S2, E4
One of the things that The Chosen is prone to do is create drama or a cliffhanger using events that aren’t in the Bible. This episode is an example of this. My concern is that they are using fiction to create an emotional response instead of true things.
Biblical: What We Find in Scripture
While we don’t know his background, we do know that there was a mean, healed by Jesus, who tried to enter the waters of the pool of Bethesda in order to be healed. People would try to enter the waters while they were being stirred up in order to receive healing. This is recorded in John 5:2-15. There are multiple scenes where we are presented with the backstory of this man, all of which is fictional.
Simon Z, though not referred to in this way in the Bible, is the disciple often called Simon the Zealot. This distinguished him from Simon Peter since there were two disciples named Simon. While we don’t know much about Simon, the Zealots were a Jewish resistance group that sought to overthrow Rome, including using violent means. While we don’t really know his backstory, this is a helpful depiction. Much of it is therefore fictional, but Simon Z was in fact Simon the Zealot.
The feast of tabernacles was celebrated annually by the Jews. It is sometimes called the feast of booths. This feast commemorated the leaving of Egypt when the people had to dwell in booths, or tents, in the wilderness. Each year families would build booths and live in them for the duration of the festival.
When Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda, the man was told to pick up his mat, and the Jews did correct him for this. Jesus had withdrawn and the man didn’t know who he was. This is all recorded in the previously mentioned verses in John 5. Later Jesus found the man in the temple and told him not to sin anymore. We are also told that Jesus was persecuted because of this.
Unbiblical: What Contradicts Scripture
None
Extra-biblical: What Is Made Up but Doesn’t Contradict Scripture
The opening scene where a boy falls out of a tree and breaks his leg is fictional. This is later revealed to be the man at the pool of Bethesda. We don’t really know much background, or for that matter any, for those in the gospels who Jesus healed.
There is no biblical record of the activity of the Zealots. In fact, the only use of the word is the four times it is used in the gospels and Acts to refer to Simon. Whatever activity, training, leaders, etc. of the Zealots that are depicted in this episode is fictional.
Zebulun is one of the tribes of Israel, and thus is a territory in Israel. There is no biblical record of a Zealot coming from there. Its name occurs only in 3 places in the New Testament. Twice in Matthew 4 when Jesus goes there and fulfills a prophecy about Zebulun. And once in Revelation 7 where the 12 tribes of Israel are named.
No Roman soldier is named in the gospels.
The scene where the disciples and Jesus are celebrating the festival of booths is fictional.
The scene with Matthew, Peter, and one of the other disciples into Jerusalem isn’t recorded in the Bible.
The conversation with “Jesse,” the man at the pool of Bethesda, and Jesus is greatly elaborated on. While this healing happened, and while there are elements of this story that are true, there is much that has been added. Additionally, Jesse’s searching for his brother and the plot to assassinate a Roman official are not recorded in Scripture.
The disciples never asked Jesus why he healed the man on the Sabbath, and Jesus never replied that sometimes you must stir up the water.
Helpful: What We Might Be Helpful To the Watcher
While the opening scene with the boy who broke his leg may not be recorded in the pages of the Bible, there is some helpful info here. It is easy, in light of modern medicine, to think that people could have just splinted a broken bone and it would heal, and there may be some truth to this. However, this would depend upon the severity of the break. A bad break would be very unlikely to have been healed in a way that would have allowed the individual to fully regain use of that limb. Additionally, since there isn’t much background info given in the Bible regarding those who Jesus healed, this type of background, though fictional, serves to remind us that the people Jesus healed were real people, with real stories, and real anguish.
Dangerous: Things That Have Been Added That Might Be Dangerous to Accept as Fact
I believe that there is a danger inherent in every episode and for that reason I’m including this suggestion in every episode guide. The danger is assuming that the things in the episodes of the Chosen that are not in the Bible are true, part of the biblical record. In order to avoid this danger, I would encourage everyone who watches the Chosen to compare it to the biblical record. IN part, this is because most of what is in each episode of the Chosen is not found in the Bible. There is more speculation here than actual events recorded in the Bible. If you want a harmony of all of the gospels in chronological order to aid this, then I would recommend purchasing a copy of One Perfect Life by John MacArthur. It is a compilation of all of the gospel records in order of the events as best as we can understand.
Anachronisms and Errors: Things that are out of place regarding the time, etc.
Wax candles are still not something that would have been often used. Small oil lamps were used to provide light.
The depiction of crucifixion isn’t accurate. In this depiction, the man on the cross is standing on a platform. Sometimes platforms were used to prolong agony, but the weight of the individual would have been primarily hanging on the victims arms. This would cause the victim’s lungs to fill with fluid and they would suffocate.
The man at the pool told his brother that the upper city was less than a mile away. The whole city would not likely have been a mile wide. The images around Jerusalem, as well as this statement, present the area of Jerusalem as much larger than it actually was at that time.