THE CHOSEN: EPISODE 2.4: The Perfect Opportunity

Name: THE CHOSEN: EPISODE 2.4: The Perfect Opportunity
Item: THE CHOSEN: EPISODE 2.4: The Perfect Opportunity
Author: Tess Farrand

"Everything Changes Now"

Content: +3 Some minor questionable elements. (Media-wisdom is suggested to discuss.)

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

“The Perfect Opportunity” episode of THE CHOSEN introduces Simon the Zealot and his brother, Jesse, who became paralyzed as a boy. After seeing a fellow Jew beaten by a Roman soldier, Simon leaves Jesse and joins a group of Zealots. Through the years, the two men continue to live separate lives. Simon trains with the Zealots while Jesse lives at the Pool of Bethesda, hoping for a chance to make it into the pool when it’s stirred so he can be healed. Meanwhile, Jesus and three of his disciples visit Bethesda, and Jesse and Simon’s lives are changed forever.

“The Perfect Opportunity” ups the stakes in the CHOSEN series. It presents a foreshadow of events to come when Jesus pauses to watch Roman soldiers hang some men on crosses. “The Perfect Opportunity” is well made with good pacing and powerful dramatic scenes. It highlights hope, faith, miracles, forgiveness, and God’s perfect timing. “The Perfect Opportunity” has a strong Christian, biblical worldview. MOVIEGUIDE® advises a light caution for younger children because of some images of men hanging on crosses and implied violence.

Content:

(CCC, BBB, V, M):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Very Strong Christian, biblical worldview tells the historical events of the New Testament, shows the disciples in a human light, gives a understandable glimpse into the ministry of Jesus, emphasizes the goodness of God, to never give up hope, faith, Jesus says that a man only needs Him before he heals the man, the healing of one man impacts the faith of another man, his brother

Foul Language:

No foul language

Violence:

Light violence, such as a Roman soldier beats a defenseless man, men practice the art of war with the intent to kill Romans, multiple scenes of men hanging from crosses, sick people trample over each other to be healed in a pool of water, and there’s a plot to commit murder

Sex:

No sex

Nudity:

No nudity

Alcohol Use:

No alcohol use

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking or drugs; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Light immoral behavior man lies to an official and a man abandons his brother to join a cult-like organization.

More Detail:

“The Perfect Opportunity” episode of THE CHOSEN introduces Simon the Zealot and his brother, Jesse. Jesse’s legs were injured as a boy. Due to this, he suffers from paralysis. After seeing a fellow Jew beaten by a Roman soldier, Simon joins a group of zealots, leaving his brother. Through the years, the two continue to live their lives separately, Simon training with the zealots and Jesse living at the Pool of Bethesda, hoping for a chance to make it into the pool when it is stirred to be healed.

At the beginning of the episode, Jesse watches as his brother is recruited by the Zealots. Simon then leaves for training. A note is Jesse’s last reminder of his brother. Twenty-five years later, Simon searches for Jesse, whom he finds at the Pool of Bethesda. Jessie pleads with his brother not to complete a Zealot mission to kill a Roman magistrate, the job for which Simon traveled to Jerusalem. The two say their goodbyes, with Jessie rereading Simons’ letter to him that he kept all those 25 years.

Meanwhile, Jesus and his disciples are building a tent outside of the city for the Feast of Tabernacles. Nathaniel, Thomas and Matthew are heading into the city to buy supplies and food, when Matthew sees a Pharisee who has been trouble for them in the past. Matthew then leaves to alert the others while Nathaniel and Thomas stay behind, since the Pharisees have yet to know their faces. Peter and John the Apostle speak with Jesus privately to warn him about what Matthew and the others saw.

The next morning, Jesus heads into Jerusalem with Peter, John and Matthew. As they head into the city, Jesus has a very poignant moment when he sees men hanging on crosses. Jesus and the three apostles walk to the Pool of Bethesda. Jesus points out Jessie as the one he’s there to heal. The moment is very impactful, with Peter completing the moment with his statement, “Everything changes now!”

Simon and his cohorts are set to carry out the plan to kill the magistrate in the upper part of the city. Unknown to Simon, the magistrate is not the real magistrate. The plan starts without a hitch until Simon, his hand on a dagger, looks up to see his brother walking in the distance. Dazed, he follows Jessie. Simon and Jessie embrace. Jessie tells Simon of the man who healed him. Simon goes to find this Jesus.

“The Perfect Opportunity” is an episode that ups the stakes in the CHOSEN series. Viewers begin to get to see a foreshadowing of the events to come with Jesus pausing to watch as Roman soldiers hang some men hung on crosses outside Jerusalem. Thus, this episode hints to more serious topics against some of the previous episodes from the current season and from Season One.

“The Perfect Opportunity” is well made with good pacing and dramatic scenes. It highlights hope, faith, miracles, forgiveness, and God’s perfect timing. “The Perfect Opportunity” has a strong Christian, biblical worldview. There are references to a violent cult, the Zealots, but the cult is seen in a negative light. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger children because of some images of men hanging on crosses and implied violence.