That milestone moment in the final episode of season two brought together more than 2,000 extras.
Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, from chapters 5 - 7 in the Book of Matthew, is certainly among the most memorable instances of his earthly ministry. So Dallas Jenkins, creator and director of The Chosen, wanted it to be portrayed as such in this multi-season series about the life of Christ and he brought in a massive number of extras to make it so.
As we reported at the time, this was quite an undertaking put on in very difficult conditions, making it worthy of a story of its own, which it now has: a documentary entitled Journey to the Sermon on the Mount. Jenkins released the film last night in a livestream and it is impactful, combining behind-the-scenes footage from the event and profiling several of the 2,000-plus extras who came to the location outside Dallas, TX from places as far afield as Minnesota and Puerto Rico.
In his introduction of the film, Jenkins points out that they traveled for the event much like some of the actual audience members of Jesus' sermon no doubt did two millennia ago. And these are real people with touching stories of trial, failure and the redemption that comes through the saving grace of Christ.
"It was really an unbelievable situation. We did it in the middle of the pandemic, it got us national attention, it was just quite an operation. And as always, we like to make things personal, so you're going to see this through the eyes of a few people who were there and have stories of their own."
The documentary runs just over 45 minutes and you can find it below at approximately 1:16:15 into Jenkins' livestream. We suggest you take the time to watch because it is well done.
Another noteworthy tidbit from the director's talk is an updated target date for production of season three. If construction of new sets finishes in time at their Dallas-area location, Jenkins hopes to start filming in March, 2022. Among the scenes to be featured in that next season is Jesus' feeding of the 5,000, which will require another mass-extra event like the Sermon on the Mount did. And you can take part, though, it won't be cheap: to be an extra you will need to contribute at least $999.99 to the show's Pay-It-Forward program, which is one of the primary mechanisms to fund future seasons.