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<\/a><\/p>\nSeason 1, Episode 5 \u2014 \u2018The Wedding Gift\u2019
\nLuke 2; John 2<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Synopsis<\/i>.<\/b> Mary is looking for 12-year-old Jesus in the streets of Jerusalem. Joseph finds him in the Temple, and Mary asks Jesus to help them \u201cget through all this\u201d as he matures into his spiritual destiny. Eighteen years later, Mary goes to Cana to help Dinah, an old family friend, prepare for her son\u2019s wedding. Simon goes home and tells Eden he has left his nets to follow Jesus; to his surprise, Eden is happy to hear this. Simon and Andrew join Jesus and the other disciples as they go to Cana to attend the wedding. The wedding runs out of wine, and Mary asks Jesus to intervene. Jesus, after some initial resistance, fulfills her request and changes some water to wine, knowing that he is now inaugurating the public part of his ministry. Thomas, the man who provided the wine, is puzzled by what he has seen, and Jesus tells Thomas to meet him in Samaria in 12 days. Meanwhile, Nicodemus doesn\u2019t get the answers he\u2019s been looking for from John the Baptist.<\/p>\n
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Gospels<\/i>.<\/b> This episode is based primarily on two stories from the gospels: the finding of Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem when he was 12 years old (Luke 2:41-52), and the wedding at Cana, where Jesus turned water to wine (John 2:1-12).<\/p>\n
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This is the first episode of the series proper to depict Mary and Joseph (though of course we saw them in the pilot episode, which dramatized the Nativity).<\/p>\n
Interestingly, both of the biblical stories adapted in this episode refer to other<\/i> relatives of Jesus besides his parents, but the episode itself keeps only one of those references.<\/p>\n
Luke 2:44 says Mary and Joseph had been traveling home from Jerusalem for a full day before they noticed Jesus was missing, and they began to panic when they realized he was not \u201camong their relatives and friends\u201d. The episode nods to this last detail when Mary tells Jesus, \u201cYou were supposed to be riding in the caravan with Uncle Abijah.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, John 2:12 indicates that the \u201cbrothers\u201d of Jesus were at the wedding in Cana too, and it says they went down to Capernaum afterwards with Jesus, Mary and the disciples \u2014 but the brothers of Jesus are never depicted in this episode.<\/p>\n
The omission of the brothers from this episode is all the more striking when you consider the scene in which Jesus tells Mary Magdalene she will soon have \u201ctwelve brothers\u201d, i.e. the disciples. (At this point in the series, Jesus has only six male disciples.)<\/p>\n
Jesus is speaking metaphorically in that scene, but does he have any brothers literally<\/i>?<\/p>\n
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John 2:11 says the miracle at Cana, when Jesus changed water to wine, was \u201cthe first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is often taken to mean that Jesus had not performed any other miracles yet.<\/p>\n
But at this point in the series, Jesus has already cast demons out of Mary Magdalene (as per Luke 8:2) and given Simon a miraculous catch of fish (as per Luke 5:1-11). What\u2019s more, the catch of fish plays a key role \u2014 in both Luke\u2019s gospel and The Chosen<\/i> \u2014 in the calling of Jesus\u2019 first disciples. So how could Jesus go to the wedding in Cana with his disciples<\/i> if he had not performed that miracle and called his first disciples yet?<\/p>\n
This episode\u2019s solution to the problem is to draw a clear line between private miracles<\/i> and public signs<\/i> \u2014 and it makes this distinction in the dialogue more than once.<\/p>\n
Mary Magdalene\u2019s exorcism and Simon\u2019s miraculous catch of fish are private miracles<\/i> that bind the recipients to Jesus. But changing the water to wine at a large social gathering is a public sign<\/i> witnessed by many people \u2014 although it\u2019s not clear how many of them, aside from Jesus\u2019 mother and followers, even know that a miracle happened, there.<\/p>\n
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Previous episodes introduced disciples (or disciples-to-be) Simon, Andrew, James, John, Matthew, Thaddaeus, and the other James. This episode adds Thomas to the mix.<\/p>\n
Thomas is listed with the Twelve in all three Synoptic gospels (Mark 3:18, Matthew 10:3, Luke 6:15; cf. Acts 1:13), but John\u2019s gospel is the only one in which he does<\/i> anything.<\/p>\n
Most famously, Thomas refused to believe that the Resurrection had happened until he saw the risen Jesus for himself (John 20:24-29), but he is also quoted in the stories about the raising of Lazarus (John 11:16) and Jesus\u2019 last words to his disciples before he was arrested (John 14:5), and he was one of the disciples who took part in the second miraculous catch of fish, sometime after the Resurrection (John 21:1-14).<\/p>\n
Thomas is not yet a member of the Twelve when this episode ends. Instead, he is a wine merchant who caters the wedding at Cana, and \u2014 because the biblical Thomas is best known as a doubter \u2014 he is presented as someone who thinks things through and plans ahead and asks questions when something confuses him. Jesus, in this episode, assures Thomas that \u201cit is good to ask questions, to seek understanding.\u201d But when Jesus invites Thomas to join his group and tells him to meet them in twelve days, the woman who helps Thomas serve the wine tells him, \u201cMaybe for once in your life, don\u2019t think.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Jesus has only six male disciples so far but already two of them share a name, James, so he proposes calling one of them \u201cBig James\u201d and the other one \u201cYoung James\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, as we noted when looking at Episode 2, it is not at all clear that the person in the gospels known as James the Lesser (or \u201cYoung James\u201d) was one of the Twelve.<\/p>\n
The lists of the Twelve in the gospels do mention two men named James, i.e. James the son of Zebedee and James the son of Alphaeus \u2014 but James the Lesser is only mentioned by that name once, in Mark 15:40, to help distinguish his mother Mary from the other Marys in the gospels. If James the Lesser was identical to James the son of Alphaeus, his mother Mary would have been the wife of Alphaeus \u2014 so couldn\u2019t Mark\u2019s gospel have simply called her \u201cMary the wife of Alphaeus\u201d, the way John\u2019s gospel refers to \u201cMary the wife of Clopas\u201d (John 19:25)? Also, Mark says James the Lesser had a brother named Joses, who does not appear to have been one of the Twelve at all \u2014 so if Joses wasn\u2019t one of the Twelve, there is no reason his brother James had to be one of them either.<\/p>\n
Admittedly, a lot of people have<\/i> speculated over the years that James the Lesser and James the son of Alphaeus were one and the same \u2014 so there is certainly a precedent for how this series conflates them. Some have gone even further and have argued that both men were identical to James the brother of Jesus. (There were a lot of Jameses back then.)<\/p>\n
But I don\u2019t think the evidence is compelling enough to conflate any<\/i> of them.<\/p>\n
Incidentally, Jesus will eventually have two disciples named Simon, too. Just speculating here, but maybe we\u2019ll see Jesus give the current Simon the nickname \u201cPeter\u201d when he recruits that other<\/i> Simon, who is known in the gospels as \u201cSimon the Zealot\u201d.<\/p>\n
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Thaddaeus mentions that he met Jesus while they were working on a construction job in Bethsaida. Simon doesn\u2019t mention it, but he and Andrew both came from Bethsaida originally (John 1:44), though they are currently living in Capernaum.<\/p>\n
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Simon asks if Jesus is a stonemason like Thaddaeus, and Thaddaeus replies that Jesus is a \u201ccraftsman\u201d. This is the word that Jesus used to describe himself in Episode 3.<\/p>\n
The word itself is a translation of tekton<\/i>, a Greek word that is applied to Jesus just once in the gospels \u2014 in Mark 6:3 \u2014 and is usually translated \u201ccarpenter\u201d but has a wider range of meanings and connotations. See the Episode 3<\/a> recap for more details.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Simon tells his wife Eden he will be traveling with Jesus a lot, and he says he doesn\u2019t want her to feel abandoned. There is no equivalent scene in the gospels, but the biblical Simon does mention that he and the others have \u201cleft everything\u201d to follow Jesus, and he asks what their reward will be \u2014 to which Jesus replies that everyone who has left homes and families for his sake will inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:27-29; cf. Luke 18:28-30).<\/p>\n As it happens, the only direct reference to Simon\u2019s wife in the entire Bible tells us that she traveled with<\/i> him, at least in the years after<\/i> Jesus\u2019 ministry (I Corinthians 9:5).<\/p>\n Incidentally, the theme of people leaving their families is sort of echoed in this episode by Thaddaeus, who says \u201cevery man must leave his father\u201d when explaining why he pursued stonemasonry instead of becoming a smith like his father \u2014 but the context for that line has nothing to do with leaving family to follow Jesus, per se<\/i>.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n This episode features several scenes of Nicodemus speaking to John the Baptist while the latter is in prison. Most of the biblical information about John was conveyed in the previous episode, but this episode alludes to a few other passages as well.<\/p>\n For example, the biblical John was thought by some to be possessed (Matthew 11:18, Luke 7:33). This episode doesn\u2019t quite<\/i> show people reacting to John that way, but Nicodemus does say that he can tell John is not insane, which opens up the possibility that others might perceive him that way, and madness is often associated with possession.<\/p>\n Also, John explains his mission by recalling how people prepared the way for Caesar by saying, \u201cMake straight the way for the king! Prepare the way!\u201d This is very similar to a passage from Isaiah 40:3 that all four gospels say was fulfilled by John. In Mark 1:3, Matthew 3:3 and Luke 3:4, the narrators quote this passage to explain John\u2019s mission, while in John 1:23, it is the Baptist himself who quotes this passage.<\/p>\n John the Baptist also says that some people will not want to hear the Messiah\u2019s message because \u201cthey are in love with the dark\u201d. This parallels the opening verses of John\u2019s gospel, which say John the Baptist was a witness to \u201cthe light\u201d that was Jesus, and \u201cthe light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it\u201d (John 1:5).<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Old Testament<\/i>.<\/b> John the Baptist and Nicodemus refer to the Old Testament a few times during their conversation.<\/p>\n John says the Pharisees \u201cwould have labeled Moses a lunatic for talking to a shrub\u201d (though Moses actually talked to an angel<\/i> that appeared in the burning bush; cf. Exodus 3:2, Acts 7:30), and he quotes a portion of the oracle of Agur from Proverbs 30:4:<\/p>\n Who has ascended into heaven and come back down? Nicodemus replies that the \u201cson\u201d of God described in that oracle is the entire nation of Israel, but John \u2014 and through him, the series as a whole \u2014 hints strongly that the passage is ultimately about Jesus. This interpretive trajectory is reflected in the gospels. God calls the Israelite nation \u201cmy son\u201d in passages like Exodus 4:22-23 and Hosea 11:1, and the latter of those passages is quoted by Matthew 2:15 and applied to Jesus.<\/p>\n As per above, John also nods to Isaiah 40:3 when he talks about making paths straight.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n When Simon tells Eden about how he immediately dropped his nets to follow Jesus, he compares this to how Elisha dropped everything to follow Elijah (I Kings 19:19-21).<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n The wedding guests dance while singing \u2018Od Yishama\u2019, a Jewish wedding song based on Jeremiah 33:10-11. I don\u2019t know how far back this wedding tradition goes.<\/p>\n The wedding guests also talk about dancing to \u2018The Song of Miriam\u2019, which comes from Exodus 15:21 and echoes the first line of \u2018The Song of Moses\u2019 in Exodus 15:1.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Themes<\/i>.<\/b> The central theme of this episode is Jesus\u2019 relationship with his mother Mary.<\/p>\n Mary plays a key role in the prologue, as one of two parents who are looking for Jesus in Jerusalem; and she is central to the wedding in Cana, both as a friend of the groom\u2019s family, who helps with the wedding preparations (a detail not found in the gospels), and as the person who asks Jesus to help when the wine runs out (as per John 2:3-5).<\/p>\n So the two stories are linked on a narrative<\/i> level by the presence of Mary, but they are also linked through the filmmakers\u2019 storytelling technique. They are linked visually<\/i>, by the use of close-ups shot from Jesus\u2019 point of view as Mary looks him in the face and says \u201cplease\u201d; and they are linked verbally<\/i>, by the line \u201cIf not now, when?\u201d which Jesus says to Mary when he is a child, and which she says to him years later when he is an adult.<\/p>\n The visual<\/i> connection draws us into the continuity<\/i> of Jesus\u2019 relationship with his mother; he looks in her face and heeds her plea when he is an adult, just as he looked in her face and heeded her plea when he was a child. But the verbal<\/i> connection emphasizes the reciprocity<\/i> of his relationship with his mother; just as he<\/i> once nudged her<\/i> to let him move ahead with his spiritual destiny, now she<\/i> is nudging him<\/i> to take the next step.<\/p>\n The reciprocity is further heightened by the music on the soundtrack. When Mary pleads with Jesus in both stories, the close-ups on her face are accompanied by a voice on the soundtrack that is reminiscent of the one we heard when Jesus appeared to other people in earlier episodes. Just as Jesus had a powerful spiritual effect on other people, so too, the music implies, his mother is having some sort of spiritual effect on him<\/i>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s no wonder, then, that when Jesus and the disciples are on their way to the wedding, Jesus tells them his mother is \u201cthe most important and powerful person I know.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Incidentally, the wedding-in-Cana story is often used by evangelicals to play down the notion that Mary enjoyed any sort of special relationship with Jesus.<\/p>\n The fact that Jesus calls Mary \u201cwoman\u201d rather than \u201cmother\u201d in John 2:4 has often been cited as evidence that he was putting her in her place \u2014 and this interpretation is so common that the New International Version of the Bible had to add a footnote<\/a> to this verse cautioning that \u201cThe Greek for Woman<\/i> does not denote any disrespect.\u201d<\/p>\n Other translations have rendered the Greek word in question as \u201cdear woman\u201d to convey the idea that Jesus was actually treating Mary with respect even in that moment.<\/p>\n The makers of this series come from an evangelical background, so it is noteworthy that they do not use this story to marginalize Mary in any way. If anything, they make her a more prominent part of the story \u2014 and they steer around the translation issues surrounding the word \u201cwoman\u201d by having Jesus call her \u201cmother\u201d instead.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n The episode is primarily about a wedding taking place in Cana. But it also has a scene that focuses on the existing marriage between Simon and his wife Eden.<\/p>\n This scene marks the first time Simon has seen his wife since their argument in Episode 4, when she told him, \u201cYou haven\u2019t pursued the Lord lately, not like the man I married.\u201d Now, one day later, Simon tells Eden that he has left his nets to follow the Messiah. He is expecting her to be upset, but she isn\u2019t. \u201cThis<\/i> is the man that I married,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Simon and Eden then have a moment of playful intimacy as he joins her in the winepress and they recall the details of their own wedding, however long ago that was.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n The episode also draws attention to the fact that the miracle of the water turning to wine is performed with water that has been poured into stone jars.<\/p>\n The stone is significant for two reasons:<\/p>\n First, Thomas explains that water for purification is kept in stone jars like these because they cannot be unclean, and they are harder to stain or break.<\/p>\n And second, Thaddaeus explains that stonemasonry, unlike smithwork, is more final: metal can always be put back in the fire and reshaped, but once you make that first cut in the stone, \u201cit can\u2019t be undone. It sets in motion a series of choices.\u201d So, just as the stonemason commits himself to a course of action with his very first cut, so too Jesus is committing himself to a certain path by performing his first public miracle.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Simon asks why Jesus didn\u2019t heal the cripples instead of building ramps for them to get to the latrines. The answer within the episode has something to do with the idea that Jesus has not performed any public signs<\/i> yet, so he was keeping his power secret at the time.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s a good question: Why didn\u2019t Jesus perform more miracles? It\u2019s a question I\u2019ve certainly thought about in connection with the story in Acts 3, where Simon heals a cripple in the Temple some time after Jesus has ascended. Jesus spent a lot of time in the Temple and healed some people there, but it seems he didn\u2019t heal everyone<\/i>.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Historical quibbles<\/i>.<\/b> John the Baptist asks Nicodemus if he remembers when Caesar came to Judea. At this point in time, there had been only two Roman emperors \u2014 Augustus and Tiberius \u2014 and to my knowledge, neither of them ever traveled to Judea. Instead, they tended to summon the Herods and others to come and see them in Rome.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Nicodemus says he is taking an active interest in John the Baptist\u2019s imprisonment by the Romans because John is \u201ca Jewish citizen\u201d and it would set a dangerous precedent to let Rome adjudicate when someone is accused of breaking Jewish law.<\/p>\n The Romans certainly had a concept of \u201ccitizenship<\/a>\u201d that went beyond mere ties of kinship \u2014 the benefits of which were shared with certain people only \u2014 but I\u2019m not sure that any first-century Jews would have applied the concept to their own culture.<\/p>\n However, this dialogue may be setting up a concept that will be significant later on, when the Sanhedrin debates whether to arrest Jesus and turn him over to the Romans.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Simon remembers how Eden got tangled up in their chuppah<\/i> when they got married. This seems to reflect the current Jewish tradition whereby couples get married under a canopy, known as the chuppah<\/i> \u2014 but this tradition<\/a> only goes back to the 16th century.<\/p>\n In biblical times, the chuppah<\/i> was a tent or room in which the newlyweds had sex for the first time while the wedding guests waited for the bridegroom to emerge with the bedsheet proving the bride\u2019s virginity. The canopy that is now used in Jewish weddings began as a symbol<\/i> of the tent in which the marriage was consummated (similar to how communion was once a full meal and is now little more than a symbol<\/i> of a meal).<\/p>\n Eden also recalls how Simon\u2019s brother Andrew gave a \u201ctoast\u201d at their wedding. This feels<\/i> like another modern element, but that may have more to do with the word \u201ctoast\u201d than the actual practice of sharing drinks in celebration, which seems natural enough.<\/p>\n Also, as per above, I do not know how far back the wedding song \u2018Od Yishama\u2019 goes.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Before going to Cana, Simon casually tells Andrew they are \u201ctravel[ing] with the Messiah\u201d. Andrew himself had already told Simon that Jesus was \u201cthe Messiah\u201d in Episode 4.<\/p>\n There\u2019s an interesting tension in the gospels regarding who knew Jesus was the Messiah and when.<\/p>\n In the Synoptic gospels, none of Jesus\u2019 followers call him that until well into his ministry, when Jesus asks who people say he is and Simon replies that Jesus is the Messiah \u2014 and this is presented as a significant turning point in the story. Jesus then tells the disciples to keep his Messianic identity a secret (Mark 8:27-30, Matthew 16:13-20, Luke 9:18-21).<\/p>\n But John\u2019s gospel says Andrew was calling Jesus \u201cthe Messiah\u201d before Simon had even met<\/i> Jesus (John 1:40-42). What\u2019s more, various other characters in that gospel call Jesus the Messiah too, and Jesus publicly proclaims his divinity at several points in the story.<\/p>\n So this series would seem to be closer to John\u2019s gospel in this regard, then.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Eden is treading grapes outside her house when Simon speaks to her. I would be curious to know how common it was for people to tread their own grapes like that at home, as opposed to doing it communally or on a farm (cf. Mark 12:1, Matthew 21:33).<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Geography<\/i>.<\/b> No one knows exactly where the biblical Cana was; no fewer than five sites<\/a> \u2014 four in modern Israel and one in Lebanon \u2014 have been associated with that town. Google Maps says it would take about seven and a half hours to walk to the Israeli sites from Capernaum, while the Lebanese site is three to four times further away.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Miracles<\/i>.<\/b> See all the notes above, re: the water being turned to wine.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Humanization<\/i>.<\/b> This episode\u2019s focus on the relationship between Jesus and his mother humanizes Jesus in a way that none of the previous episodes have even tried.<\/p>\n While Jesus has generally behaved<\/i> in a casual and human way in this series, most of the previous episodes have kept him offscreen until the final scenes, treating him in effect as a deus ex machina<\/i> who steps into the lives of others and makes things all right. The one exception was Episode 3, in which Jesus befriended some children and taught them a few lessons \u2014 so even there, Jesus was presented as an authority figure to look up to.<\/p>\n But this episode actively encourages us to identify with Jesus by allowing us to see what he sees and to even feel what he feels, at least up to a point.<\/p>\n It does this most notably through its use of point-of-view shots. As noted above, the prologue in Jerusalem and the wedding in Cana are linked by shots of Mary looking into Jesus\u2019 face. But the episode also ends with point-of-view shots of Jesus and Mary looking at each other across the wedding feast as she says a silent \u201cthank you\u201d to him.<\/p>\n And then there are the private<\/i> point-of-view shots, such as when Jesus looks into the jar with the water that is about to be transformed, and he sees his own reflection.<\/p>\n Aside from that, Jesus continues to be as casual and relatable as before. He plays games with the children at the wedding, and he recalls his own childhood when he tells the disciples about how he once cracked his own head while playing at the groom\u2019s house. <\/p>\n Jesus is also very physical<\/i>. He lifts Mary off the ground when he hugs her (similar to how he splashed her with water and embraced her in The Passion of the Christ<\/i>), and he dances enthusiastically with the other wedding guests (which has been a common feature in films like The Last Temptation of Christ<\/i>, The Revolutionary<\/i> and Roger Young\u2019s Jesus<\/i>).<\/p>\n The parents of Jesus are also fairly casual and human. Joseph jokes about punishing the 12-year-old Jesus by getting him to rub Mary\u2019s feet (another physical gesture!), and Mary mimes having a pregnant belly to remind her friend why her wedding was different.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Simon is startled when he learns that Jesus worked on a \u201clatrine\u201d or \u201cprivy\u201d. Something about the Messiah working on human waste disposal seems a bit off, to him.<\/p>\n As it happens, the Jesus of the gospels actually mentions such facilities, and in language that might be coarser than we expect. In Mark 7:19 and Matthew 15:17, he tells the disciples that food cannot make a person unclean because it goes through the stomach and out into the aphedron<\/i><\/a> \u2014 a word that some translators actively try to avoid.<\/p>\n The King James Version of the Bible translates aphedron<\/i> as \u201cdraught\u201d, and other versions use words like \u201cdrain\u201d or \u201csewer\u201d. But the Revised Standard Version omits the word entirely and simply says the food \u201cpasses on\u201d, while the New International Version simply says the food goes \u201cout of the body\u201d. The New American Standard Bible tries to have it both ways, simply saying in the main text that the food \u201cis eliminated\u201d, but then admitting in a footnote<\/a> that the literal<\/i> translation would be \u201cgoes out into the latrine\u201d.<\/p>\n For his part, Thomas Cahill argues in Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus<\/i> that aphedron<\/i> should be translated \u201cshithole\u201d because, he claims, aphedron<\/i> was \u201cMacedonian slang that would have sounded barbarous to Greek ears.\u201d He adds, \u201cJesus was not bashful about referring to bodily functions, even if his translators are.\u201d<\/p>\n So, yes, Jesus talked about privies, and used them, and quite possibly built them, too.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Timeline<\/i>.<\/b> The entire episode appears to take place on the same day that Jesus gave Simon the miraculous catch of fish; at any rate, Simon tells Eden he and the others are leaving for Cana that day. So if Episode 4 concluded on a Wednesday, this one does too.<\/p>\n In John\u2019s gospel, the wedding in Cana takes place on \u201cthe third day\u201d after John the Baptist proclaims that Jesus is \u201cthe Lamb of God\u201d (John 1:29-34, 2:1). The first day after the Baptist\u2019s proclamation was when Jesus called Andrew and Simon (John 1:35-42), and the second day was when Jesus called Philip and Nathanael (John 1:43-51).<\/p>\n Philip and Nathanael have not appeared in this series yet, but director Dallas Jenkins recently revealed<\/a> that they will be introduced in Season 2.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n The plot thickens again!<\/p>\n You might recall that there are two different versions of Episodes 1 and 2 out there. The versions released a year ago set the series in AD 30, while the versions that are now streaming on the app \u2014 and the versions that were livestreamed earlier this year \u2014 set the series in AD 26. (Episodes 3 and 4 don\u2019t specify when they take place.)<\/p>\n Now there are two versions of Episode 5, too. The version that is streaming on the app is set in AD 26, just like the other episodes on the app (and the prologue is set in AD 8) \u2014 but a version that was livestreamed earlier this year was set in AD 30 (and AD 12).<\/p>\n Director Dallas Jenkins and one of his religious consultants actually discuss this in the roundtable discussion for Episode 5, available via the app. Apparently, when the discussion was recorded last year, all of the episodes were set in AD 30, but Jenkins admits that he should probably change this. It seems he did at some point.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n I noted in the last recap that John the Baptist was imprisoned by the Romans in Episode 4, whereas the John of the gospels was imprisoned by Herod Antipas.<\/p>\n However, in the roundtable discussion, Jenkins reveals that John\u2019s imprisonment in these episodes is not the same as the imprisonment that the Bible describes. So apparently John will get out of prison at some point, only to be thrown back in again.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Language issues<\/i>.<\/b> The characters throughout this series have usually called their parents \u201cAbba\u201d and \u201cEema\u201d (the Hebrew words for \u201cfather\u201d and \u201cmother\u201d). But in this episode, Simon asks Andrew if he remembers when \u201cDad\u201d taught them how to fish.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Miscellaneous<\/i>.<\/b> John the Baptist complains that Nicodemus\u2019s clothes are so expensive he could have fed three children in Nazareth for a month with the money it cost to buy them. This certainly sounds like the sort of critique a social justice-minded prophet would make, but it also sounds curiously reminiscent of Judas\u2019s complaint that Mary of Bethany wasted too much money when she poured perfume on Jesus\u2019 feet (John 12:1-8).<\/p>\n There may be an echo here of the difference that Jesus noted between John\u2019s austerity and his own approach to life (e.g. \u201cJohn came neither eating nor drinking\u201d whereas Jesus \u201ccame eating and drinking\u201d, as per Matthew 11:18-19 and Luke 7:34-35).<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n The bit about Jesus building a latrine fits with the more scatological elements in Episode 1, where Matthew steps in dog poop and his driver calls him a \u201cpublic anus\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n The Chosen<\/i> recaps:<\/b><\/p>\n Season 1:<\/b> review<\/a> | scripture index<\/a> Season 2:<\/b> The Messengers review<\/a> | scripture index<\/a> \u2013<\/p>\n The Chosen<\/i> can be streamed in full via VidAngel<\/a> or the show\u2019s app (Android<\/a> | Apple<\/a>).<\/p>\n Clip: Simon Peter shocks his wife:<\/p>\n
\nWho has gathered the wind in his fists?
\nWho has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
\nWho has established all the ends of the earth?
\nWhat is his name, and what is the name of his son?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nEpisode recaps:<\/b> The Shepherd<\/a> | one<\/a> | two<\/a> | three<\/a> | four<\/a> | five<\/a> | six<\/a> | seven<\/a> | eight<\/a><\/p>\n
\nEpisode recaps: <\/b>one<\/a> | two<\/a> | three<\/a> | four<\/a> | five<\/a> | six<\/a> | seven<\/a> | eight<\/a> | The Messengers<\/a><\/p>\n