The Chosen is a multi series show portraying and elaborating on the life of Christ and His disciples. It’s hugely popular among Believers, but the question many Torah keeping Christians are holding their breath for as they await the answer is: will the show declare God’s Law done away with by Yeshua’s death and irrelevant to the life of a Believer?
As Torah keeping followers of Yeshua, of course, we understand our Messiah to have walked, taught, and upheld in every way the keeping of the Torah. And so, we cannot help but find ourselves examining the show for elements that support Yeshua’s Torah-keeping and any comments or implications that would foreshadow a mainstream Christian view that the Torah is irrelevant.
In the season 3 trailer, it’s exciting to see the woman with the issue of blood reaching for the hem of Yeshua’s garment— and it’s tzitzit. It’s like, “yes! They get it!”
It’s exciting in episode one that Matthew mentions Yeshua’s teachings being similar to Rabbi Hillel because it’s, at the least, passive awareness that Yeshua wasn’t some rogue preacher, bringing in “New Testament Christianity,” but that He was part of the Jewish community of His day and positively associated with the school of Hillel (see John 20:16, “Rabboni” is a title of a teacher in the school of Hillel).
But then there are concerns…
If season 3 does not yet portray Yeshua’s death (we’ll know when the season ends), it certainly gets close to it. In the trailer, Yeshua is being questioned by a rabbi.
The rabbi accuses Yeshua, “If you don’t renounce your words, we’ll have no choice but to follow the Law of Moses.” To which Yeshua, (in the show), replies, “I am the Law of Moses.”
The comment has stirred a lot of interest and confusion online, particularly because people claim the line came from the Book of Mormon, while Yeshua never made such a comment in the Scriptures. Dallas Jenkins, the executive producer, has unequivocally stated that the line did not come from the Book of Mormon (in this video at 33:35).
When I heard the line, my immediate reaction as a Torah keeper was a little different.
My initial thought was, “What did the writers mean by that?”
See, I agree with the line. John 1:1 tells us that we cannot separate God from His Word.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1
Just as what I write in this blog post is “me,” represents “me,” and cannot be separated from me because it is the expression of my innermost being, God’s Word is Him.
Then verse 14 of John 1 tells us that “the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us.” Yeshua is the Word of God incarnate.
And what is the Word of God? In its most literal form, it is everywhere the Scriptures read, “And God said, Speak unto the children of Israel and say to them….” The Word of God is His Law, His Torah.
And the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
So I do believe that Yeshua is the Law of Moses.
But, unlike mainstream Christianity which often suggests that faith in Yeshua negates obedience to His Law, I believe that following Yeshua by faith means following Him into His Law with obedience…. And for me, this line in a show produced by “mainstream” Christians does beg the question of what they mean by it. Is this foreshadowing an anti-Torah stance?
I began searching for answers.
Dallas Jenkins answered this question in a video Q & A, and I found the answer…. Frustrating (a little).
Here’s why.
In this video at about the 32:00 mark, Jenkins says,
It’s in the show because I believe it’s a really great line. And I also believe it’s theologically plausible. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I am the Word. I am the Light. I am the Light of the World. Uh, I am the Creator.
Jesus is…. So when someone is saying, like, “Oh, we’re going to follow the Law of Moses,” and Jesus is like, “Sabbath is not made for man, uh, but… uh man for the Sabbath.” Right? Yes? Want to make sure I get that right? Did I say it backwards? [Offscreen: Yeah] ….
Point is, God is over these things. Jesus is over these things. He is these things. He owns these things. They came from Him.”
Dallas Jenkins, executive producer of The Chosen
Jenkins makes some great points, especially the last one that “[The Law] came from Him.” Yes! Yeshua is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the Word! The commandments come from Him and are under His authority. Amen, and amen! (Such a great argument FOR keeping His Law!)
So what then is Jenkins saying about the Sabbath? It seems ambiguous and out of context….
Jenkins was in a live show. I understand the pressure to answer a question on the spot. You try to clearly communicate something by giving an example to make it more clear, but it becomes a little muddled and only adds more ambiguity. I get it. Sometimes, I too feel like I’m stumbling over my own tongue.
Oh, but why did the stumble have to be in the answer to this question?!
Here’s what I think….
After mulling over Jenkins’ explanation, I hope I’ve come to an accurate representation of what this “I am the Law of Moses” statement means and what the Sabbath had to do with it in Jenkins’ explanation.
I think Jenkins was trying to make the point that the rabbi thinks he has authority because of the Law of Moses, but he don’t realize that the One who gave the Law and embodies the Law is standing before him. How much more authority does He have as the Giver than he?
What the rabbi thinks is a threat he is issuing against Yeshua is actually part of Yeshua’s plan to bring salvation to the whole world.
The comment may also be pointing out that while he thinks they follow the Law of Moses, they don’t. Because if they did, they would follow Yeshua and not persecute Him (John 5:46-47).
If this is the case, I personally think the line is pretty cool myself.
As for the Sabbath ambiguity…
I think Jenkins’ Sabbath comment was more to draw a connection to the “ah-ha! Gotcha!” type of literary device that the “I am the Law of Moses” statement is supposed to effect.
When a sentence has two phrases that use the same words, but the second phrase reverses the orders of the words, it’s called an “antimetabole,” a type of literary device to poetically and rhetorically change the meaning and create an impact. It’s point is to make emphasis.
This literary device is used many times in Scripture.
For example, “Many who are first will be last, and the last will be first” (Matthew 19:30).
“Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed” (Genesis 9:6)
Paul especially went crazy with this literary device:
“The man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man…. Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman…” (1 Corinthians 11:8-9, 11-12)
And what Jenkins tried to express….
“The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”
In the say way that this Sabbath phrase is supposed to pack a punch to the listener/reader, the conversation with the councilman is supposed to pack a punch, and that was Jenkins’ purpose for bringing it up, in my opinion.
So is The Chosen Season 3 anti-Torah?
Well, time will tell, won’t it? So far, I haven’t picked up on an anti-Torah stance in this season or the seasons before it. (Meaning: While I don’t agree with every theological statement or stance made in the film— it’s for entertainment, not Biblical instruction— the overall message does not seem focused on ‘disproving,’ disrespecting, or building up to a rejection of God’s Law.)
While there’s controversy and ambiguity around the “I am the Law of Moses” statement, my conclusion as of this writing is that the statement actually supports the Torah. (Now, if that’s how mainstream Christianity perceives it, I don’t know…. Probably not.) At the very least, I genuinely do not believe it was written or intended as an anti-Torah statement, but more a statement on Yeshua’s authority.
But, I will hold off any definitive conclusions until Season 3 of the Chosen airs in its entirety. Especially when the scene where this conversation happens is shown in context.
It’s been wonderful to see a show portraying Yeshua and the disciples as followers of Torah. The portrayal of the Shabbats, Feast of Tents, blessings and prayers, tzitzit… has been beautiful and impressive! I’ve been impressed by the distinction the show makes between Jewish law and God’s Torah, and how Yeshua never broke Torah.
But what’s going to happen at Yeshua’s death… and after? It’s what every Torah keeping Christian is wondering….
Shalom!
Raquel
Women Living Torah 