Our series episodic review of The Chosen continues after ten months of inactivity with Season 2 Episode 2 “I Saw You.” As soon as the episode begins, I am reminded why it’s been ten months since I’ve watched it. The episode is best characterized as a bunch of grown men talking about their feelings for 50 minutes. In no genre does this constitute good television. Moreover, this episode proved how willing The Chosen is to contradict the Bible on minute details, getting entire origin stories wrong.
The key passage is John 1:35-51:
35 Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” 39 He *said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He *found first his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
43 The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He *found Philip. And Jesus *said to him, “Follow Me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip *found Nathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip *said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael *said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” 50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
NASB1995
The most immediate contradiction in the chronology. Season 2 Episode 2 takes place after the wedding at Cana, after John 3:16, and after Jesus speaks to the woman at the well. The drama in the episode centers around their travels to Caesarea Philippi. More related to the text, this takes place well after Andrew goes to Simon, as verse 43 states that Jesus, the next day, recruited Philip. In this episode, we instead see Philip find Jesus and the next day find Nathaniel. “The next day” means something different to Dallas Jenkins.
Moreover, the episode portrays Philip as a follower of John the Baptist which is also not found in the text. Andrew is named as a disciple of John the Baptist. The other disciple is not. Both were following Jesus because “the next day” Jesus recruited Philip.
It’s worth noting that Simon has not been renamed by Jesus yet in the series which is also a contradiction.
In Nathanael, we see a story of a failed architect. He takes his blueprints, sits under a (fig?) tree, and uses a modern fire striker to burn them. So historical accuracy is not a thing here either. Afterward, he is visited by Philip in his home.
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