Sarah Cy
Aug 12, 2021
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16 min read
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Simon’s been waiting for this momentTHE CHOSEN S1E8 In-Depth Summary & Review: There’s BIG TROUBLE On the Horizon…
The Chosen, Season 1, Ep 8: “I Am He*”
In this final episode of the Chosen, Season 1, Jesus deliberately insults everyone (including some of his own disciples) by choosing to associate with those deemed unworthy of social notice. And the results are explosive.
MAJOR SPOILER ALERT: Read this article AFTER you’ve seen the show to avoid spoilers. You can watch the show for free at https://watch.angelstudios.com/thechosen
Index
You can find and read the other In-Depth Summaries & Reviews here:
Index of THE CHOSEN In-Depth Summaries & Reviews
“Come And See!”
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What’s Happened So Far
In the last episode, Jesus called two men, the Pharisee Nicodemus, and the tax collector Matthew.
Nicodemus had requested a personal interview with Jesus after witnessing the healing of the paralytic, but when called by Jesus, was torn between following Jesus and staying in his familiar role as rabbi.
Matthew, on the other hand, was so distracted by all the miracles he saw Jesus perform that he even went to see his estranged mother to talk about it.
While that was not exactly a fruitful encounter, Matthew jumped at the chance to follow Jesus when He personally called him, despite the protests of bodyguard Gaius and Simon the fisherman.
And now we’re ready for episode 8~the last one in the first season :)
Episode Summary
The story opens in Canaan, 1952 BC, with Jacob and his sons digging a well on a hilltop. A stranger named Yassib comes up to chat:
-“Shalom, my friend!” -”I do not know what that means.”Yassib tells Jacob that he was a fool to buy that land because the water flows around the mountain, rather than up it. And no water means no way to grow crops.
“Our God takes care of us,” Jacob says.
“This is Canaan. The gods are not nice here,” Yassib tells him.
As they chat, Yassib finds that Jacob has a God who “is invisible, whose promises take generations to come true, who makes you sojourn in strange places, and He broke your hip?”
“That is a strange choice,” Yassib says.
“We didn’t choose him,” Jacob starts to answer, but he’s interrupted by one of his sons yelling: “Father!”
Jacob goes over and sees that the hole his boys have dug is filling with water.
Who was it that said the water did not go uphill?Jacob bends to touch the water, then stands up to face Yassib again: “He chose us.”
The scene switches to the same location, many many years later in AD 26. A woman is drawing water from a well.
She is alone in the middle of the day. As we watch, she pours the water into her jars, then begins the tiring trek back to her village.
Great shot, here…And it’s fish song time!
Whenever I see this circle of fish, I feel as if I’m looking down on the pattern from above…the blue fish are swimming slowly up and up, and the gray ones down and downThe woman from the well (Photina) sets down her jars of water and makes her way inside a house.
“You know, when the door opened, I honestly hoped it was a thief or a murderer, come to put me out of my misery,” an older man inside says, without looking to see Photina come in.
Rather Eeyore-ish guy, but who can blame him?“Sorry to disappoint you, but there’s something I need from you first,” Photina says.
She wants a divorce. The man is her husband Neriah, but she’s been living with her boyfriend and no longer wants to be connected to her husband.
But Neriah refuses: “You’re my property, Photina. And I don’t part lightly with my possessions.”
Neriah burns the certificate of divorceBack in Capernaum, the disciples are enjoying a lavish dinner at Matthew’s house, while Matthew serves them.
Wow! Fancy ~The various underdogs of society — plus Jesus and his disciples — laugh and talk about Mary’s rescue from the demons, and the Pharisee’s consternation when he was unable to do anything about it.
They’re interrupted by Yussif and a Pharisee friend, out on an evening stroll.
“We were just on a walk and we heard voices. And I thought it sounded like…but surely not.”They freeze when they see Jesus, and are upset to see him eating with “sinners.”
Good ole’ Simon comes up to defend his beloved master:
-”You know what she…and he…?!” -“You seem to be having troubles finding your words, man.”“It’s not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick,” Jesus tells the Pharisees, but they are unmoved:
“She is from the Red Quarter, much of what is done there cannot even be spoken by my tongue…it is so unholy. The mere mention of it would defile me!”
“Sounds like a personal problem,” Simon says drily.
Jesus reminds them of the words of the prophet Hosea:
“I desire mercy more than sacrifice.”
— Hosea 6:6
And
“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
— Mark 2:17
“Is everything under control here?” a new voice interrupts. It’s Gaius. The Pharisees scurry away, and Matthew tells the others to keep eating, he will talk to the man.
-“We were just going on our way, Centurion” -“That’s Primi Ordine*, to you.”Gaius takes Matthew aside and tells him he’s made a mistake by following Jesus — Look at all the people inside, they’re losers! All from the bottom of the barrel!
But Matthew is unmoved. “You will do well without me — better, even,” Matthew says to Gaius.
“How? You’re the one who got me promoted,” Gaius huffs.
“You could say thank you,” Matthew says.
“Well, I’m not going to do that,” Gaius retorts.
“If you can’t say it, then there’s something you could do to show it.” Matthew even offers to pay him, but Gaius doesn’t want his money. He asks Matthew what favor he wants him to do.
“What is the favor?”Nicodemus is praying quietly at home when Zohara comes in and asks about the speech he is giving later to the other Pharisees who want to honor him for his service.
The couple chat about their family, and about the story of Hagar*, who gave God the name: “The God Who Sees Me” [Genesis 16:13]
It’s their last day in Capernaum, and Nicodemus is obviously sad about it.
“Nicodemus? I love our life,” Zohara says. “Take me back to it.”
Zohara can sense Nico doesn’t want to leave CapernaumQuintus questions Gaius about crowd control, upset that Herod’s envoy was delayed by the crowd listening to Jesus.
He says Matthew’s advice about showing off his infrastructure plans was effective, until the traffic fiasco.
“I had to endure a very smug lecture. Don’t let that happen again.”
“I see you’re alone. I assume that means you’ve found a replacement to watch our little friend?”When Quintus asks about Matthew, Gaius tells him that Matthew has quit his job to follow Jesus.
“Ooh, I really don’t like that man,” Quintus frowns.
The tension risesBack at camp, Jesus is chatting with the boys as they prepare for their journey. But Simon is troubled.
Jesus asks what the problem is, and Simon admits that he’s concerned about his wife and mother-in-law, who is still sick in bed.
Lovely place for a campsiteWhen Jesus finishes Simon’s sentence, Simon says: “See? That’s what I mean, you already know anyway.”
Jesus smiles: “Simon, everyone here knows what you’re thinking most of the time. It does not take God’s wisdom.”
Jesus the mind reader…or maybe someone’s just a teensy bit too transparent ;)Shmuel confronts Nicodemus after the speech, saying that he’s (Shmuel’s) become passionate about false prophecy, and asking Nico if he will oppose Shmuel if he goes after Jesus of Nazareth for daring to call Himself God.
“The man claimed to be God! And you said nothing!”I won’t oppose you, Nico tells Shmuel. But he adds: “And, Shmuel, you have learned nothing from me.”
Back at Simon’s home, Eden is caring for her sick mother, Dasha.
-“Where is Simon?” -“He’s away, Eema.” -“Fishing?” -“No, something else.”Eden steps into the kitchen to cry, when she’s interrupted by Jesus:
“Jesus? I wasn’t expecting you here,” she says, surprised.
“People usually aren’t,” Jesus replies.
Jesus and Eden talk about Simon and how both see in him what others could not see.
Simon pops in to say he’s going to the market to sell his fishing nets so that his wife and mother-in-law can have some extra money while he’s gone. But Jesus asks him and Andrew to go sit with Dasha.
Andrew immediately complies, but Simon takes a moment before he does the same.
Jesus says to Eden that she is important too, and that she too makes sacrifices as the wife of a disciple.
He says: “I cannot make everything easy for you…but I see you*…and I wouldn’t ask you to do this without taking care of a few things.” Jesus nods wordlessly in the direction of Dasha’s room.
“Plus, normal Simon is difficult enough. You think I want to travel with a worried Simon?…No, no I do not.”Jesus and Eden go to Dasha’s room, where Jesus sits by Dasha’s bedside and puts his hand over hers as he lifts his eyes to pray.
“Leave her!” Jesus says, and Dasha sits up with a gasp.
“Who are you?”Andrew introduces Dasha to Jesus.
Then: “What am I doing lying here?” Dasha says as she climbs out of bed to serve her guest. “No one move! I’ll be right back with some drinks.”
Dasha is all better now!Eden laughs with joy as Dasha yells from the kitchen to Simon: “Does your friend like goat cheese?”
“Yes, I love goat cheese”“Thank you,” Eden says to Simon.
“For what?” Simon replies.
“For obeying and following Him. It led Him here,” Eden replies.
Back in Samaria, Photina is snubbed by a fruit seller.
“We don’t serve your kind here”She helps herself, then marches away, hurt.
Quintus makes a decree that religious gatherings outside the synagogue and Hebrew school are hereby prohibited:
Early versions of social mediaAlso, the teacher known as Jesus of Nazareth is sought for questioning.
Then, we have a montage of the disciples leaving their homes and getting ready for their next journey with Jesus:
Matthew leaving his fancy home for the last time
Andrew tapping the mezuzah before exiting his home
Salome and Zeb hugging Big James and John goodbye
Mary also taps the mezuzah* before leaving
Nico and Zohara are also preparing to leave, but not to follow Jesus
Simon bids goodbye to his wife and mother-in-lawThe disciples gather at the fountain and Jesus asks if everyone is present. Yes, Mary confirms. We’re all here.
But unbeknownst to her, Nicodemus is hiding just a few feet away, watching the disciples and dithering about whether or not to join them.
Nico spying on Jesus and the disciples
Come on, Nico!Simon finds a bag on the ground and opens it to find gold that somebody (*cough* Nico *cough*) has left for them. Matthew calculates it to be enough for two weeks of food and lodging.
Jesus: “A friend of mine left that for us.”“You came so close,” Jesus murmurs, looking in Nicodemus’ direction.
“What do you mean?” Mary asks, but Simon interrupts to say they have to get going to reach Tiberias by nightfall. The disciples take off, leaving an anguished Nicodemus behind, slumped against the wall:
Nico is stuck between a rock and a hard place
So close!Back at Matthew’s parents’ house, Gaius has come to deliver a couple items — the “favor” that Matthew asked.
“What does that mean, ‘follow me?’ Follow Him where?”Gaius says Matthew wanted him to hand over his house key to his folks. Alphaeus says he will not accept the “blood money,” but Gaius gives him the key anyway: “Sell it. Give it away, burn it down, I do not care.”
“The other is just outside,” Gaius adds.
Unexpected gifts come in unlikely packagesCut to a scene of Gaius standing with Alphaeus and Elisheva looking down at the second “gift” Matthew wanted to give his parents:
Oh, HAI THERE!“How does it work?” Alphaeus asks. 😆
Gaius adds one more thing: If Jesus returns, please let him know — the Praetor wants to question him.
“I know some people that were mildly fond of your son.” (Riiiight, Gaius. You know some people. Uh-huh. Sure)On the road, the disciples disagree with Jesus’ sense of direction. He’s heading for Samaria, but they want to go around it, arguing that Samaritans hate Jews and the feeling is mutual.
But of course, Jesus has his reasons, and so they keep on truckin’.
This way, boys!
“Listen, if we’re going to have a question and answer session every time we do something you’re not used to, it’s going to be a very annoying time for all of us.”Jesus and the disciples reach a well (Jacob’s well) and Jesus sends the disciples off to buy food as he goes to wait by the well.
Jesus has a really cool backpack!Not long after, Photina appears with her water jars. Jesus asks her for a drink. [This story is from John 4]
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
Jesus talks to the Samaritan woman at the wellHe told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
“I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain,but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you — I am he.”
— John 4:7–26
When Photina hears Jesus talk to her about her past, the abuse she suffered, the men she married, she drops her water jars in shock.
When he adds that the Messiah she is looking for is speaking to her now, she runs joyfully toward the town, crashing past the disciples who have just returned.
“I’m going to tell everyone!”Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
— John 4:28
We got food, the disciples tell Jesus. What would you like to eat?
I have food you don’t know about, Jesus replies.
Andrew, with his mouth full: “Who got you food?”“Wait a minute. You told her?” Simon interrupts, referring to the woman who had just run past, yelling excitedly about the Messiah.
What food? The other disciples ask Jesus.
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.
— John 4:34
“You told her who you are?” Simon asks again. When Jesus confirms, he asks, “So does that mean…?”
We’ll be staying here a couple of days, Jesus tells the disciples. Let’s go.
“YES!” Simon pumps his fists in excitement and runs to hug Jesus.
Simon’s been waiting for this momentJesus and the disciples walk toward Samaria, as the sun sets in the background and a punchy song (aptly named “Trouble”) plays in the background.
“Trouble” — Iconic shot!
And look at all the lovely people who have paid it forward! (this isn’t even everyone. Just those who passed a certain threshold) Thank you, friends!Background Context
Okay, for our background context, let’s take a look at a few quotes and concepts from this episode:
”I AM”
The episode title is “I Am He,” and in the Bible, “I Am” is the name God uses when speaking with Moses before He sends him off to free the Israelites from Egyptian slavery.
Primi Ordine
Primi Ordine means First Cohort, and they consisted of the best centurians. They were paid better and had more responsibilities, overseeing ten centuries which really should equal 100 men, if we’re going with the Latin root cent = 100, but actually consisted of something like 30–80 men.
Because of Matthew accidentally winning over Quintus, his bodyguard Gaius gets a promotion to this rank.
“The God Who Sees”
Nicodemus, and then Jesus mentions this description of God as the “God who sees” (El Roi). This name was the name Hagar, Abraham’s concubine, gave to God when he appeared to her after she was cast out of the household for having conflicts with Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
It’s a complicated story, but you can learn more about it in Genesis 16.
Mezuzah*
A mezuzah is a decorative case containing a piece of parchment with Hebrew verses written on it.
Observant Jewish families use a mezuzah to remind themselves of God’s presence, and often touch it as they walk in and out of the house.
The practice is based on a verse in Deuteronomy 6 that says:
6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
— Deuteronomy 6:6–9
Thoughts on Storytelling, Writing, and Craft
I love Simon’s one-liners. Actually there are quite a few one-liners that are great!
Like the part where he says: “Sounds like a personal problem,” when the Pharisees show up all indignant over the fact that Jesus is eating with “sinners” and they say that they can’t even speak properly, they are so outraged.
Consider that by sticking up for Jesus in this way, Simon is indirectly sticking up for Matthew, too — after all, Jesus and all the disciples are eating in Matthew’s house, and he is one of the people the Pharisees are protesting.
Ironic, isn’t it? Especially considering that Simon has the same beef with Matthew that the Pharisees do.
I enjoy how The Chosen shows how complex human relationships can be :)
The Law is God?
Shmuel’s words when he confronts Nico were really hard hitting:
“It’s about the Law, and the Law IS God.” Wow. I don’t know about you, but that kind of sounds like blasphemy to me.
And yet how many people continue to hold this view, even today? And I’m talking about people both on the left and the right, liberal and conservative. Sometimes, people break rules, only to set up their own rules and worship those as “God.”
But no matter how sincere they are, when people put the wrong thing in the place of God, bad things happen…
Humor
One of The Chosen’s strongest suits is its use of humor, specifically it’s comfort with allowing JESUS to show a sense of humor.
I love Jesus’ sense of humor in this show. When he talks to Eden about Simon, he says, “Normal Simon is difficult enough. D you think I want to travel with a worried Simon…?”
AhAhahahah.
Later, Jesus healing Simon’s mother in law is particularly amusing considering when Andrew first told Simon about Jesus, Simon was unimpressed “Is he a doctor? No? Then he can’t even help Eden’s mother…” and here we have Jesus helping Eden’s mom. Jesus is better than all the doctors in the world.
Then finally, the whole scene with Gaius and Matthew’s parents and the dog is adorable!
There’s Matthew’s dad, saying of the dog: “How does it work?”
And then there are Gaius’ parting words for Matthew’s parents after delivering his house keys (and the dog): “I know some people who were mildly fond of your son.” (Yeah, sure, Gaius. Riiiight)
About The Chosen
The Chosen is a multi-season “binge-able” TV series based on the life of Christ and his disciples. It’s the biggest crowdfunded project in the history of TV crowdfunding, not just for faith-based projects, but ever.
Pre-show disclaimerIf you are able and would like to contribute, you can “pay it forward” by getting yourself some swag from The Chosen gift shop or via direct donations.
(Note: I am not affiliated with the show or its creators in any way, I’m just a regular ole’ fan impressed by their storytelling skills and interested in studying it to learn more!)
Watch The Chosen for free on their website, or download the (also free) app at: https://watch.angelstudios.com/thechosen
