Is This Scene from THE CHOSEN Unbiblical?
By Movieguide® Contributor
THE CHOSEN is getting some heat as a teaser for Season 5 shows a conversation between Jesus and Judas Iscariot, which critics are saying is “unbiblical.”
“You have a choice to make, Judas,” Jesus says in a scene in which Judas contests Jesus to “reclaim” his “birthright.” “Who you belong to? Who has your heart? I want it, and I’ve had it before. You followed me willingly.”
“I want to continue,” Judas replied. “There’s nothing more that I want than that.”
Jesus then takes Judas’ hand, saying, “Then I will pray for you. But for now, please leave me in peace.”
Pastors have spoken out on social media, saying that the dialogue takes too many “liberties.”
“Contrary to THE CHOSEN, the Bible does not say Jesus told Judas, ‘I will pray for you,'” said Pastor Gabriel Hughes of Providence Reformed Baptist Church in Casa Grande, Arizona. “He called Judas ‘son of perdition’ (John 17:12), destined to betray the Son of God according to Scripture. Jesus did not pray for Judas to make a different choice, or we wouldn’t be saved.”
“There’s the Bible, and then there’s THE CHOSEN,” said a pastor from Florida. “The two rarely, if ever meet.”
Proponents argued that Jesus wanted “all to follow him” and claimed the criticism is an overreaction.
“While I’m somewhat surprised that the concept of Jesus saying the words ‘I’ll pray for you’ are controversial, I’m not actually that surprised that something like this comes up, because it’s a sensitive topic,” said the show’s creator, Dallas Jenkins.
“Whether it’s Jesus and Judas or whether it’s eternal salvation or not, these are important issues, and that’s why I’m actually glad sometimes when this happens.” Jenkins said. He added controversies provide a “great opportunity and a great reason to have the conversation, to talk about these kinds of things.”
He explained that Jesus had known for some time that Judas would betray him, and saying “I will pray for you” is not supposed to imply that Jesus didn’t know what would happen to Judas.
READ MORE: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CHOSEN CREATOR’S NEW PROJECTS
Jenkins said last year, “I would say, probably 95 percent of the content of the show isn’t directly from Scripture. People call it a Bible show; they’ll call it a Jesus show. And I’m OK with that, but I’ll say this is actually — I mean the Bible is for sure the primary source of truth and inspiration for the show, but there’s a ton of content that isn’t actually directly from Scripture.”
“It’s a dangerous proposition,” he continued. “You’re walking a fine line, especially as someone like myself who loves the Bible, and I know that people who watch it, the majority of people who watch it, are going to be wanting us to remain faithful to the scriptures as much as possible.”
Jenkins treads carefully with the script but knows that he can’t make everyone happy.
“We operate from this question: Is this plausible? Whatever we write, if it didn’t come from Scripture — is this plausible, culturally, historically? And does it fit within the character and intentions of Jesus and in the Gospels, even if it’s not directly from them, or even if we don’t know if it’s fact or not?” he said.
He said THE CHOSEN isn’t “pretending to be the Bible. We’re not a replacement for Scripture; we never claimed to be…This is a show about first-century Galilee using the Bible as our primary source.”
Jenkins and the show’s writers consult Messianic and Jewish rabbis and evangelical scholars when they create the scripts.
Jenkins doesn’t want the show to serve as a replacement for God’s word.
“I’m simply making a historic drama rooted in first-century Galilee and based on the stories of the Bible,” he explained. “I believe that as long as we don’t violate the intentions or the core character of Jesus and the Gospels, then it’s interesting to explore.”
“The good news is, people who watch the show aren’t saying, ‘I’ve seen the show, I don’t need to read the Bible,'” he added. “They’re saying, ‘I want to read the Bible more than ever before.’ That gives us leeway to explore backstories and to put ourselves in these stories and connect ourselves to the people of first century Galilee, which will ultimately connect us to Jesus.”
THE CHOSEN Season 5 will release in April 2025. Eight episodes will release in theatres before it’s available to stream for free on THE CHOSEN app and website.
Several of THE CHOSEN’s episodes have won Movieguide® Teddy Bear Award®s.
READ MORE: WHY THE CHOSEN’S DALLAS JENKINS SUPPORTS MOVIEGUIDE®