Set to debut on Nov. 18 in over 2,000 theaters nationwide, Season 3 of “The Chosen,” the dynamic and intimate portrayal of the life of Jesus, promises moments that will especially delight the series’ Catholic audience. Series creator Dallas Jenkins said the theme of the new season is “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” In a change of tempo for the series, Season 3 characters will face the occasional hardship and difficulty of discipleship.
Jenkins told Our Sunday Visitor, “One of the joys of this project has been getting to know so many Catholics and so many that I would consider brothers and sisters in faith.” The new season’s depictions of the Virgin Mary, despite being challenging to produce from the Biblical evidence and different theological traditions, will deeply resonate with Catholics, according to Jenkins.
“Anytime I portray Mother Mary, obviously that’s the most sensitive issue with Catholics, and the one that there’s the most amount of — from the Gospels — tension about between Protestants and Catholics,” said Jenkins. He pointed to Episode 3 of the upcoming season, in which Jesus and Mary talk about his upbringing and the weight of what is to come, as having potential to deeply move viewers.
“The weight that she feels knowing what’s to come I think will resonate with Catholics especially,” Jenkins said. Some Catholics, Jenkins says, might believe that given her dignity, the Virgin Mary might have been more emotionally distant from the preaching and suffering of Jesus.
“Her mother’s heart, even though she knows what’s coming, even though she was called to this, is still burdened because watching your son go through not only death, which comes later in the show, but the steps that lead toward that, the weight of that starts to hit her in this season,” said Jenkins.
Even if viewers disagree with his portrayal, says Jenkins, he believes it will strike a chord, despite the fact that he does not share some beliefs about the Virgin Mary that Catholics hold.
When asked about Jesus’ teaching on the dangers of wealth, and the show’s lack of prominent depictions of Jesus’s love for the poor, Jenkins said, “He hasn’t delivered a sermon, or had the encounter with the rich young man.” But Jenkins pointed to other tensions the show has previously depicted, such as the contrast between the ostentatious Sabbath dinner at the home of the pharisees and the simplicity of the home of Mary Magdalene (which Jesus visits). “I think that Jesus definitely cared about the trappings of wealth, he definitely warned against it,” said Jenkins, “but I think he was more passionate about the poverty of spirit than he was about poverty of wealth.”
Season 3 climaxes with the portrayal of the feeding of five thousand, which for Jenkins was the most difficult scene to film in the season. “We make it about more than feeding hungry people,” he said. Jenkins revealed that in the show’s narrative, there’s a lot at stake for multiple disciples at this moment.
“Simon Peter is at a desperate spiritual low point; he’s even not necessarily excited about Jesus at the moment,” Jenkins said. “Filming that in 100 degree heat in the Texas summer with thousands of people was extremely difficult. I don’t know how we got through it, but it resulted in one of the most powerful things we’ve done.”
The show continues to unite Christians of many traditions, in part because of its originality. “When I’m making the show, I’m not thinking specifically about denominations,” Jenkins explained. “My responsibility is to tell the stories as honestly and as authentically as I can,” he stated.
Now translated into over 62 languages, “The Chosen” is available for streaming for free across a variety of streaming apps.
Father Patrick Briscoe, OP, is editor of Our Sunday Visitor. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMaryOP.
