Have you heard the hype around the show The Chosen? It’s a streamable show that follows the life of Jesus Christ and his ministry. It’s filled with action, drama, and most importantly, demonstrates the love of God the Son. Whether you’ve seen it a million times or zero, here are 15 reasons to watch The Chosen. Trust me, it’s worth the hype. I have yet to meet someone who has seen The Chosen and not liked it.
CLICK PLAY TO LISTEN
The 15 reasons to watch The Chosen are broken down into five sections: credo, connections, characters, cinema, and conclusions. I’ll walk you through each grouping, and by the end of this post/episode, you’ll be ready to stream this show stat!
Credo
I will stand by this statement forever. If you want to grow your relationship with God, Read Pray Talk Tell is the most important thing you can do. Reading your Bible, praying consistently, meeting regularly in Biblical community, and telling others about Jesus, are four ways to have a deep relationship with the Lord.
#1 Read
The Chosen does a phenomenal job at sticking to the Bible. Yes, there are details here and there where they have taken cinematic liberty, but the truth of the word remains. There are countless times when a character is introduced, or a part of the story unfolds, and I can pick up my Bible and read along as the episode unfolds.
There have even been times in the show where I pause and say, “Wait, that actually happened?” Then, I go look it up in my Bible, and sure enough, it is in the scripture. It has been fun to reflect and see how The Chosen has pointed me back to reading my Bible. How cool is that?!
#2 Pray
Communicating with God on a continual basis will deepen your relationship Him. There are examples in every episode of The Chosen where there is prayer. The disciples pray, the unbelievers crossing the line of faith and beginning their prayer life, and you can see Jesus praying to himself too! Side note: we watch with subtitles too, so it always cracks me up when it says “Jesus praying to himself”. It makes sense though! People talk to themselves all the time.
I love the episode where Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray. The look of awe on their faces, the gentleness in Jesus’ voice, it is just such a cool moment. Can you imagine what it would be like to hear him in the flesh say that to your face? Wow.
#3 Talk
There are numerous times in the Bible where God talks about being in Christian community. Learning to lean on fellow believers gives us the opportunity to grow closer to giver, keep us humble, and points us back to God. In The Chosen, you can see how Jesus and his disciples are in community, sharing the load, and bonding together.
Will everything always be peachy and everyone get along? No, we’re human! But, The Chosen gives examples of how we can be in conflict, press on through the tough conversations, and choose to still remain in Biblical community. If you’ve seen or read Simon Peter in action, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
#4 Tell
We stretch our faith muscles by spreading the word about Jesus. If God has moved in some way in your life, you’ve got a story to tell. This doesn’t have to be anything scary or fancy, just tell someone about how God changed you for the better. There are multiple times in the Bible (and shown in The Chosen) about how one person’s testimony impacted others. Shout out to you, woman at the well.
When we boldly proclaim the Gospel, we are pointing others to Jesus. Next time you watch The Chosen, look for examples on how the disciples talk about Jesus. Watch how those who are touched by him in some way share their story. Take what they’re doing, and give it a try.
Connections
With an educator background, I love to see good connections across different mediums. When we notice a connection, our brain learns to fire and wire those systems together. I can nerd out on brain science all day long, so feel free to hit me up in the DMs and we can neuroscience it together.
#5 Video to Text
When we utilize the visual parts of our brain, and recall on something we’ve read, we begin to fire and wire. When we see the friends lower the paralytic man through the roof, it takes me back to the time I’ve read that story over and over. The visual element ties in the reality of what it must have been like to sneak to the roof, dig through it, and then carefully lower the friend, right on top of Jesus. It makes so powerful seeing their faces and reactions.
#6 Video to Video
I’m a huge Bible Project fan. When I watch the videos for any of the Gospels on their youtube channel, my mind jumps from the visuals created in The Chosen, and in the sketches of The Bible Project. This gives my brain two different ways to bring the same story together. When we give our brain different inputs of the same story, we can create a more robust recall.
#7 Text to Text
There are many times in The Chosen when they directly quote scripture aloud. They state written prayers from the Psalms, quote prophesies, and even the conversations they have are at times verbatim Biblical text. I love it when I’m watching The Chosen, and they directly state the Bible verses word for word. And again, all the good firing and wiring is happening in our brains. We will be able to remember these stories from the Bible better with all these types of inputs.
Characters
More brain science! We are designed to love story. When the characters, setting, and plot come together, ahhh chef’s kiss, and our brains love it too. Hint: that’s why we love a good story with a happy ending. Unless, you’re that cynical type, and, well, good for you and all your sad ending movies. I’m out on that.
#8 Humanness of Jesus
We know that Jesus is fully God and fully man, but sometimes it’s easy for us to forget the humanness of our savior. If you pay attention, you can see the little nods to this that the screenwriters added into the filming. You’ll see him stretch his muscles, roll out his neck, sweat, and even walk exhaustedly after a day of healing people. It paints such a beautiful picture of how he feels like we do!
#9 Women in the Bible
I love a good, strong, Jesus loving woman. The Chosen highlights these women in a way that is honoring and accurate. It shows what it was like for them to play the role they did in the history of Jesus’ ministry. We can see what it was like to be a mom and follow Jesus, a wife and follow Jesus, a daughter and follow Jesus. Plus, when I go back to read the text, I’m a better noticer of the part they play.
#10 The Similar Names
Have you ever been reading the Bible and go, “Wait, which John are we talking about?”. I bet the names James, Mary, Joseph, and Simon were on the “Top 50 baby names of the year 10 A.D.” list. Watching The Chosen and putting faces with names has been so helpful for me! Plus, I love that Jesus cracks jokes about it on the show. If you’ve gotten confused on names in the Bible, you’re in good company, and watching The Chosen will help with that.
Cinema
If you’re a movie lover, history buff, or have a degree in cinematography, you’re probably loving The Chosen. The way that this show is filmed plops you down in the middle of the action. This is why I love that they showed some of the episodes in theaters. Definite immersion into the story.
#11 Attention to Detail
You may not know all the Jewish context and history, but good thing the writers do! They did their research, and we get to benefit from all their attention to detail. From the tents to the clothing to the way they greet each other, the historical context is there. If you listen to the Bible Recap, Tara-Leigh Cobble does a good job of this too. Another audio to video connection! More firing and wiring!
#12 Visual Learners
I am a highly visual person. I learn a ton through my eyeballs, so seeing something in action brings it life for me. If you’re a struggling reader, and the Bible reading bit is hard for you, there are a ton of options (Daily Audio Bible is my favorite). The Chosen doesn’t replace reading your Bible, but if you’re looking to put a mental picture to what you’ve been reading, this is the show for you!
Conclusions
Are you already loving The Chosen and want to do more or be more involved? New to the show, but curious about the upcoming season? Great! These last three of my 15 reasons to watch The Chosen is for you!
#13 Merch
Who doesn’t love a great tee shirt? Check out The Chosen gift shop and find a selection of products that are functional and help fund the show. We’re talking apparel, books, drink wear, art, you name it, they have it. Bonus: this is also a great way to shop for a loved one who enjoys The Chosen. You’ll never run out of gift ideas!
#14 Funding
The creators of The Chosen want it to be free for all to see! However, that does cost out of pocket money to fund the making of the show that millions have come to love. You can do your part and help fund season five by clicking here. If you’re looking to be creative with your tithe or want to give up a starbucks once a month in order to help them spread the gospel, go for it!
#15 How to Watch
The Chosen is accessible in a few ways. Best option would be to download The Chosen app. This Forbes article attached here goes into great detail on all the information of release dates and how to live stream the new episodes! “The first episode of The Chosen Season 4 will be released as a livestream on The Chosen’s social media pages and The Chosen App on Sunday, June 2, at 7 p.m. ET, followed by the second episode on Thursday, June 6 at 8:30 p.m ET. New episodes will released on Sundays and Thursdays over four weeks.” I’ve also attached the video explaining all of this.
There you have it! My top 15 reasons to watch The Chosen. Through the lens of my credo, connections, characters, cinema, and conclusions, you have a glimpse into why I’m so passionate about this show. Download The Chosen app, and get ready for the new releases!
Links from the Show
