The Chosen

My Thoughts

“The Chosen” is a TV series about the life of Jesus Christ. It is fiction, not factual, so not biblical in the purest sense of the word. It is inspired by Scripture, but it takes many liberties with the Scriptures and with the biblical characters, too, particularly with the character of Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, the only begotten Son of the living God who is God himself.

I have been hesitant to watch any of the show for several reasons. The first time I heard about it, I was told by someone who barely knew me that I would not like it. I took her word for it. Also, I am not fond of TV dramas about the life of Jesus Christ because they usually do take liberties with the Scriptures, and they don’t usually present Jesus in a biblical light.

Then, I watched a short clip of the series, and I read some reviews on it, which then made me even more certain that I did not want to watch it. But then an opportunity arose where I was asked to join my husband to watch it with him, for someone had recommended to him that he watch it. And so I decided that if I am to know what is being done on there I have to see it.

So, tonight I watched the 5th and 6th episodes of season one of the series. And I took notes.

Sarcasm and Winking

The first thing that jumped out at me was the characterization of John the Baptist. He was in prison, and he was being visited by Nicodemus, and they were having a discussion. John had an evil look in his eyes, he was sarcastic with Nicodemus, and he winked his eye at him along with the sarcasm.

Now, I know that sarcasm and/or irony have been used in Scripture to drive home a point, but not in a deceptive way, not if it was used by someone with a godly character. The intention was never to deceive, but to get a message across. I am not presently coming up with any good examples of this, but I know that irony has been used in Scripture for effect. So, I am not saying that John the Baptist never used sarcasm for that purpose.

But sarcasm coupled with the winking of the eye is what got my attention. So, I did a Bible search on the word “wink,” and this is what I found:


The winking of the eye was considered a signal for mischief. It had to do with secretly and cunningly designing mischief against others. It was also indicative of someone who was a malicious tattler who filled out his lying tale with winks and signs. And it also meant to tear or to cut asunder, to bite, as an expression of malice or mischief-making. [Source: biblehub.com]

Wink – In our day and time the winking of the eye is usually a sign that one is not serious, that he is joking, or it could be that he is flirting with you. Winking can convey hidden intentions, so it is hard sometimes to discern the meaning or the intention behind the wink. So, it can be deceptive and/or confusing, at the least.

Now, it was not just the character of John the Baptist who winked at someone. Then the character of Jesus, when he was talking with Simon Peter (I think) about his calling, joked with him about the calling and then winked at him. Throughout the episodes that I watched, Jesus was often presented as a jokester who kidded with people and who winked the eye.

But Jesus Christ, God the Son, is not going to joke with us, especially not about things as serious as our callings to follow him. He is not going to wink the eye, because that is a symbol that he is not serious, that he is not meaning what he is saying, that he is lying, that he is being deceptive, that he is being mischievous, and/or that he has hidden intentions.

I am not saying that God and the Son of God have no sense of humor. I believe they do, but it is not in a way that makes jokes about serious matters or that has hidden intentions or that is deceptive in any way. The series brought Jesus down to our level and they made him too human to the point to where they stripped him of his holiness and purity and glory.

And that is my main objection to “The Chosen,” on a spiritual level, based upon the two episodes that I watched. We can’t make Jesus like us. He is not like us. He is holy and righteous and altogether pure, and he never did anything wrong. He never deceived anyone. We can’t make him our buddy who hangs out with the people of the world and who does the same things they do and who has the same conversations and who jokes and teases as though he is not serious. We need to take God/Jesus seriously!

What About Us?

And we need to guard against joking and teasing, too. It has become so commonplace today among all people, so it is very easy to get caught up in it if we are not careful. I am around people who joke and tease and who “wink the eye” so it is hard not to join in, I admit. But we need to let our Yes be Yes and our No be No, so there should be no question as to our meaning.

Now, I am not saying we need to go around all serious all the time and that we can’t laugh or enjoy good humor. God gave us the ability to laugh, but we need to be careful what we laugh at or about, and we need to guard against saying things we don’t mean, even in jest. Humor that makes fun of the Scriptures or that paints God or godly people in ways that are not godly should not be something we laugh at, either. Sacrilege is not funny.

Also, if you are watching this TV series, please do so prayerfully and watchfully, and please compare what you are seeing and hearing against the Scriptures so that you don’t end up following a false Jesus who is not the Jesus of the Scriptures. Don’t let this TV series be your Bible and don’t let it interpret the Scriptures for you, either.

Test everything you see, read, and hear against the Word of God and in prayer so that you don’t end up believing lies and rejecting the truth, and so that you don’t end up taking on the character of the world and not the character of Jesus Christ.

Satan is very subtle. He mixes his lies in with truth so that the lies appear as truth and so that people will mistake the lies as truth. So, be in the Scriptures daily. Read them in context, for false teachings stem from Scriptures taught out of context. And pray much for discernment of the Holy Spirit to separate the lies from the truth. And then walk in the truth.

Full Release

An Original Work / April 15, 2012

Walking daily with my Savior
brings me joy.
Loving Father; precious Jesus;
He’s my Savior and my Lord.
Gently leads me; follow Him.
I’ve invited Him within.
Now abiding in His presence,
oh, what peace.
From my self-life
He has brought me,
By His mercy, full release.

Hope and comfort,
peace and safety Jesus brings
When I daily bow before Him;
Obey freely; do His will.
Follow Him where’er He leads.
Listen to Him; His words heed.
Now obeying his words fully,
oh, what love
That He gives me
through salvation,
By His Spirit, from above.

Loving Father; precious Jesus,
He’s my friend.
With my Savior, by His Spirit,
I will endure to the end.
Share the gospel, tell what’s true.
Witness daily; His will do.
Tell the world of how their Savior
bled and died.
On a cruel cross He suffered
So that we might be alive.

SingingTheBlues said:

Just saw the Christmas show at the local theater. Because I love the show and wanted to demonstrate my support for it and because I thought I would enjoy it.

First let me say that I loved the actual video. As usual the acting was spectacular and they honored the Bible and brought it to life.

That being said, I have a serious criticism. Dallas started by saying they were going to do something different with the music. They were going to make it real, to make it as real as our faith. They followed that up by spoon feeding us one lip sync'ed, over produced music video after another. Performed by people sporting more jewelery than Mr T. Rings on every finger, ten bracelettes on each wrist, ear rings, nose rings, necklaces, more gold than fort Knox, more tats than leavenworth.

I couldn't see any relationship between these people sporting so much wealth and oppulance and worldliness and our Lord who was born in a Manger. Totally out of sync with the Birth of our Savior.

Painted and shellacked and fake. I hope that isn't a "real" representation of our faith.

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Sorry, I am not connecting with your comments here. What video? What music? How is this connected with the TV series "The Chosen"?

SingingTheBlues said:

Hi Sue,

I'm sorry, I assumed that people who know the series would be aware of The Chosen Christmas special being shown in theaters starting tonight.

I love the series for what it is and loved the actual video of the Birth of Jesus but was very put off by the majority of the music videos the show started with.

And to your point, The Chosen is entertaining but is not a replacement for scripture.

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Thank you for explaining. I only watched two episodes of The Chosen because I wanted to see what it was about and I couldn't write about something I had not seen. Other than that, I have not kept up with what they are doing and that is why I was totally lost by your first comment. So, thank you for helping me to understand.