Jesus

Review: Watching the Chosen

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Cover image of "Watching the Chosen" Robert K. Garcia, Paul Gondreau, Patrick Gray, Douglas S. Huffman, editors

Watching The Chosen, Robert K. Garcia, Paul Gondreau, Patrick Gray, Douglas S. Huffman, editors. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802885463) 2025.

Summary: Essays exploring the imagination, storytelling, Christology and treatment of persons, especially women, in “The Chosen.”

Recently, another book I was reviewing had a chapter titled, “Can I call myself a Christian if I Don’t Watch The Chosen?” I resonated, having sometimes wondered in the last couple years whether I was the last Christian in my circles not to watch The Chosen. I’d just seen too many bad movies and videos by Christians, and I didn’t need to watch more. Then this book came. And I felt that I couldn’t review the book without having watched at least a bit of the series. Honestly, Season one, Episode one hooked me, when Jesus healed Mary Magdalene. Now I’m through most of Season Three, having watched most of what the book covers.

One of my discoveries is that many of the contributors to this volume had similar experiences to mine. That is, they approached skeptically and were won over by the imaginative storytelling, the very human and yet divine Jesus, and the way Jesus in The Chosen treats persons, especially women. The essays, seventeen in all, are divided under four topics.

Part One considers “Imagination and Interpretation.” Douglas S. Huffman leads off looking at how the series balances authenticity, plausibility, and relatability. But sometimes people have criticized the imaginative reading between the lines of scripture. David Kneip looks at Philip and Nathanael under the fig tree in John 1:43-51 and how the early church fathers offered similar renderings. Dolores G. Morris considers the show’s approach to the problem of evil and the hiddenness of God, noting the epistemic humility that runs throughout. She also responds to charges that the show adds to scripture, reminding critics that this is historical fiction based on the gospels, which viewers are urged to read. Concluding this section, Kenneth Gumbert, explores the wide appeal beyond Dallas Jenkins own evangelicalism, noting how the storytelling also appeals to the sacramental imagination.

Then Part Two digs more deeply into the storytelling and narrative art of the series. The first essay explores the storytelling through the lens of attachment theory and dual processing models of information. Then T. Adam Van Wert explores how The Chosen affirms the sufficiency of story to invite us to live within the story. Jeannine Hanger focuses on stories from John’s gospel and how these move viewers to take in more of scripture, a reaction of many. Finally, John Hilton III explores how to use The Chosen in the classroom. He offers a helpful set of questions to use with many episodes.

Part Three focuses on Christology and history. Paul Gandreau addresses the very human portrayal of Jesus in the context of historical Christological debates. Daniel M. Garland Jr. elaborates the bridegroom theology portrayed in the series’ treatments of John’s gospel. But how does the portrayal of Jesus relate to the “quests” for the historical Jesus? James F. Keating takes up this subject. Finally, in this section., Patrick Gray considers how The Chosen portrays the traditional Evangelists: Matthew, Luke, and John.

One of the most compelling aspects of The Chosen for me is how Jesus encounters various individuals. Jesse Stone considers this emotional resonance. Deborah Savage shows how this portrayal of Jesus in relationship exemplifies John Paul II’s personalism. Then Robert K. Garcia builds on this, showing the portrayal of the infinite worth of each individual. Finally, the concluding essays center on the women in The Chosen. The first shows how dialogue amplifies women’s voices. The second offers a rhetorical analysis of Jesus’ interactions with women and how these elevate the status of women.

In sum, reading these essays enhanced my appreciation for the storytelling artistry and the historical authenticity of the series. They also confirmed the high view of scripture evident in this “historical fiction.” All this suggests to me that the series creators have immersed themselves deeply in the gospel narratives. Above all, the discussion confirmed my own sense of the compelling portrayal of Jesus, the most believable I’ve seen. While one doesn’t need this book to watch The Chosen, reading it will enable you to enter more deeply into the series. It has for me.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: What Jesus Intended

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What Jesus Intended, Todd D. Hunter. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2023.

Summary: Written for those who have been disillusioned by the church and bad religion, offering hope that the rediscovery of Jesus and his aims can sustain and restore us.

The number of people who no longer identify with a church, even if they still identify as “Christian” is staggering. The last decade has been particularly disastrous with numerous sex and power abuse scandals and the embrace of partisan politics of the left and the right. It has become popular to use the post-modern language of deconstruction with regard to one’s faith. In some cases, those deconstructing have left Christianity altogether, often times for a personally designed eclectic and ethical spirituality. For others, this has led to a “reconstruction” centered on the teaching of Jesus, a renewal of a gospel centered faith focused around loving God and neighbor.

Similar to me, the author came to faith during the Jesus movement and all of the heady hopes of the 1970’s and 1980’s and finds himself looking back with the nagging question I’ve also struggled with: “Nothing in my generation has worked?” And the question for both of us is, “why have you remained a Christian?” Why don’t we deconstruct or just throw in the towel? In Hunter’s case, he saw plenty of what he calls “bad religion” as a leader in several church movements. He proposes that what brought him through the experience of bad religion was the good Jesus to whom he kept returning, and this made the Bible freshly compelling. He contends that this can bring his readers through to a reconstructed, vibrant faith as well.

The book is organized around questions that have been raised in focus groups Hunter hosted with those struggling with the disappointments and hurts they’ve experienced with the church:

  • Can I find faith again?
  • I am failing to connect to faith and church.
  • I’ve lost the religious plot line.
  • I feel pain, cynicism, and despair–where is Jesus?
  • What about all the bad things done in God’s name?
  • Can I trust the church to be an instrument of restoration?
  • How can I find vibrant faith?
  • Why is consistent spiritual growth so difficult?
  • Is there an authentic community of faith?
  • Do my religious reservations and churchly hesitations disqualify me?

Hunter’s encouragement as we consider these hard questions isn’t simply the facile Sunday School truism, “Jesus is the answer to all our questions and we should trust him.” What Hunter does is dig deeply into the identity, the story, the eternal life that empowers the church in caring mission, that finds its source in Jesus. He explores what it means to follow this Jesus, to repent of our own implicatedness in bad religion, and to recognize the oft-hidden goodness of Christ-followers quietly pursuing his kingdom aims.

The book does what it urges in offering exercises and prayers that direct us back to Jesus. While Hunter allows all our questions and objections about the bad religion we’ve seen and experienced to be aired, he also makes it unmistakeably clear that Jesus’s aim was to proclaim and inaugurate God’s kingdom and this involves an invitation to which we must give a response. He is both the destination of our journeys and the path, the way on which we may walk, if we will.

The one question I find myself left with is, if Jesus is so great, good, beautiful, and compelling, why are his people so rarely like him? Why does it seem like so many miss the point and exchange hs goodness for bad religion? How can so many read their Bibles regularly and miss Jesus? So many young people I know struggle with this. As Russell Moore has observed, it is not that many young people can’t or won’t believe in Jesus; it’s that the church doesn’t believe in Jesus, doesn’t believe its own gospel. Perhaps all we can do is come to Jesus saying, “I believe; help my unbelief.”

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher.

Review: The King of Easter

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The King of Easter (A FatCat Book), Nathasha Kennedy (Art), Todd R. Hains (Text). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2023.

Summary: The story of Easter, focusing on the risen Jesus who seeks and saves the lost.

The latest children’s book in Lexham’s FatCat Books explores the significance of Easter, focusing on the risen Lord Jesus who searches for lost people to bring his life, forgiveness, and salvation. On the first spread, we see Jesus and FatCat at an empty table with the declaration:

Jesus is the King of Easter!   
He finds who is lost.      
Who is lost, he saves

On each succeeding spread we see one or more New Testament characters beginning with Mary, the mother of Jesus, John the Baptist, Matthew, the children, Zacchaeus, Lazarus, Mary Magdalene, the thief and the centurion at the cross, Peter, and Saul. After identifying them, the text asks:

did the King of Easter find and save him/her/them?
                                                                                Yes!

As each is found and saved by Jesus, they join the entourage of those following Jesus. The narrative concludes with “you” and the joyous news that the King of Easter finds and saves us, with all of us gathered at that once empty table, with Jesus–and FatCat!

Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb (image from publisher’s website)

Once again Natasha Kennedy provides the lush artwork and Todd R. Hains the text in this beautifully illustrated book designed for families to talk together about what Easter really means. I do have one small observation about the artwork. Jesus, while darkly complected, which is culturally accurate, also seems unnaturally skinny with a long, thin face (and a halo), unlike most of the other male characters. We don’t know what Jesus looked like but I wouldn’t mind a portrayal of a hearty, robust construction worker or carpenter–a workingman.

Each of the books in this series is written and designed for family worship with the conviction that “families are little churches.” The last pages of the book include pictures of each of the people in the story and where they appear in the biblical text, guided prayer for use in family devotions, and a “To Parents” section summarizing the message of the story.

The focus of the story is Jesus’s saving work, his initiative to seek and to save the lost. The response of those who follow (everyone in the story) is assumed. Unlike many presentations of the gospel, this centers entirely on the gracious and powerful work of Jesus to save. For children, it strikes me that this tremendously assuring–there is no question of them wondering if they have been good enough or believed enough. He has found and saved everyone in the story–including you!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher.

Review: The King of Christmas

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The King of Christmas (A FatCat Book), Art by Natasha Kennedy, Text by Todd R. Hains. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2022.

Summary: The search for the King of Christmas by the Magi, and where the King was found…and where he was not.

I told you I had a second FatCat Book to tell you about, one that is Christmas themed. The King of Christmas draws on the story of the Magi and their search for the King of Christmas after sighting his star. The didn’t find him with the stars of heaven or the birds of the air, the fish of the sea or among the beasts of the field. He wasn’t at the tables of the rich, the courts of kings, the forts of soldiers, the markets, or with the scribes in the temple. Each page asks, “is the King of Christmas there?” with the answer of “No!” until at last they find him in a converted feed trough where animals were stabled.

But the story doesn’t end there. He’s found between criminals and wherever his word and name are. And that name is Jesus, the King of Christmas! But he is not found in a tomb. And as in the other stories, FatCat may be found on every page.

Once again, Natasha Kennedy accompanies Todd R. Hains text with vibrant illustrations that will be a delight to the child’s eye. Here’s just one example (from the publisher’s website):

Consistent with the series, a great diversity of people exist, including gathered at the table of a dark-skinned Jesus, with us as God’s Word is read and taught, in Baptism and at the Lord’s Supper celebrations.

As with other books in this series, the story is meant to be read and shared in families, and the author includes a Christmas prayer that may be read responsively. The book renders afresh the story of the humble beginnings of the King, his victory over death, and his presence with all who seek him and how he may be found. The text is simple and budding readers will want to learn the words, even as they enjoy the illustrations. So you will want to read this more than once–perhaps many times–and not only at Christmas.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher.

Review: Passions of the Christ

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Passions of the Christ, F. Scott Spencer. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2021.

Summary: A study of the emotional life of Jesus in the gospels, drawing upon both classical thought and emotions theory.

Sometimes, Jesus is presented to us as without passion, always in control. Some of this arises from belief in the impassibility of God. Yet what does the incarnation mean if the fully human as well as divine Jesus is emotionless. F. Scott Spencer presents a very different picture of the emotional life of Jesus. He observes a range of emotions in Jesus from anger and disgust to anguish to surprise, deep compassion, and joy. Often, in the same episode, there will be a complex mix of emotions. Not unlike us.

Spencer’s approach is a combination of exegesis, word study and cultural backgrounds, a consideration of classic philosophy concerning the emotions and contemporary psychology. This results in a deep, probing study of the emotions of Jesus, surprising and unsettling at times, particularly the instances of his anger or disgust, and yet consistent in his passion for the full human flourishing of those to whom he came to minister.

After two chapters laying out the basis for his study, Spencer explores in eight chapters key emotions of Jesus evident in the gospels: anger, anguish both during his ministry and in his final hours, disgust, surprise, compassion, and joy. One of the most interesting episodes is the resuscitation of Lazarus where anger, anguish, disgust (Jesus “snort”), and compassion all come together in one narrative.

Perhaps the most interesting chapter was that on the amazement or surprise of Jesus. We see this both in response to the unbelief of his own people, and the unexpected belief of the Roman centurion. Spencer proposes that there is a kind of “enlargement” of Jesus on perspective in these episodes. Likewise, we may wonder about the anger of Jesus at times, for example with the leper in Mark 1. Spencer contends that the leper’s “if you choose,” questions the life-giving mission of Jesus, a form of unbelief deeply disturbing, sufficiently explanation for the anger of Jesus.

Spencer makes us take a fresh look at these emotional expressions in Jesus’s life. Whether one agrees with his exploration of these emotions, it is unavoidable that Jesus manifests the full range of emotions we all do. He is not the incarnate God in appearance only. Yet anger, disgust, surprise, compassion and joy also make sense in light of a singular passion for human flourishing in relation with God. And in all this, the saving God is revealed.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Review: Spiritual Practices of Jesus

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Spiritual Practices of Jesus, Catherine J. Wright. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2020.

Summary: A study of three spiritual practices of Jesus found in Luke’s gospel considering them in the first century context of his readers and the writings of the earliest fathers of the church.

Catherine J. Wright does several things in this book I have not seen before. First, she focuses attention on what the scriptures, and specifically Luke’s gospel have to say about the spiritual practices of Jesus. She does so systematically, looking at all the passages around a particular practice.

Second, she asks the question of how Luke’s earliest readers in the first century would have thought about the particular practice in question. In particular, she keeps in mind the intention of first century biographies not only to inform but also transform the readers. Consideration is given to the regard given the practice in the wider culture and how this might shape their reception of Luke’s account.

Finally, Wright looks at the earliest church fathers and their interpretations and responses to Luke’s gospel. This offers tangible evidence of how the church understood and received these accounts in their setting.

Wright focuses on three practices, each which recur in numerous passages in Luke: simplicity, humility, and prayer. For each, she offers commentary on the text, then discussion of the practice in first century culture, and thirdly, she goes back to the specific texts from the first overview and discusses what the early church fathers had to say about the text. Through all this, she both summarizes the practice of Jesus and draws compelling contemporary applications for the church.

For example, she considers the parable of the rich man and Lazarus and the rich man who approaches Jesus., noting the lack of generosity with both, the unwillingness to be dispossessed of wealth for the care of others, and in the latter’s case, to pursue the kingdom. Wright notes the expectations in both Jewish and Greek literature for the rich to be benefactors. In learning from the fathers, we learn that Chrysostom considered the failure to give alms to the poor to be theft. Basil of Caesarea teaches that “the more you abound in wealth, the more you lack in poverty.” Wright then concludes with this trenchant application in her summary:

Perhaps one reason for the emphasis on radical almsgiving is the lens through which early Christians look at wealth. In their opinion, we don’t really own our wealth. It is placed in our care by God so that we may bestow it to those who have less than we do. Therefore, when we spend our wealth on ourselves alone, we are essentially stealing from the poor (and thereby from God). The reverse is also true. When we give to the poor, we show ourselves to be good stewards of the resources God has trusted us with, and we are, in essence, giving to God. This attitude could not be further from the attitude that many Christians in America have today.

Catherine J. Wright, p. 63.

She offers challenges around humility as the mark of the early Christian but forgotten in the contemporary church’s quest for power and influence. She notes the practice of continual, fervent prayer by both Jesus and his early followers and the superficial practices that characterize most of our Western churches.

As we hear of the practices of simplicity, humility, and prayer in connection with our Lord, we say, “but of course.” What Wright’s close reading of Luke’s gospel, and consideration of Luke’s earliest readers does, is challenge us to see what this meant for those who called, and call themselves disciples. As Wright traces this out, it becomes apparent that many of us have not looked very closely at Luke’s narrative, not the Lord of whom it is written, if measured by the lack of correspondence between our lives and His. Wright does not bludgeon us with this truth but beckons us to join Luke’s early readers in the embrace of these practices out of love for the one who called us and models and teaches them for us to live into.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.