Physician, Heal Yourself

> *"Well, that was interesting. You couldn't have told me before tonight?"*
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> *-Lazarus, to Jesus*
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> "Physician, Heal Yourself" is the third episode of the third season of The Chosen.
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## Synopsis

Jesus returns to His hometown of Nazareth for the New Year, but few will be willing to accept His claims.

## Summary

### Hometown Memories

A flashback shows Jesus and Lazarus playing together as toddlers ,and Joseph happily greeting his family on returning home from work.

In the present, Jesus returns to Nazareth for Rosh Hashanah. When He asks where his brothers James and Jude are, Mother Mary awkwardly replies they decided to spend it in Sepphoris (clearly to avoid Him). He updates her on how the ministry and His disciples are faring, confirming her guess that Thomas and Ramah hope to marry soon. He then tells her He needs the box given to Him containing a donkey’s bit and bridle, to which she acts uneasy but says it’s in His old room.

### Nazareth's Success Story

During the following day’s festivities, Jesus and Mother Mary greet Dinah and Rafi, who have been telling everyone about His wine miracle. They also reunite with Lazarus and his sisters, visiting from Bethany.  The siblings have heard about Jesus’s miracles, and that some believe He’s the Messiah, and Lazarus suggests they discuss this in detail later.

### A Year of Jubilee

Lazarus convinces Nazareth’s Rabbi Benjamin to let Jesus read from Torah during the synagogue service, and also talks Jesus into joining him in a ball game, which Jesus loses. That evening He reads the first 2 verses from Isaiah chapter 6 and declares it to be the year of the Lord’s favor. When Rabbi Benjamin asks why Jesus stopped reading before reaching the part of God’s vengeance, Jesus states that is in the future, but right now He is here for salvation.

The others ask if he’s claiming to be more than a mere Rabbi and request He perform the signs and wonders they’ve heard about, but He states that a prophet is never accepted in his hometown, as it’s often easier to accept incredible or hard things from strangers rather than someone a person knows well, and finds underwhelming.

### A False Prophet?

The Rabbi and congregation start getting angry when He continues saying that they need to be released from spiritual debt despite being the descendants of Abraham, as one can only be saved if they know themselves to be captive. As example he cites the widow of Sidon Elijah helped rather than the thousands of Israelite widows during a famine, and Elisha healing the Syrian general Naaman of leprosy rather than the thousands of lepers in Israel, because both gentiles recognized their need and obeyed.

When asked if He is claiming to be the Messiah, Jesus confirms that He is. Only His mother and the Bethany siblings believe Him, while the others, including Rafi and Dinah, are appalled. Rabbi Benjamin tries to get Jesus to recant His claim, but He will not, and is declared a false prophet, a crime punishable by death. Lazarus keeps trying to diffuse the situation, but Jesus asks him to take care of His mother before He is taken away to the outskirts of town.

The mob brings Him to the top of a cliff with the intention of throwing Him over, but Jesus states that He is not dying “today”, and walks away through the crowd, who only watch in stunned silence.

### To the Brokenhearted

He visits Joseph’s tomb, knowing He will never see it again, and remembers when Joseph taught Him the passage in Isaiah He read and gave Him the donkey’s bit and bridle that had been passed down through the family since the Exodus, as a symbol of God leading His people to freedom. Lazarus and Mother Mary find Him there, with the latter bringing the bridle. They agree that Jesus can never return to Nazareth and Mary should stay with the Bethany siblings for a while. When Lazarus asks about the bit and bridle, Jesus tells him he’ll know what it’s for soon enough.

## Cast and Characters

### Main

* Jonathan Roumie as Jesus
* Venessa Benevente as Mary (Sarah Anne as younger Mary)

### Recurring

* Demetrios Troy as Lazarus
* Raj Bond as Joseph
* Leslie Steele as Dinah
* Oliver Rayon as Rafi

### New

* Sophia Blum as Martha
* Catherine Lidstone as Mary of Bethany

## Themes

The episode is based on Luke 4: 6-3, Mark 6: 1-6, Matthew 15: 54-58, and Isaiah 61:1-2.

### Events

* Jesus proclaims Himself Messiah to His hometown and is rejected.
* Martha and Mary are introduced.
* Jesus collects the bridle and bit to be used during the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.

## Trivia

* The is the second episode in which none of Jesus's disciples appear, the first being "Jesus Loves the Little Children"
* This is also the first mention of Jesus's brothers in the show.