, the only lighting in Jesus’ time was the sun, the moon, and fire. That makes for mighty dark interior and night scenes.
I can tell you right now that the stories more than make up for any discomfort of vision or hearing. What an amazing series! I am so glad God and Nancy kept after me to watch it.
“The Chosen” brings flesh and bones to the people we read about in the Bible.
When we read, we often have a one-dimensional view of people when we aren’t provided specific details. To complement our imaginations, we want to know the person’s background, hair color, and even their attitude, but we don’t always get that in Bible stories.
In this series, which is based on the words of Holy Scripture, the creator of the series has the fun of adding the physical bodies, as well as giving backstories to these characters. Truly, he does it with excellence.
The Bible stories in the film are sometimes combined or condensed, but they are true to the Bible, and they bring alive the words of the Apostles that I have read for years.
When reading through Bible stories, we occasionally find there is an unnamed person that Jesus heals or speaks with while passing by. We know nothing about this person, or where they were in life before they met Jesus, and sometimes we don’t even know what happened to them afterward.
This is where the writers have the opportunity to fill in those blanks. That is what I believe makes “The Chosen” so special. We see people with quirks – the kind, the mean, the arrogant, and the naïve – real people just as we experience in everyday life.
Anyone who watches this series and is unfamiliar with a particular person in the story would be wise to look them up in the concordance of their Bible and then read about that person directly from God’s word or search the internet for “who is (fill in the name) in the Bible.” Doing either will let you know which parts of the stories are actually from the Bible and which parts have been fleshed out by the writers.
Producing this series must have been a joy, but also must have brought considerable angst upon the writers and directors to honor God’s Word and yet create believability without going too far out on a limb.
As you might have guessed, I highly recommend “The Chosen” because Neil and I are enjoying it tremendously.
If you remember that snowy start we had to the new year where the snow cocooned us indoors for a few days, well, Neil and I took advantage of that time, and we watched the entire eight episodes of the first season.
I was mesmerized by the quality of the writing, the acting, the trueness to the scriptures, the wonderful humanity given to each of the characters, and even the song and graphics during the opening credits.God definitely has His hand in this series.
“The Chosen” is a huge production, the scenery is wonderful, there is a large cast of regulars, as well as many extras, and it made me curious about how it got started because Christian movies don’t generally become a series. What I found out was this production is crowdfunded,
a term I learned meaning that the producers ask viewers who enjoy the show to send donations, which will enable them the funds to produce the next season.
The series is totally free to watch – it doesn’t even have commercials. At one point before and after each episode, a quick screen appears with a small note that says, “Pay it Forward.” Under that is a box you can click to donate. That is the only asking for money that takes place. Amazingly, the average donation they receive is a mere $65.
If you have seen or heard what it costs to produce movies today, that adds up to a whole lot of people opening their wallets in appreciation of work well done.
The article I read stated “The Chosen” has been translated into at least 50 languages and the new episodes are downloaded around the world each week. They have three seasons produced and are funding the fourth now. Season three will air this year. I can hardly wait!
Since the series is free and easy to access, I am encouraging you to try it for yourself. I do hope you enjoy “The Chosen” and in turn, are inclined to read the Bible more often.
The stories God gives us are always inspiring and teaching us lessons, but the bonus of “The Chosen” is that you see how very human the Son of Man is and also see how very God He is. This series is a blessing to our generation and most likely it is a part of God’s great plan for the whole world to learn about Jesus. (Matt. 24:14).
ED. NOTE: Amy Patsch writes from Ocean City.
