The Jesus of The Chosen, Part II

A "More Human" Jesus?

I have long wrestled with Dallas Jenkins' Jesus in The Chosen. From what little I have watched in relation to what plenty I have read, I wanted to be sure I had not misread or misinterpreted Jenkins' intentions, so I asked Google this question: Does Dallas Jenkins think that presenting the humanity of Jesus is what makes The Chosen authentic? These are the replies I received from AI: Jenkins believes that "emphasizing Jesus' humanity is crucial to creating an authentic portrayal of Him in The Chosen." AI also explains that Jenkins "aims to show Jesus as a relatable, approachable figure, emphasizing His human experiences and emotions as key to connecting with audiences." Jenkins "emphasizes that, while Jesus' divinity is central, His humanity is what makes His story so powerful and relatable." AI explains further that, "by showing Jesus' interactions with others, His emotions, and His experiences, the show seeks to make Him more accessible to viewers and encourage them to engage with the Gospels." Therefore, Jenkins believes that "by presenting a more human Jesus, the show can help viewers connect with the Gospel message on a deeper level and encourage them to study the Bible further, according to Deseret News."

A Relatable Jesus?

Does this frighten you? It does me. There is so much to unpack here that we need a lot of space to think. First, we find that Jenkins' show exists because the Gospels do not "emphasize" the humanity of Jesus. Never mind that this "emphasis" of humanity is in itself a fallacy assuming a false dichotomy between Jesus' humanity and His divinity. Why would we even think we should emphasize something the Gospels do not? Does somebody need to remind Jenkins of the apocryphal "gospels" that were rejected from the canon of Scripture centuries ago? At least eight of these wormed their way into the early days of Christianity, but all eight were rejected, and rightly so. But Jenkins' standing disclaimer is that The Chosen is "just a show" and does not replace Scripture. Okay, so it doesn't replace Scripture, but it certainly does seem to "balance" it out, according to Jenkins. Why else would he believe the "missing" emphasis on the humanity of Jesus to be "crucial" to "creating an authentic portrayal" of Him? What can this possibly mean except that the Gospels are missing something "crucial"--something so crucial, in fact, that this prevents their portrayal of Jesus from being "authentic"?

The Chosen also aims to show Jesus as a "relatable, approachable figure"--again, because of His humanity. And we need help believing this, when the multitudes thronged Him every day and "He healed them all" (Matthew 15:30)? Jenkins must certainly consider Jesus' Incarnation as portrayed in the Gospels to make Him less "relatable" and "approachable." But isn't the Incarnation by definition meant to make God approachable? But to Jenkins, Jesus isn't approachable if we believe Him to be divine? Where on earth is Jenkins going with this? He has gone to meddling and, by attempting to "fill" a gap, has subtracted from the authority of God's Word in presenting Jesus exactly as He is. So, Jenkins sees the "human experiences and emotions" of Jesus "as key to connecting with audiences."

What does this even mean? The sheer audacity of such a mindset subtracts not only from Jesus' divinity but from every person's humanity. How does Jenkins know even a fraction of the emotions Jesus felt? Even if he thinks he does, he doesn't. Jenkins does not know my emotions. And my emotions are not the same as those felt by my next of kin. Every personality type processes emotions differently--and yet Jenkins presumes to know all this, too? But the real kicker is that, for Jenkins, it isn't Jesus' divinity that connects with audiences but His humanity. This is "the key." How on earth are we supposed to believe that Jenkins isn't intentionally, insidiously, and irreverently eroding the very concept of the divinity of Jesus? He acts as if people take this for granted.

No, sir, they do not. Quite the opposite. Muslims believe Jesus was a good teacher but not God. Mormons believe Jesus was not equal with God. Satan questioned, not the humanity of Jesus, but His divinity. And on and on every manufactured view goes, and yet Jenkins has been known to say that Mormons and Christians "love the same Jesus." He even said he would go down swinging to support this claim. But this next statement is the most heinous of all so far: "Jenkins emphasizes that, while Jesus' divinity is central, His humanity is what makes His story so powerful and relatable." Notice how the fact of Jesus' divinity is grammatically subordinated to the main clause--"His humanity"--and that this "humanity" is what makes His story "so powerful and relatable." If this is not detracting from the divinity of Christ, I do not know what is. How can it even be said that the humanity of Jesus is what makes His story so powerful? Excuse me? His humanity has more power than His divinity? This makes me angry. Jesus' humanity was sinless, which is not even possible without His divinity.

And then, of course, there is this: "The show seeks to make Him more accessible to viewers and encourage them to engage with the Gospels." So, Jesus is not accessible now? No, of course not, if one does not read the Bible. But who is going to read the Bible when they have The Chosen to see a "more accessible" view of Jesus than the Gospels offer? And who has the unparalleled hypocrisy to tell people they must then go to that which is "less relatable" and "less accessible"--the Gospels--after binge-watching The Chosen? So, whatever happened to the role of the Holy Spirit in interpreting to us the Word of God? We have Dallas Jenkins now. So, we have The Chosen to come between us and the Gospels and their inaccessible, unrelatable portrayal of the divinity of Jesus. No, thank you, Dallas Jenkins.

A Sinning Jesus?

And then notice this: "Jenkins believes that by presenting a more human Jesus, the show can help viewers connect with the Gospel message on a deeper level and encourage them to study the Bible further." There it is: a "more human Jesus." More human than the Gospels, obviously. "The show" can help viewers connect--even though the show isn't even true. "On a deeper level"--do the math--a "more human" Jesus brings "a deeper level." And yet, like the cults, the Mormons, the Muslims, and every false religion known to man, whether cut out of whole cloth or stealing a pattern from the truth, Jenkins is successful enough to make people believe him. There is enough truth in his "presentation" to be utterly dangerous. And here we arrive back to where we started in Part I. There is but one step between Jenkins' Jesus and a sinning human being. We sin most in our emotions. How does Jenkins know beyond a shadow of a doubt that when he is manufacturing what Jesus' emotions must have been, he is not tainting his "Jesus" with sin?

The Lord Who always commanded His disciples to "Fear not!" would not feel fear, and yet this is the way Jenkins portrays Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jenkins believes that this fear will make Jesus "more relatable" in an "emotionally resonant experience for viewers." Is he out of his mind? No one could relate to what Jesus felt in the Garden, not even His own disciples. They all forsook Him and fled. And even if they had stayed, they could not in any way have comprehended, much less "related" to, the unique role of the Son of God in suffering for the world. And it wasn't fear Jesus felt. God's Word clearly records Jesus as saying that His soul was exceedingly "sorrowful" even unto death (Matthew 26:38). No one could understand Jesus' sorrow. Even His Heavenly Father had to look away.

A Merchandized Jesus?

  The unmitigated audacity of anyone tampering with the Divine Son of God and rewriting His emotions before the Cross must be expelled from the Temple as surely as the moneychangers who were merchandizing the gospel. I do not see that The Chosen is any different, and Google reports that Dallas Jenkins' salary "has increased significantly as the show gained popularity, reaching $1.1 million in 2022, though this is considered relatively modest by Hollywood standards for someone in his position." Well, when was the last time God's Word compared the profits of Christians with the profits of the world? I thought we were supposed to be different. But the more "different" than the Bible our Jesus becomes, the more like the world we become. The Chosen's Jesus is indeed, to quote Jenkins, a show that is rapidly making us "get used to different." But the writer to the Hebrews reminds us that Jesus Christ is the "same yesterday, and today, and for ever" (Hebrews 13:8).

A Different Jesus

Not so for The Chosen.  If the compass defaults north, Jenkins’ show defaults to entertainment, and its Jesus is no exception.  An entertaining Jesus will do everything except what Christ came to do: to show us the Father, to convict the world of sin, and to save our souls from hell. Dallas Jenkins does not understand this, for his Jesus wants us to understand Him--His emotions, His struggles. In this alone, Jenkins' Jesus is the antithesis of the authentic Jesus. The Lord Jesus of the Gospels came to show us the Father (John 14:9). He never glorified Himself. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16). The Jesus of The Chosen is not the Jesus of the Gospels, and Jenkins is actually screaming this fact to us loud and clear, if only we had ears to listen.