The Chosen: Last Supper

Episodes 1 and 2 in cinemas from April 10-16; episodes 3-5 on May 10 and 11 only. The entire season will be available on Prime later in 2025.

People who have been Christian for a long time can sometimes approach Easter with the awkward recognition that the well-known Scripture readings around this precious season don’t always have the same impact.

Jesus’ arrest, trial, scourging and death strike at the heart, but the days leading up to them don’t necessarily leap out at us with the same urgency. Familiarity may not breed contempt, but perhaps a feeling of impatience? We know what’s coming, so let’s get to the main game. 

However, the week before Jesus’ death for us on the Cross includes his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the clearing of the temple courts, the prediction of his coming death, the washing of his disciples’ feet and his last Passover meal with them. There is so much to unpack in these chapters of the gospels that theologians have pondered them ever since.

We need to think – really think – about what Jesus says and does in this crucial final week of his life, so to have an entire season of The Chosen devoted to it is excellent. There’s also something about seeing this part of Jesus’ story that has the capacity to challenge and shake us in a profound way. We see his pain, his joy, his distress at people’s unbelief and his unwavering trust in the Father – despite the death he knows is waiting for him.

This is where The Chosen is at its best. Showing our Saviour in his humanity as well as divinity amid the world he inhabits. 

Some Christians have reservations about the backstory provided for characters in the show, or the modern style of discourse used. Are the makers trying to “add to” Scripture in the way the Bible warns us about? It’s good to consider whether what has been made gives glory to God, and clearly recognises Jesus as Lord and Messiah, which I believe it does. It’s good to ask whether it seeks to add barriers to salvation – anything at all apart from faith in Jesus – which I believe it doesn’t.

Yes, flawed and fallible human beings created this series and take part in it, but the desire of the show’s creator Dallas Jenkins at all points is to honour God and provide a rendering of Jesus’ life that is culturally informed and biblical. And although there are sadly some fans of the show who look to actor Jonathan Roumie as though he is Jesus, Roumie is quick to tell them that he’s just a man and is only portraying his Lord.

We also know from Scripture that Jesus attended weddings, drank wine, got hungry, thirsty and tired. We know that he slept, and cried, and rejoiced. And we see all those things onscreen, as well as laughter (perish the thought!) and even dancing. He was among us, and lived as one of us.

People have watched this series and discovered Jesus for the first time, or returned to the faith of their childhoods, which is a great blessing. 

Season 5 takes us from Palm Sunday to shortly before Jesus’ arrest, but the narrative isn’t linear. Each episode begins with a different element of the last supper, and then the story pulls in the different groups involved in the days to come: Roman leaders and soldiers, Pharisees, Passover pilgrims, angry zealots, and the everyday men and women of Jerusalem. 

While some might want less chat and more action as the season goes on, the slower pace actually makes it easier for viewers to experience the disciples’ confusion, because we’re seeing their lives in context. 

They have been with Jesus for the past three years, seen his miracles, heard his teaching and even gone out to spread the word themselves. Days earlier, they experienced the joy of coming with him into Jerusalem, surrounded by crowds that proclaimed him Lord. This is it! His time has come! But now he’s talking clearly about his death and saying they will abandon him. What on earth?

Jesus’ disciples need constant reminders of who he is and what he really came to do, in the same way that we need to read and reread Scripture to experience its truths afresh. The hymn “Tell me old, old story” says it so well:

Tell me the story slowly,
  That I may take it in –
That wonderful redemption,
  God’s remedy for sin;
Tell me the story often,
  For I forget so soon.

Let’s pray that this new season of The Chosen will help even more people to learn the wonder of this good news – that Jesus Christ is Saviour and Lord.

To find the screenings closest to you, visit the cinema locator here.