Where to watch 'The Chosen' Christmas special
The Christmas story will come to life in a compelling way in a special episode of the hit Bible series “The Chosen,” airing on The CW Network on Christmas Eve.
The episode goes back and forth between Joseph and Mary's journey to Bethlehem and 10 years after the death of Christ, where an older Mary shares the story with Mary Magdalene.
The special will also feature a performance of “Joy to the World (Joyful Joyful)” by Phil Wickham on the set featuring Jordan Feliz, Bryan & Katie Torwalt, Maverick City and The Bonner Family.
“I’m thrilled The CW is airing this Christmas episode, it’s a great introduction to 'The Chosen' to anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. The perspective we show of this story honors the Gospel narrative while also exploring the cultural, historical and personal context that hasn’t been portrayed before,” Dallas Jenkins, creator of “The Chosen,” said.
“The Chosen” Executive Producer Derral Eves previously told The Christian Post that viewers can expect an “amazing” experience that showcases the birth of Christ through the eyes of Mary and Joseph and highlights the hardships they endured.
“We’re giving symbolism to the importance of certain things around the nativity that most people just push aside, or they might sing about it, but not really have the context of what that means,” Eves said.
“With ‘The Chosen,’ we try to do things disruptive. We try to do things outside the box. And we do believe that sometimes you need to do that to get more eyeballs on certain things.
“The Chosen,” the largest fan-supported entertainment project of all time, has been watched by 94 million people worldwide since its launch in 2019. "The Chosen" season three launched in November.
The theme of season three, Jenkins told CP at the red carpet premiere, is “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”
“This season really captures the weary and heavy laden,” Jenkins said. “And I think our world right now is going through ‘weary and heavy-laden,’ COVID, weather issues, whatever it is, political divisiveness, those are all things that they went through in the first century. Jesus came, and they expected Him to overcome the Romans, to make everything OK, and to solve all the political problems. He didn't; that wasn't why He was there. He was creating a new Kingdom, and He had a new definition of what rest looked like.”
“I think the key for this season is we give a definition of what rest looks like by seeing Jesus and what rest looks like through the eyes of the disciples,” he added.
“The Chosen” has been translated into 62 languages and is completely free to watch and available as both a stand-alone mobile and the Angel App and The New Chosen TV app, plus available on multiple streaming services.
Actor Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in the series, told CP he prays the show points viewers to “a greater power,” to “God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
“I hope that they can feel inspired to go read Scriptures and be inspired by the Word and maybe find the Church and get more involved in making God a greater part of their lives because your life only gets better."
“As you get to know Christ more and more deeply, [life] can never get worse, it only gets better. I think more people need to know that, to hear that. And if we can find a way to do that through modern media, like storytelling and television, then that's our calling,” he said.
“The Chosen” Christmas special will air on The CW Network on Friday at 8 p.m. ET.
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com