The Chosen
Do you watch a lot of television? I was about to tell you I don’t but with what follows I’m not sure I can say that anymore.
I am always amazed at the number of shows, films and general entertainment that I hear my friends and colleagues talking about. I always get the impression that they too have busy lives. Where they find the time to watch so much TV baffles me.
I’m not a big fan of TV and certainly if I’m watching Netflix (or any other streaming channel) I only want to do so if the film or series is absolutely top class- anything else just feels like a waste of time. And I’m very conscious that time is short- our lives are like the grass of the fields – here today, gone in a flash (that’s from 1 Peter 1:24). Much as there is some great entertainment provided by our screens (and I have family members in the trade) I also hold a belief that much entertainment is there to distract us from the things of God. I might go too far if I said it was ruled over and influenced by the ‘prince of the power of the air’ (Ephesians 2:2) but I am certainly leaning that way.
I have recently found one very big exception. I was in South Africa in January for a nephew’s wedding and was introduced to a series on TV called The Chosen. Various Christian friends I was with were raving about it and I wondered what all the fuss was about having never heard of it myself. My husband and I are now literally hooked. It’s become like a great book -everything else moves out of the way so we can watch it Wikipedia details it much better than I can:
The Chosen is an American Christian historical drama TV series. It is the first multi-season series about the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. Primarily set in Judaea and Galilee in the 1st century, the series focuses on Jesus and the different people who met and followed or otherwise interacted with him.
Noting there had never been a multi-season, episode-based portrayal of Jesus and his disciples that could be “binge-watched” in the same way as shows on streaming mediums such as Netflix, Dallas Jenkins put together a writing team and production staff for his series vision. With the intention of differing from previous portrayals of Jesus, Jenkins crafted a story arc which focused more on the people who encountered and followed Jesus, how they viewed him through their eyes. He has stated in interviews that he sought to present Jesus in a way that was more “personal, intimate, and immediate”.
The show’s producers primarily employed a crowdfunding approach to finance production. Due to the positive response from viewers, The Chosen has become the most successful crowdfunded TV series or film project in history.
According to a 2022 analysis commissioned by the show’s producers, 108 million had seen at least part of the show through the app and streaming platforms. Translation into as many as 600 languages is being funded by the Come and See Foundation.
More than just a superb show this is a series that for us anyway (and millions of others testify the same) is faith building.
It’s like Jesus comes alive and is lifted off the pages of the four Gospels. I never found the Gospels easy to read or enticing. Now I can’t get enough of them, and I’m amazed at how true to them The Chosen is – sometimes a word for word.
Rarely are we not in tears as we watch the series This is not just good entertainment. This is life-changing faith enhancing watching.
I commend it to you if you have any desire to deepen your faith – or simply to find out who Jesus is – or you simply want a really good recommendation for some TV entertainment.
Oh, and yes, there’s plenty in there about relationships as well. It certainly ticks that box with quite a few surprises.