This month I finally got around to watching the TV series The Chosen, which got a lot of attention when quarantine began last year. It’s an immensely detailed and well-thought-out series based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, and I wasn’t sure how great it’d be until I watched it! There was something that struck me particularly deeply in episode 6. The character Nicodemus (who is canonically in the Bible) is troubled by John the Baptist’s arrival and his possible connections to prophecies of the Torah.

When I first read this small section, I loved it! Stories in the Old Testament can be thrilling but often dark, so occasional slivers of joy like this seem especially meaningful and beautiful. I loved it so much because—though far from an Old Testament scholar—I am familiar with how much the Israelites endure through the history it details, so reading about how the exiled Israelites finally return to rebuild the house of the Lord was like sharing in a huge victory with them.