What Do We Want From Jesus?

All four seasons of The Chosen have shown that Shmuel can’t wait for the Son of Man to arrive as God’s anointed King. He’s excited to see God revealed everywhere, and he envisions God’s Kingdom becoming the most powerful on Earth. And with this power, the Son of Man—the King—will surely drive out those who oppose God and usher in an age of justice and prosperity.

What’s not to like? It sounds like popular religious hope today—longing for a sovereign warrior God to establish justice and peace by violently destroying those who oppose him. But Jesus never harms anyone. His power has nothing to do with violence against people.

In this creative scene from The Chosen, Shmuel struggles to differentiate between popular ideas of power and true, divine power. We have to wrestle with this same thing today. What Jesus calls strong or glorious often seems insignificant and weak to us.

Jesus tells Shmuel that he’s missed the point of the Scriptures if he’s waiting for God to kill his enemies. Wielding death and domination is the way of the world—the power of chaos, often depicted as a snake or dragon in the Scriptures. It is not the way of the Messiah, portrayed in Scripture as a lamb. When examining the whole biblical story, we see a God of mercy who walks humbly, shows compassion, and offers healing provision. That’s what real glory looks like.

God’s glory is strong—so powerful that it will eventually restore everything and drive evil out of all creation. We witness this glory when we see one person caring for another. We embrace God’s Kingdom and fight darkness with glorious strength when we love, forgive, and share our resources, even through seemingly weak or insignificant actions like offering water to a thirsty neighbor.

Jesus tells religious experts like Shmuel, and us too, that every instruction from God has been aiming to form us into people who embody his way of powerful living. The Son of Man—the glorious, anointed King sent by God to set things right—says there’s one undeniable way for others to see that God is the true King over creation: our love for one another.

Reflection Questions

• Considering this moment with Shmuel and Jesus, do you see any connections to your own world or experience with religious belief? How would you compare Shmuel’s expectations about what God will do to heal the world with popular expectations about God today?
• What thoughts or feelings emerge when you hear Jesus saying that the true power of God is seen in something like a small act of generosity?
• Rather than seeing the downfall or death of those who oppose God as glorious, what would it look like to embrace Jesus’ understanding of glory in our day-to-day lives?