In the Bible, there is no indication that Mary Magdalene fell back into sin, backslid, or left Jesus. This allows the show to be more family friendly, but it also weakens the narrative that the show is telling about Jesus' compassion and pity. EDIT: To more specifically address your question about Mary Magdalene, my intuition is that they chose the name Lilith because few viewers are likely to know the name, and so therefore wont confuse her with another Bible character before her true identity is revealed. I found that my youth struggled to sort out the different characters, so you might want to do a quick slide show of the key characters using the character images I've included throughout this post. I think the producer said he wanted to do eight seasons total. Instead of being a femme fatale that Jesus needs to resist and tame, Mary Magdalene the prostitute is seen as an object of compassion and pity that Jesus needs to provide acceptance and safety. I hope you enjoy them! After Jesus heals her evil spirit, she resumes calling herself "Mary," her birth name, and refuses to answer to the name associated with her spiritual oppression. We turned it into a bit of a game, where one of my youth would constantly ask "Is that Jesus?" Click here for my affiliation policy. In The Chosen, during Season 2, Episodes 5-6, Mary Magdalene briefly leaves Jesus and falls back into sin, before being sought out, forgiven, and restored to ministry. You can find episode one, The Bible includes Mary Magdalene in a list of women who had evil spirits healed by Jesus. Normally I wouldn't care but this is a movie about Jesus, and if the people behind it are trying to do good, but it is a great disservice for me to bad-mouth it until the full plot is revealed. Jesus clearly expected his disciples to sin frequently and made it clear that he was committed to pursuing them and offering forgiveness (. Although there's nothing in the Gospels that suggests that these two figures should be linked together, Mary mistakenly became identified with the forgiven prostitute in the interpretative tradition of the Western Church. When Nicodemus encounters her, we discover that the evil spirit that is possessing her is named Lilith. However, I'll acknowledge that what the show is suggesting about Mary's past life is certainly open to interpretation.]. (Jesus), What about Jesus' identity does this hint at? He attempts to heal her and exorcise the evil spirit in her, but he is unsuccessful and concludes that she is beyond hope. In the Bible, there is no indication that Nicodemus met Mary Magdalene or that he tried to heal her or exorcise her evil spirits. (Plots & Theme), Episode 2 Guide: Philip, Nathanael, & Matthew, Episode 3 Guide: Life Among the Disciples of Jesus, Episode 4 Guide: Simon the Zealot & the Man at the Bethesda Pool, Episode 5 Guide: Mary's Demons & the Destiny of John the Baptist, Episode 8 Guide: Judas, Matthew, & the Sermon on the Mount, Episode 1 Guide: Mary Magdalene, Lilith, and the Redeemer, Episode 2 Guide: Mary Magdalene, Nicodemus, and Shabbat, Episode 3 Guide: Depicting Jesus in Art, Film, and TV, Episode 4 Guide: When Jesus Met Simon (Peter), Episode 6 Guide: Jesus, Shmuel, & the Pharisees. However, Jesus knew her real name. Over time, the Western artistic tradition repeatedly depicted Mary as a prostitute and the mistaken association got stuck in the cultural consciousness. The last passage is an optional bonus for youth that like digging deeper. every time a new character showed up. Her name always was Mary, but through her past of turmoil, mental illness, rape, or whatever else caused her to be mentally tortured, she led everyone to believe she was Lilith. Mary Magdalene is never called Lili or Lilith in the Bible. Luke notes that Mary had seven spirits exorcised from her, but the other women experienced miraculous healing as well. The Hebrew word "lilit" only shows up in Isaiah 34:14, where most modern translations render it as something along the lines of "night bird." The implications of Mary living in the "Red Quarter" are still there. The creators of The Chosen probably chose this name because it is associated with demons in Jewish traditions. Why do you think the creators added them? The episode with the woman at the well in the season finale could have been an interesting opportunity to bring her character into conflict with the other male disciples, but this opportunity was also missed. I'm not saying we needed to see anything explicit, but the show certainly could have implied a bit more than it did. The Chosen Season 3: What to Expect & How to Watch, The Chosen Season 3 Episode 1 & Episode 2: Reaction and Analysis, The Chosen Season 3 Episode 3: Recap, Review, & Analysis, The Chosen Season 3 Episodes 1 & 2: Questions to Discuss Before the Premiere, Preparing for The Chosen Season 3: 7 Episodes to Watch, I am the Law of Moses (The Chosen Season 3 Controversy), Little James in The Chosen & Scripture ***Season 3***, Judas in The Chosen ***Season 3 Update***, Matthew in The Chosen ***Season 3 Update***, Simon and Andrew in The Chosen ***Season 3 Update***, Lilith, Demons, & Evil Spirits in The Chosen, Simon the Zealot & Nathanael in The Chosen, Quintus, Gaius, and the Romans in The Chosen. Anyway, I love the series. In The Chosen, Mary Magdalene is played by Elizabeth Tabish. One day (hopefully) we viewers will get our first glimpse of the resurrected Jesus as we follow Mary to the empty tomb. So you have to watch past the first couple episodes to get to the good ones. In my opinion it works. Unfortunately, because Mary's change happens so quickly, her character goes from being pretty dynamic in episodes 1-2 to being a pretty flat in the remainder of the season. In The Chosen, when we first meet Mary Magdalene, most of the characters refer to her as Lili. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. They prompt us to consider how these two events, Mary's first encounter with Jesus and her first encounter with the risen Jesus, are connected in a deeper way. Mary Magdalene is never called Lili or Lilith in the Bible. Because The Chosen seeks to be kid-friendly, it may use the term "Red Quarter" in order to hint to older viewers that Mary is either a prostitute or a sexually immoral woman without explicitly mentioning prostitution or sex. I will definitely continue watching it then, I just wanted to make sure! Although we'll have to wait in order to understand fully what the show wants us to conclude, this could be a subtle and effective way to show how Jesus' ability to heal and save is ultimately grounded in his willingness to die and rise again. While watching the show, I made occasional comments through the chat but I tried to not do too much teaching - I wanted the youth to enjoy The Chosen and not just see it as an elaborate preaching illustration. Consider how the show depicts Jesus' first appearance. One challenge that film adaptations of Jesus' life need to overcome is the lack of significant female characters. I take comments made by The Chosen Twitter account with a grain of salt, especially since they are most likely made by digital marketers and not the actual creators of The Chosen. Mary Magdalene was a female disciple who traveled with Jesus during his ministry (Luke 8:1-3). I thought Mary's storyline in Season 2 of The Chosen had a lot of potential but it was unfortunately not given enough room to breathe. The creators of The Chosen have published interactive Bible Studies that are meant to explore some of the Scripture and biblical themes that inspired Season 1 and help viewers apply them to everyday life. Jesus is said to have cast seven evil spirits out of her (, As I noted above, in the Bible there is no indication that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. Dallas Jenkins (Director) is not Catholic, but - in my mind - makes the best Christian films I have seen anywhere. How does that truth encourage you? This version of Mary - not the one who needs moral reformation but the one who needs sympathy and belonging - fits perfectly with the kinds of stories that The Chosen has focused on. Until Jesus shows up, some youth may find the show a little slow. We need to remember the perspective is of east and west are different East is how it performs, what it does its function West they would describe what it is or made of. (he calls her by name at the end when he heals her). The assumption at that time was that women became prostitutes because they were inherently immoral and desirous. I offer my work for free and rely on the generous support of readers like you. [Update: In the comments below, an astute reader pointed me to a post by the official Twitter for The Chosen, which claims Mary is not being portrayed as a prostitute. Its not perfect, but its a pretty great start. Mary Magdalene is never called Lili or Lilith in the Bible. In Episode 8, we see that Mary is still struggling a bit - her failure is driving her to be a bit too unrelenting in her work for Jesus- but other than that she seems to be back on track. Later Jewish tradition described a demonic figure known as Lilith in a variety of ways. For the most part, I just clarified who characters were (see my comment above) and occasionally I briefly explained a reference or allusion that was confusing to my youth. The Chosen introduces a lot of characters and expects us to just keep up. Thank you for your input. Moreover, her biblical significance has been amplified even more by the attention that she's received from the interpretative and artistic traditions of the West. The Chosen Season 3: What to Expect & How to Watch, The Chosen Season 3 Episode 1 & Episode 2: Reaction and Analysis, The Chosen Season 3 Episodes 1 & 2: Questions to Discuss Before the Premiere, Preparing for The Chosen Season 3: 7 Episodes to Watch, I am the Law of Moses (The Chosen Season 3 Controversy), Little James in The Chosen & Scripture ***Season 3***, Judas in The Chosen ***Season 3 Update***, Matthew in The Chosen ***Season 3 Update***, Simon and Andrew in The Chosen ***Season 3 Update***, Lilith, Demons, & Evil Spirits in The Chosen, Simon the Zealot & Nathanael in The Chosen, Quintus, Gaius, and the Romans in The Chosen. And just like one day the risen Jesus will reveal himself to Mary and free her from grief and fear by calling her name, Jesus first reveals himself to "Lilith" and frees her from her grief and fear and demons by calling her by her true name, Mary. As it was, we didn't really get a good sense of why Mary responded the way she did. 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