“It also generates more interest and eyeballs,” said Jenkins. “And more important, I just hope the episodes are impacting you.”
The scene from Part 1 of Season 5 that some have found uncomfortable shows John and his father Zebedee bringing the olive oil they make and sell to the temple in Jerusalem, where they encounter a Jewish leader who wants to ensure that the men are ritually clean before they enter a certain area.
The leader lists several reasons that might disqualify them from entering that space. These reasons include seminal discharge, as well as contact with a menstruating woman.
When John hesitates, everyone decides he should stay outside, where he has a conversation with the high priest’s servant Malchus—who admits he would not have been able to enter the room either. The two men then have a conversation where they ponder being made to feel ashamed of their bodies.
RELATED: Jonathan Roumie Explains How This Season of ‘The Chosen’ Was His Most Challenging Yet
In the Bible, Malchus is referenced in the Gospel of John. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke mention that when Jesus was being arrested, one of his followers cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest (the Gospel of Mark says the attacker was “one of those standing near”). John’s gospel is the only one that identifies the person with the sword as Peter and the high priest’s servant as Malchus.
It is worth noting that “The Chosen” scene is humorous, is not graphic, and only implies the reason why John cannot enter the room. Perhaps what is more relevant is that the scene portrays laws that are actually specified in the Old Testament.
Leviticus 15 begins, “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any man has an unusual bodily discharge, such a discharge is unclean.’”
Verses 19-20 say:
When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening. Anything she lies on during her period will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean.
Verse 31 of that chapter says, “You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them.”
People React to Scene From ‘The Chosen: Last Supper’
As might be expected, people have had mixed reactions to this portrayal of Jewish purity laws. Conservative commentator Jon Root, who has been a vocal critic of “The Chosen,” called the scene a “disgusting & awful use of creative liberty.”
Comments on Facebook about the scene include someone who said, “I didn’t like it, I had my Grandsons with me!” and another person who said it was “disgraceful.”
However, one fan said, “That scene had me smiling.”
