The Chosen - S1E6
Indescribable Compassion
Summary
This episode has a lot of moving parts and interweaves our various characters’ stories until we reach an epic conclusion.
The cold open shows a man that is trading some valuable tools for some money. He is offered much less than the items are worth. When objecting to the offer, it is revealed that the poor man is a leper and is run out of the shop. Matthew and Gaius are standing by a very large chest of jewels, coins, and other valuables. In their dialogue, we learn this is Simon and Andrew’s tax payment after having sold all the fish from Jesus’s big catch. Nicodemus is testifying to other Jewish leaders about his visit with John the Baptist informing them that he is no threat to the Pharisees. Shmuel confesses to having ordered the detention of John the Baptist because of the alleged false teaching. He is reprimanded for this rash action and departs disgusted with the inaction of his leaders. The apostles are working in the camp and a brief conversation between Simon and Little James leads to a beautiful song from the latter. We circle back to Matthew and Gaius before Quintus as he reviews the quarterly tax revenues. Matthew is frustrated that Quintus does not take his report of Jesus’s miracle seriously but is dismissed when Quintus is informed an important visitor is on the way.
The middle of the episode is when we start to have our storylines crossover. Jesus, Mary, and four apostles are walking along the road and encounter an Ethiopian woman. After learning that both Jesus and the woman, Tamar, grew up in Egypt, the journey is interrupted by the pleading of the leper man we met at the beginning of the episode. Everyone becomes very concerned except for Jesus who approaches the ailing man and miraculous heals him. Everyone is astonished and Tamar runs off. They continue their journey until they reach James and John’s parents’ home. Simon and Andrew are approached by Matthew who wants to know about Jesus, but is rejected by the two apostles. Then we have two scenes with Nicodemus and Shmuel interrupting prophecy from the Torah in relation to John the Baptist’s preaching. The Pharisees, Romans, and Matthew are informed there is a mob of people forming in the slums.
Now our characters are on a collision course. Jesus begins teaching at Zebedee’s home and more and more people gather to hear the parables. The home becomes completely surrounded by the time the Roman soldiers and Pharisees arrive. Tamar also approaches the house with a paralytic man who she wants to get to Jesus. It is clear that they are not going to get to the door and instead opt to go to the roof. Matthew finds a stop on a nearby roof to listen. Shmuel pushes his way through the crowd to reach the window. Tamar calls out to Jesus asking for him to heal the paralytic man. Shmuel demands that Jesus tell him by whose authority he is teaching all of these people. Jesus responds to both by telling the paralytic man that his sins are forgiven and to stand, take up his mat, and walk. The man is healed, and pandemonium ensues. In the chaos, Nicodemus asks Mary for an audience with Jesus.
Mitchell’s Insight
“We need to see Jesus. I saw what your master did to the leper. I know what I saw. Please, help me get my friend to him.” These are a few of the statements that Tamar, the Ethiopian woman makes when she arrives at Zebedee’s house. What an incredible faith this beautiful woman displays. She is here to help her friend and will not be deterred. She asks about taking him to the roof. “Jesus of Nazareth, I saw what you did to the leper on the road this morning. My friend has been paralyzed since childhood. He has no hope but you. Please, do for him what you did for the leper. If you are willing Rabbi, I know you can do this.”
This plea brings me to tears every time I see it. I think of times when I or my loved ones have been in need, but I have held on to whatever was troubling me and failed to entrust God with my burden. As my faith strengthens, I hope that one day I can receive the response that Jesus gives Tamar. “Your faith is beautiful.” In this depiction, the paralytic man is saved due to the faith of his loved ones. The Biblical narrative does not provide the detail shown in this episode, but I believe the show’s message provides a great example of how important our belief is for those around us. We never know how our witness could affect the lives of the people we come in contact with.
Megan’s Insight
To steal Mary Magdala’s sentiment, Matthew was one way and now he is becoming someone very different, because of Jesus. Matthew’s world was logical, rational, and constrained by the laws of nature. However, the day he witnessed the miracle on Simon’s boat, that world was turned upside down. When discussing his account of the events around that day with Quintus, Matthew became defensive when Quintus suggested that Matthew was tricked, “I am neither sophisticated nor subtle, Dominus, but I am observant. I detected no subterfuge. I recorded everything I witnessed however impossible it seemed… I saw no ruse or deception at the seashore, Dominus.”
After Matthew left frustrated, he went to Andrew and Simon to inquire further. Matthew said, “They [the Romans] don’t believe what I saw, but I do. I need to know, am I deceived?” Simon was visibly angry but Andrew responds, “What good is our answer if you don’t even listen to yourself?” Again, Matthew appeared shaken and departed unsatisfied.
Finally, Matthew was driven by his need for a satisfactory explanation to follow the Roman guards to the slum after he heard there was a gathering around a teacher. Abigail and Joshua (the children from Episode 3) invited Matthew to the rooftop in order to hear Jesus speak. While they watched the healing of the paralytic, Matthew reached for a grape from Joshua’s bowl without using his cloth, a funny and simple yet clear sign of the transformation he is experiencing.
Matthew came down from the ladder after the crowd was dispersed. The children saw that something was clearly wrong and Abigail asked, “Are you lost?” Matthew responded, “Yes, I am.” As he walked away trying to make sense again of what he witnessed, he saw Jesus and the disciples flee through the back garden. The show is silent, then Jesus stopped and turned to look at Matthew as the music begins to play again. Matthew’s facial expressions were powerful. I believe something deep within Matthew is changed at that very moment.
Michael’s Insight
In this episode, we see people trying to place both physical and spiritual limitations on God. On their way back to Capernaum, Jesus and His disciples encounter a leper. The disciples are startled and begin to back away from the leper, threatening him to not come any closer. Jesus on the other hand, begins to approach the leper. When Jesus starts to approach the man, instead of trusting that Jesus knows what He is doing, His disciples implore him to stay back. They have spent their entire lives avoiding and shunning lepers, knowing that they face certain death if they are exposed. They assume Jesus to be in the same danger, despite what they have already seen Him do. They immediately turn to their fear, instead of their faith.
Shmuel is also trying to tell others what God is and isn’t. He cites passages from scripture and asserts that these words clearly point out that God ‘cannot’ take human form, and that John’s successor could not possibly be God because the Israelites could not look upon the face of God without dying. Shmuel fails to understand that scripture tells us what we need to know about God, it does not tells us everything about his nature. And beyond that, we do not have the authority to place boundaries on the Almighty. It is more useful for us to recognize what God is not. It only matters that we know that God is NOT evil, and that he is NOT unjust. There is no need to search scripture for the physical constraints that God has, because he has no limitations, nothing is impossible for him, and it simply does not matter. If you observe the world around you closely, you will slowly over time begin to understand more about what God is, and what he is not.
Take to Prayer
What is something that you should entrust to Jesus but haven’t yet? Who is someone in your life you can intercede for and ask God to transform their life?
Bible Verses to Read
The slaughter of the innocents
Matthew 2:16-18
Healing of the leper
Matthew 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-44; Luke 5:12-16
Shmuel’s belief that God cannot become man
Exodus 33:20-23; Deuteronomy 4:15-19
Parable of the servants awaiting their master
Luke 12:35-40
Healing of the paralytic
Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26