June and I have talked with several people recently who had not heard about The Chosen, a series of videos on the life of Jesus. Season one’s eight episodes are finished as well as five episodes of season two (as of this writing!). We’re not quite finished with season one ourselves, but we strongly recommend. Here’s a snippet from John Stonestreet’s review:

After the response to a short film of Jesus’ birth he made for a Christmas Eve service, “The Chosen” producer Dallas Jenkins was inspired to create an entire series about Jesus’ life, one that was neither sanitary, watered-down, nor uber-preachy. Along the way, Jenkins and his team not only created their own TV show, they also created their own delivery system. “The Chosen” app allows viewers to stream all eight episodes of the show onto their TVs, computer screens, or phones, for free. No Netflix or Hulu or Apple TV – or their boardroom politics – required.

This costly strategy is behind another amazing part of this story. “The Chosen” is now the single largest crowdfunding entertainment project ever. More than $10-million dollars was raised from more than 19-thousand individual donors to create the first eight episodes. Through the app, viewers are encouraged and equipped to recruit new viewers and new donors. To date, they’ve raised nearly $4 million toward season two.

Given how thoughtful and moving we found season one, my family is looking forward to new episodes. While I could certainly find a quibble or two with the way some of the dialogue goes, or the way certain story lines proceed, I’m grateful that Jesus isn’t portrayed here as some serene, other-worldly guru-type figure who whispers parables and stares mysteriously into the middle distance. Instead, the series does a good job of portraying Jesus as He was–fully human, an actual man. – John Stonestreet, Breakpoint, May 7, 2020.

June and I have found the stories engaging, and even when we know what’s going to happen (e.g., he will change water into wine at the wedding), we still have an emotional, joyous response. People’s visceral reaction to lepers, for example, breathes life into texts we’ve read for years.

Try it, and, as the filmmakers recommend, read the original stories in the gospels.

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. (Luke 1.1 – 4, ESV)