BEMA Episode Link: 221: The Chosen S1E2 — “Shabbat”
Episode Length: 54:16
Published Date: Thu, 27 May 2021 01:00:00 -0700
Session 6
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings continue a review of The Chosen with a discussion on the second episode.

(No) Discussion Video for BEMA 221

Eishet Chayil — Aleph Beta

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The Chosen

The Chosen (TV Series) — Wikipedia

The Chosen (2017 TV Series) — IMDb

Transcript for BEMA 221

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

BEMA Episode 221 Study Notes: The Chosen S1E2 - “Shabbat”

Title & Source Summary

Episode: BEMA 221: The Chosen S1E2 - “Shabbat” Hosts: Marty Solomon and Brent Billings Focus: Review and analysis of The Chosen Season 1, Episode 2, focusing on the theological and cultural significance of Shabbat

This episode provides an in-depth review of the second episode of The Chosen television series, which Marty describes as potentially “one of the best episodes of a series that I have ever seen.” The episode explores various Shabbat (Sabbath) experiences across different social and spiritual contexts in first-century Judea, contrasting the heart of authentic Sabbath observance with religious formalism and the brokenness of social outcasts. Through careful analysis of the show’s narrative design, the hosts examine how Shabbat reveals both the beauty of God’s intended rest and the ways religious systems can obscure Kingdom values.

Key Takeaways

  • Shabbat serves as a lens to examine the spiritual health and authenticity of various communities and individuals in first-century Jewish society
  • The Eshet Chayil (Proverbs 31) is not a checklist for wives but a proclamation of valor - an eruption of appreciation and blessing
  • The episode contrasts authentic, heartfelt Shabbat observance (948 BC opening scene) with various corrupted or broken forms (opulent Pharisaic formalism, social exclusion, complete absence)
  • Shrewdness is a biblical virtue that Western Christianity often neglects or misunderstands, as demonstrated through Matthew’s character
  • The Pharisees were not simply hypocrites but deeply devout people trapped by their own religious systems and traditions
  • True Kingdom community welcomes outcasts and mamzerim (social nobodies) - those excluded from traditional religious gatherings
  • Religious devotion without humility and curiosity can blind people to God’s Kingdom work happening right in front of them

Main Concepts & Theories

The Evolution and Heart of Shabbat

The episode opens with a scene from 948 BC in Kinnereth (ancient Gennesaret), showing an authentic, primal Shabbat celebration. This serves as a baseline for understanding what Shabbat was meant to be - a time of genuine rest, family blessing, and delight in God’s provision. The father blesses his wife with the Eshet Chayil, children receive blessings, and the family watches for the first star together. This represents Shabbat as proclamation rather than recitation.

Fast-forward 1,000 years to AD 26 Capernaum, and the episode reveals how Shabbat has fractured into multiple experiences:

  • Opulent formalism: Nicodemus’s Shabbat with fellow Pharisees, filled with wealth and proper observance but lacking heart and joy
  • Broken exclusion: Mary Magdalene attempting to remember how to celebrate after years of being cast out
  • Complete absence: Matthew the tax collector, disowned and alone, sharing his meal with a stray dog
  • Conflicted obligation: Simon Peter choosing his illegal fishing scheme over Shabbat with his wife
  • Kingdom reality: Jesus gathering with outcasts in Mary’s home, restoring the true heart of Sabbath
Eshet Chayil - Woman of Valor

The Eshet Chayil from Proverbs 31 has been widely misunderstood in Western Christianity as a checklist or set of minimum requirements for godly wives. However, as revealed in Jewish tradition and practice, it functions very differently:

  • It is a proclamation spoken over wives during Shabbat, not a list of demands
  • It represents what “erupts out of you” when you witness your wife’s extraordinary character and actions
  • It is part of the Shabbat blessing structure: wife (Eshet Chayil), then children, flowing from the patriarch
  • The contrast between the heartfelt proclamation in the opening scene versus Nicodemus’s perfunctory recitation reveals how religious observance can lose its soul
  • Rabbi David Fohrman connects the Eshet Chayil to the Book of Ruth as a commentary on her character
The Pharisees as Devout Seekers

Rather than portraying Pharisees as one-dimensional villains, The Chosen (and this BEMA episode) presents them as sincere, serious religious devotees facing genuine theological dilemmas:

  • The av beit din (master of the court, second-ranking member of the Sanhedrin) calls for an investigation into Mary’s healing
  • Nicodemus demonstrates genuine curiosity and humility, seeking to understand rather than condemn
  • The Pharisees are “trapped by their own devotion and commitment to a system that is actually going to be getting in the way”
  • Their theology and dogma blind them to Kingdom realities, not mere corrupt hearts
  • This serves as a warning for contemporary Jesus followers about how religious systems can obstruct Kingdom vision
Shrewdness as Biblical Virtue

Matthew the tax collector demonstrates shrewdness in navigating Roman political dynamics. Despite his social outcasting and obvious autism spectrum characteristics, he understands power structures and works them effectively. This raises important questions about virtues Western Christianity has neglected:

  • Jesus commands followers to be “shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16)
  • Western Christianity tends to emphasize morality over engagement with power structures
  • Biblical examples (Esther, Daniel, Joseph) demonstrate the importance of shrewd navigation of empire
  • Shrewdness is not manipulation but wise understanding of how systems work and strategic engagement
  • The contrast between Pharisaic moral rigidity and Matthew’s pragmatic shrewdness highlights different approaches to faithfulness
Kingdom Community vs. Religious Exclusion

The climactic Shabbat scene at Mary’s house embodies Kingdom values:

  • Those gathered have been systematically excluded from “proper” religious community
  • Barnaby (likely a mamzer - illegitimate person with limited community standing)
  • Shula (a blind woman carrying social stigma)
  • Mary Magdalene (formerly demon-possessed, from “the red quarter”)
  • James and Thaddaeus (Jesus’s students, relatively unknown)
  • Jesus takes “Elijah’s seat” - the empty chair set aside at Passover (Mary’s confusion about Sabbath vs. Passover traditions creates this powerful symbolic moment)
  • Jesus demonstrates joy and delight in being with these outcasts
  • He defers leadership to Mary in her own home, showing humility and honor
  • This gathering contrasts sharply with Nicodemus’s gathering of honored rabbis competing for seats of prestige
The Mamzer and Social Outcasts

The term mamzer (plural: mamzerim) refers to illegitimate children or those born from forbidden unions, who faced severe social and religious restrictions in Jewish society. The episode highlights several characters who would have been social outcasts:

  • Matthew: disowned by his father for becoming a tax collector
  • Mary: demon-possessed woman from the red quarter
  • Barnaby: implied to be a mamzer
  • Shula: blind woman (blindness often associated with sin/judgment in that culture)

These are precisely the people who would never receive Shabbat invitations, yet they form the core of Jesus’s Kingdom community. The contrast with the rabbi who explicitly states his intention to “try to get the seat near the head of the table” at Nicodemus’s gathering could not be starker.

Examples & Applications

Historical Context

Kinnereth/Gennesaret: The Sea of Galilee was named after the most prominent city at various times. It has been called the Sea of Tiberius and the Sea of Kinnereth. Kinnereth is mentioned in Numbers 34, Deuteronomy 3, and Joshua 11-12, indicating its importance in Israelite history.

Tax Collectors and Family: Matthew’s disownment by his father for becoming a tax collector was historically typical. Tax collectors were viewed as traitors working for Rome, extracting money from their own people. Families would often formally disown such members, treating them as dead. The physical abuse Matthew endures in the marketplace would have been common.

Roman Authority: The casual scene of Gaius grabbing food from a market stall without payment or acknowledgment illustrates the everyday reality of occupation. Roman soldiers could take what they wanted, and merchants had no recourse. This reflects the “peace” maintained through the threat of violence, embodied in Gaius’s statement: “There’s only one language that keeps the peace, Marcus. Learn to speak it.”

Pharisaic Prayer in Public: The commentary mentions that Pharisees would often pray while walking through public spaces, and people would stop to listen and observe. This provides context for understanding later Gospel critiques of public prayer.

Modern Applications

Religious Systems vs. Kingdom Values: Just as the Pharisees were trapped by devotion to systems that blinded them to Kingdom realities, contemporary Christians must examine how church traditions, denominational dogmas, and cultural Christianity might obstruct genuine Kingdom vision. Devotion to the system is not the same as devotion to God.

Proclamation vs. Recitation: The contrast between heartfelt proclamation and rote recitation applies to all areas of worship and family life. Do we speak blessings over family members because we genuinely see and celebrate their character, or do we go through motions because we’re “supposed to”?

Welcoming the Excluded: Modern church communities must ask who the “mamzerim” are today - those systematically excluded from religious gatherings due to stigma, judgment, or social convention. Are we creating space for those Jesus would naturally gather?

Shrewdness in Engagement: Rather than retreating from cultural and political engagement or naively approaching power structures, Jesus followers are called to be shrewd - understanding systems while maintaining innocence and integrity.

Potential Areas for Further Exploration

  1. Detailed study of the Eshet Chayil and its connection to the Book of Ruth (Aleph Beta materials by Rabbi David Fohrman)

  2. The role and structure of the Sanhedrin, particularly the relationship between Pharisees and Sadducees, and the position of av beit din

  3. Mamzer status in first-century Judaism - legal definitions, social implications, and religious restrictions

  4. The evolution of Sabbath practices from biblical times through Second Temple Judaism to rabbinic tradition

  5. Autism spectrum representation in biblical characters - the director’s interpretation of Matthew’s characteristics based on his autistic daughter

  6. Shrewdness in biblical narratives - comprehensive study of how biblical heroes (Joseph, Esther, Daniel, Nehemiah) navigated empire

  7. The problem of religious devotion as obstacle - examining how sincere religious commitment can blind people to God’s work

  8. Isaiah 43 and identity transformation - the passage Jesus quotes to Mary that her father used to say

  9. The significance of Jesus taking “Elijah’s seat” - messianic and eschatological implications

  10. Cross-cutting narrative structure as a teaching tool - how The Chosen uses cinematic techniques to convey theological themes

Comprehension Questions

  1. What is the Eshet Chayil, and how does its proper understanding as proclamation rather than checklist change our interpretation of Proverbs 31?

  2. How does the episode use the opening scene from 948 BC to critique the various Shabbat experiences shown in AD 26? What has been lost in 1,000 years?

  3. Why does Marty argue that the Pharisees’ main problem was not hypocrisy or corrupt hearts, but rather devotion to religious systems? How might this apply to contemporary Christianity?

  4. What does “shrewdness” mean as a biblical virtue, and how does Matthew the tax collector demonstrate it? Why has Western Christianity neglected this virtue?

  5. How does the gathering at Mary’s house represent Kingdom values in contrast to Nicodemus’s Shabbat dinner? What is significant about Jesus taking “Elijah’s seat”?

Personal Summary

This episode of BEMA reviewing The Chosen’s “Shabbat” episode offers a masterclass in how narrative structure can illuminate theological truth. By opening with an authentic, heartfelt Shabbat celebration from 948 BC and then cross-cutting between multiple Shabbat experiences in Jesus’s time, the show reveals how far religious observance had strayed from God’s original intent while also showing how Jesus restores the heart of Sabbath.

The most powerful insight concerns how sincere religious devotion can become an obstacle to recognizing God’s Kingdom work. The Pharisees are not villains but deeply serious people whose commitment to their interpretive tradition blinds them to the miraculous redemption happening in their midst. This serves as a sobering warning for all religious communities.

Equally moving is the contrast between religious exclusion and Kingdom inclusion. While honored rabbis jostle for prestigious seats at Nicodemus’s table, Jesus delights in gathering with mamzerim, the demon-possessed, the blind, the disowned, and the forgotten. His joy in that room, his wink at Barnaby’s joke, his deference to Mary as host - these moments embody the upside-down values of God’s Kingdom.

The Eshet Chayil reframing is particularly valuable for correcting a widespread misinterpretation that has burdened many women with an impossible standard. Understanding it as erupting proclamation rather than demanding checklist transforms it from a tool of oppression into an expression of love and honor.

Finally, the elevation of shrewdness as a neglected virtue challenges common Christian assumptions. We are called not to naive withdrawal from worldly systems but to shrewd, wise engagement that maintains integrity while understanding how power operates. This requires the same kind of careful attention and strategic thinking that Matthew, Esther, and Daniel demonstrated in their encounters with empire.

The episode ultimately asks: What does authentic Sabbath look like? It is not found in opulence, formalism, or proper recitation, but in genuine rest, heartfelt blessing, and the radical inclusion of those the religious system excludes. It is found wherever Jesus gathers the broken and forgotten and restores their dignity and belonging.

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