Like many other people, I’ve loved watching “The Chosen” There have been many moments that touched my heart and mind. Last season it was when Jesus rescuing Peter when he tried to walk on water. I think I already wrote about that.
This season I was a little unsettled watching the still grieving Thomas’s angry and hurt reaction to Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. He wondered why Jesus did not help his dying loved one when he needed it, He was all put out. I think we all get put out, especially considering withheld blessings from faithful followers of the Savior. Why does he allow us to experience pain? Why don't we get what we want, when we want it? Why doesn't he just wipe away all the tears right away?
According to Steve Young's book on the "Law of Love", transactional questions get transactional answers. We have to become love instead of expecting to selfishly get something out of our discipleship or any other relationship. We help, we heal as an outpouring of the love we feel without expecting anything in return.
The disciples portrayed in the series are like all of us-expecting something in return. They expected the love and care the Savior showed for everyone would be extended to them personally in times of need. This hopeful expectation of things being set right was voiced by Martha as she stated, "I know the he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." There was a condition for this great miracle, "Believeth thou this". Faith precedes the miracle. If we believe in Jesus then we get this or that. Many blessings are conditioned on having faith in Jesus Christ and repenting. It's transactional. It's conditional.
Many blessings of healing require patience. Jesus didn't heal everyone around him, nor did he heal everyone simultaneously. Like his response to little James, it was not his "time to be healed". It was not the Fathers will to make everything right for them right now. They would need to wait and trust in God's promises to heal and bless everyone. We will have to wait for the resurrection as evidenced by all the lovely and peaceful cemeteries around us. But it will happen to everyone without any condition of belief.
It’s not my time to be blessed. It’s not my time to be healed. I'm so impatient. I want everything right now, and when I don’t get it, sometimes I throw a angry temper tantrum like Thomas. Thomas compared his grieving experience with Mary and Martha's grieving experience and ultimate outcome. His blessings compared with another person's blessings. Where is the fairness. Shouldn't we all just get the same things for Christmas, as if God were some type of Santa Claus in the sky. I also have a tendency to compare what I have with others instead of recognizing and honoring our unique paths.
Thomas stays with Jesus, he still on the path. Where else is he going to go? He could choose to "walk with him no longer" but he doesn't. Most of the apostles continue to follow him and ultimately die for him. They learn to not only follow him but become his representatives and lead His church. They become the healers and with his power and authority heal others, even raise them from the dead. They reach out in Christ's love or charity.
Though "The Chosen is a great show about Jesus, it is also a wonderful show about the disciples journey as they learn what it means to come to Jesus, follow him and what they become as a result. I look forward to the following seasons as we see the transformation of ordinary people into beings of who reach out to others with God's love in powerful ways without expecting anything in return.
I want to become this type of being-one who has the ability to follow Jesus Christ not just because of all the great blessings I will receive or accomplish, but that I might be filled with his love, and daily reach out to others in healing, loving ways with no thought of reward. To become love.
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