The Chosen and Peter the Rock Recap

Way back in December of last year I wrote an article about 'The Chosen' TV show's Season 4, Episode 2 long before I saw it and before it became available on streaming services. The article was sort of a prediction that the Chosen will have a hard time pleasing everyone when it comes to how they portray Jesus installing Peter as the first pope. In the Mt 16:13-20 scene which took place in front of a pagan temple at Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?”. Peter gets the answer right and he becomes the 'Rock of the Church' and the 'Keeper of the Keys' of heaven and earth. Last week I saw it as it came out for those of us who were waiting to see it for free and I have to say, I was right they had a hard time with it.

Back then, I asked, “How will the Chosen portray this scene with heavy ecclesial and theological implications? Will they follow the Scripture which is clearly a re-naming of Simon to Peter (petros which is Greek for rock and later, Cephas which means large foundation stone) and an installment of Peter’s governing office, keys and all? Or will they build in dialogue to suggest that the rock on which the Church is built is something or someone other than Peter? If they do, they run the risk of alienating informed Catholics". 

Well it turns out that they tried to please everyone and I have to tell you from this Catholic’s point of view, it was super disappointing. I would imagine that Bible-Christians who are still holding on to ‘Sola Scriptura’ (the Bible alone is the only authority) were also miffed when they heard a few of the one liners that (I guess) were inserted later in the episode to appease the Catholic audience.

There were two things that I noticed during the Caesarea Philippi scene: How the words lined up (or not) with Scripture and how the posture and movements of Jesus as well as his voice inflection and volume were used to favor a really awkward and illogical interpretation of the clear theological meaning.

Let’s just say if a person read Matthew 16:13-20 and imagined the scene in his mind it would never have matched or even come close to what the Chosen portrayed.

So let’s start with a compare and contrast of the words and we’ll get to the posture and voice stuff after...

Matthew 16:13-20 (NAB)

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah.

Now let's look at the Chosen's version of this scriptural scene...

The Chosen Script (Season 4, Ep.2)

Jesus: Who do people say the Son of Man is?

Various Apostles: Some say you are Elijah the one who preaches repentance. Others say Jeremiah because he was rejected by the leaders of his time and still others say one of the prophets, those that spoke on God’s behalf.

Peter: Ok, what are we gonna have to do? Cast lots? Nathaniel, this is your moment. Be yourself. 

Nathaniel: Some say John, the Baptizer which obviously isn’t true.

Jesus: Ok. Well that’s everyone else. But who do you say that I am?

Peter: You…you are the Christ. The Son of the living God.These carved statues of Baal and Pan and other idols that we passed, they’re dead and decaying, but we worship a living God and you, you are his Son.

Jesus: Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. All your life you’ve been called Simon, one who hears. But today, I call you Peter! Rock! It is on this rock that I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. This is a place of death and I brought you here to tell you death has no power to hold my redeemed people captive. Because I live, you also will live. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. You have the authority to declare the truth to others that I am declaring to you.that the repentant have a place in the Kingdom of Heaven. You have confessed that I am the Christ and you will influence many others to make the same confession in time. But I will explain more later. For now you just all keep this quiet.

You can see that there was quite a bit of verbiage added. Like they so often do, the Chosen writers fill in the gaps to provide context and commentary.

Because this is so critical to the issue of authority, many Catholics are Catholic because of this section in chapter 16 of Matthew. In this reading, we see Peter as the one, undisputed leader who alone has the supreme authority to bind and to loose as both 'the Rock' and the 'Keeper of the Keys'. In the Reformation, the Protestants protested against the pope (successor of Peter) and bishops as the human authority of the Church. Instead, Luther and his successors opted to reject that human authority and replace it with the Bible alone.

What’s interesting is that the Chosen script acknowledges their human authority. Jesus speaking to all the apostles and others present, “You have the authority to declare the truth to others that I am declaring to you that the repentant have a place in the Kingdom of Heaven.” This seems to suggest that it is true that these twelve men have teaching authority. But in these lines, Jesus seems to limit the scope of their teaching authority from ‘whatever you bind and loose ‘ to the topic of soteriology ( who can be saved based on repentance). 

Now, moving on to posture and voice inflection and volume. When Jesus begins by changing Peter’s name he stares into his eyes with his hand on his shoulder. It is clearly a one on one moment with the others looking on. Then just before Jesus says, ‘And upon this rock I will build my church” he steps back a few feet and the camera captures the backdrop of the pagan temple built into the cliff behind him. His head swivels back and forth as if he is speaking to everyone again. The implication is when he says 'on this Rock' he is speaking to all about their current location because as Jesus goes on to say,  “This is a place of death and I brought you here to tell you death has no power to hold my redeemed people captive. Because I live, you also will live”, the temple in the background is prominent.  

So which is it? Is Peter the rock on which he will build the church or is it the rocky location he is referring to? Is he merely suggesting that the church will supplant pagan religion or is he saying Peter is the Rock on which he will build his church which will supplant pagan religions?

Jesus then raises his voice to project it out to all who are present. To Peter, yes, but also to the other Apostles, the women with them and the pagan people who are bystanders, he proclaims to all far and wide, “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” The problem is that the word 'you' here is the singular not plural version. Jesus didn't hand out keys to everyone present, just Peter, the rock.

It was a really strange, awkward and cringy way of avoiding Catholic theology which is found in the plain meaning of the text. For a second, it made me laugh out loud. C-mon, really?

He said he would build his  ‘church’ which is singular, not the plural ‘churches’ so how can all these people be the ‘keepers of the keys’? Just how many keys are there?

Later, in the episode (yes, I kept watching) the apostles keep making the mistake of calling Peter Simon. They have a hard time adjusting to his new name but also that they were not chosen by Jesus to be the rock. There is a comment about how Jesus didn’t really mean to establish a hierarchy. The question of what the word rock means comes up again. One of the apostles makes the case that it could mean that since it is a foundation stone it won’t be seen by all. Another says that the word rock referred to both Peter and Jesus. They argue around a campfire which I think is supposed to symbolize the current divisions between Catholics and Protestants.

I knew this scene and episode in the Chosen would be contentious and awkward. I called it! I said, “I’m looking forward to seeing how this ecumenical tightrope act will play out in the upcoming season”. 

In my opinion the tightrope act ended in a mess. The 'please everyone' approach may have ended up pleasing only the fans who are not aware of the history of Christianity.  But I suppose even they are starting to wonder if authority in the church is supposed to be confusing by design.

Note: Even though I was annoyed, I am still a fan of the show. There have been enough nods to Catholic theology to appease me. The fact is the people who write the show are not Catholic... so ya it's not going to be 100% aligned to Catholicism. That scripture was twisted to avoid being too Catholic was not a deal breaker for me because I wasn't suprised. When I think of the Chosen in terms of a cost-benefit analysis, as a show that introduces Jesus to many non-Christians and nominal Christians and as a show that gives the Apostles a much needed human backstory and character development I think the Chosen has done alot more good than bad.