Reviewing Christian Videos

I recently rewatched The Chosen Season 1 on the free streaming app ByUtv: http://www.byutv.org. What I love about this show is how it brings the Scriptures to life. Watching the scenes made me feel like I understood them better. Enjoy the dramatization, but also appreciate the great writing and characters. Keep in mind that some timelines and events have been shortened, and some characters and backgrounds have been added to highlight the meaning of Scripture.

Season 1

In Episode 1, I Have Called You by Name, in 2 B. C. in Magdala we see Mary Magdalene as a child afraid to sleep. Her father tells her to say the words of Addonni as spoken through his prophet Isaiah 43:1 : “Fear not… I have called you by name … You are mine.” Mary wakes up from this dream/memory. Her father has died, and she is demon possessed in the Red Quarter. In her demonic episode she attacks a man. He enters the square and screams to a Roman Soldier “She tried to kill me.”

Quintus, the proconsul, goes to find Pharisee Nichodemus on the road to Capernaum. Nichodemus and a Roman soldier go enter the Red district and find Mary. He enters her home, incense burning. He commands the demons by the living God to exit her. Superb acting and voice amplification show demons speaking through her: very creepy. Nichodemus retreats. He goes to a celebratory dinner. and tells his followers that this case of demonic possession is beyond human cure. This Pharisee is a gentle soul with a very supportive wife. Their tender interactions are wonderful.

Mary goes to a local tavern and states she is in hell. There she meets Jesus. Though she runs from him, he exorcises her demons by using the same Isaiah 43 :1: “Fear not… I have called you by name … You are mine.” and calls her Mary. Mary does not yet know Jesus’ name or identity.

Shabbat Episode 2 After Mary becomes whole, she begins work as a hairdresser. She meets Pharisee Nichodemus in the market who asks her about his exorcism. She says that someone else cured her and she does not know who he is. She is preparing for her first Shabbat at her house. That night not only do her friends come but also Jesus, who identifies himself.

Meanwhile we are introduced to savant tax collector Matthew. He finds his uber: a man who hauls a wagon. Matthew gets in the wagon and cover himself with a blanket. His role as a tax collector has made him despised by his fellow Jews. This character is so literal in his perceptions of the Roman world 26 AD.

I love the depiction of his Roman Guard Gaius, acted by Kirk B R. Woller. Guis is of Germanic origin, thus is considered lesser by the proconsul. Guis tells Matthew that he is risking both their lives to approach the proconsul. Despite the warning Matthew confirms the arrangement and tells the proconsul that Simon is an unreliable gambler and won’t keep his bargain. Matthew is charged with following them. This becomes an important plot point.

In Episode 6 The Wedding Gift the ministry of Jesus begins at the wedding feast at Canna. It is a wonderful depiction of the celebration and customs especially the dancing and the depiction of the changing of water into wine. Jesus calls James who is the wine seller’s son-in-law as an apostle and his wife accompanies him. Jesus is speaking to a group at the seaside.

In Episode 4 The Rock On Which is Built He commands Simon to go out and cast his nets. Since Matthew was following Simon he witnesses the miracle. The miracle allows the other fishermen to sell the catch and pay off both Simon’s and Andrew’s debt as both Simon and Andrew follow Jesus. This is a nice backstory of what happened to the fish caught.

In Season 2 Episode 1 Thunder we learn why James and John are called Sons of Thunder. John the Evangelist was named by Jesus as a Son of Thunder. Jesus and his disciples travel to Samaria. In Episode 8 I Am He Jesus meets the woman at the well and convinces her that he is the Christ. He gives her the name of her first and second husband and talks about those relationships. In Samaria Jesus ministers to a cripple farmer by haves 2 disciples plow and seed his field, forgives his sins of attacking and robbing a man and healing him.

The Chosen Season 2

In Season 2 Episode 2 I Saw You the calling of Nathaniel explains Jesus seeing Nathaniel under the fig tree in a previous day. Nathaniel had lost his position as an architect when a building fell down as it was being built. Nathaniel wanted to build an impressive building for God. When lead to Jesus he experiences the way he will build the Kingdom of God

Jesus teaches a crowd about the kingdom of heaven. He asks for a shepard and asks him what he does about a lost sheep. This explains to the crowd that God looks to save the lost.

One of my favorite things about the series is how casual the disciples are depicted. They call John the Baptist “creepy John.” We understand this when Nichodemus vists John in prison to ask about the miracle of the healing of Mary. John tries to explain his role in preparing the world for the Messiah. Nichodemos denies that God has a son.

In Episode 3 Matthew 4:24 Jesus and the disciples enter Syria where a large crowd awaits for healing. Jesus works all day and night healing strangers. While his disciples wonder if the crowd would believe in Jesus if Jesus was not healing. Little James discusses his paralysis and why he cannot ask Jesus for healing. Jesus staggers into the camp clearly exhausted. Mary washes his face and feet.

In Episode 4 Perfect Opportunity Simon the Zealot tries to kill a Roman. Instead he witnesses his paralyzed brother after he is healed by Jesus at the pool of Besthesda. It is the Festival of Booths Sukott when Simon the Zealot sees the healing. He quits the zealots. and follows Jesus. Since seeing Jesus asked the paralyzed man to take up his bed and walk. A Pharisee sees the man carrying his bedding on the Sabbath and reports this “sin” to others. I love Matthew’s comment, “You see a man healed and this is your take away.”

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