S5, E8
This final episode of Season 5 picked up right where the last one left off, with Thaddeus having flashbacks depicted in black and white. Fortunately, this episode has much more in it that is actually found in the pages of the Bible. Maybe more than any other episode I have seen, this episode is both quite accurate at parts and wildly speculative at others.
Biblical: What We Find in Scripture
While Thaddeus’s opening flashback is entirely fictional as noted below, there is one part of this flashback that reveals something from Scripture. We know that Nazareth was not thought well of. Nathanael questions if anything good can come from Nazareth in John 1:46.
I’m conflicted as to whether or not to put this in the biblical or unbiblical category. We know that John was reclining on Jesus at the last supper (John 13:23), again this was because they would have been seated on cushions on the floor. So there is an element of the last supper that is correct. However, some of the disciples seem to point this out as though John had placed himself there. John 13 doesn’t state this. We do know that John describes himself in that chapter as the disciple whom Jesus loved, indicating to us that of all the disciples, John was likely the closest to Jesus. But we don’t know that the disciples resented John for his seat at the last supper. There is no plot of Rome to arrest Jesus revealed in Scripture. Pilate only comes into play after the Jewish council had arrested Jesus.
While there are some big embellishments in the Garden of Gethsemane scene, there is quite a bit in this episode that does seem to be taken right from the pages of Scripture. The visions and dreams of Jesus are not part of the gospel accounts, those exceptions are listed below. However, the portions of this scene where Jesus interacts with the disciples, and where Jesus is praying, seem to reflect the biblical record accurately. Mt. 26:36ff; Mk. 14:32ff; Lk. 22:39ff.
Malchus was the servant of Caiaphas, the high priest (John 18:10), and it was prearranged that Judas would kiss Jesus, the one to be arrested (Matthew 26:48).
Unbiblical: What Contradicts Scripture
None
Extra-biblical: What Is Made Up but Doesn’t Contradict Scripture
The opening scene with Jesus and Thaddeus, which is a flashback of Thaddeus’, like all the rest of these flashbacks, is not found in Scripture. We really don’t know anything about the calling of Thaddeus as a disciple. One thing I find a little perplexing about this opening vision is that Jesus makes a very impassioned plea to Thaddeus to follow him. Again, we know nothing about the calling of Thaddeus and some of the other disciples, but the callings that we do know about didn’t go this way. Jesus simply called people to follow him. Jesus did tell Nathanael he saw him under the tree, and he called some to be fishers of men. But whenever and however Jesus called people, it seems like they were eager to follow.
As noted in previous episodes, very little is known of Mark in the gospels. Any thought that the upper room was in Mark’s home is speculative.
The scene with Pilate and Atticus is fictional. Atticus is not a character that appears in Scripture at all. Pilate doesn’t appear in the accounts of Passion Week until Jesus is sent to him on trial.
While we know that the Sanhedrin was plotting to arrest Jesus, none of the conversations that took place among the Sanhedrin are recorded in Scripture.
We have nothing in the biblical record that tells us Jesus encountered a father and son in the garden chopping wood. This portion of the scene is fictional. Of course, this is a flashback to Abraham and Isaac, which certainly points forward to Jesus. But this vision is added; it is not in the biblical accounts.
The scene in Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones is not mentioned in the garden account either. There are a lot of liberties taken in that portion of the scene. We do know that Ezekiel was given a vision of the valley of dry bones, and that God asked him if those bones could live. While it may have been the pre-incarnate Jesus who asked this, we are not told in Scripture. Neither is there any record that whichever member of the Trinity asked this of Ezekiel cried upon Ezekiel’s shoulder. In the account of Ezekiel’s vision, God told Ezekiel to prophecy over the bones so that they would come to life. The point of Ezekiel’s vision is that the Word of God can give life to dead souls. Now, certainly, it is the living Word, Jesus, who gives life to the dead, and I think this is what the writers of the chosen were trying to portray. But there is a lot of artistic license taken with the valley of dry bones here.
The vision of Joseph, the father of Jesus, is not found in the Bible either.
Once again, Ramah’s family, an entirely fictional set of characters, plays a prominent role in this episode as they are involved in the arrest of Jesus.
Helpful: What We Might Be Helpful To the Watcher
While Nicodemus would have almost certainly been involved in any meeting of the Sanhedrin, and therefore his bursting into the meeting is likely put in this episode for drama, he does ask a helpful question. Nicodemus asks a question about “this unlawful assembly.” While Scripture does not forbid trials by night, the Mishnah, a Jewish book of laws, did.
I think the perplexity of the disciples as the Romans come to arrest Jesus is helpful to see. This must have been a wildly confusing scene for them. More of the details of this are likely to come in the next season.
Dangerous: Things That Have Been Added That Might Be Dangerous to Accept as Fact
None
Anachronisms and Errors: Things that are out of place regarding the time, etc.
This is probably going to continue to be said in each of the episodes in this season, but the Last Supper would have been at a table that was low to the ground with Jesus and the disciples seated on cushions on the floor and not on stools.