The Chosen Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 5

S5, E5

Several of the episodes that we have seen recently have been mostly filled with stories drawn directly from Scripture. This episode is one where most of the content is made up and not found in the biblical record.

Biblical: What We Find in Scripture

  • A dispute did arise among the disciples during Jesus’ last supper with them. Jesus then tells the disciples that they will be given a kingdom in which they will reign. Luke 22:24-30

  • The lesson of the fig tree is recorded in Mark 11:20-26. While the lesson is biblical, it is clearly elaborated upon. It is also not very clear in this episode that the last supper before the credits takes place after the events recorded after the opening credits. The lesson of the fig tree most likely took place on Monday or Tuesday of that week.

  • Jesus does predict his death to his disciples in John 12:30-36, but the disciples’ conversation is not recorded in the Bible.

Unbiblical: What Contradicts Scripture

  • The opening discussion of the disciples during the last supper in the upper room does not line up with Scripture. It is during the Passover meal that Jesus predicts his betrayal before all of the disciples and it is also during the Passover meal that Judas slips out and leaves. The disciples do ask Jesus who the betrayer is, but Jesus answers their question and identifies Judas as his betrayer. It is as this point that Judas leaves the upper room. John 13:21-30;

  • Additionally, during the aforementioned conversation, Andrew states that the betrayer must not be Peter because Peter is “the foundation of Jesus’ church.” This is most likely drawn from Matthew 16 when Jesus changes Simon’s name to Peter. It is unlikely that Jesus is calling Peter (Petros in Greek) the rock (Petra) upon which the church will be built. The foundation of the church is Jesus, a view that Peter himself confirms when he calls Jesus the cornerstone. It is unlikely that Peter understood himself to be the church’s foundation when he calls Jesus the cornerstone of the church. 1 Cor. 3:10-11; Acts 4:11; Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:6-7.

  • Surely the disciples were confused and bewildered by the prediction of Jesus’ death, but their conversation in this episode is not recorded in any of the gospels.

  • The conversation between Shmuel (Samuel) and Caiaphas is not in the biblical record.

Extra-biblical: What Is Made Up but Doesn’t Contradict Scripture

  • The conversation of the rabbis about the effects of Jesus driving people out of the temple is fictional. Ananus, son of Annas, is not a biblical character. History does record someone named Ananus in first-century Palestine after the death of Jesus, but this is entirely fictional.

  • The scene with Pilate in his wife is wildly elaborated upon. In Matthew 27:19, it is recorded that Pilate’s wife desired for Jesus to be let go because she was being tormented in a dream. Any details other than that she was being tormented are not found in the pages of the Bible.

  • The scene with Atticus and Pilate is not found in the pages of the Bible.

  • Atticus is again seen later walking through the streets with some Roman soldiers. This too must be fictional as Atticus is not a biblical character.

  • Mary Magdalene’s being blindfolded and taken away to the home of Nicodemus isn’t in the Bible, but I would guess that this is leading up to the fact that Nicodemus was among those who dealt with Jesus’ body after his crucifixion. John 19:39

Helpful: What We Might Be Helpful To the Watcher

  • The conversation of Ananus, Caiaphas, and the Rabbis is helpful in understanding the illegality of the arrest of Jesus. The arrest and trials of Jesus at night were against the law.

  • The Pharisees, along with the high priest, were clearly planning to arrest and execute Jesus. While much of the plot to arrest Jesus is made up, it is helpful to see that they were plotting the arrest of Jesus. It is also helpful in understanding that they probably felt constrained by time with the upcoming Passover and the fact that there could not be executions during that festival.

Dangerous: Things That Have Been Added That Might Be Dangerous to Accept as Fact

  • Nothing

Anachronisms and Errors: Things that are out of place regarding the time, etc.

  • Nothing