The Journey Continues: seeing a verse of scripture

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." - Matthew 7:7, ESV

That might be an odd title to this post: "seeing a verse of scripture". But if you know me at all, you know that I am visual - just look at my photography. 

Sometimes when I read, especially if I'm reading a work of fiction, having seen a visual presentation of it first allows me to read the book easier. For example, watching "Of Mice and Men" with Gary Sinise and John Malkovich made reading the book more enjoyable. 

But I have found, over the years and even in these last several months of reading the Gospels of John and Mark, that I still see Jesus as that sterile and lifeless guy depicted in that famous painting of Jesus knocking at the door. 

Then I watched "The Chosen". 

I'll admit I was hesitant, even resistant, to watching "The Chosen". I've avoided the "Left Behind" series, and with very few exceptions any faith-based film. I remember watching "Jesus of Nazareth" in the mid-70's, and the Jesus they cast was a limp, anemic person. It just put me off of any visual depiction of Jesus. After all, Jesus was a carpenter's son, so he was by no means frail or even feminine. 

But "The Chosen" cast a rugged man. Not "rugged" in an American sense, but rugged as a Jewish carpenter who walked a great deal would be. He gets dirty. He sweats. He gets fatigued. And even though Jesus was God incarnate, he was fully human, and subject to the same physical limitations a man of his age and health status would be. And as this Jesus of "The Chosen" speaks, we not only hear the words straight out of the Gospels, but we hear them in a voice that speaks confidently, calmly, and with authority. 

And today, as I read the verse above, for the first time in my life, I heard it as Jesus may have spoken it. Not in a dry pedantic way. But with emphasis and assurance. Notice that this is an active verse: "Ask"; "seek"; "knock". The image of a passive, androgynous Jesus saying this has never worked for me. But the Jesus as portrayed in "The Chosen" is not passive: He is active, and He is engaged. He touches willingly, both the sick and His followers. He speaks not in a monotone "holy" voice, but with dynamics and a cadence that pulls you into the message. 

The Jesus of the Gospels is not passive: He is truly engaged in our lives. He doesn't invade our souls, but if we ask, if we seek, and if we knock, He will engage with us. 

Soli Deo Gloria

If you wish to watch "The Chosen", and wish to watch select episodes, please watch Season 1 episode 7, where Jesus meets with Nicodemus (the 3rd chapter of John). Seasons 1 and 2 are on Amazon Prime, season 3 can be streamed on the Angel app.