Several years ago, I hosted a lectionary night in my back yard. The setup was simple: friends from a variety of church backgrounds would commit to reading through the Daily Office lectionary each week, and we would occasionally gather to discuss. These were rich evenings, full of both insight and laughter.
But the confusion expressed during those evenings also deeply informed my approach to biblical literacy. I came to see that the lectionary is best understood when the reader has a healthy grasp of the grand narrative of Scripture, and when each reading falls within that story. Familiarity with the drama of Scripture helps the lectionary come alive.
In the same way, familiarity with the drama of Holy Week helps those liturgies—especially the Triduum—come alive. This Holy Week, for the first time since The Passion of the Christ, audiences have a cinematic opportunity to further solidify their grasp on the drama of Holy Week.
The Chosen: Last Supper is the entire fifth season of the streaming series split into three feature-length films, all of which are in theaters for Holy Week. The films are designed to be seen sequentially, and an introductory note from the producer encourages this approach.
Viewers who are already familiar with the narrative of Holy Week and the drama of the Christian Scriptures, but who cannot carve out eight hours to experience these films in theaters during Holy Week, might jump in for Part Three. This latest season will be released for streaming sometime after the theatrical run (visit thechosenlastsupper.com for details), and the robust character arcs that run throughout the season can be enjoyed then.
These films cover the events of Palm Sunday through the kiss of betrayal on Maundy Thursday. Most narrative accounts in Scripture, including the Gospels, are shorter than modern audiences would prefer, and sparse on details. For an entire season of a streaming series to cover mere chapters of the biblical witness, creative license is necessary. This Last Supper excels in the theological depth of its creative license.
There are several realities that are captured particularly well throughout the films. The films make clear that Jesus stands within a long line of young men claiming to be the Messiah, and that these messianic claims continued to frustrate the Romans and exhaust the Jewish leaders.
The Last Supper is depicted brilliantly as an awkward, poignant, confusing, and moving meal—one that would make more sense after the events of Holy Week than it did in the moment. The license taken with the motivation of Judas for betrayal, though not an entirely new approach, is likely less familiar to audiences. It retains, and captures well, the biblical reality that Jesus was betrayed by a friend.
Nicodemus receives special treatment throughout Last Supper, and it is clear that his character arc will continue in future seasons of the series. The films fill in—with engaging and plausible detail—what St. John hints at in his Nicodemus narratives: this curious Pharisee visits Jesus under the cover of night in John 3, then seems to defend him to the Sanhedrin in John 7, and finally prepares his body for burial in John 19. This redemptive arc from the Gospel of John serves as the backbone of the expanded storyline given to Nicodemus.
The most orchestrated and theologically rich license was taken in the Garden of Gethsemane. The garden scene has all the details of the biblical account. Jesus’ deep sorrow is palpable. His frustration with and compassion for his sleeping disciples is evident. There is an undercurrent throughout his prayers of “not my will, but thy will be done.”
The garden scene shines in its holy imagination of what Jesus was seeing and doing while praying alone. A deeply Christological reading of the Old Testament is evident as Jesus tells a young Isaac on his way up a mountain with his father Abraham that “God will provide a Lamb,” and embraces Ezekiel in the Valley of Dry Bones, asking him, “Will these bones yet live?” Jesus is reassuring Isaac and Ezekiel, while reassuring himself.
Last Supper rewards the theological depth and biblical literacy of the audience, without requiring either for a cohesive viewing experience. When paired with the biblical text, these films can increase this depth and literacy in the viewer in a way that might enhance their participation in Holy Week liturgies this week and for years to come.
Fr. Jon Jordan is headmaster and Theology Department chair at Coram Deo Academy of Dallas and serves as a priest associate at Church of the Incarnation in the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas.
