Thursday
Nights
July
7, 2022
Script
Welcome to our Thursday movie
night.
We love the TV series called “The Chosen”.
If you’ve missed any of the previous episodes, go to
“thechosen.tv”
tomorrow and watch them. Or better yet, download the free app,
and you’ll not only be able to watch all the episodes, you
will even be able to cast it to your smart TV. Some smart TVs are now offering an “Angel Studios” app that will
also give you free access to all the episodes.
For those of you watching this
introduction after the original premiere, you will need to go to the web or the
app to watch this episode.
It’s our hope that this little
introduction we give each week will give you a little bit of a boost so that
you can better enjoy the series.
First, a segment we call…
In the Scriptures
The episode will open with a peek
into the disciples’ future a few years after Jesus’ death and
resurrection. They have gathered for a
special occasion (more about this later), and John has taken the opportunity to gather the
others’ memories about Jesus.
As they talk, a few Scriptures are
important to keep in mind…
John will call Mary “mother”. This is because of what Jesus said to John
and Mary as He died on the cross…
(John
19:26–27 NKJV) —26 When Jesus
therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said
to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” 27 Then He said
to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took
her to his own home.
During this segment, Mary will also suggest
something that John will call a “disclaimer”. You can read
this “disclaimer” at the end of John’s gospel where he wrote,
(John
20:30–31 NKJV) —30 And truly
Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not
written in this book; 31 but these
are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and
that believing you may have life in His name.
As the episode moves back into our most recent
timeline, you are
going to see how James and John get their nickname, “The Sons of Thunder”. In naming the disciples, Mark describes them
as,
(Mark
3:17 NKJV) James the son
of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges,
that is, “Sons of Thunder”
We think this nickname came from a
story in Luke 9:51-56, when Jesus has an unpleasant encounter with Samaritans. I won’t say too much more about this since
you’ll see it in the episode.
(Luke 9:51–56 NKJV) —51 Now it came to pass,
when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His
face to go to Jerusalem, 52 and sent messengers before His face. And
as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. 53 But they did not
receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. 54 And when His disciples
James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command
fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” 55 But He turned and
rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 For the Son of Man did
not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to
another village.
Watch carefully to see how the writers wove this
theme of “thunder” through the entire episode from start to finish.
Several times throughout the episode, you will
hear a reference to
a shepherd leaving the “ninety-nine” to find the lost sheep. The passage is in Luke 15:4-7.
(Luke 15:4–7 NKJV) —4 “What man of you,
having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine
in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it,
he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes
home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them,
‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I say to you that
likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over
ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
At some point you may want to also read the story we
know as the “Good Samaritan”. The story is in Luke 10.
Pay attention because the story
will be told from an unexpected perspective.
As with the previous episodes, some of this
episode will introduce things with which we have no record of Jesus or the
disciples saying or doing.
The producers have stated over and over that they are not trying to add to or replace Scripture.
But the principles that are being laid out are
very consistent with the character of Jesus as well as the cultural background
of how people lived in the first century.
It’s not too different from a pastor giving you
the flavor of a passage by sharing with you cultural
practices, historical context, or the meanings of a Greek or Hebrew word.
And as the producers of “The Chosen” will
encourage you, make sure you are reading your Bible, and especially the
gospels, for the best information.
Now, for our section we call …
Terms and Practices
You’ll hear the word …
Shiva
This Hebrew word means “seven”, and
is used to refer to a seven-day mourning period for close relatives, something
still practiced today in Judaism.
In a flash-forward segment of this
episode, the disciples
are apparently gathered together in Jerusalem to mourn
over the death of John’s older brother James, who was killed by Herod.
You can read about James’ death
(or, “big James”) in Acts 12:1-4.
(Acts 12:1–4 NKJV) —1 Now about that time
Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. 2 Then he killed James
the brother of John with the sword. 3 And because he saw
that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during
the Days of Unleavened Bread. 4 So when he had arrested him, he put him
in prison, and delivered him to four squads of
soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.
Samaritans
We were introduced to the
Samaritans at the end of season One, in episode 8.
They were a race of people who had a genetic
connection with the Jews.
Their beginnings date to the Assyrian invasion of
the northern kingdom of Israel in 722BC when the Assyrians mixed other nations
with the remaining Israelites.
For most Jews, Samaritans were
considered “half-breeds” and were held in contempt.
Samaritans developed their own religion, based on
Judaism, but twisting it slightly.
They built their own temple on Mount Gerizim, and believed the temple in Jerusalem was
illegitimate.
The name “Samaritan” sounds like the capitol of
the northern kingdom, the city of Samaria, but their name actually
comes from the word shmrym,
which means “keeper of the law”.
The Samaritans were like the Sadducees in that
they only believed the first five books of the Bible were Holy Scripture. They did not read the rest of what we call
the “Old Testament”, meaning they did not read the prophetic, poetic, and
historical books.
You will catch a glimpse of this
in the episode.
Sychar
Season One ended with Jesus and His disciples
being in Samaria, and specifically in the city of Sychar. That’s where Jesus met that woman at the
well. They will be in Sychar for this
entire episode.
Sychar is the New Testament
name of the ancient city of Shechem.
Shechem was the main city of the race of Samaritans
with Mount Gerizim looming over it.
The city of Shechem was ancient, dating back to the time of Jacob, who dug a well there.
Because of their hatred for Samaritans, the Jews destroyed
Shechem in 128 BC during the Maccabean revolt.
It would be rebuilt and known as Sychar in the New Testament.
Today, it is the Palestinian city of Nablus.
If you are able to visit
Israel, you probably won’t be allowed to visit Nablus, but you can visit Mount
Gerizim and there’s a lookout point from where you can see the ancient city, including
Jacob’s well.
Lastly, a section we refer to as…
Characters
Here’s a quick review of who the
disciples are up to this point:
Mary Magdalene was a woman who met Jesus in a
tavern, and Jesus cast out seven demons from her.
Simon Peter was a fisherman before he met Jesus.
Andrew is Simon’s brother who met Jesus while
following John the Baptist.
Big James and John are brothers. They too were fishermen like Simon. Along with Simon, they will be considered
part of Jesus’ inner circle.
Thaddaeus and “little James” have been following
Jesus since the beginning of the series.
Matthew is the most recent disciple to follow
Jesus. As a tax collector, he is not
liked by the other disciples, especially Simon Peter. Being a man of numbers, he is also just a
little bit of an odd duck.
Mary is the mother of Jesus.
Thomas and Ramah have been working together as
sort of caterers. Jesus saved their
reputation and jobs when He turned water into wine in Cana. They are on their way to join Jesus and the
disciples.
They are initially accompanied by Ramah’s father Kafni.
Season One ended with Jesus meeting a woman of
Samaria.
Her name is Photina, and she is very excited about
having met the Messiah. She is telling everyone in her city about
Jesus.
She is living with a man named Neriah.
To find out more about the Chosen…
Open your browser and go to “thechosen.tv” on the web, or
download the free
app for your mobile device. Some smart TVs and
streaming devices now have a free “Angel Studios” app. You’ll be able to watch the episodes over and over from there.
We also encourage you to give your financial
support to this project. We do.
We’d like to also encourage you to think about
hosting a “watch” party when you watch.
Even if you’ve already seen each episode, we are
finding it’s so much more fun and edifying to watch with others.
At the end of the episode, if you are watching the
live broadcast, just hang tight because we will follow up each episode with a live discussion in our
office, unpacking and exploring some of the themes and ideas that came up in
the episode. If you are watching after the premiere
night, we will keep our discussion up on YouTube.
We’ll start our discussion as the
credits are rolling.
If you have any questions or comments you’d like
to share during our post-episode discussion, just text the church office at
714-879-3314
We will do our best to address as
many of the comments as we can.
As per our agreement with The Chosen, our YouTube
presentation of the episode itself will only be up for the live premiere. After
that, if you want to rewatch the episode itself, you will need to go to the
Chosen website or use their app.
Now hold on tight, because here we go …
Post Episode Discussion Ideas
Discuss the competition among the
disciples over who is the greatest.
Do you recall moments when the
disciples are jostling for the position of being “in charge”, or making the
decisions for the group?
Grace –
Jesus challenges James and John
over their hatred of Samaritans. We see
it come to a head when they want to call down fire on the Samaritans.
Why are we so quick to accept
God’s grace towards us, but so slow to show grace towards those we don’t like?
The beginning of the Gospel of
John and the book of Genesis.
Why does Jesus tell John (in the
Samaritan synagogue) that the beginning of the book of Genesis was a
particularly fond memory of His?
Jesus often asks us to do things
that we don’t understand.
He asks James and John to plow and
plant a field.
He asks the other disciples to buy
and prepare for a dinner.
Have you ever experienced
something like this, where Jesus prompted you to do something that you didn’t
understand until later?
When Jesus is meeting with the
lame Samaritan man Melech and his family …
Melech’s wife asks if Jesus is
going to fix all their problems.
How does Jesus respond?
Jesus says He is there to preach
the kingdom, not necessarily to end pain and suffering now. All problems won’t be fixed until the kingdom
comes.
Melech was humbled by the grace
that Jesus showed him and his family.
What does Jesus ask Melech to do?
(go to synagogue, read/listen to Torah, learn to obey God)
Did Melech do what Jesus asked?
(yes, he showed up at synagogue the next day)
When Jesus and the disciples spend
the night at Photina and Neriah’s house, Neriah warns that one of the rooms was
haunted by a ghost. Jesus jumped at the
chance to spend the night in that room.
In the morning, James and John ask
Jesus why He didn’t correct Neriah about ghosts, Jesus said,
“I don’t address everything with
new converts”
Do we sometimes expect too much
from new converts? Do we ever feel like
we need to correct everything wrong about them all at once?
Episode One Notes – “Thunder”
Opening Sequence
First ten minutes take place a few years after the resurrection.
John is
interviewing other disciples to gather material for his gospel.
Peter recalls meeting Jesus – out fishing
Thomas – recalls wedding at Cana
Nathanael – Philip said “come and see”
Andrew – recalls John the Baptizer saying he was the one
Thaddaeus and little James
Mary Magdalene – recalls the tavern
Matthew – being very precise on the time and date
Mary – I can hardly remember a time I didn’t know Him
John calls Mary “mother”
(John 19:26–27
NKJV) —26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved
standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that
hour that disciple took her to his own home.
Takes place during “Shiva”
“Seven” is the meaning of the word.
This is a seven day mourning period for
first-degree relatives
From the discussion, it would seem this is the mourning period over John’s
older brother James, who was killed by Herod.
(Acts 12:1–4 NKJV)
—1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to
harass some from the church. 2 Then he killed James the brother of
John with the sword. 3 And because he saw that it pleased
the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during
the Days of Unleavened Bread. 4 So when he had arrested him, he put him
in prison, and delivered him to four squads of
soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.
John was in the “inmost” circle
Mary suggests the “disclaimer”
(John 20:30–31
NKJV) —30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His
disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these
are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and
that believing you may have life in His name.
You are hearing John talking about writing his gospel. Telling stories that others didn’t.
Thunder – Mary remembers what Jesus called James and John (“Sons of
Thunder”)
(Mark 3:17 NKJV) —17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to
whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”;
“Thunder”
11:00
James and John plowing a field
They are in Samaria
Q. Do you ever wonder why Jesus seems to be asking you to do something that
doesn’t make sense?
They really don’t know why Jesus has asked them to plow and plant a field.
Their hatred for the Samaritans
(Last season ended with Jesus meeting a woman in Samaria. Jesus and the disciples are still in Samaria)
Thomas and Ramah are going to
Samaria to meet with Jesus and disciples
They are accompanied by Ramah’s father Kafni
The disciples are in Sychar, Jesus has been teaching the Samaritans
Mary Magdalene, Simon, Andrew, Matthew, James, Thaddeus
The disciples are all trophies of grace.
Each of them has a story of how Jesus has been loving and gracious to
them.
Matthew is the most recent disciple to follow Jesus. As a tax collector, he is not liked by the
other disciples, especially Simon Peter.
Being a man of numbers, he is also just a little bit of an odd duck.
The disciples have lost Jesus. They find Jesus repairing a broken cart
Photina – the woman Jesus met at the well (16:40). You will see her telling everyone she meets
about Jesus.
Thomas, Ramah, and her father Kafni show up in
Sychar
It might be good to remind people of the wedding at Cana. Jesus saved the reputation of them by turning
water into wine.
They find Jesus teaching people. Jesus is talking about shepherds and lost
sheep.
(Luke 15:4–7 NKJV) —4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them,
does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is
lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he
lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he
comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them,
‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over
one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no
repentance.
Photina’s “husband” (20:45) Neriah
In the evening, a lame man is walking, sees the plowed field.
Jesus talks with Kafni, will talk in the morning
Morning – the disciples are wondering about where they are going. James and
John give assignments to buy food. Photina (Samaritan woman) follows them,
talking about Jesus.
(Note: You
see some of the competition developing among the disciples as to who is the
greater disciple)
Jesus talks with Kafni. Jesus is super gracious.
Jesus: “I
ask a lot of those who follow me. I ask
little of those who do not”
A father says goodbye to his daughter.
(Jesus is aware of the price that unbelievers feel when we follow Jesu)
Jesus takes the disciples to the plowed field.
They meet Melech,
lame, Samaritan.
James and John planted a field for a Samaritan.
They have dinner together. Talk at
night about stories of Jesus.
They talk about Messiah. Jesus says
He is there to preach the kingdom, not necessarily to end pain and suffering
now.
(Does Jesus promise to fix all our problems now?) (Melech is a great
picture of grace)
Melech is lame from falling off a horse (he maybe stole).
He tells his story of attacking a man on the road from Jericho (Good
Samaritan)
The Good Samaritan – Luke 10
“Why me?” The shepherd leaves the 99.
Jesus tells him to go to synagogue, read Torah, obey
They spend the night in Photina’s house (with her non-husband)
Melech wakes up in the morning healed.
Jesus knows it’s happened. He’s been
with James and John.
When asked about why He didn’t correct Neriah about “ghosts”, Jesus said, “I
don’t address everything with new converts”
Morning wake up prayer with Jesus, James, John
Disciples eating breakfast
They argue over who is leading the group?
James and John find Jesus.
They are attacked by Samaritans.
James and John want fire from heaven
Jesus has to teach them why they were there
He’s pretty stern with them.
Sons of Thunder
(Mark 3:17 NKJV) —17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to
whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”;
(Luke 9:51–56 NKJV) —51 Now it came
to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly
set His face to go to Jerusalem, 52 and sent
messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the
Samaritans, to prepare for Him. 53 But they did
not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. 54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said,
“Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume
them, just as Elijah did?” 55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what
manner of spirit you are of. 56 For the Son
of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they
went to another village.
The Samaritan priest meets them, invites Jesus to read in the synagogue
The five books of Moses only (no more)
John invited to help pick a scroll
Jesus says “I am who I am”
John is the gospel writer that wove “I am” into the gospel, connecting
Jesus with Yahweh.
John says he loves the beginning.
Jesus reads Genesis 1
You see older John writing his first chapter in parallel with Genesis 1
Melech shows up to synagogue
You see John making big steps in his walk with Jesus and understanding of
Jesus.