Allacin's Free Illustrated Summaries of Christian Classics: Illustrated Summary of The Chosen: Season 1, Episode 7: Invitations

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This episode opens with a scene of judgment and salvation from the time of Moses after the Exodus from slavery in Egypt. Numbers 21 tells us that the Israelites complained grievously against God and Moses despite their deliverance. Moses wrote, "Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people so that many people of Israel died." The people realized they were in the wrong and asked Moses to pray for them. The Lord mercifully commanded Moses, "Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole. Everyone who is bitten and looks upon it shall live." Moses tells his assistant, Joshua, "I've learned to do what He says without questioning." Joshua reluctantly obeys Moses by handing him a cross-shaped staff to hang the newly fashioned bronze serpent on, but he tells Moses, "People will say this is a cruel joke. Help me understand—this doesn’t make sense!" Moses responds, "How do you explain the Red Sea? The manna and the quail? The pillar of fire? Joshua, any Israelite who looks upon this bronze serpent and believes in the power of Adonai will be healed. It’s an act of faith." Jesus will refer to what happened with this bronze serpent when He speaks to Nicodemus later in this episode.

Moses to Joshua while crafting the bronze serpent referred to in Numbers 21.

Matthew the tax collector is getting ready to go to work. He seems restless with his usual compulsive routine. As he exits his luxurious house, he is surprised to be met by his Roman escort, Gaius, who guards him at his tax booth, not on the way to work. Gaius tells Matthew, "I'm escorting you." Matthew asks him, "You feel indebted because of your promotion?" Without giving him a straight answer, Gaius merely replies, "You complain about safely walking the streets?" On the way to the tax booth, Matthew asks, "Gaius, what if you suddenly were the only Roman in Capernaum?" Gaius answers, "I think I would change my clothes." Matthew tells him honestly, "When you realize no one cares what happens to you, you think only about yourself." Gaius says, "For a fool, your brain has taken you far." Matthew responds dejectedly, "I thought so too."

Nicodemus, looking distracted, quickly becomes upset when his wife, Zohara, assumes they will soon be relocating back to Jerusalem because their daughter Havilah just gave birth to their fifth grandson. He informs her that his research in Capernaum is not finished and concerns not just one Jewish boy, but all of Israel past, present, and future. She thinks little of Capernaum and demands angrily, "Come to your senses!" Nicodemus replies calmly, "I have never been closer to my senses." She retorts, "That is not how it looks from the outside." "Many things are not," he replies. Zohara tells him she misses her children and grandchildren.

Quintus, the Roman praetor, barges in on them. Nicodemus restrains his tongue and says to him, "I trust all is well?" Quintus says lightly, "Why would you trust that?" He continues, "You and I want the same thing: we want rules followed. We want order. Soldiers, money, votes—that's my world. Demons, prayers, oddballs—that's yours. I need to know if our worlds are on a collision course. The so-called miracle worker?" Nicodemus responds, "Jesus of Nazareth. Anecdotes and rumors." Quintus complains about a stampede in the eastern ghetto that delayed Herod's envoy, stating, "That really made me look bad. I hate that." Nicodemus, who was there, informs him, "The unrest began when your soldiers waded into the crowd, branding weapons." "It isn't an isolated event," states Quintus. "I've heard reports and my source [Matthew] has unwavering knack for accuracy and a compulsion for the truth. So again I ask you is there a problem?" Nicodemus says no, but when Quintus expresses doubt, Nicodemus adds, "The only way to learn this preacher's intentions is to speak with Him directly."

Quintus orders Nicodemus to speak to Jesus and then adds ominously, "I hate crowds. They take time and resources, and then cleanup is a pain. When you arrange a private meeting, I want to know when and where. Understand?" Nicodemus asks, "What troubles you about this man?" "Preachers have a habit of becoming politicians," says Quintus. "They sprout up like weeds and spread." Nicodemus observes, "Some flora spread their seeds when trampled. Who's to say you wouldn't be creating a martyr?" Quintus looks him closely in the eye and states before leaving, "I'll take my chances." Once he leaves, Zohara says to her husband, "You sympathize with this preacher." Nicodemus does not answer her.

Jesus is working at a campsite with several of His disciples. John asks Him if they will be safe there, concerned about consequences from what Jesus said about forgiving sins. Jesus tells him they will keep moving from town to town. John asks, "Is that what You want?" Jesus responds, "I want to do the will of My Father, and I want to spread the message of salvation. So yes, I am happy to not stay in one place." Thaddaeus asks Jesus how many days' worth of firewood to prepare. Jesus asks for more than they need so they can leave some for the next weary traveler, stating that hospitality isn't only for people who own homes.

Mary Magdalene approaches and tells Jesus about Nicodemus and his desire to meet with Jesus, adding that "he was earnest. He wasn’t offended when someone had succeeded where he failed. There was a hunger in his eyes, not fear." Jesus responds, "Not like the Pharisees at the window yesterday, huh? There was a reason you met this Pharisee. I have heard of him." Mary replies humbly, "I don't know who is known and who is not. This is all new to me." Jesus says, "Ah, don't worry about which men others think are important. Send word to Nicodemus I will meet with him. Thank you, Mary. And spread the word I have made plans for tomorrow night: a dinner party in the northern district, the tall house just past the arch." When she begins to object, He tells her, "I know the kind of people who live there. Trust Me."

Matthew, with his dog, is outside his parents' house, hesitating to knock but finally he does. His mother answers the door and is shocked to see him there. He says, "Hello, Eema," but then afraid she will be offended by that familial term, he calls her by her name, Elisheva. She allows him in but only because Matthew's father is not there. Matthew tells his dog to wait outside and asks his mother, "Where is Alphaeus?" She tells him he is away on a work trip. Matthew asks, "Where would work take him. Does he no longer make leather goods?" His mother explains, "His shop was robbed. Many of the shops have been. Crime is rampant. It makes it very difficult to reopen." Matthew says sadly, "He loved his shop." Elisheva comments, "But we still have a roof over our heads, which is more than some people can say. Matthew blurts out, "You can ask me for money if you ever need it." "How can you say that?" she asks. "Your father would sooner die than take your blood money."

Matthew responds defensively at first, but when his mother asks if he came home to justify himself, he paces anxiously and says, "No, no! The things I thought I knew to be true—do you think impossible things could happen that overturn the laws of nature, that cannot be explained?" Elisheva recalls fondly that he asked questions like that as a boy and that teachers and others were astonished at how he could think faster than any other child, concluding, "They thought you would be someone great." "Great at what?" asks Matthew, obviously disturbed. "We never dreamed you would use the talent God gave you to bleed your people dry," she tells him. "Have you ever seen anything miraculous?" he asks her, adding, "My whole world, everything I thought I knew—what if it’s wrong?" At a loss, Elisheva tells him sadly, "I think you should go." Just before Matthew leaves, she comments, "You never even asked about your sister." "She looks well," Matthew tells her to her surprise. "I came to celebrate Shabbat a few weeks ago, but then I left. Goodbye, Eema."

Jesus meets at nighttime with Nicodemus, who says he knows Jesus comes from God because of the miracles He does. Jesus says, "And how is that belief going over in the synagogue?" They both laugh. Nicodemus asks, "What have You come here to show us?" "A Kingdom," answers Jesus. "That is what our rulers are worried about," says Nicodemus. "No, not that kind," says Jesus. "Then what?" asks Nicodemus. Jesus answers, "The sort of Kingdom that a person cannot see unless he is born again." Nicodemus is confused: "Born again? You mean like a new creature, a conversion from Gentile to Jewish?" Jesus answers, "No, that’s not what I’m talking about.... Truly I say to you 'unless one is born of water and Spirit' [Ezekiel 36], he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh [touching Nicodemus’s hand], but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit [pointing to Nicodemus’s heart]. That part of you—that is what must be reborn to new life."

Nicodemus, smiling and shaking his head, asks, "How can these things be?" Jesus, gently sighing, responds: "A teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things." Nicodemus says humbly: "I’m trying, Rabbi." Jesus says, "I know.... Listen. What do you hear?" "The wind?" says Nicodemus. Jesus asks, "How do you know?" "Because I can feel it and I hear its sound," answers Nicodemus. Jesus asks, "Do you know where it comes from and where it is going?" When Nicodemus says no, Jesus explains, "That’s what it is to be born again of the Spirit. The Spirit may work in a way that is a mystery to you, and while you cannot see the Spirit, you can recognize His effect."

Nicodemus tells Him frankly, "My mind is consumed with what a stir these words would cause among the teachers of the Law." Jesus acknowledges, "Yes, and I do not expect otherwise. I speak of what I know and have seen, and it has not been received by the religious leaders" Nicodemus says, "It is hard to receive." Jesus tells him frankly, "So if I have told you of earthly things and you do not believe, how can I tell you heavenly things?" Nicodemus says, "I believe Your words." Jesus tells him, "I have come to do more than speak words.... Do you remember when the children of Israel complained against God and against Moses in the wilderness?" Nicodemus answers, "Yes, they wanted to return to Egypt, and they cursed the manna God sent them. They were bitten by serpents and were dying. But God made a way for them to be healed." Jesus explains, "Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the desert, and people only needed to look at it. So will the Son of Man be lifted up so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life."

Nicodemus responds, "Our people are not dying from snake bites. They’re dying from taxation and oppression." Jesus says to him, "I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I did not come to deliver the people from Rome." "Then from what?" asks Nicodemus. "From sin. From spiritual death," answers Jesus. "God loves the world in this way: that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn it, Nicodemus. He sent Him to save it through Him. It’s as simple as Moses’s serpent on the pole. Whoever believes in Him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already."

Jesus's disciples Andrew and John are both listening intently to this conversation out of sight. Andrew whispers to him, "Have you ever heard anything like this before?" John, who later recorded this conversation in his Gospel, is taking furious notes and shushing Andrew.

Nicodemus is believing what Jesus is saying, but also counting the cost. Jesus, knowing that, tells him, "It’s true: there is a lot you would give up but what you would gain is far greater and more lasting.... I know mysteries aren’t easy for a scholar." Nicodemus returns to the subject Jesus began with, asking, "Is the Kingdom of God really coming?" Jesus asks him, "What does your heart tell you?" Nicodemus tells Him, “My heart is swollen with fear and wonder and can tell me nothing except that I am standing on holy ground. He kneels, kisses Jesus’s hand, and quotes from Psalm 2: "Kiss the Son lest He be angry and you perish in the way...."

Jesus raises Nicodemus to his feet and finishes the quotation of Psalm 2's ending: "...Blessed are all those who take refuge in Him."

The next day Jesus calls Matthew at his tax booth to follow Him. As Matthew starts to do so, his Roman escort, Gaius, says to him: "Have you lost your mind? You have money. Quintus protects you. No Jew lives as good as you. You’re going to throw it all away?" Matthew simply says yes.

Simon says to Jesus, "Whoa, do You have any idea what this guy has done? I don’t get it." Jesus answers, "You didn’t get it when I chose you, either." Simon objects, "But this is different!" Jesus says, "Get used to different."