I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the first two seasons of The Chosen. Now don’t go getting riled up about accuracy or anything of the like. It is about the most wholesome show out there that depicts Jesus in a relatable way. He laughs, He cries, He gets tired, He gets excited… He’s God, but He’s a man. Sometimes it takes a visual showing for books to come alive in a new way. When I read through the New Testament now, I can picture actual people and can hear their voices coming off the page.
While I have really enjoyed the show for the first two seasons, so much so that we went to the theaters for the third season opening episodes, I am so thankful that I don’t base my faith on a show. When people came to Jesus for healing, they were healed! There’s no recorded account of Jesus not healing someone who came to Him for healing. Shame on The Chosen for getting that big one wrong. Do I still intend to watch the show? Yes. Do I sport a hoodie from their online store? Yes. Will I have to do damage control with my kiddos after each show? Maybe.
For those who have not seen episode two of season three in The Chosen series, this might be a spoiler for you. The gist is that one of Jesus’ disciples is wanting to be healed and Jesus tells him no. There’s a bit more dialogue, but that’s the short of it. Jesus tells one of His own followers no. I can understand the creative and artistic elements that go into making a show like this, but when Jesus speaks about something like healing, we should all stick to what the Word of God says about it. But many churches out there don’t believe healing is for everyone – it depends on if it’s God’s will. The percentage of time that it’s God’s will to heal is 100%. Prove me wrong.
I can’t really place too much blame on the writers and creators of The Chosen. This is a quote from Dallas Jenkins: We take Bible stories, we work our way backwards to add the context, to add backstory: some of it’s historical, some of it’s cultural, some of it’s artistical imagination. All of it’s intended to support the character and intentions of the Gospels. Dallas has never claimed that The Chosen was a verse-by-verse reenactment of Jesus’ life. But as far as portraying God’s true nature, they struck out with episode two of season three. I am a bit less excited about watching the newer episodes because of that one scene. It reminded me all-to-well of what is taught in most religions.
Not going into it with bashing different platforms, churches, or religious institutions. I love my church! But my church also takes a firm biblical stance on healing and grace. My pastor doesn’t stand in front of the congregation and tell them that God sometimes gives us sickness and disease to teach us. Can God use those times to teach us when and if they come? Yes, absolutely! But He doesn’t give us those things. Prove me wrong.
Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; who pardons all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases… Psalm 103:1-3 NASB
The word diseases in this passage is from the Hebrew word tachalu (8463) with a primitive root of chala (2456). A few of the definitions and some comparatives are to be diseased, to grieve, to make sick, and be wounded. It also has a meaning of beseech, as in to pray. That makes sense. One of my favorite authors, Lisa Bevere, once said that …Most Christians don’t pray scary prayers, they pray scared prayers. When I’m scared about anything, you’ll most certainly find me praying. But I’m looking at starting to pray scary prayers instead of scared prayers.
My post last week, Bread and Butter, was a spur of the moment post. I spent a couple hours writing it out, crying it out, and writing some more. My husband, bless him, suggested turning on my worship playlist and it was a good thing he did. I was fighting. I was beseeching. And by the end of the day, I felt a determination to dine on whatever giants might come my way. Praying scary prayers because I have expectations based on God’s promises.
Giants can come at us in the form of the obvious: sickness and disease. A giant can also simply be hard times (caused by our own stupidity or something the devil throws our way). While so many churches, pulpits, and other platforms teach that it can be God giving us those things to teach us or draw us closer, I call foul. Read the Bible! Are you living under the Old Covenant or the New Covenant? There is a BIG difference between the two.
I used to struggle with the way God acted towards His creation in the Old Covenant because God does not change (Malachi 3:6, James 1:17). And guess what? He didn’t change. His Word is true. Why don’t we see God smiting sinners? Some believe He does by way of hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, fires; all the way down to cancers and COVID. If God strikes someone with sickness or disease, He would no longer be a just God. Prove me wrong.
I’m going to make a bit of a statement: Just because you have not experienced God healing you or someone you love, it does not mean God’s Word is not true. While I believe God’s Word to be true, that doesn’t mean I’m walking it out perfectly. Just this last week, our entire household experienced the grossness of a 24 hour stomach bug. I am not yet walking this out fully, but I will not slander God and say that He’s a liar.
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5 NIV
He was pierced and crushed for our transgressions and iniquities. Those are all sins – things we’ve done accidentally and things we’ve done on purpose. Our punishment that we deserve, He took upon Himself. He paid the bill when it came due because we would never be able to afford it. Because of it, we don’t have to worry – we can have peace because nothing is separating us from the love of God! We can have peace that God is not angry or mad at us. We have peace with God! And all of the wounds – through the entire time that he was flogged (beaten with rods) and each time the whip slashed through his skin and tore into His flesh – all of it culminated in Jesus barely looking like a person (Isaiah 52:14). All so that we would be healed.
We are healed by his wounds. It’s not a conditional statement depending on whether it’s God’s will or not, from one person to the next, any more than eternal salvation. It’s the same invitation and comes through the same sacrifice. Sickness and disease are also not things He would give us after His one and only Son bore on the cross in our place. It cost Him so dearly, but we seem to think that our bill wasn’t paid in full.
“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” I Peter 2:24 NIV
That word healed is iaomai (Greek word #2390) and means to restore bodily health in addition to saving from the consequences of sin. I don’t know about you, but I can think of quite a few consequences of sin that manifest in ways that would be considered a sickness, disease or disability. God’s Word is true even if we don’t feel the truth of it in our physical body. If we can trust God for our eternal salvation, something we can’t see, why then do we tend to negate one of the top benefits of being a child of God that we can experience with our earthly senses?
I don’t want to give up just because I don’t see or feel results that have been promised to me in God’s Word. Religions, churches and pastors, and any number of social platforms can (and will) mess up. That doesn’t make God’s Word less true. The distance He went so that we could have relationship with Him was no small feat. His ways – even His love for us – surpasses our understanding. But His Word is true. Prove me wrong.