The Chosen | Winter Small Groups
The Chosen | The Story of Jesus For Us
Season 1, Episode 1
Scriptural References:
Isaiah 43: 1
But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are mine.
Luke 8 Soon afterward he went on through one town and village after another, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, 2 as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to them[a] out of their own resources.
John 3:1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.
Matthew 9:9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
1 Corinthians 9:5 Don’t we have the right to travel with a wife who believes like the rest of the apostles, the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas (Peter)?
From the producers:
The Chosen is based on the true stories of the gospels of Jesus Christ. Some location and timelines have been combined or condensed. Backstories and some characters or dialogue have been added.
However, all biblical and historical context and any artistic imagination are designed to support the truth and intention of the Scriptures. Viewers are encouraged to read the gospels.
The original names, locations and phrases have been transliterated into English for anything spoken.
Introduction of characters who journeyed with Jesus:
Mary Magdalen, Matthew, Nicodemus, Peter and Andrew
Questions for Discussion
Initial Impressions
1. What captures your attention in this first episode of The Chosen?
2. Do you have any initial questions about what happened? Was anything confusing?
Connection
3. The Chosen begins by introducing us to Mary of Magdala, Nicodemus, Matthew, Peter and Andrew. We are shown the filmmaker’s imagination of each character’s “before Jesus” life.
What do you think and or feel about having the story of Jesus begin this way?
4. What are your impressions of each of these characters and what we learn about their possible back story?
5. Was there a character that especially connected to you and your story?
Jesus with Mary
6. Jesus does not appear until near the end. And, with Mary. How do you respond to the filmmakers’ decision to have Jesus appear with Mary first?
7. The episode begins with Mary and her father quoting Isaiah 43:1, is repeated again in the middle when her father asks, “what do we when we are scared?” and concludes with Jesus saying these words to Mary: “Mary of Magdala, thus says the Lord who created you: fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.”
How does being named and known by Jesus, affect Mary?
How does being known by Jesus, affect you? Do you trust that Jesus cares about your authentic identity?
8. How does this portrayal of Jesus with Mary invite us to look at Jesus afresh?
9. What questions do you have about who Jesus is after tonight’s showing?
The Chosen | Shabbat
Season 1, Episode 2
The Chosen is based on the true stories of the gospels of Jesus Christ. Some locations and timelines have been combined or condensed. Backstories and some characters or dialogue have been added.
However, all biblical and historical context and any artistic imagination are designed to support the truth and intention of the Scriptures.
Viewers are encouraged to read the gospels.
The original names, locations and phrases have been transliterated into English for anything spoken.
Genesis 1:31-2:1-3
God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed— the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed. On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing; he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.
Deuteronomy 4: 12-15
12 “ ‘Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 14 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
Luke 14
One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.
5 Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child[a] or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?”6 And they had nothing to say.
Mark 2:27
Then Jesus (the Lord of the Sabbath) said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath
What other scripture comes to mind?
Discussion Questions for Episode 2
Initial Impressions
1) What captures your attention in tonight’s episode?
What is something new that you discovered/learned?
2) Which characters stood out to you most? Which were most interesting? Most moving?
Connection
3) What have you learned about the role (and hatred toward) tax collectors in first century? What do you observe is relationship between tax collectors and Romans?
4) Simon (Peter) said to his wife, Eden, “I’ve got this.” How does Simon represent us when we are in situations out of our control?
5) What do you notice about Nicodemus when he sees Mary? How do you respond to seeing Mary “in her right mind” in this episode?
6) Of the three different Shabbat meals depicted in Episode 2, how would you describe the difference between them (with Eden, with Mary, with Nicodemus)?
7) What do you notice about Jesus at the Shabbat of Mary? Why does Jesus join with her and those with her?
8) How does this portrayal of Jesus invite you to look at Jesus afresh?
9) What would it look like for you to engage in Sabbath (Shabbat) the way Jesus and his disciples did? What does Sabbath-keeping look like for us in 2023?
The Chosen | Jesus Loves the Little Children
Season 1, Episode 3
Mark 14:13-15 (also in Matt. 19:13-15; Luke 18:15-17)
13 People were bringing children to him in order that he might touch them, and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”16 And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.[a] 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Matthew 6:9-15
“Pray, then, in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be revered as holy.
10 May your kingdom come.
May your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.[a]
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us to the time of trial,[b]
but rescue us from the evil one.[c]
14 “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others,[d] neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Discussion Questions for Episode 3
Initial Impressions
1) In contrast to previous week’s, we encounter Jesus right at the beginning of the film.
What was your impression of how Jesus was portrayed in his alone time?
2) What observations do you make from tonight’s episode?
How would you describe who Jesus is/his character/his priorities/his vision?
Connection
3) In the gospels, we do not have a story about Jesus with the children in such detail. How do you respond to the imagination presented in episode 3?
What we are told is that he welcomed children and said the “kingdom of God belongs to them.” (see Matthew 19)
What was your experience in watching Jesus with the children? What did you notice?
4) What drew the children to Jesus?
5) The Bible reveals the mystery of Jesus being fully human and fully divine. How does it make you feel that Jesus experienced real life on the earth, with all its challenges?
6) Jesus often is quoting scripture (Deuteronomy 6, Isaiah 61, Psalms). What do you learn from Jesus’ relationship with Scripture?
7) How do you relate to Jesus differently after watching tonight?