The Chosen, Season Three (2022)

Each season of The Chosen has been more wonderful than the last, and this one is no exception. The story picks up with Jesus’ impassioned delivery of the Sermon on the Mount, and his decision to separate his disciples into groups of two and send them out to share his teachings.

While they wrestle with his teachings, Jesus (Jonathan Roumie) returns home and upsets the locals when he claims to be the Messiah. They intend to throw him off a cliff, and are shocked when he simply walks away untouched. Since the ministry needs financial support, the women pair up with Zebedee (father to the “sons of thunder”) to produce high-quality olive oil, hoping to sell it to the temple priests. But the oil has turned rancid, giving Tamar the opportunity to encourage him to purchase an olive grove to help their business. Mary Magdalene struggles to like her outspoken companion, especially when she denounces Matthew’s taste after he gives his house to them as a home base. Elsewhere, Judas takes leave of his sister to follow this new venture, the extremely literal Big James struggles to understand Jesus’ highly philosophical sermons, James wrestles with his pride in being Jesus’ “favorite,” and Simon faces a tragedy at home that overshadows his faith.

This season intricately weaves storylines around significant moments in the Bible, including telling the story of Veronica, the woman who bled for twelve years and touched the hem of Jesus’ robes (in one of the most powerful depictions of that moment ever seen on-screen). It reveals to us the foreshadowing that Gaius will be the Roman Centurion who begs Jesus to heal “his servant,” it reunites Matthew with his parents, and it accumulates in four of its best episodes to date—including a momentous Walking on the Water scene that you have to see to believe.

Throughout, it remains centered on these characters and their lives, on building up their development, and making them relatable. Mary’s struggle to like Tamar is a lot like the envy so many of us feel toward those who seem better at things than we are; Simon wrestles mightily with not having his prayers answered, Little James comes to tears over his unhealed status and what it means for his life, and we get our first glimpse of Pontius Pilate and Claudia. Dallas Jenkins and his writing team told us at the start “get used to different,” and that theme carries into this season, in the unique ways they choose to interpret historical events and tell their stories. At times, they shock us with their decision (such as having an extremely young Pilate), but all of them carefully intersect and weave into a compelling story. It’s more about characters than special events, although they deliver spectacularly on that in the final episode. I for one cannot wait for season four!

     
Sexual Content:
Romantic dialogue about starting a family between a man and a woman; they kiss and get interrupted by a visitor, who then suggests he could put a pillow over his head, if they need privacy. A woman has a miscarriage and is shown giving birth; another woman has been bleeding for 12 years; a lot of dialogue revolves around this, and some bloody rags are shown.

Language:

A disciple curses by shouting Hades.
 
Violence:
Disciples talk about having started a riot in a town where they were teaching.