The Chosen…

“….Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be used for His own advantage.  Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men.  And when He had come as a man in His external form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.” ~Philippians 2:8

Understanding how Jesus can be fully God yet fully man at the same time is hard to wrap my mind around.  Often, when reading the Bible, I think of Jesus more in the fullness of His Deity…just walking around in a shell of a body.  This is a woefully incomplete view of Christ and, I would argue, even diminishes the impact of His amazing sacrifice on the cross.

There are a few areas in scripture that give us a glimpse of Jesus’ humanity; weeping for Lazarus (John 11:28-36), the lament for Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37-39), or His anger at the merchants at the Temple (John 2:13-17).  What would the everyday ordinariness of Jesus’ life look like? 

There have been many depictions of Jesus in film over the years, but the time constraints of trying to tell His story in a movie format doesn’t allow the opportunity to explore in detail what His human experience might have looked like….until now!

Wasting time one afternoon scrolling through Facebook, an advertisement came across my newsfeed for a series called The Chosen.  I watched the little promo and was intrigued so I investigated a bit further.  This is a multi-episode; multi-season look at the life of Christ and His disciples.  Because it is being done in this format the story and take the time to explore the humanity of Christ in a way that is so powerful!!  The way this series is being produced is also just as powerful, it is being largely funded by viewers!

The first season of 8 episodes is free to watch by downloading an app and they hope that you are moved and will “pay it forward” so others can watch for free and to fund the next season.  The app is free to download and there are great bonus features that discuss who is making this series, why and how.  It is truly an amazing and I encourage everyone to give this series a watch and if so, moved to “pay if forward”; I believe this is a leading from the Lord.  And oh, how we need something like this in such a time as this!

“All your life you’ve been asleep. Make straight the way for the King. He is here to awaken the earth. But some will not want to waken, they’re in love with the dark. I wonder which one you’ll be?”