July 9 – “On The Chosen”

You can’t go long on social media these days without seeing commercials for all sorts of things, from Bible study books to an all-new video telling you just how to release all the tension from your back just by stretching a tiny muscle in your hip (not that I have tried to do said stretch).  And many of them seem to eerily pop up right after you have done a web search or purchased something on Amazon.  One of those commercials has been for a video series in production about the life of Jesus called The Chosen.  We finally bit the bullet and ordered the first season on DVD, and I have to say I was impressed.

Apparently the plans are to have eight full seasons, depicting scenes from the life of Jesus from his birth to resurrection.  The producers are filming only as far ahead as they have funding for, paying as they go.  They are receiving funding through donations as well as sale of the DVD sets.  Some churches are apparently giving away the sets in much the same way Bible or Jesus videos have been given in the past.

The content of the videos has been remarkable, as far as I have seen.  It stays very close to Scripture, filling in story gaps and character development as needed to keep the flow of the story going.  And along those lines, the character development is one of the production’s biggest successes.  The personalities are likeable, as in the case of the disciples and the local Hebrews, or despise-able, as in the case of, say, the religious establishment.  Even the cold, calculating political hardness of the Romans is effectively revealed.  Yet in every case, each individual’s flawed nature bleeds through to reveal a common sense of humanity.  Oh, and a surprise and most welcome feature for me has been the occasional flashback to other scenes from Hebrew history, such as when Moses constructed the bronze snake in the wilderness, and when Jacob and his sons dug a well.  The flashbacks help to explain the Hebrew cultural responses to actions of Jesus. 

Would I recommend the series?  Absolutely.  Did I intend to write a movie review this morning when I started this post?  Absolutely not.  But watch it.  It’s well done.

Hebrews 12:14 says, “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

Father, thank you for attempts like these to make your life as one of us come alive.  Amen.