“The Chosen” creator Dallas Jenkins has defended the portrayal of an interaction between Jesus and Judas Iscariot as biblically grounded after pastors and Christian critics criticized the scene as “unbiblical.”
In a livestream video Sunday, the 49-year-old director addressed criticism over a scene from the forthcoming season of “The Chosen,” which depicts a conversation between Judas and Jesus.
“You have a choice to make, Judas,” Jesus says in the scene in which Judas challenges Jesus to “reclaim” his “birthright.” “Who [do] you belong to? Who has your heart? I want it, and I’ve had it before. You followed me willingly.”
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“I want to continue,” Judas replies. “There’s nothing more that I want than that.”
Jesus takes an emotional Judas’ hand, telling him, “Then I will pray for you. But for now, please leave me in peace.”
In his video, Jenkins said that after the clip was released, a friend texted him, saying, “Hey, over on [social media], you got them going again.”
“It’s over the issue of, ‘Did Jesus pray for people? Did Jesus pray specifically for Judas? Did Jesus want Judas to change His mind? Did Judas have free will? Was Judas ever saved?’ — all the typical Judas questions started to come up,” Jenkins said.
“There’s a measurable amount of people who believe that we got it wrong,” Jenkins added, “that I got it wrong.”
The director, the son of Left Behind author Jerry B. Jenkins, said some criticism was fair and “worth considering,” particularly the question: “Would Jesus have prayed for Judas to change his mind?”
“While I’m somewhat surprised that the concept of Jesus saying the words ‘I’ll pray for you’ are controversial, I’m not actually that surprised that something like this comes up because it’s a sensitive topic,” said Jenkins.
“Whether it’s Jesus and Judas or whether it’s eternal salvation or not, these are important issues, and that’s why I’m actually glad sometimes when this happens.”
Jenkins said these types of controversies provide a “great opportunity and a great reason to have the conversation, to talk about these kinds of things.”
Jenkins dismissed unfair criticism that misrepresents the show, clarifying he was speaking to those genuinely seeking understanding or needing answers for critics of “The Chosen.”
“I’m talking to you, the person who is either genuinely seeking or genuinely trying to understand, or maybe isn’t as familiar with some of these topics or issues, or also has a friend who came to you and said, ‘Why do you watch this heretical show’ and [it would] be good for you to have an answer,” he explained.
Jenkins said that two teams of conservative Bible scholars look over the script before it’s utilized.
“No, we are not implying that Jesus is going to pray that Judas will change his mind,” he said. “Yes, Judas’ betrayal is part of the Father’s will. It is part of this crucifixion and, ultimately, salvation story. So Jesus did not say in the scene, ‘I’ll pray for you, Judas, that you’ll change your mind from whatever you’re about to do.'”
Second, the director said Jesus “has known for a while that Judas would betray Him,” stressing that “we are not implying that at this point in the story [that] Jesus wasn’t sure what was going to happen [or] was hoping things wouldn’t happen bad. Jesus knew.”
“So no, I’m not saying that Jesus didn’t know or that Jesus was hoping things would change,” Jenkins emphasized, adding that he believes “Jesus and the Father share the same will and that their wills are inextricably united.”
The director addressed the scene where Jesus tells Judas, “Who has your heart? I want it, and I’ve had it before.” Jenkins said this “is not referring to salvation” and shared that he doesn’t “believe you can just gain and lose your salvation at your own will.”
“How we’re interpreting it is, of course, is that Judas did believe in Jesus and now might not, and then, ultimately, may not. We don’t know,” Jenkins said.
“Those of an Arminian theological bent might argue that Judas was a believer who gave up his belief, while Calvinists might argue Judas was never truly saved,” he said, quoting Dr. Huffman, a New Testament scholar who consults on “The Chosen.”
“To me, it matters little because if Jesus could pray for unbelievers while they were crucifying Him, it seems that Jesus could pray for Judas even while Judas was planning to betray Him.”
“The most simple explanation of the scene and of Jesus’ phrase,” Jenkins contended, is understood by reading His words in Matthew 5:44: “Pray for your enemies and those who persecute you.”
“[Jesus] is talking about praying for your enemies. Praying for those who curse you. Praying for those who do evil. Jesus did not say, ‘But I won’t because I happen to be a member of the Trinity and don’t need to pray,” he said.
“There are many ways to pray for someone, many reasons to do so. Compassion is a big one. Jesus could have had, absolutely, must have had, compassion for Judas. … [Jesus] had compassion for those who rejected Him. He had compassion and sorrow for Jerusalem.”
“Jesus did not say in this scene, ‘I’ll pray for you, Judas, that you will change your mind.’ He said, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ which can mean any number of things, and there are many reasons to pray for someone,” Jenkins clarified.
Jenkins believes that Jesus’ will and the Father’s will are “inextricably linked, but pointed to Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane where He was “asking for a potential change from the plan.”
“In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus actually said, ‘Not My will, but Yours be done,” Jenkins said. “Not mine, but yours, because in that moment, He was actually, in fact, saying, ‘Could You take this cup from me?'”
“Now, scholars have debated what exactly that means, and eventually you’ll see that scene portrayed, but it’s absolutely unarguable that he said, ‘I want your will to be done, not mine,'”
Jenkins said, “That seems to be the most likely scenario for a comment like that. Of course, there’s people who disagree, and that’s fine. … I don’t claim that I have the monopoly on every single theological debate. … It’s not impossible for Jesus to pray for Judas’ heart while still saying to the Father, ‘Not my will, but yours be done.'”
Though the show never portrays Jesus actually praying for Judas, Jenkins said, “I’m not saying that’s exactly what Jesus would have prayed for Judas, but I’m just saying it’s not impossible that He would have.”
When Jesus tells Judas, “I have had your heart, and I want it now,'” He is “not necessarily referring to salvation,” Jenkins continued. “Of course, He wants everyone’s heart. He wants salvation, but the crucifixion hasn’t even happened yet. … The true act of salvation has not actually occurred just yet.”
“We’re referring to the fact that Judas absolutely was a follower of Jesus and absolutely, most assuredly, believed in Him,” Jenkins said. “He had authority to cast out demons and preach in His name.”
Now, as to “whether or not he had salvation and then lost it,” Jenkins said, “that’s a debate for the Calvinists and the Armenians to have, but we’re referring to his belief.”
Jenkins stressed that he and the show’s writers “believe that Judas was originally a follower of Jesus and did believe that He was the Messiah and did believe in His miracles and whatever that meant for his salvation.”
“I do believe that [Judas] did believe and then didn’t — and that by that time, by that point in time, he did not have a choice. It was part of God’s will, especially once the spiritual, dark fears, spiritual forces entered into him, as the Bible says,” Jenkins said.
“I do believe that Jesus can pray for people,” Jenkins added. “I do believe that Jesus can pray for His enemies. I do believe Jesus can pray for Judas.”
John 17 references “one of Jesus’ big prayers [where] He talks about how in that moment He was praying for those who God gave Him, but not the one, the son of perdition, not His betrayer,” Jenkins said.
“So in that moment, He was not praying for Judas,” said Jenkins. “But that’s not to say that He never was. But [Jesus] absolutely, throughout his ministry, prayed for all of His apostles, many of His enemies and Judas.”
While acknowledging the sensitivity of the issue, Jenkins said he welcomed the controversy as an opportunity for conversation and biblical reflection.
“It’s good to have these kinds of conversations. We just ask and pray that we’ll continue to do it respectfully and that we will be accurate in what we are assuming about others,” he said.
