Christian entertainment is a big business. Last year, the Christian film industry generated millions of dollars in ticket sales.
This includes opportunities to feature Christian television shows on the big screen. “The Chosen: The Last Supper” is the latest available on streaming platforms and in multiplexes.
“The Chosen” is a popular series created, directed and co-written by Dallas Jenkins. The first season premiered in 2017 and holds the distinction of being the highest crowdfunded media project ever. The franchise is currently in its fifth season.
Jenkins believes if people can binge-watch “Game of Thrones,” then they can do the same with a show about Jesus. With over forty episodes, he has created something many have found binge-worthy.
“The Chosen” is a show about the life of Jesus told through the eyes of the characters surrounding him. Many familiar names are mentioned, mainly of the canonical disciples, with other characters sprinkled into the mix.
I had not seen any episodes of the series before seeing the first two episodes of Season five, which were in the theater. This season is titled “The Chosen: The Last Supper.”
What I saw in these two episodes didn’t center around the Last Supper, but showed vignettes of it at the beginning before presenting events leading up to it. The first scenes depict Palm Sunday.
Jesus rides into Jerusalem with fanfare and intrigue. Pharisees and representatives of the Jewish leadership were watching, along with what appeared to be a Roman spy. A scribe is seen writing down what takes place.
There was no easy way to discern who the characters were in the plot. My job as a pastor is to work with the story being presented in the film, but there were moments when I was lost.
Jenkins does ask viewers in the introduction to view the previous episodes, which I take issue with. When writing for an audience joining the story mid-stream, there should be “on-ramp” scenes to help the viewers get their bearings. These should include clues to what is going on with the larger story.
The time it took me to discern what was going on led to another issue with the script. Many of the additional characters in the film were not based directly on the scriptures. An example was an extended scene with Caiaphas (Richard Fancy) and Herod (Paul Ben-Victor).
Apparently, their storyline was from the previous season. It centers on their idea of killing Lazarus as a way of discrediting Jesus.
They believed the once-dead and now-living Lazarus gave Jesus credibility with the people, and ending Lazarus would cut into Jesus’ power with them. In my mind, this did little to aid the story and move it along.
The casting of Pontius Pilate (Andrew James Allen) was also problematic. He was presented not as a wise, powerful bureaucrat but more like a frat boy who stumbled into his job. His apparent lack of life experience would not aid him in doing what is required to lead.
In one of the scenes, Caiaphas comes into Pilate’s court to retrieve the high priest’s vestments, which were in Pilate’s hands. Making a move to touch the breastplate of judgment, Caiaphas raised his voice in fear that the Gentile touching it would make it unclean and unusable for Passover.
Again, this was an act by someone not wise enough to know the importance of what was there. It seemed like a childish prank.
This led me to this thought: there did not seem to be any reason why the Jewish leadership would surrender these holy things to the care of the Romans. The very thing Caiaphas is fearful of surely was going to happen.
I have little use for these kinds of shows or movies. I know people who love them and want to discuss them, but I do not.
They are lacking in storytelling. There are some exceptions, but this form of entertainment is very contrived in its production and writing, not to mention the lack of a scriptural basis for many of its elements.
Instead of binge-watching something like this, why not do some other things during this Holy Week? Take out your version of the Bible and read through the Passion accounts in the gospels. Meditate on the implications of what took place during that day at Calvary.
Many churches offer services around these days. There are Maundy Thursday services that recall the Last Supper and Tenebrae services on Good Friday.
If you are spiritual and not religious, then you can go through the accumulation of stuff you have. Ask yourself, “What is this to me? Do I need this? Who can be better served if I let go of this to one in greater need?”
Make Holy Week significant. It is the most important week of the year for people who follow Christ.
Follow him to the place where he dies. But wait. To quote Tony Campolo,” It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming!”
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Pastor of Temple Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is married and has two boys. His love is for movies, and he can be found in a theater most Fridays.
