Filmmaker Dallas Jenkins says there are three words he’s hoping people take away from his record-breaking hit, “Christmas with The Chosen: The Messengers,” a film that continues to inspire audiences: “People must know.”
Jenkins, whose movie raked in a whopping $9 million last weekend and more than $11 million total thus far, said on “Edifi With Billy Hallowell” he is hoping to see the Gospel message reach as many people as possible.
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The director and writer said the project, which gives audiences a look at Jesus’ birth through the eyes of Mary and Joseph, provides stunning imagery, illustrating the biblical narrative.
“There’s such a beautiful contrast between the raw humanity of what Jesus arrived in and how he really came in as one of us, as a crying baby to a scared teenager in the midst of a dirty pen where there were animals,” Jenkins said.
He then revealed one of the surprising moments that truly drives home the humble nature of Christ’s arrival — the inclusion of animal dung to illustrate the meek and unassuming elements of Jesus’ birth.
“I have a moment where Joseph scoops manure to make room for Mary to sit down to give birth,” he said.
Listen to Jenkins discuss this moment:
At the center of the film is a powerful message: Jesus was one of us.
“We really pound the nail of ‘Jesus was one of us,'” he said, noting how Christ’s own mother makes this point in the film. “Mary, as she’s telling the story 50 years later, one of the things she says to the person she’s talking to is, ‘We must never forget and people must know that he was one of us for a time and that this all began in such humble surroundings.'”
In many ways, “Christmas with The Chosen: The Messengers” is a return to the project’s roots, as “The Chosen” series was birthed from a Christmas special Jenkins created for his church.
Flash-forward a few years, and the resulting series is now an international phenomenon.
“It’s something we believe has a chance to be extraordinary,” he said.
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