I’ve begun watching the third season of The Chosen. I’ve already watched the first two seasons, so I thought I might as well see the next one. Just so you know. I’m not a fan of the series. I believe too many non-biblical liberties have been taken with the script. I also know that, in order to create a complete story, unknown elements must be added. Conversations and scenarios must be created. Unknown personalities must become known. My concern with the series is the unnecessary interpretation of events. I take issue with additions that distort the truth of the biblical stories. But those issues are for another day.
I have, however, been pleasantly surprised with some scenes in this third season that cause my imagination to take over. I wonder how I would respond if I were in the same situation as these twelve disciples. I wonder if I would be gracious or anxious. Would I become angry or repentant if I didn’t find the healing I wanted or needed when I saw others being healed? Would I be willing to leave family and home for weeks on end to tell a new story of the Promised Messiah I was now following? Would I be willing to risk everything, even my life, for a message many didn’t understand or want to hear?
The scenes that most take me by surprise are the ones where the twelve disciples are learning to really trust who Jesus says he is. They’ve said they will follow him. And then he commissions them to go out into different towns and villages two by two to share his message. He gives them the power to heal and perform miracles. He gives them the authority to cast out demons. And then they’re just supposed to go do it. And they know they’re only human. How can they heal sick people? And how can they perform miracles similar to what they see of Jesus? Who does he think they are? After all. They’re a gnarly group from different walks of life. Several were fishermen. One a tax collector. One a nationalist. Another would become a traitor. They weren’t best friends, yet together they forged a lifelong commitment to a cause that would disrupt the entire world for all times.
Imagine the humanity in these men as they performed their first miracles. The shock and awe that they had the same power that Jesus had when they see the person in front of them healed of an ailment. Deaf men hear. Blind people see. And when Jesus walked on the water to them as they were rowing in the nighttime storm, they knew he wasn’t a ghost. But how could he walk on water in the middle of a storm in the dark of night? How much trust and faith did it actually take to follow the Messiah in person? To talk with him face to face. To walk the dusty roads with him. To break bread with him. It was unusual, to say the least. Never had such a person walked the face of the earth. And never again would someone of his caliber come to earth.
Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19
When they sat with the crowd of five thousand listening to Jesus preach, they knew everyone had traveled a long way. No one had thought to bring lunch. And they sat listening to the Messiah speak for hours on end. Stomachs growled. People became restless. One small boy had brought his lunch. Five loaves of barley bread and two small fish. Hardly enough to feed such a large crowd of people. But Jesus blessed the food, and something amazing happened as the twelve began to distribute it. Everyone was fed and twelve baskets of food were left over. The disciples were in as much amazement as the crowd. And by the way. Where did the baskets come from?
Something much bigger than man was happening in the lives of those who followed the Messiah. They had personal contact with the Son of God. They ate with him. They traveled with him. They talked with him. They knew him personally, yet there was much they didn’t know or understand. He seemed to speak in riddles. He showed kindness to those who were unkind. He meted out words of anger and judgment to those desecrating the Temple. He knew information about people before he ever met them.
These twelve men were to share the news of this man’s message throughout the world. And they did so willingly. Oh. It was at a cost. They had to leave family behind. They were instructed not to carry extra clothes or food with them. They weren’t always welcomed in the towns they visited. But they went anyway.
One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. “Take nothing for your journey,” he instructed them. “Don’t take a walking stick, a traveler’s bag, food, money, or even a change of clothes. Wherever you go, stay in the same house until you leave town. And if a town refuses to welcome you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.” So they began their circuit of the villages, preaching the Good News and healing the sick. Luke 9:1-6
I wonder. If I had lived during the time Jesus lived on earth, would I have eagerly listened to his message? Would I have believed that he was the Promised Messiah? Would I have accepted the call to follow him? Would I have agreed to tell others a new message that stood in contrast to the Jewish laws of the day? Would I have been willing to risk my life for him?
The question is. Am I willing to do the same today?