Some thoughts & questions from The Chosen, Season 4, episode 3:
The episode starts with the story of David fasting and calling out to God for the life of his infant son. He and his wife Bathsheba (that he stole from his faithful servant Uriah) are both heartbroken over the death of the baby. The point of contention between them – which turns out to be the focus of the episode – is that God heals sometimes, but not every time. David tells Bathsheba that even though his prayer for healing was not answered, he still choses to worship and serve God.
More curious was a line spoken by one of David’s attendants at the very beginning. Two of them are shown worrying about David. David hasn’t eaten anything in several days and they’re worried that he’ll die. They’re afraid that they will be held accountable – as if it will be judged to be their fault – if their master dies. One says, “The regime has slaughtered people for less.” I didn’t expect the filmmakers to include this level of critique of David’s rule. This brings to mind the issue of David wanting to build a temple for Yahweh. We read in 1 Chronicles 22:7-8
David said to Solomon, “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the Name of the LORD my God. But this word of the LORD came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight.'”
The story of David’s wanting to build a temple for the LORD occurs in 2 Samuel 7 – before the Bathsheba/Uriah episode.
Jesus heals a blind man – without much consultation. Details in this story make the Bible reader think it is the story from John 9. The filmmakers take liberty with the story, resituating it in Capernaum from Jerusalem. It leads directly to a major confrontation with the Pharisees (“He blasphemes and breaks the Sabbath!”).
At the end we see the top Roman administrator for the village go off the deep end. He ends up killing one of Jesus’ followers. Most of Jesus’ disciples are interceding, begging Jesus to intervene and bring healing. Jesus healed a blind man – why not this person? Jesus raised Jairus’s daughter from the dead, why not this person? Don’t you care Jesus? And yet Jesus does nothing.
In the New Testament we see Jesus doing many healings. Sometimes it seems that he’s healing everyone, right and left. One time we’re told, however, that he went to a place and wasn’t able to do much there because of the people’s unbelief. Unbelief is not the problem in this episode. Jesus is surrounded by people who believe he can heal – even raise the dead. And yet Jesus does nothing.
It’s so hard for the disciples – the disciples then as well as disciples now – to realize that Jesus’ agenda is not merely physical healing for people. It is so hard for us to submit to a God who doesn’t do everything we want. We’d prefer a God who was subservient to our desires. We don’t get that God in either the Old or New Testaments. We get a God of love in both parts of the Bible, but that love is not exactly what we’d prefer.
We see other disciples (depicted in the picture above) who reverted to their pre-Jesus way of thinking. Their gut reaction, “One of ours is attacked? We need to attack back!” Violence is so close to the surface for so many, whatever the time, whatever the culture.
