Jesus, Judas, and “The Chosen”…KevinH

The Bible doesn’t really tell us much about why Judas betrayed Jesus, we are just primarily told that Judas requested payment to do so, payment in the form of thirty silver pieces which he soon ended up throwing right back at the chief priests in the temple after the deed was done.

In portraying the story of Jesus and His disciples, The Chosen takes some liberties in adding storylines and character development to enhance the breadth and depth of the presentation of the story, as part of the effort to make a high quality tv/movie production. In my viewpoint, they do this quite successfully while still maintaining fidelity to the Bible, by not introducing anything that is a significant contradiction or slight of Scripture.  (Some “discernment” critics out there may think otherwise, but I think they make mountains out of molehills and protest too much.)

We see Judas introduced in the Chosen at the end of Season 2, and as Season 5 now enters into Holy Week, we are seeing Judas’ storyline reaching the critical point.  Throughout the show Judas appears to be an enthusiastic supporter of Jesus, but increasingly we also see a shadier side of him.  But the most consequential thing we learn about Judas along the way, and it is especially prominent in Season 5, is Judas’ proclivity to be enthralled with and assiduously stick to his vision of what Jesus will do, or at least what he believes He should do as Messiah – unite the people of Israel, free them from oppressive Roman rule, and set up the great earthly reign of the kingdom of Israel where Jesus would rule as King.

As time goes on, and especially as the events of Holy Week unfold, Judas becomes quite disturbed as to what is happening and becomes very frustrated that Jesus isn’t doing what he thinks He should be doing.  Judas has formed and stubbornly holds onto a picture of who he believes Jesus the Messiah is supposed to be, and when reality doesn’t match his vision, he becomes angry and distraught.  Rather than allow understanding to supersede his preconceived ideas, as we see slowly but surely happening with the other disciples, Judas doubles and triples down on his beliefs.  It becomes increasingly apparent that Judas was following Jesus all this time, not because of who Jesus truly was, but rather because of who Judas thought He was, and was going to accomplish.

We surely have seen many corrupted happenings leading to great consequences throughout the history of Christianity, that very well may have been influenced by errant perceptions of Jesus and what He wants of us….. from the mindsets of a good many within the Crusades which sought to conquer people and lands by force for God, to the selling of indulgences, to the burning of heretics (real and supposed) at the stake.  Maybe not quite as dramatic, but today we see factions of Christians who pick out only parts of Jesus they like and fashion other parts to their own liking, to consequential ends.  So we have those who see only the loving and graceful attributes of Jesus and paper over others which are not to their liking.  Thus, we end up with a Jesus who is accepting of many types of sin, especially in regards to how sexuality is expressed in our culture.  Then on the other side of the spectrum, we have those who like the whip snapping, judging, kingly Jesus, but don’t like His “softer” attributes.  Thus, they end up lacking grace and compassion and treat things like empathy as sins.

Nowhere more in our current moment, and to my dismay as a conservative evangelical Christian, do we see this being played out but in a political realm that has reached deeply into many people’s lives. Politics has become the primary driver in many, if not all aspects of their lives, including their faith.  Thus, we are seeing all kinds of harm being done in the name of Jesus.  Not the real Jesus, of course, but yet one that is tragically commonly portrayed to the world as the real Jesus.

This Jesus is still said to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life….. the Savior of the World….. but He is also depicted as the Jesus who is macho, anti-feminine, legalistic, grievance-driven, and consumed with winning and ruling over temporal earthly politics and affairs.  The reason He is depicted this way is because so many Christians have pictured Him to be so in their own minds.  This Jesus is a conservative, a Republican (and a real one at that, not a RINO), divides everyone into distinct adversarial categories of “us” vs. “them”, hates all people and things liberal and woke, looks fondly upon cruel authoritarians and narcissists, seeks favored power and partiality for Him and His “faithful” followers in a pluralistic society, and desires His followers to do whatever it takes to achieve His ends, even if it means disregarding some of His own teachings.

Moreover, there is seemingly no manner of changing the minds and hearts of those who see Jesus in these ways, even if Scripture directly contradicts what they believe.  They have decided who Jesus is and what He wants of us, all else be damned.

This, of course, did not happen overnight, but has been in the works for many, many years.  What started with probably at least some good purposes and intentions, has grown and morphed into a monster, as a man with great skills of manipulation and deception saw and has taken advantage of an environment that was ripe for the taking.  Even as this man has little biblical knowledge of the real Jesus, he has managed to turbo charge the imaginations of many of Jesus’ followers as to who God is and what He says is good and what He requires of us.  This has appealed to the carnal side of many of Jesus’ followers and their itching ears keep taking them to places where they can hear and experience more.  Pundits and politicians and even preachers realize what the people want, and so they feed them more and more, gladly increasing their own power, fame, and riches along the way.  It is an ugly cycle that ingrains grievously faulty pictures of Jesus in people’s minds.

Judas, in The Chosen, has his own tragically faulty picture of Jesus, and we all know the consequences that will play out.  Today, especially over the past couple months in our country, we are seeing consequences playing out that in many ways are the result of many Christians having decided in their own minds who Jesus is and what He wants of us.  Thus, we are seeing great animosity against “them” who have been against “us”, and are reveling in their defeat and the upheaval and destruction of their ways and systems.  We are seeing many who God calls us to show extra care and compassion for, be treated with disregard, if not even antagonistic disgust, as they lose some, if not all of the little help they were receiving.  And now we are seeing risky, reckless economic decisions being made that have the great potential to bring needless harm across not only the entire people of our nation, but of even the entire world.

Lord, have mercy on us, sinners.  Give us grace to rediscover who You really are, as revealed in Your Holy Word, and to shed our own flawed and broken interpretations and projections.