The Shepherd - A story of the first Christmas
WRITTEN BY:
Brigid Conroy
READ TIME:
3 mins
The Chosen - YouTube series review
I’m a little late to catch on to all the hype around The Chosen series. Season 2 is well underway, and at the time of writing this, I’ve only just finished episode four of Season 1. I’m officially hooked. Despite all the recommendations I was uninterested at first, with an “I’ve seen it all before” attitude, but finally I decided that if they were bothering with a second season there might just be some substance to this new take on the life of Jesus.
So where did The Chosen all begin? At Christmas. In 2019, director Dallas Jenkins was originally just wanting to film a Christmas movie for his local church community. However, he then became convicted by the thought that perhaps a wider audience could benefit not only from what he was creating, but from a much larger multi-episode series on the life of Jesus. So Jenkins started a crowdfunding project that quickly raised over USD$10 million to get the first season off the ground.
What was the pilot episode that helped attract that level of funding? The Shepherd - A story of the first Christmas. This 30-minute episode walks through the eve of the birth of Christ through the eyes of a young shepherd. This first episode is a fresh reminder that our Lord came to save the least, the last and the lost; that it was some rogue shepherds on the outskirts of Bethlehem who were the first to hear the good news of the birth of the messiah.
To speak both about this episode and more broadly about The Chosen, this isn’t your average cheesy Christian film with bad acting to boot. This isn’t a Mel Gibson The Passion of the Christ remake either. The way in which The Chosen gives flesh to the life of not only our Lord but the friends and characters closest to him is inviting and remarkably relatable. For instance, in the main series, Peter is portrayed as an ordinary man - a husband, a brother and a bit of a hothead - who is struggling to pay his taxes and who always seems to find himself in trouble. The last person one might think would be chosen to lead the apostles.
This series gives one the ability to “binge-watch Jesus” as Jenkins would say and go more deeply into the life of our Lord. Jenkins employs a clever amount of artistic license into imagining who these characters were while still remaining faithful to the Gospels, enabling viewers to enter into the scene - which is what we are asked to do when reflecting on scripture ourselves. “If you wish to get close to Our Lord through the pages of the Gospels, I always recommend that you try to enter in on the scene taking part as just one more person there. In this way (and I know many perfectly ordinary people who live this way) you will be captivated like Mary was, who hung on every word that Jesus uttered or, like Martha, you will boldly make your worries known to him, opening your heart sincerely about them all no matter how little they may be” - St Josemaria Escriva, Friends of God.
Whether you are an ardent fan or have never even heard of The Chosen I recommend starting with The Shepherd episode, where it all began. The whole series is available to view for free on YouTube, or by downloading The Chosen app. Like the Gospel message itself, this series is suitable for all ages and stages. Highly recommended.
The creators of The Chosen have just announced that they will be releasing a 2021 Christmas edition, which will be first released in US cinemas. No word on when it will be available online yet. You can watch the trailer below.
