By Kayla DeKraker
Dallas Jenkins, the creator and director of the hit biblical series THE CHOSEN, recently opened up about one of the most challenging scenes his team has ever attempted: Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.
He explained that bringing this moment to life in Season 5 was both demanding and spiritually significant.
“We give you a taste of the Garden of Gethsemane in Season 4,” he told Church Leaders. “And so hopefully that helps you understand a little bit better what’s happening in Season 5.”
The scene comes from Matthew 26:38-46. Part of the passage reads:
Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Jenkins explained the symbolism of Jesus being “pressed” while in the garden.
Related: THE CHOSEN: THE LAST SUPPER – PART TWO
“When crushing olives, olives are crushed more than once,” he described. “But when you get to the purest pressing, the third press, the purest oil, it’s for the high priest. It’s for the anointing. And what’s so rich about the Garden of Gethsemane is that Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane, a garden of olive trees.”
Jenkins continued, “Three times he goes to the apostles and finds them asleep and comes back and is pleading with the Father and gets pressed so much that sweat comes out in many ways. Literally and metaphorically, he is becoming the high priest, the messiah in this moment. And he is experiencing the full weight of that.”
He explained how this was a weighty project to tackle being that it is one of the most pivotal moments in the Gospels.
“This is one of the most impactful moments in history but also one of the most difficult to portray. How do we capture this super spiritual moment?” He and his creative team did so through scenes from the Old Testament.
Jenkins noted, “there’s nothing in the Gospels that says that Jesus had end-of-life visions or that he was thinking about Old Testament history, but some of the things that we portray and that we put in front of Jesus in that scene are extraordinarily biblical.”
The Garden of Gethsemane scene occurs in Season 5, part 3. Part of Movieguide®’s review reads:
THE CHOSEN: LAST SUPPER – PART THREE continues to retell the story of Jesus Christ in a visually attractive way, with strong performances. The movie does a good job sticking mostly to Scriptural accounts. It refers to Jesus as the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world. As such, Jesus fulfills the Old Covenant and creates a New Covenant of salvation. Jesus pays the debt for the sinful offenses of those who believe in Him, so that they may be made righteous by the Triune God. THE CHOSEN: LAST SUPPER – PART THREE has some scary images, violence and extremely sad story elements. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger children.
More hardship is ahead in Season 6, which will begin releasing late 2026.
“…it’s also a season that is about the greatest act of love that’s ever been committed in the history of the world,” Jenkins said in November. “So as difficult as it’s going to be, I really do challenge you to make sure that you lean in and you engage, and that you get everything that you can out of every episode of Season 6 when we finally release it to you.”
Read Next: Dallas Jenkins Always Asks Himself This One Question …
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