(CP) “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 alternative to make, Judas,” Jesus says in the scene wherein Judas challenges Jesus to “reclaim” his “birthright.” “Who [do] you belong to? Who has your heart? I need it, and I’ve had it before. You followed me willingly.”
“I need to proceed,” Judas replies. “There’s nothing more that I need than that.”
Jesus takes an emotional Judas’ hand, telling him, “Then I’ll 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 bought them going again.”
“It’s over the difficulty of, ‘Did Jesus pray for people? Did Jesus pray specifically for Judas? Did Jesus want Judas to vary His mind? Did Judas have free will? Was Judas ever saved?’ — all the everyday Judas questions began to come back up,” Jenkins said.
“There’s a measurable amount of people that consider that we got it fallacious,” Jenkins added, “that I got it fallacious.”
The director, the son of Left Behind creator Jerry B. Jenkins, said some criticism was fair and “value considering,” particularly the query: “Would Jesus have prayed for Judas to vary 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 since it’s a sensitive topic,” said Jenkins.
“Whether it’s Jesus and Judas or whether it’s everlasting salvation or not, these are essential issues, and that is why I’m actually glad sometimes when this happens.”
Jenkins said most of these controversies provide a “great opportunity and an awesome reason to have the conversation, to speak about these sorts of things.”
Jenkins dismissed unfair criticism that misrepresents the show, clarifying he was talking to those genuinely looking for understanding or needing answers for critics of “The Chosen.”
“I’m talking to you, the one that is either genuinely looking for or genuinely trying to know, or possibly is not as acquainted with a few of these topics or issues, or also has a friend who got here to you and said, ‘Why do you watch this heretical show’ and [it would] be good so that you can have a solution,” he explained.
Jenkins said that two teams of conservative Bible scholars look over the script before it’s utilized.
“No, we should not implying that Jesus goes to wish that Judas will change his mind,” he said. “Yes, Judas’ betrayal is an element of the Father’s will. It is an element of this crucifixion and, ultimately, salvation story. So Jesus didn’t say within the scene, ‘I’ll pray for you, Judas, that you’re going to change your mind from whatever you are about to do.'”
Second, the director said Jesus “has known for some time that Judas would betray Him,” stressing that “we should not implying that at this point within the story [that] Jesus wasn’t sure what was going to occur [or] hoped things would not occur bad. Jesus knew.”
“So no, I’m not saying that Jesus didn’t know or that Jesus hoped things would change,” Jenkins emphasized, adding that he believes “Jesus and the Father share the identical will and that their wills are inextricably united.”
The director addressed the scene where Jesus tells Judas, “Who has your heart? I need it, and I’ve had it before.” Jenkins said this “shouldn’t be referring to salvation” and shared that he doesn’t “consider you may just gain and lose your salvation at your personal will.”
“How we’re interpreting it’s, after all, is that Judas did consider in Jesus and now won’t, after which, ultimately, may not. We do not know,” Jenkins said.
“Those of an Arminian theological bent might argue that Judas was a believer who gave up his belief, while Calvinists might argue Judas was never truly saved,” he said, quoting Dr. Huffman, a New Testament scholar who consults on “The Chosen.”
“To me, it matters little because if Jesus could pray for unbelievers while they were crucifying Him, plainly Jesus could pray for Judas even while Judas was planning to betray Him.”
“The simplest explanation of the scene and of Jesus’ phrase,” Jenkins contended, is known by reading His words in Matthew 5:44: “Pray in your enemies and those that persecute you.”
“[Jesus] is talking about praying in your enemies. Praying for individuals who curse you. Praying for individuals who do evil. Jesus didn’t say, ‘But I won’t because I occur to be a member of the Trinity and needn’t pray,” he said.
“There are some ways to wish for somebody, many reasons to achieve this. Compassion is an enormous one. Jesus could have had, absolutely, will need to have had, compassion for Judas. … [Jesus] had compassion for individuals who rejected Him. He had compassion and sorrow for Jerusalem.”
“Jesus didn’t say on this scene, ‘I’ll pray for you, Judas, that you’re going to change your mind.’ He said, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ which may mean any variety of things, and there are numerous reasons to wish for somebody,” Jenkins clarified.
Jenkins believes that Jesus’ will and the Father’s will are “inextricably linked, but pointed to Jesus’ prayer within the Garden of Gethsemane where He was “asking for a possible change from the plan.”
“In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus actually said, ‘Not My will, but Yours be done,” Jenkins said. “Not mine, but yours, because in that moment, He was actually, in truth, saying, ‘Could You take this cup from me?'”
“Now, scholars have debated what exactly which means, and eventually you will see that scene portrayed, nevertheless it’s absolutely unarguable that he said, ‘I need your will to be done, not mine,'”
Jenkins said, “That appears to be the almost certainly scenario for a comment like that. Of course, there’s individuals who disagree, and that is wonderful. … I do not claim that I even have the monopoly on each theological debate. … It’s not unimaginable for Jesus to wish for Judas’ heart while still saying to the Father, ‘Not my will, but yours be done.'”
Though the show never portrays Jesus actually praying for Judas, Jenkins said, “I’m not saying that is exactly what Jesus would have prayed for Judas, but I’m just saying it is not unimaginable that He would have.”
When Jesus tells Judas, “I even have had your heart, and I need it now,'” He is “not necessarily referring to salvation,” Jenkins continued. “Of course, He wants everyone’s heart. He wants salvation, however the crucifixion hasn’t even happened yet. … The true act of salvation has not actually occurred just yet.”
“We’re referring to the indisputable fact that Judas absolutely was a follower of Jesus and absolutely, most assuredly, believed in Him,” Jenkins said. “He had authority to forged out demons and preach in His name.”
Now, as to “whether or not he had salvation after which lost it,” Jenkins said, “that is a debate for the Calvinists and the Armenians to have, but we’re referring to his belief.”
Jenkins stressed that he and the show’s writers “consider that Judas was originally a follower of Jesus and did consider that He was the Messiah and did consider in His miracles and whatever that meant for his salvation.”
“I do consider that [Judas] did consider after which didn’t — and that by that point, by that time limit, he didn’t have a alternative. It was a part of God’s will, especially once the spiritual, dark fears, spiritual forces entered into him, because the Bible says,” Jenkins said.
“I do consider that Jesus can pray for people,” Jenkins added. “I do consider that Jesus can pray for His enemies. I do consider Jesus can pray for Judas.”
John 17 references “certainly one of Jesus’ big prayers [where] He talks about how in that moment He was praying for individuals who God gave Him, but not the one, the son of perdition, not His betrayer,” Jenkins said.
“So in that moment, He was not praying for Judas,” said Jenkins. “But that is to not say that He never was. But [Jesus] absolutely, throughout his ministry, prayed for all of His apostles, a lot of His enemies and Judas.”
While acknowledging the sensitivity of the difficulty, Jenkins said he welcomed the controversy as a chance for conversation and biblical reflection.
“It’s good to have these sorts of conversations. We just ask and pray that we’ll proceed to do it respectfully and that we can be accurate in what we’re assuming about others,” he said.
