The Chosen

David and I have been gripped by seasons 1-3 of ‘The Chosen,’ the first multi-series drama about the life of Jesus and his first followers. Created and directed by Dallas Jenkins, it’s the largest crowdfunded project in TV history. We were looking forward to streaming series 4 in the run-up to Easter, but its release date has been delayed. So, we dusted down our videotape (yes, really) of ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ from the 1970’s.

Despite many admirable aspects - realistic settings and costumes, some great acting performances and its rootedness in Jewish cultural history - the representation of Jesus left us exasperated. Robert Powell’s unblinking, mystical BLUE eyes and unsmiling performance depict a Jesus far removed from the one I see in the gospels.

‘The Chosen’ has all the great production qualities that marked out ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ but the portrayal of Jesus matches the one in my bible-fed imagination more than I would have deemed possible. Jonathan Roumie is superbly cast. He’s dark-eyed, physically strong enough to make a true-to-life carpenter, but otherwise fairly unremarkable.

Roumie manages to encompass both Jesus' strength and his vulnerability; his seriousness and his sense of fun; his miraculous power and his ordinariness; his authority and his humility.

For me, Jonathan Roumie pulls it off. Immanuel - God with us.

If you haven’t seen it, series 1-3 are available on DVD and to stream free via this website

https://www.angel.com/watch/the-chosen

Season 4 episodes 1-3 are now showing at selected cinemas and will be available to stream later.