This is the third blog about the life of Jesus Christ as portrayed by the series, “The Chosen.” As I said in the first blog, I prefer the King James version of the Bible, and because of that, my interpretations of the stories are a more traditional version of the series. After traveling to Necropolis to help the Apostles with people of varying backgrounds and viewpoints, Jesus needed time to pray by Himself; the Apostles returned home to fish the waters near their homes.
The Apostles were in a boat moving across the Sea of Galilee when a bad storm developed, and they feared that they would drown. Jesus was sleeping in the back of the boat and was unaware of the storm until Simon Peter called to Him to save the Apostles. Seeing how dangerous the storm was, Jesus walked on the waters to calm them; Simon Peter cried out, “Jesus, save us!” Jesus replied, “Come to me, Peter. Fear not for I am with you.” Peter dropped out of the boat into the raging waters and was almost drowned. He cried out again, and Jesus said, “Come to me, and I will keep you safe.” Peter came to the surface and gradually walked on the waters to Jesus. He asked, “My faith in You has saved me, Lord, but why did you not help me with my marital problems? I did not even know that my wife lost our baby.” “Your faith has carried you through this storm, and I will continue to help you through your problems. Keep your eyes on me,” said Jesus. While the storm was subsiding, Simon Peter’s wife bathed in sacred temple water and prayed that God would guide her in her marriage. Most of us realize how important it is to put our faith and trust in Christ, but many of us think we can do all things by ourselves. The opposite is true. We need Jesus to be at the center of our hearts, and to do this, we must have faith, pray, read the Word, and believe that all things are possible through God.
News reached Jesus that John the Baptist had been killed by the king, and the group mourned for Jesus’ cousin. Jesus had a dream that night where John came to Him in chains, walking in a field. Seeing Andrew’s sadness, Jesus joked that the potato chips they were eating tasted like Elijah’s bones. He counseled, “Laughter and tears during mourning are essential to the process. There is no right way to mourn. In my dream, John encouraged me to continue his walk on the open road. So, we will begin our walk to John’s shiva.” As they walked, Thomas and Rayma talked to Jesus about their marital plans, and Jesus told them to wait to discuss these plans until after the shiva.
The group did not know their destination, but they finally arrived at Cedes where some pharisees harassed Jesus by calling Him a damning figure who associated with bad people, the Gentiles. Jesus said to His Apostles, “Who do you say I am?” Peter said, “You are our Savior, Lord, and You are the giver of life to all in the world.” “Why did I come to the earth?” asked Jesus. The group responded, “To love and care for all peoples and to share the Good News of the Gospels.” Jesus said, “I have come with a sword to stop the divisions among all peoples. The Romans will follow their man-made rules; we will follow the will of God.” It was here that Jesus called Simon Peter, the Rock; He gave him authority to proclaim the truth. Jesus asked, “Are you ready to follow in John the Baptist’s and my footsteps?” Astonished, Peter said, “Yes, Lord.” I wonder how any of us would feel if Jesus called us, “the Rock,” with authority to proclaim the truth to the world. Our times are filled with negativity, violence, fear, anger, and greed. It is very hard to stand up for what is right when all around us are many people saying, “There is no God.” I dare say that many of us would shy away from such a powerful name.
When the group returned to Peter’s home, his wife called him, Peter, as though it had already been ordained. Peter asked Jesus, “What do you do when someone wrongs you?” Jesus replied, “You forgive them, forgive them seven times seven. There should be no limits on forgiveness. Man makes this harder by leaning on his own understanding.” Jesus sighs, “The time has come when things will no longer be simple. I will not always be here with you.” James and Thaddeus began to sense a dark change in Jesus and confided their concerns to Peter. The Centurion warned Peter and Matthew about the pharisee’s plans to deal with Jesus.
Judas left the group in Bethany to visit a former business partner, while the other Apostles and Jesus went to Lazarus’ house. Jesus said to everyone when Marta got upset that her sister was not helping serve the guests, “The best way to serve me is to carefully listen to my words. Devour my words as a meal to fill your souls.” After the meal, they sang, acted out dramas, and played instruments in a joyous praise to God. Jesus contemplated the uncertainty of poverty and that life was not always simple. His mother, Mary, washed His hair, and He told her, “I am afraid that my Apostles will not be strong enough in their faiths to counter what they will need to be prepared to do.” When Mary and Jesus returned to the group still in “party-mode,” Jesus noticed that Lazarus was trying to hide pain in his side. Sensing something was wrong, Jesus retired to his bedroom for a night of troubled sleep. It is also important to realize that Judas complained to his former partner that he could not help Jesus to develop financial plans for the crowds that were seeking Him out. That frustration may very well have been the seed of his diconnection with the group and his desire for the 30 pieces of silver latter on in the story.
The next day, the Apostles listened intently to Jesus’ parables but in defensive mode. As a crowd gathered, one priest heard Jesus’ words and called Him a blasphemer. “I am the door; whomever comes by me will be saved. I am the Good Shepherd, One with the Father. Whatever you ask of God, He will give you.” Jesus’ mother, Mary, told Him that in order for His Apostles to understand what He was saying, He would have to guide them physically, not just tell them stories. When the Apostles questioned Him about His stories, He replied, “I do this so that all will believe that I am God’s Son.”
Cyrus warned the oil maker of the pharisee’s plans to do away with Jesus. As the Apostles took the boat across the Sea of Galilee, Judas yelled at Peter to do something about the pharisee’s plan to harm Jesus. Returning from the shiva for John the Baptist, Jesus and the Apostles entered Lazarus’ home where they discovered he had been dead for four days in the tomb. Jesus was frustrated with Peter, Thomas, and Matthew for not understanding that He would rise again after His death. With witnesses present, Jesus told Lazarus to come out of the tomb. Lazarus came out in his death clothes and caressed Mary and Marta’s cheeks and then hugged Jesus. Knowing how much people react to strange occurrences or miracles today, I know that many would not believe such happenings. They would use words like impossible, or never happened, or that is a publicity stunt. Only those of us who believe in the Resurrection would say, “Yes, He is the risen Lord! Alleluia! Alleluia!”
In the synagogue, the priests argued over what to do with Jesus. He was compared to Elijah, and others wanted Him to be investigated before they acted. One of the priests said, “A man will die so that our people may live. We will hand Him over to the Romans.” Two priests had nothing to do with the arguments and left the temple saying, “They have no conscious and are going against the Torah.” Hearing from the two priests, Jesus said His most important rule to His Apostles. “Love one another as I have loved you.” I wholeheartedly believe that if all the peoples of the world would do just that, this world would be more like God wanted us to be in Genesis. Without love, we are nothing.
Walking with His mother, Mary, and the Apostles, Jesus said, “The time has come to do my Father’s will. Will you come with me?” He took the bit and bridle out of the box His mother brought with her; Jesus told Simon, the warrior, and Matthew to go into Jerusalem to get a donkey that had never been ridden and to get a blanket that had never been sat on. As excitement rose in the city that Jesus was coming, the two Apostles returned to the group and held the donkey’s reins until Jesus had mounted it. As He rode into the city with the Apostles following Him, He turned to say, “In this world, I loved you as my own!”
The series closed with Christ riding on a donkey into a Jerusalem that would soon crucify Him but latter mourn Him as the risen Lord. The fifth part has been written and will be released in the near future, but it is important for all of us to understand that we can do nothing without Christ in our lives. This we should do in our families, in our communities, in our states, and in our nation. We need to believe that God is watching what we are doing in all facets of our lives, and that He, alone, will make all things new. We are our brother’s keepers, and we need to help those who are calling out to us for help. With Christ’s peace, love, light, hope, and grace, we will make this beautiful gift of life that God intended it to be, a beautiful place where love reigns over all darkness and we walk hand-in-hand with His Son.
Anna Hartt
