This article has been revised… again. It now includes my spoiler-free review of season 4 in its entirety. If you’ve already read the review of episodes 1-3 and/or the last revision that included episodes 4-6, you can scroll down to the appropriate section.

Come & See!

In 2017, a Hollywood failure started what became a Hollywood hit… but not on Hollywood’s terms. Dallas Jenkins, son of Jerry B. Jenkins of Left Behind fame came down with a flop. The Resurrection of Gavin Stone featured among others, pro wrestling great Shawn Michaels – Yes, that Shawn Michaels, the Heartbreak Kid of WWE’s “Attitude” era. Unfortunately, the film wasn’t so great and became a heartbreaking career downer for Jenkins.

Enter Jenkins’ guardian angel, VidAngel that is. Hollywood elites likely saw it as Jenkins making a deal with the devil, as at the time VidAngel was being spanked in court for daring to play in the Hollywood sandbox by offering a whole new market the opportunity to enjoy the big names in film without all the naughtiness. Evidently, the dust settled a bit, and the filtering service was allowed to continue, albeit with some licensing agreements.

It was a match made in Heaven, as VidAngel’s backing allowed Dallas Jenkins to take his little crowd-funded short film, The Shepherd about the birth of Christ and expand it into a full-on crowd-funded series about the life of Christ, called The Chosen! In turn, VidAngel was able to expand its ventures into the realm of original productions.

Fast-forward six years and you have a bona-fide hit! The Chosen has now entered its fourth season with a healthy following, multiple streaming deals, a slot on broadcast TV (The CW) and now an entire season has debuted in movie theaters across the country! Which brings me to the purpose for this article, season four.

This is a SPOILER FREE review. I want you to see this thing for yourself! I want you to experience the heart of this story that’s 2-parts epic Bible story and one part brilliant gap-filling. You can wait and see it on The CW, or any of the plethora of streaming services where it will eventually be available, and you won’t miss the most important thing, the message. What you will miss by waiting is the experience. Not only will you miss the sights, sounds and smells that make the movie theater an experience, but you will miss seeing this amazing, inspirational and moving story on a screen that is literally larger than life. Sadly, if you haven’t seen it by now, you have already missed all but the last two episodes and I recommend waiting.

If you’ve seen the first three seasons of The Chosen, then you know this is likely the most compelling visual interpretation ever made of the Gospel story. If you haven’t seen the first three, then for Peter’s sake please stop what you are doing, go watch them, then come back! What you will find is that whatever “flavor” of Christian (or pseudo-Christian) you happen to be, if you are the dogmatic type among your tribe, you will find something to hate about The Chosen. And Season 4 will be no different.

But if you are like me, an imperfect, sometimes sinful, sad excuse for a Christian, then you might just be able to look past the parts that chafe against your piously religious sensibilities and see the heart of this imperfectly made rendition of the “old story that never grows old”. Maybe you will even catch something that hits you where the pew never did. Would you mark me as a heretic if I told you that in the Jesus of The Chosen, I have seen examples of the fruit of the Spirit that strike me as richer, deeper and more authentic than those I have seen in many of the preachers I have known? That’s not an indictment of the preachers as much as it is an appreciation of the power in a living and perfect Book that can manifest itself so genuinely through imperfect men using an imperfect medium.

If you’re up to speed on the first three seasons of The Chosen, what you will get from Season 4 is more of the same, but bigger, better and more compelling. Episodes 1-3, released as one show in theaters on February 1^st, contains some big events that you may already know about, like the completion of John the Baptist’s (David Amito) story and Jesus (Jonathan Roumie) confronting the pharisees, with some emotional healings sprinkled in. But in that gap area I mentioned, among the peripheral subplots you will see some satisfying progress in the arcs of characters like Simon Peter (Shahar Isaac), Matthew (Paras Patel), and Gaius (Kirk Woller), the entirely fictional Roman soldier. Episode 3 also contains a significant “shocker” (Dallas Jenkins’ word) that I doubt anyone saw coming. Something else that may come as a surprise is the fact that the beginning of season 4 is set only one year after the events of the first episodes of Season 1. Though, I wasn’t utterly shocked by that revelation, as there is so much story to tell that covers Jesus’ three-year ministry and the series is planned for a 7-year run.

The Chosen Season 4, Episodes 1-3 was only in theaters until February 14^th, Episodes 4-6 were in theaters only until February 28th and the last two episodes, 7-8 will be in theaters only until March 10th.

Episodes 4-6

What you will get from episodes 4-6 is the same emotional and inspirational journey that you’ve come to expect from The Chosen. The story of this segment opens with episode 4 in the aftermath of the devastating event that closed out episode 3. Without spoiling Dallas Jenkins‘ shocker for those who have not experienced it yet, I will just say that in these episodes we are now seeing a band of people who are still committed to following Jesus but are more confused than ever.

In these three episodes you will see grief, and loss, and doubt, and questioning. Here’s a people asking why. In their hearts and minds, and some directly to Jesus, they are questioning what He is doing and what His endgame is. Those who were expecting a political revolution are becoming disillusioned, those who see Him as a heretic or a threat are becoming angry and those who believe and are listening are not really hearing. He speaks of His own death and they don’t understand. He chooses to heal some, but not others, and they don’t understand. But even in the midst of confusion, their faith appears to be strengthened. Yet, the most powerful demonstration of faith comes from the place they least expected, a Gentile! A non-Jew.

The criticism I have heard from some say that The Chosen is adding to Scripture, or is even heretical because it fills the gaps with characters and situations that are not explicitly mentioned in the Bible. Some evangelicals say it is too Catholic, and some Catholics say it is too Protestant.

Personally, I’m not sure I fully understand The Chosen’s version of Judas Iscariot, as played by Luke Dimyan. I feel as though I’m being asked to feel sympathy for history’s most notoriously hated turncoat. Furthermore, while the Jesus of The Chosen is in so many ways just like my Jesus, He also strikes me as just a bit more human than I picture my Jesus. During His earthly ministry, what did He actually know and when did He know it?

All that being said, this is not Dallas Jenkins attempting to distribute another Bible version. It’s Dallas Jenkins attempting to compel people to study the Bible for themselves. I don’t believe he is adding to Scripture anymore than your pastor does on Sunday morning. What I believe Jenkins wants you to do is the same thing your pastor, if he’s a good one, wants you to do – “…try the spirits whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1).

What I love about the Chosen’s Jesus, is that He inspires me to love the real Jesus even more. He challenges me to lay down my own selfish reasons for studying the Bible and take up the reasons that matter, the ones that move me to truly seek Him daily, to genuinely yield to and walk in the Holy Spirit and be moved with compassion for those in need of emotional or spiritual healing.

Episodes 7-8

The last two episodes of season 4 highlight the resurrection of Lazarus (Demetrios Troy) and the lead-up to the “triumphal entry,” the Palm Sunday story in which Jesus arrives at Jerusalem a week before His death. The fallout from the heartbreaking events of episode 3 still haunts the weary traveling disciples. Some of their questions have been answered, but many of them remain.

The lingering questions are perhaps among the most deeply troubling, not only for the characters in this story but for me as I walk away from season four, wondering some of the same things. While I must remind you, and myself that The Chosen is not the Bible, I am nevertheless just a bit unsettled at the Jesus that didn’t heal everyone He had the opportunity to heal, and the Jesus that seemed surprised, and almost impatient with his followers who still did not understand His plainly-spoken words when He told them that He “shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again…” (Matthew 17:22-23).

Another question that continues to nag me is, who is this Judas (Luke Dimyan)? This version of him is no different than his fellow disciples in the fact that he is confused and doesn’t understand, but to me he’s different than the version I understand from Scripture. While he is still very much the thief he is portrayed as in the Bible, the Judas of The Chosen loves Jesus. True, his love for Jesus seems more predicated on the false notion that Jesus had come to lead a political revolution and overthrow the Roman rule over the Jewish nation. But was the Judas of Scripture simply a misunderstood petty thief who wanted peace, but was simply confused about how God would achieve that peace?

In any case, regardless of the few bits of awkward interpretation, I take The Chosen for what it is and still enjoy it. However flawed and awkward it may be, this visual message puts a face on the Jesus I love and makes me love Him more. It challenges me to search the Scriptures to see what is true and what is not tue of what I am seeing on the screen.

But what The Chosen really does well, perhaps better than any other iteration of this Bible story: It has put out there, on display for the world to see an example of what true Christian love looks like. It doesn’t shy away from the flaws of the men who Jesus called brothers; it shows them as real and broken and hopelessly doomed, but it shows us the hope they had, and indeed the hope we all have in the Gospel of the grace of Jesus, which is mighty to save!

Make no mistake, Dallas Jenkins isn’t expecting you to take his word for it, nor am I. Read the Book for yourself. The Bible is living and powerful and able to change you in ways you never thought possible.

The Chosen Season 4, Episodes 1-3 was only in theaters until February 14^th, Episodes 4-6 were in theaters only until February 28th and the last two episodes, 7-8 will be in theaters only until March 10th. While no streaming or broadcast date is available yet for season 4, we know that it will air on the CW and will also be available on The Chosen app and website.

I have enjoyed writing this review so much that I am planning to do others. If you are interested in more, click here to register so you will be notified with updates, and leave a comment below to let me know your thoughts on this article. You can also email me at John@JohnCLawton.org to let me know what snows or movies you would like me to review.