The Wedding Gift
The Chosen (Season One, Episode Five)
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be writing some thoughts and reflection questions for each episode of the TV show, The Chosen. I hope you’ll join me for this spiritual journey and pray that you’ll be open to hear what God might be wanting to communicate to you through this show! :)
HI MOM!
YES MARY YES! What a woman, y’all! From the very beginning of this episode, we see how much Mary cares for her son, especially as she is desperately searching for him in the marketplace in Jerusalem. We learn that Jesus is only twelve years old and has been missing for about three days. You can tell that Mary is exhausted after searching for her son everywhere, and she is so relieved when she finally hears his voice. Joseph explains to her how incredible it was that he found Jesus teaching the rabbis and other scholars in “his father’s house.” I can only imagine what Mary is feeling in this moment. She knows that her son has a specific mission, as the Son of God, but she asks him to “help them get through this” because he is not an ordinary child. There is so much love, patience, and understanding shared among Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, and it is so beautiful to see this, even if only during a brief scene in the show!
Mary, being the amazing woman that she is, arrives early to the wedding feast so that she can help the mother of the groom with any last minute preparations. She radiates love and joy and keeps her friend’s spirits high. I love when Jesus tells his friends on their journey to the wedding feast that the “most important and powerful person will be there,” … his mother! Mary even refers to her son as her “special guest” and warns her friend that he might be bringing friends along with him. Can I just say how cool it would be to have Jesus show up to your wedding as a wedding guest?! And yet, the people at this wedding still have NO idea who he really is, as they only know him as Jesus of Nazareth. While Mary doesn’t reveal Jesus’ true identity and mission, she does share with her friend that her son has a calling and that she “seldom knows where it will take him.” I love how supportive she is. I think it would be rare for parents nowadays to be so supportive of their child if they weren’t working, were traveling all over the world, and responding to “a calling.” But if we truly feel like God is calling us to do something, who are we to get in the way of that, even if we think we know what is best.
You guys…I literally cried when Jesus hugged his mother! He clearly loves her so much, and she loves him so much too. Jesus quickly introduces her to his students, and she takes time to meet every one of them, automatically loving them as if they are her own. We are so blessed to have Mary as OUR Mother. She loves each and every one of us, as if her are her own, and she is always willing to lend a listening ear. Personally, there have been several times in my life when I have relied on Mary’s help to intercede on my behalf, and I have had prayers answered when I’ve asked her for help, especially through devotional prayers like 54 day rosary novenas. She listens to our prayers and petitions and brings them to her son on our behalf. And because Jesus loves his mother so much, he will always listen to what she has to say.
DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU
In this episode, the wedding caterers, Ramah and Thomas, bring three jars of wine because that is all the groom’s parents could afford. Thomas is worried that three jars won’t be enough and even says that he would have been willing to pay for a fourth jar with his own money. We later find out that the groom’s parents spent all that they had on this wine to ensure that there would be the best wine for their guests. Ramah and Thomas explain that they plan to serve the best wine first and then the lesser wine last (a common wedding feast trick since more than likely the wedding guests won’t notice then). Sure enough, Ramah and Thomas find out that instead of there being forty guests like they were originally told, there are eighty guests present. Worried, they start exploring as many options as possible to make the wine last without shaming the family or themselves. However, the groom’s mother eventually finds out, and in a desperate attempt to save her friend’s reputation, Mary seeks out Jesus to inform him of the news. Even though Jesus tells his mother that his “time has not yet come,” Mary responds with “if not now, when?” Then, after receiving a sigh and a smile from her son, Mary turns to Ramah and Thomas and tells them to “do whatever he tells you.”
Ok, let’s just pause here for a second. This is SUPER relevant to us today! As I stated above, Mary loves us so much, as if we are her own, so this scene provides us with an example of how Mary advocates on our behalf whenever we pray to her and ask for her intercession. In turn, she is always advocating for her son. She has faith in him and knows what he is capable of doing, which is why she turned to him in the first place. The image of Jesus standing in the courtyard alley gave me chills. He’s about to go public, which means he’s about to gain many followers and also many enemies FAST. Jesus asks the catering staff to fill the empty jars with water. Now, Ramah does what he instructs, trusting him, but Thomas doubts and asks “why?” He doesn’t see a logical solution to their problem, but Jesus invites him to follow him to learn “a different way of seeing time.” Jesus turns the water into wine, and the servants nervously serve it to the master of the banquet, who exclaims that it is the best wine he has ever tasted. This miracle, as many times as I’ve heard it before, reminded me that God always provides that which is far greater than anything I can ever imagine. I have to constantly remind myself of that and continue to trust in his plan.
EPISODE FIVE REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
~How can you grow in love, patience, and understanding with your family, just like the Holy Family modeled for us at the beginning of this episode? What are little ways that you can strengthen the different relationships within your family?
~What is your relationship like with Mary? How can you continue to strengthen that relationship, knowing that she is Jesus’ mother, the mother of God?
~Which of the two caterers do you relate to most: Ramah or Thomas? Are you quick to trust what God tells you to do, or do you often ask “why?” What can you do to trust God more?
To watch all eight episodes of season one for free, download The Chosen app on Apple or Android mobile devices.
If you end up loving the show and want to “pay it forward” to help fund season two, you can either make a donation in the app and/or purchase the season one DVD set for yourself or friends/family.
