While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. - John 17:12 (ESV)
Dallas Jenkins, creator and producer of the wildly heretical "The Chosen," once said that his debacle provided the opportunity to "fill in some gaps." I want you to let that soak in for a moment. Jenkins, who claims to be an Evangelical, thinks that he can fill in gaps within the authoritative word of God penned by the creator of the entire universe. As if God has ANY gaps in HIS word. As if God forgot to include something. What Jenkins and those who marginalize this heresy never factor into their rationale is the bible is not about the ancillary characters. It is about the Son of God and His love, grace and mercy. It is not about Peter, so there is no reason to pretend there is a gap that can be filled in by painting Peter as a drunkard who cheated on his wife. It is not about Mary Magdalene, so there is no need to pretend there is a gap in the story that can be filled in by pretending she was raped by a Roman soldier to try and excuse her sin. John the Baptist told us that he was not even worthy to tie the sandals of Jesus, so we know the bible is not about him. Thus, there was no reason to fill in imaginary gaps by painting John as a creepy dude who confronted Herod because he thought his followers would somehow think it was cool. Every single second we spend focusing on these utter distractions is another second we waste to not tell people about who the bible is actually about - Jesus.
I say this as a background to the latest controversy coming up in the next season of Jenkins experiment in apostasy. I think it is important at this point to recognize that Dallas Jenkins does this on purpose. As a self-described Evangelical, I will assume that Jenkins knows the bible, at least from an academic standpoint. He makes these choices that he knows will result in controversy because he wants the controversy. He knows his true audience are not biblically literate Christians. His true audience are those that believe in the Osteenish caricature of God and are wildly more excited about the possibilities of the supporting cast in the bible and relating to them, than having to deal with a holy God. Keep this in mind as we review the above linked article from the Christian Post. Let us reason once more together.
'"The Chosen" creator Dallas Jenkins has defended the portrayal of an interaction between Jesus and Judas Iscariot as biblically grounded after pastors and Christian critics criticized the scene as "unbiblical." In a livestream video Sunday, the 49-year-old director addressed criticism over a scene from the forthcoming season of "The Chosen," which depicts a conversation between Judas and Jesus. "You have a choice to make, Judas," Jesus says in the scene in which Judas challenges Jesus to "reclaim" his "birthright." "Who [do] you belong to? Who has your heart? I want it, and I've had it before. You followed me willingly." "I want to continue," Judas replies. "There's nothing more that I want than that." Jesus takes an emotional Judas' hand, telling him, "Then I will pray for you. But for now, please leave me in peace." In his video, Jenkins said that after the clip was released, a friend texted him, saying, "Hey, over on [social media], you got them going again."' - Christian Post
The admission that his friends revel in Jenkins "getting them going again" is all you really need to know. By getting even his detractors going draws coverage to his series. This is the strategy that any coverage is good coverage because again, those who are critical, will probably never watch The Chosen anyway. The attention however is free advertising that draws more and more people into his web of deceit. So, what's the big deal here? Jesus was fully God and as such, He already sees all time. As the key verse reminds us, Jesus knew full well that Judas, who Jesus also called a devil, was going to betray Him. The choice, was already made. Who does he belong to? He belongs to Satan. The actual texts of the bible shows that Jesus flat out called him a betrayer. He signaled that whoever dipped their bread with His would be the one that would betray him. There is no ambiguity about this. I want us to grasp this. Dallas Jenkins is going to try and make this about people arguing if Jesus would pray for Judas. He wants this so he can sound reasonable and pretend that The Chosen facilitates needed discussions about important subjects such as this. Except it is not an important discussion because it is not the point. The point beloved, is God did not think it was necessary to include this in His word. Why? Because the point of Judas was not to highlight what or whom Jesus would or would not pray for. The point of Judas, as we see in the key verse, was that he fulfilled scripture. The entire bible is a story of God redeeming His creation by sending His only Son to die for our sins. The Old Testament testifies to this through prophesying about Jesus and the fact that He would be betrayed. Judas is that betrayal. Zechariah specifically prophesied that Jesus would be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver. This conversation that Jenkins pulled out of clear air, portrays Judas in a favorable light. He sounds conflicted. He sounds like he is saying he wants nothing more in the world than to follow Jesus even though he has every intent on betraying Him. Realize that if Jesus broke through and if His prayers were somehow answered, and Judas chose to not betray Him, then He would be making Himself a liar in the prophecies. It unravels the sufficiency and authority of scripture. So yes, it is a pretty big deal.
'"It's over the issue of, 'Did Jesus pray for people? Did Jesus pray specifically for Judas? Did Jesus want Judas to change His mind? Did Judas have free will? Was Judas ever saved?' " all the typical Judas questions started to come up," Jenkins said. "There's a measurable amount of people who believe that we got it wrong," Jenkins added, "that I got it wrong." The director, the son of Left Behind author Jerry B. Jenkins, said some criticism was fair and "worth considering," particularly the question: "Would Jesus have prayed for Judas to change his mind?" "While I'm somewhat surprised that the concept of Jesus saying the words 'I'll pray for you' are controversial, I'm not actually that surprised that something like this comes up because it's a sensitive topic," said Jenkins. "Whether it's Jesus and Judas or whether it's eternal salvation or not, these are important issues, and that's why I'm actually glad sometimes when this happens." Jenkins said these types of controversies provide a "great opportunity and a great reason to have the conversation, to talk about these kinds of things."' - Christian Post
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