Mini: The Chosen S2E5
269 | “Adults Packed Together”
Enjoy Season 2, Episode 5 of the Chosen
The wheels have officially fallen off the bus. In this episode of our Winter Watch Party, we break down The Chosen Season 2, Episode 5 ("Spirit"). It’s a "spiritual thriller" full of chaos: a demon-possessed man terrorizing the camp, Roman spies in the bushes, and John the Baptist causing a PR nightmare. We put on our cardigans to act as the "HR Department for Galilee," reviewing the incident reports — from John's "scorched earth" policy to Mary Magdalene's heartbreaking relapse. We discuss the realism of backsliding, the terror of the demonic, and the powerful moment Jesus delegates the rescue mission to Peter and Matthew — forcing enemies to become partners in grace. Finally, we challenge you to be the one who makes the call to bring someone back to the Lord.
Takeaways
The Big Idea: When a believer falls, our job isn't to judge the failure — it's to go into the dark and find them.
Helpful Links
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Introduction and Welcome
Ryan: I mean, you put any group of people together, like a
Bryan: laughs
Ryan: of adults packed together. Have you ever lived in the same house with another family?
Bryan: yes. Oh boy.
Bryan: Well, hello, everyone. And welcome to the Bible Geeks podcast. I'm Bryan Schiele.
Ryan: I'm Ryan Joy.
Bryan: And welcome back to the winter watch party.
Episode Breakdown: Chaos Unleashed
Bryan: We are breaking down the chosen season two, episode five called Spirit. And honestly, this is the episode where the wheels fall off the bus,
Ryan: is pure chaos. We have a demon-possessed man terrorizing the camp. We have John the Baptist insulting religious leaders, Roman spies in the bushes, and heartbreakingly, we have a relapse.
Bryan: which leads us to today's episode.
HR Department for Galilee
Bryan: We are putting on our cardigans and becoming the H.R. department for Galilee. And we need to review these incident reports from this disastrous day that happens and decide is spiraling out of control.
Ryan: I actually have a cardigan I could have worn for this that I really like.
Bryan: Yeah, so the wheels have definitely started to fall off the bus here in this episode of The Chosen, season 2, episode 5. The episode is called "Spirit" and I think, you know, when we're following along the disciples and following Jesus and everything, we get to this moment where it feels like there are some very dramatic things going on in the camp, outside the camp, you know, in Jesus' inner circle.
I love moments like this, by the way, in television or in any sort of movie where things start to get tense and difficult and you're like, "Boy, how would I react in that particular situation?" I have to imagine that that was a real life thing going on during Jesus' time.
Ryan: I mean, you put any group of people together, like a
Bryan: laughs
Ryan: of adults packed together. Have you ever lived in the same house with another family?
Bryan: yes. Oh boy.
Ryan: It's complicated. Or like holidays and everybody's staying over or whatever. And yeah, so now you've got all of these people who some of them family, which is complicated.
Some of them not family and totally different values and everything. So yeah, it's not surprising. But then you add the Romans and you add the Pharisees and everything else. And yeah, it's complicated.
Vibe Check: Rating the Episode
Bryan: So as we've been doing sort of in these episodes that I've been spearheading, we've been going through this little vibe check to start off the episode. And I love my little, you know, scale from 1 to 5 loaves and fishes. This episode, as you were watching, what would you give for this particular episode, season 2, episode 5?
Ryan: Yeah, I see. I like the John the Baptist section a lot. That's probably, you know, we haven't gotten a lot of creepy John.
Bryan: Right? Right?
Ryan: it's been it was cool to see him and Jesus interacting. But there's kind of, I don't know, there's a lot going on. I also like Peter in this episode. I'm going to go four.
Bryan: Okay. Yeah, I was
Ryan: out of five.
Bryan: thinking 4 as well. I think it's pretty tense, like there's a lot of drama in this one and it's a bit darker, especially as we see the characters that we've been following up to this point, who we've really just have seemed to be so upstanding and good, like Mary, going through some difficulty and struggles.
And that's been interesting here. So I was thinking 4 as well. It feels like this is kind of the spiritual thriller episode in a way. But yeah, anyway, so moving on, I sort of thought about this episode in terms of the HR department at a company. I don't know why. This is like I'm deep in the midst of like corporate world.
But, you know, From the standpoint of like security breaches, I think we're seeing some really interesting things go on in this episode.
John the Baptist: A PR Nightmare
Bryan: And I was thinking about the first one, which is, as you begin to mention, Creepy John.
John is a concern. And if you were in HR department, you know, you've got this unauthorized visitor. You've got this like somewhat aggressive behavior. He's insulting the Pharisees, this guy, to their faces. You know, he is, if you want to put a label on it, John the Baptist in this episode, but also in real life.
I think he was a PR nightmare. Like the dude has zero chill. He is like he's he's, you know, 110 percent. What do you think about John as like an HR concern here?
Ryan: The PR nightmare. He goes by the philosophy that there's no bad publicity, right? Like he draws attention by just straight talk.
Bryan: Yes.
Ryan: they really work through that and talk about that Jesus has a little bit of a different message, a little bit of a different approach. Though Jesus acknowledges, I'm not going to be pulling back here.
I will. Yes, I'm not going to be nice to everybody. That's true. But he, John is willing to pay the cost of whatever it is. He will not compromise in any way. And I think that's very true to the biblical record. His message was one of judgment, where Jesus is a message of both judgment and the importance of repentance, but also certainly at the core of it, he's preaching good news.
And Jesus is bringing a message of hope and love and salvation. And John's is very challenging. He's about burning everything down. Don't you know, God could tear all of this down and raise up from these rocks children of Abraham. And so I think it's very true to what John did and true to the nature of the gospel.
We've said before, you have to hear the bad news in order to understand the good news. And that's really a lot of what John is
Bryan: I mean, I think from from John's perspective, he... Well, and in the biblical record, as we're talking about, like he has these concerns or his disciples have concerns that they send word to Jesus. But, you know, Jesus is open to entertaining John's concerns, his doubts, whatever's going on with John. I mean, John is an intense dude.
I love that Jesus doesn't silence John. There were times in Jesus ministry where, like I'm thinking about some of the lepers that he healed or some of the other people that he did this amazing, miraculous healing for. He told them not to go and tell anybody because it was going to make his life really difficult if, you know, everybody knew about him, which, you know, spoiler alert, the cat's out of the bag here shortly.
But, you know, he doesn't tell John just to like stop and not talk and and be quiet or whatever. I think Jesus is so supportive of people who are earnestly pushing to know him and to know about him and to really have a deep and abiding faith in him. He's all about those kinds of people coming to have their questions answered.
And that's the zeal, I think, that John brings in this episode, you know, and others really. I love I love that zeal. I love anyone with that passion because you can always redirect that passion, right? You can always put it towards the place it needs to go, even if it's misplaced initially.
Ryan: Jesus says, "John is Elijah.
Bryan: Yes.
Ryan: came and there is no one of those born of a woman who are greater than John, but the least in the kingdom is going to be greater than John." And so he recognizes this different mission that John has, preparing the way for the kingdom and bringing this kind of scorched earth policy that he brings. And he tragically understands what's going to come. There's a really challenging period if you're reading through the gospels and paying attention to what is happening in a cluster where a lot of rough things happen for Jesus. And one of them is going to be the death of John the Baptist. And this is a period where he gets away from everybody and everybody keeps chasing him down.
And so you can already see in these episodes the heaviness of Jesus knowing what's coming for his beloved cousin.
Bryan: Yeah.
Mary's Relapse: Fact or Fiction?
Bryan: Well, then you start to think about, you know, the other incident report I was thinking of here was Mary, you know, who is she's she has seen this event occur. And we'll talk about that here in a second. But she's seen this event occur and it apparently triggers her in some way. And she almost has like it looks like she's having like a PTSD episode.
And she walks out on Jesus and she starts to, I guess, engage in some very difficult life decisions. Like, apparently she's going and drinking and gambling and she's at this tavern again. She kind of almost backslides and goes back to her old life in a way, it seems in this dramatization. Again, as I think you've liked to do in previous episodes, fact or fiction, I don't think this actually occurred in in scripture.
But, you know, it is interesting to think about how Jesus would have handled and how, you know, how the disciples would have viewed somebody following Jesus for such a time. And then like for them to just walk out and go. And was that was she a liability to Jesus, I guess, in the dramatization? But would somebody have been a liability to Jesus had they walked out on him during his ministry?
Ryan: it depends on if they repent, I guess. And itAdrienne and I were talking as we were watching, about how all of these people think that everything is going to mess up Jesus' plans.
Bryan: yeah. Yeah,
Ryan: He knows what is going to happen, and the Father has a divine itinerary, And so not a liability in that sense, not a liability to his mission, I think that Jesus has tremendous grace for those of us who are trying to follow him, who give him our heart, but we don't, we aren't as consistent as we would like to be sometimes, especially in the early stages.
But, you know, always we need his grace and his mercy, and that is at the core of what he brings. And so I think it's just, realistic. It's helpful see it play out, even if this is a story that, you know, is completely invented, some of these disciples probably had relapses, certainly all of them sinned again, you know, But here we get an early glimpse of someone who is introduced to us, the very first episode, right? We met Lilith, Mary Magdalene, and she's been a core character, and everybody has bumps along the road. That's part of our journey. And so I think it was good. I don't think it was a liability because Jesus work with us, even in our failings, whenever we are willing to repent and come back to
Bryan: yeah, sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and I think, you know,this is not an event that actually occurred in scripture. So you know, you really just wonder, like, what would a person who had their demon possession reversed or healed or whatever language, I guess you want to use about it, had a demon cast out from them? How would their life change in a way that, you know, helped them like in the future? Like, what would it have been like for them to look back on that moment, that time and to think about like, this is who I was, this is where I was.
And this is what Jesus made available for me. How could how could a person like that ever want to relapse? And on paper for me, it just makes me like I couldn't imagine it. I couldn't imagine anyone, you know, like that demon possessed man who had the legion or whatever. It's like, how could
Ryan: Yeah.
Bryan: imagine like going back to a life like that again?
But then I look at, you know, myself and I look at so many people I know who have tasted the goodness of the Lord, but who continue to struggle, you know, with the old life, putting to death constantly the old person of sin. And that, boy, I have a hard time on paper putting myself in their shoes. And then if I think about it for like two seconds, I'm like, yep, I could see that that would be a real struggle for somebody.
Ryan: There is something, weirdly, that pulls us back to the darkness, even though it's not where we want to be. But you imagine what it must have been like. Who knows what their memories were of that period, but they were in there while the demons were in there. And you called this the thriller episode of The Chosen, but I will not watch a movie about demons. I'm like, it's too dark. The idea of, you know, just all that stuff with the occult and with demons, it is the scariest thing that you can imagine, having possession by the darkest beings that exist, taking you over, possessing a part of you, and you are just filled with that darkness. I just can't even imagine. So yeah, I'm sure it was horrible and took the light of Jesus to not only cast it out, but to heal the remains of life in the throes of the aftermath.
Bryan: Yeah, yeah. And and even just regret. I mean, if regret was all we had, that maybe there wasn't a relapse, but like, boy, you know, that that's how, you know, your life was spent at some point. I just it's such a difficult situation. And I think, you know, when you think about dramatizations like this, you really do get that sense of like the the Jesus teaching on the one who sweeps out the house, but then, you know, doesn't fill it with anything good.
And the more demons come back in and it just becomes worse for them than when they had started. And, you know, you wonder, like, if that thought or her or anyone else who had been healed of this situation is like, I hope that that's not me. I hope that that this doesn't get worse for me in the future.
Jesus' Delegation: Sending Peter and Matthew
Bryan: You know, but in this episode, kind of turning the page just a little bit, there is a moment here where I think it's like the mic drop moment where this is kind of like at the very end of the episode.
Jesus looks at Peter and Matthew, these two guys who, you know, really do, at least in this dramatization, hate each other. And he tells them to go get her, like go find her, go after her. And I just really appreciate how Jesus in this moment doesn't go off to do the work. Like he doesn't go find her. He doesn't, you know, get on his donkey and go and go into town or whatever.
He is leaning on his disciples to do that work. And I know, again, this story is a dramatization here, but I think this is accurate to Jesus' character, especially as we're going to get into, like, the Great Commission, as we call it. Jesus could go around and do all the work for his disciples. But one of his main goals, it seems, is to let people who, even though they don't get along or, you know, are from different walks of life completely, to let them work through their differences, become united, and get about his will, get about his work.
And I appreciate that in this episode. I think this is a precursor to some interesting things that we'll see later on in The Chosen, but also, of course, in Jesus'
Ryan: there are some neat moments, just character moments in that, you know, with Peter being kind of protective of Matthew, you can see his leadership qualities and his goodness starts to show up. Matthew, having worked through the psalm about descending into depths, and Jesus says, "Remember that," and then he has to go down the stairway into this, you know, house of sin, you know, basically.
And he's thinking, you know, "Even if I have to descend into the depths, you will be with me there." And there's just some neat moments. And then Mary
is such a compelling character, And Matthew, using his handkerchief that he's been protecting himself from germs throughout early in the episode, now he's using that to clean up the sickness, the ick of Mary Magdalene. And so there are some neat moments. But I agree with you.
He sent them out two by two for a reason, and here he's doing that in an earlier way and probably making a strategic here, and they're both going to learn from each other and learn from approach, just like we're all here to work together with Jesus and with one
Bryan: Yeah. Yeah. All right.
Challenge: Reaching Out to Others
Bryan: Well, we don't often give challenges here on these little mini episodes, but I was thinking from this one, it's like, how often there is somebody in our life that we need to reach out to, who we need to be the ones who don't just wait for somebody else to go, but we are the ones who go?
And I just wonder, like, for any of us kind of listening to this, watching through these episodes, like, if we have somebody in mind that we just need to make the call or send the text or whatever it is, like, go to the quote unquote "metaphorical tavern," I suppose. Like, we need to be the ones who actually do that and take that on.
And I think this is a challenge, just thinking about, like, our influence on people and the way that, you know, it's not about us pulling somebody out of the depths of regret or pain or sin. It's about bringing them back to Jesus. And that's an easier lift, I think, if we think of it that way, than having to go off and, like, Superman, save everyone by our own power.
But the first step in all of that, I think, really does start with us.
Ryan: That is how some of my favorite people, the influences in my life, were either brought to the Lord or brought back to the Lord. I'm thinking of a couple of different people are just so important and pillars in the Church
different stories. Everybody's got their own story. But we all probably need somebody at some point in our life be willing to come and say, "Hey, we can't you with us, but we are wanting to bring you back to the Lord. There's reason to do it." And I love the way Matthew and Peter did it, is reminding Mary of her worth, her contribution, their own failings and sin, that this is not unique to you. We all are, you know, are broken people that the Lord is healing, and we need you.
We're not here in our greatness reaching down to your smallness. We are here as, know, fellow beggars sharing with each other where to find bread, right?
Bryan: Yeah, I think that's well said.
Conclusion and Next Episode Teaser
Bryan: I appreciate this episode on a lot of levels. There's, you know, great stuff with John, great stuff with the disciples, some really tense moments, some difficulty. Four out of four across the board, loaves and fishes from both of us. So, check this one out if you haven't already.
And, you know, on the next episode, we're going to get, you know, into a little bit more of Mary's story. And then we're going to find that Jesus does something really shocking in a wheat field. But this has been the Bible Geeks podcast. You can find us on our website at biblegeeks.fm. You can find show notes for this episode in your podcast player or there on our website as well.
Keep it on. We're into this winter watch party on our next episode, season two, episode six. Yes, that's how counting works. We'll be into the chosen, rounding it out here for the winter. And until next episode, everyone, may the Lord bless you and keep you.
Ryan: Shalom.