“I am the Law of Moses.” If you’ve visited any Christian communities on the world wide web recently, chances are you’ve heard this line. It comes from the trailer for season 3 of The Chosen, a TV show that takes on the earthly life of Jesus.
If the show wants to follow in the footsteps Christ with Matthew 10:35 in mind, then this line has certainly succeeded in that. But the show’s creator, Dallas Jenkins, has made it clear that his intentions are quite different. After no small amount of controversy, it appears that some fact-checking is in order for the claims on both sides. So, it is my intention to exhaustively examine these, in turn, with no bias except the Word of God.
Some of the controversies are fresh, while others have migrated to the foreground after years of looming in the background. But all have some relevance to the aforementioned line–small as the tongue that spoke it, yet hot as the dumpster fire that blazes around it. For context, this line is not just something that people noticed in passing and decided to nitpick. It was advertised as a trailer highlight from day one.
The Pharisee in the scene tells Jesus (the TV character) that if he doesn’t renounce his words, they will have no choice but to follow the Law of Moses. Jesus approaches him, slowly and dramatically, while the music comes to an intense crescendo followed by three seconds of a histrionic rumble note. (Hey, I never said the marketers weren’t masters of trailer formula.) After this, Jesus delivers the line heard round the Christian media world, raising the controversies: one, that Jesus (our Lord and Savior) is simply no such thing; and two, that the statement comes from The Book of Mormon. Let’s briefly examine both.
Controversy the first: Does the Bible say that Jesus is the Law of Moses? The book of Hebrews has some extensive descriptions of the same, so let’s take a look at the highlights and compare them to Jesus.
Hebrews 8:6-7
But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
Hebrews 8:13
In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Hebrews 10:1-7
For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.
Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.
The beginning of Hebrews 10 alone is enough to answer our question. Jesus was typified in the Law of Moses, which means, by definition, He is not the Law of Moses. It also reminds us that the Law of Moses offered recurring sacrifices, while Jesus died once for all, per 1 Peter 3:18. But Hebrews generously pads this proof in its candid descriptions of the Old Covenant.
Of course, God makes no mistakes–the Old Covenant was not faulty as the type and shadow it was intended to be–but it could never achieve the ultimate goal of reconciling Christ to His bride. This is why we just heard it described as faulty, obsolete, insufficient, and undesirable to God. The mere thought of this should overwhelm us with thankfulness that Jesus is not faulty, obsolete, insufficient, or undesirable to God. If Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law of Moses–which He is–then we are redeemed. If Jesus is the Law of Moses, then we are damned.
From a strictly grammatical perspective, the line is only missing a few words. But those few words–namely, “the fulfillment of”–make infinite theological difference. For further reflection on your own time, I recommend reading the entirety of Galatians 3 and the institution of the Lord’s Supper in Luke 22.
Controversy the second: does the Book of Mormon say that Jesus is the Law of Moses? Many have pointed out that the closest thing to a matching quote is found in 3 Nephi 15:9, in which their false Jesus says, “Behold, I am the law and the light.” They argue that comparing the two quotes is a stretch at best, because the exact words are not there. But this is all they want to see. They want to stay distracted in a detail that ultimately tells us nothing, turning a blind eye its massively incriminating context. We are now entering Book of Mormon territory. Please proceed with caution.
3 Nephi 15:2-9
And it came to pass that when Jesus had said these words he perceived that there were some among them who marveled, and wondered what he would concerning the law of Moses; for they understood not the saying that old things had passed away, and that all things had become new. And he said unto them: Marvel not that I said unto you that old things had passed away, and that all things had become new. Behold, I say unto you that the law is fulfilled that was given unto Moses. Behold, I am he that gave the law, and I am he who covenanted with my people Israel; therefore, the law in me is fulfilled, for I have come to fulfill the law; therefore it hath an end. Behold, I do not destroy the prophets, for as many as have not been fulfilled in me, verily I say unto you, shall all be fulfilled. And because I said unto you that old things have passed away, I do not destroy that which hath been spoken concerning things which are to come. For behold, the covenant which I have made with my people is not all fulfilled; but the law which was given unto Moses hath an end in me. Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life.
We see here that the context of the quote is a lengthy monologue about the Law of Moses, and that this is what can only logically be referred to in the words “I am the law.” So yes, the book of Mormon does, in fact, communicate that Jesus is the Law of Moses.
This leads us to a third and broader controversy: that The Chosen, as a whole, is heavily influenced by Mormon heresy. Some would have us believe that it’s a closeted Mormon show in its entirety, while others would have us believe that it has no Mormon ties that could possibly influence it. Both positions are myopic exaggerations. It’s harder to give a concise, definitive answer on this one, because the facts in this matter are kind of all over the place.
It is true that the distributor, Angel Studios, was founded by two Mormon brothers, Jeff and Neal Harmon. In 2013, they founded VidAngel, a streaming service with customizable filters for potentially objectionable content. In 2021, they launched Angel Studios. The face of their commercials is a Mormon comedian who formerly served as a full-time Mormon missionary: Matt Meese of Studio C. All this is verifiable on the Mormon Wiki.
“It’s content that feeds the soul. After watching The Chosen, John said, ‘I’ve never felt more connected to Jesus and His Disciples than I did watching The Chosen.’’
~ Matt Meese
Additionally, season 2 of The Chosen was filmed on the Mormon Jerusalem film set in Utah. This set began construction a full ten years prior, exclusively for Mormon short films. The Chosen was the first outsider project that was ever granted access to it.
“I actually felt a spiritual connection here.”
~ Dallas Jenkins
When Dallas Jenkins clarifies that he is an evangelical conservative who has never read the Book of Mormon, I can take his word on that. But this does not minimize the significant capacity in which the show has teamed up with the LDS. So, now we know the facts, but this is only the very beginning of the controversy. This leads us to an equally important question: do we have grounds to believe that Dallas Jenkins is writing a Mormon agenda into the show? This question will take a full follow-up video to answer.
At this point, some viewers may be wondering if I intend to address the controversy of whether artistic portrayals of the Godman inherently break the second commandment. My answer is that you can point a finger in any other direction on the reformed network if you really want to see a discourse on that issue that will embitter everyone’s mouth and change no one’s mind. My my focus here is only on the six words currently in question and details directly related to them. So, everything I say here would have equal application if The Chosen was a book with no visuals.
I will, however, address the second commandment in relation to some of the reception that this line is getting. Much ado has been made of the negative responses, which many deem unloving. But has anyone examined the responses of the show’s loyalists? This can be done on the show’s Facebook page, where they posted about the line. Let’s check out some of the comments.
“WOW!!! I’ve watched the trailer at least 25 times!! I can’t get enough! Each time I watch I have to take a moment to compose myself.”
“The mic drop of mic drops!”
“I jumped out of my WORK chair. Not embarrassed of the Gospel!”
“I can’t never reproduce my reaction to this”
“Best line EVER!!”
“Yesss! My Jesus!”
“Best line ever!” (Heart fish bread cross heart.)
“Emphasis on ‘I AM’”
“Best line EVER!!”
Lord have mercy! If some of these comments aren’t idolatry that would put the Pope to shame, I don’t know what is. Still others, while not necessarily idolatrous, raise questions, such as: when was the last time you were moved like this while taking the Lord’s Supper or reading the actual words of Jesus in Scripture?
But alas, this takes us well outside the boundaries of fact-checking; so it is here that I must wrap up this segue into part 2. Since defenses of the line have come from Dallas Jenkins and The Chosen’s Facebook page, my intention is to unpack and respond to these in my next video.