Have you watched The Chosen by Angel Videos? I confess… I was late for the party, and I have no excuse. I knew about it in advance. Jerry Jenkins had a Your Novel Blueprint meetup in Tennessee and he showed us the pilot for the show since his son, Dallas, is the creator. If you haven’t seen it yet, you must watch it for free here. If that doesn’t give you a boost of the Christmas spirit, I don’t know what will.
Anyway, I was interested in watching the show, yet I never got around to it.
Yet here I am, years later, and I just finished watching it for the second time. Since it’s the Christmas season, I think I might go for a third.
WHY. DID. I. WAIT?!?!
If you haven’t watched The Chosen yet, do it now. It’s soooo good.
I’m not gonna lie, the first episode was a little boring. I struggled to watch it all the way through… until I got to the end. As soon as Jesus arrived on the scene, I was hooked. 🎣 But the third episode with the children was my absolute favorite.
What’s so great about it?
First, Angel Videos has created the best interpretation of Jesus ever.
A friend told me she has to keep reminding herself that the man playing Jesus is NOT the real Jesus. I can see why. Jonathan Roumie does an incredible job. I’ve never seen a Jesus portrayal that rang so true to me. Jesus should be likeable, fun. According to scripture, He’s not the most handsome guy, but He’s compelling. He never shies from the truth, yet He’s KIND. He’s not a pushover, yet He’s not a bully. Such a tough balance to strike in so many ways. Kudos to Dallas Jenkins, the writers, and to Jonathan Roumie for pulling it off.
I think the major difference between The Chosen’s portrayal of Christ and others is time. Other stories gave the highlights, hyper-focusing on certain parts of Christ’s life to fit into a two-hour window. Dallas is planning to take seven seasons to tell the story. I don’t know where he’s going with it. The story is about the Chosen, after all, not Jesus per se though He is the reason for it all. I assume it will continue with them after Christ’s death if it’s to span seven seasons, but I’m speculating. Regardless, Dallas’ vision takes time to show Christ’s day-to-day life–the human AND the God side of Him–the authentic Jesus.
Angel Video’s interpretation of Jesus is inspiring. It makes me want to be more like Him and gets me super excited when it hits me–I’M GOING TO MEET HIM ONE DAY!
Do you believe He died for your sins? Then you’re going to meet Him, too! 🙂
And I’m inspired by their reasoning for sharing the authentic Jesus–because “people must know.” That’s why I write about God’s love… because people must know.
The second thing that makes it so great is what it’s actually all about–the Chosen. We get to see a depiction of the disciples as real people with real personalities and real problems. We get to see those different personalities and ways of handling things try to work together with no leader when Jesus isn’t present. The only thing uniting them is their belief in Christ.
If that’s not a picture of the church, I don’t know what is. People who normally wouldn’t spend time together are brothers and sisters in God’s family, united by Christ. It makes me sad that there’s so much division. If we chose to focus on the unifier, Christ, perhaps there’d be less division.
But I digress…
Part of my excuse for not watching The Chosen until now is, sad to say, that it’s not on Netflix. That’s about all I watch these days. I’ve gotten lazy. I didn’t realize how easy it is to watch on the Angel Videos app for free. No commercials, nothing. I hear the first season is also on YouTube. But I suggest getting the app. You can send it to your TV.
Watch the Chosen online here
Download the Chosen app for Apple here
Download the Chosen app for Android here
Just to be clear: I get nothing from this. I’m just a super fan and I want to share because people must know.
Angel Videos also has a Christmas movie of the Chosen in theaters now. Christmas with the Chosen: The Messengers hit #1 in the box office! I think that means it will get a little more time in the theater than Christian movies tend to get. Take advantage and show your support of The Chosen and other faith-based films by going to see it. I just went to the theater to see it with friends and I highly recommend it.
I know, I know. I sound like a salesperson. I’m sorry! That’s what I do when I strongly believe in something. And I do. I DO!!!
If you watch The Shepherd, Christmas with the Chosen, and the Chosen, I bet this will be a Christmas like no other. Then do the world a favor and pass it on…
You are loved,
J F Rogers