Did The Chosen’s get it wrong in Season 5?
CMJ USA's Jeff Roberts responds to The Forward's review of Season 5
Editor’s note: The Forward recently posted a review of The Chosen by Mira Fox, a culture writer at The Forward. It is titled “The only good Jews in this hit Christian TV show are the ones who follow Jesus: ‘The Chosen’ has long been obsessed with Jewish practice — but Jewish people don’t come off well in its retelling.” How Mira Fox (or a copy editor at the Forward) really feels is found in the headline you’ll see across the top of your browser window: “The Chosen: Last Supper is finally blaming the Jews.” This is quite a contrast from the positive review from an Orthodox Jewish woman as season 3 came out. But as Fox points out, the Gospel story gets tougher as the crucifixion approaches. Our own Jeff Roberts, who has seen the latest season, offers a rebuttal.
Mira Fox, in the Jewish publication the Forward, recently wrote a review of what she referred to as “the blockbuster TV show” The Chosen, The Last Supper. Although her review is largely favorable, Fox’s review is not unbiased. Her sympathies are clearly with the Pharisees. “There was a lot of pressure on the Pharisees”, she writes. “By the time Judas considers turning Jesus in, I was with him (Judas).” After reading Ms. Fox’s article, I feel compelled to take respectful issue with a number of points she makes in her review.
On the positive side, I am in agreement with her comment that: “There is no Christianity without the belief that Jesus fulfilled Jewish prophecy.” The reality is that Jesus did fulfill dozens (possibly hundreds) of Messianic prophecies found throughout the Jewish Scriptures such as Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, Zechariah 12:10, Isaiah 9:6 (for to us a son is given who will be called Mighty God), and Micah 5:1 which prophesied the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
Fox writes she is concerned The Chosen could remind people that “Christian tradition has blamed Jews for Jesus death, leading to centuries of persecution and antisemitism.” It is a sad truth that some people who wrongly claimed to be Christians (but who did not practice what Jesus taught) were involved in terrible crimes against the Jewish people. This tragic history has been detailed in many books authored by Jews and Christians alike. In addition, many Christians and organizations are speaking out to educate Christians about this awful history and against the rising sin of antisemitism.
Jesus himself never advocated violence against his own people. He was a Jewish rabbi who lived his life as a Torah-observant Jew. In fact, as he pointed out in the New Covenant book of Matthew 15:24, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
Ms. Fox is likewise concerned that Jews are portrayed in a poor light in The Chosen and that there is a “truly gratuitous amount of discussion of Jewish greed, corruption, and lack of spirituality.” She writes, “by the time of the scene of Jesus flipping the merchants (money-changers) tables in the Temple (courts), Jews are firmly established as the villains.” I disagree.
First, the characteristics she ascribes to the Jewish leaders can apply to anyone in politics, power, or leadership (as seen every day in the news). Secondly, Jesus never denigrated the Jewish people either in the show The Chosen or the pages of the New Covenant scriptures. The story about turning over the corrupt money-changers tables is best understood by his righteous anger after seeing the buying and selling of animals at exorbitant prices and money changers charging exchange fees: “My house should be a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of thieves.”
Throughout his life on earth Jesus’ ire was focused on the Pharisees and others who talked a good game but lived their lives hypocritically. In regard to the Pharisees, Jesus said “you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.”
Overall, my biggest concern with Ms. Fox’s review is her broad-brush statement that “Jews, of course, reject the show’s fundamental message: that Jesus is the prophesied messiah.” This is not true. According to the Pew Research Center, 300,000 Americans raised as Jews reported they are Christians, and more than half of the 2.8 million Americans not considered Jews but who had one of more Jewish parents stated that they were Christians.
Although many of these people worship in churches, tens of thousands worship in the hundreds of Messianic synagogues in the United States, Israel, the Ukraine, and around the world. These include Orthodox Jews and even rabbis. All of this is consistent with what took place in the first century. As described in the New Covenant Book of Acts, the Scriptures state, “You see, brothers, how many thousands of Jews have believed (that Jesus is the Messiah), and all of them are zealous for the law.”
The Chosen is not perfect. It takes liberties by adding characters and creating backstories. But on the whole, I believe The Chosen accurately portrays the Jewishness of Jesus. As a long-time Jewish follower of Jesus, I believe with all my heart that he is the Messiah… to the Jew first and also to the Gentiles. But don’t believe me or Mira Fox. Watch The Chosen on Amazon or some other streaming service and then decide for yourself.
Jeff Roberts serves at the Director Partnerships & Fundraising. He's been a follower of Jesus for nearly 40 years. Read how he fell in love with the Messiah. You can reach Jeff at jeff.roberts@cmj-usa.org.
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