The Chosen - Seasons 1 & 2

While being one of the most loved and revered historical figures, Jesus Christ has also been considered one of the most controversial and mysterious. The Bible gives us plenty of information on his family, his ministry and the before, during and after affects of his life and death on Earth. Yet, Jesus as a human flesh and blood person who was a man, son, brother, teacher, friend, liberator, menace and savior is oftentimes shrouded by his divine nature, because as the Son of God that is how he is written and remembered in history.

John 1:14 states that "The Word [Jesus] became flesh and dwelt among us." And that is exactly what The Chosen has done. It has taken Jesus and his followers and has finally made them real, relatable people that world can understand, sympathize, and grow with, while still respectfully writing them within the confines of Biblical understanding. The Chosen is told from the POV of the people in Jesus' life. From his mother, his followers and his enemies. 

L-R: Jesus, Simon Peter, Andrew
Mary Magdalene, Matthew, Eden (Simon's wife)
Mary, mother of Jesus (Mother Mary), Tamar, Ramah

Beginning with Jesus' ministry and the calling of the most unlikely people to be his followers. 

Mary Magdalene, a lonely woman possessed by seven demons and lives a hedonistic life of alcohol and prostitution. 

Simon and Andrew, brothers and fishermen who are suffering under the bleeding taxation of Rome.

Matthew, a genius young man who sees the world differently and has made himself an outcast to his own people by working for Rome as a tax collector. 

James and John, the Sons of Zebedee, also fishermen, whose arrogance and beastly tempers can have detrimental consequences. 

James, a practical and soft spoken man who gave up a lifelong dream to follow Jesus. 

Thaddeus, a stonemason who met Jesus at a construction site.

Thomas, a businessman working for a wealthier vintner and overthinks every single issue, to distract himself from thinking about his employer's beautiful daughter, Ramah. 

Philip, a former follower of Jesus' cousin, the equally controversial John the Baptist, who is sent by John to bring wisdom and experience to Jesus' ministry. 

Nathaniel, a talented builder who dreamt of constructing magnificent palaces, but his earthly ambitions break him to the core.

Simon (the Zealot), recruited at a young age to join 'The Zealots', a lethal underground army who are set on dismantling the Roman rule.

Judas, a con-man in training who has a sensitive nature and is interested in Jesus and his followers.

All of these people and others are called by Jesus to His Chosen. To follow and learn as he reveals himself to be their long awaited Messiah by performing miracles than can only come from the Son of God. Casting out demons, producing fish, turning water into wine, healing lepers and making the lame walk again. However, the higher holy powers of the Jewish law and religion are mystified and unsettled by these acts. Several of them seek out Jesus to either condemn him for his blasphemous actions or to have their eyes opened to his words of truth and culmination of Biblical prophecy. 

This show is wonderful! While artistic liberties may have been taken within the storylines, the characters themselves have been brought to life with a great deal of emotional depth, humor and humanity. Like I wrote in my review for The Red Tent, these larger than life characters that we learned about in Sunday School were finally humanized. We can relate to annoying siblings, being different, falling in love, shattered dreams, ambitious natures and pasts that we never think we can never be redeemed from. 

The best part of this show is that it dealt with the reality of a life following Christ. Just because we follow him, doesn't mean that our lives are suddenly going to get easier. In many ways life gets harder and for several of the characters, their lives prior to meeting Jesus continue to haunt and take hold of them. A life that requires faith, submission and humility can and never will equate to easy living. By seeing these characters still struggle with anger, prejudice, and addiction, but still manage to return to Jesus and be made stronger, helps the audience see themselves standing before Jesus and receive his grace and mercy as well.

My general thoughts:

Andrew: THIS CINNAMON ROLL!!! 

I loved Andrew! Besides being so devastatingly gorgeous...Oh wait, before I go on...

 These disciples are freaking hot.

Dallas Jenkins understood the assignment 

Get a whole load of gorgeous, well built, Middle Eastern/Mediterranean looking men to cast in a show and you are guaranteed to get a responsive female audience. 

This is not inappropriate. This is reality. 

Ok, back to Andrew

Andrew is just a plethora of characteristics. He can go from being hysterical and dorky, to intense grief and fear and even all out rage.  Andrew very quickly became my favorite character, because he wasn't just set on one primary characteristic or emotion. You never really know what you're going to get with Andrew. His personality is based on the situation of the moment. I also see a lot of myself in Andrew. I know what it's like to live in an older siblings shadow, I'm a rule follower and a peacemaker. So, Andrew was very relatable to me. 

Plus, I love his relationship with Simon (who isn't referred to as Peter, not yet at least). Andrew is the little brother who is still getting bossed around by his big brother and he's over it. Seriously, The Chosen did a great job at fleshing out the sibling relationships between Simon and Andrew, and James and John (those two get their own episode in season 2). Another thing we tend not to see in Bible films. Simon and Andrew clearly adore one another, but when they argue, it's on. They're night and day and both are intensely emotional with a great deal of pride in their culture and anger at the Romans who want to destroy them.

Andrew: The Heart of the Character

Simon and Eden: Simon, at this point, is the only married disciple and I believe The Chosen is one of the few times where a Bible film actually acknowledges Simon's marriage. And what a incredible marriage and wife he has! Simon is not exactly the easiest person to deal with or the most likeable. He's stubborn, hard headed and a risk taker. He has some rough edges on him, but with his wife he's a completely different man. Eden is beautiful, caring and supportive of her husband, but she's not afraid to get angry and real with him either. She sees Simon's faithful and strong heart and fears that he will eventually lose it. When Simon tells Eden of his decision to follow Jesus, she's overwhelmed with joy, knowing that her husband is finally on the right path. 

😍😍

💕💕💕

Simon Peter Shocks His Wife

This scene! It was so sweet and precious! Just seeing Simon in such a happy and hopeful place and how Eden's prayers are finally being answered! Plus, the flirting at the end, talking about their wedding, Simon saying that he could watch Eden crush grapes all day (and fight tigers). Swoon!!

Matthew: I have (had) a brother who's autistic and to see a character on screen that 's autistic is so remarkable. There was so much of my brother that I saw in Matthew and when he's bullied and mistreated (usually by Simon), I find it hard to watch, because I always feared for my brother's safety due to his autism. However, Matthew's abuse came from the fact that he was a tax collector; not necessarily from his autistic/Asperger's tendencies. 

Matthew - The Tax Collector

Although Matthew is brilliant, he can't understand or make sense of Jesus. He has little understanding of faith. His autistic mind that deals with facts and reasons are conflicting with his heart that has been completely void of true faith for so long. He's an absolute angel. I love him. 

Mary Magdalene: The story starts with Mary and in a way she's Jesus first Chosen. Mary was so well written. A woman who has suffered for so long, was inflicted with Hell itself and has no desire to live. When Christ saves her, she is completely transformed into a new woman. She follows Jesus faithfully acting as a loving sister to the disciples and a mentor to the other women that join Jesus ministry. Mary has the most beautiful story! I loved her journey to redemption, falling back and returning to Jesus' arms. 

The Women who follow Jesus: It's not just Mary that follows Jesus. Eventually Jesus' mother travels with them. Then Ramah who Mary teaches to read and write, Tamar, an Ethiopian women whose faith helped heal her crippled friend and of course, Eden, Simon's wife. I am so thrilled to see women being portrayed so well! Usually Bible films write women in positive light, but only as background characters. These women have voices and personalities and no how to stand side by side with the Jesus' male contingency.

Jesus: I've seen many portrayals of Jesus in my life and nothing compares to the warmth and absolute humanness of this Jesus. He's exactly as I always imagined Jesus being when I learned about him as a child and how he was described in the Bible. Strict, but kind. Warm and generous, but knows how to put people in their place. The Chosen got Jesus right and seeing as Jesus is the heart of the show, if they get him right than everything will fall into place. 

Because there are other stories going on as well, you don't feel like you're watching a Christian series that's solely based on Christ as written in the Gospels, but a well made period drama taking place in Biblical Era.

The Chosen tells the story of Christ by portraying Christ as he was, a man sent to do the will of the father. And even within his divine nature, Jesus is still flesh and blood. His frequent healing of the sick causes his body to wear down and bleed. He constantly has to be alone for periods of time to clear his mind and relax. He worries about his family. Those little details added to his character and makes one realize that Jesus really did step down from Heaven and was susceptible to same human maladies and anxieties that we still suffer from today. 

Portraying Jesus' Disciples 2,000 Years After They Lived

Or just an excuse to post a video of the Disciples