For a series that has spent years telling the story of Jesus through the eyes of the people around Him, the final stretch of The Chosen was always going to carry unusual emotional weight. But the first footage from Season 7 suggests that the ending may not be designed simply as a farewell. Instead, the final two seasons appear to be functioning as two halves of the same emotional journey: Season 6 takes viewers into suffering and death, while Season 7 begins with the shock, hope, and urgency of resurrection.

According to a report from ChurchLeaders, creator and director Dallas Jenkins recently shared an Instagram reel offering fans a behind-the-scenes look at production of the seventh and final season.

Jenkins described the experience in unmistakably emotional terms, writing, “Season 7 filming has been very bittersweet. Here’s a taste of how we’re doing.”

That word — “bittersweet” — may be one of the most revealing details about the footage. The series is approaching the end of its production journey, but the story being filmed is moving in exactly the opposite direction. Rather than ending with death, grief, or defeat, Season 7 will focus on the resurrection of Jesus and the immediate aftermath.

The contrast can already be seen in the footage.

In one sequence, the actors playing Peter and John are shown running toward Jesus’ empty tomb. In another, Mary Magdalene appears overwhelmed by what she has witnessed and eager to spread the news that “he is alive!”

Those moments are significant because they suggest that the final season will not treat the resurrection simply as a closing image. The characters themselves are being shown reacting to something that completely changes the meaning of what came before. After the devastation surrounding the crucifixion, the empty tomb becomes the point where grief suddenly collides with something none of them expected.

The reel also shows the scale of the production. There are different locations and sets, scenes involving crowds, and quieter closeups focused on individual characters. At one point, Jenkins smiles while embracing a cast member and says, “It’s going to be a long season.”

Season 7 has been filming in Texas and Utah, and it is expected to premiere in March 2028. It will officially conclude The Chosen by covering the resurrection and the events immediately following it.

Yet the reactions from fans suggest that many viewers are already separating the end of the television production from the message they believe the series represents.

One fan responded to the footage by writing, “Jesus is alive—that is the most important message.” The same comment emphasized that even though The Chosen is ending, viewers can continue carrying that message into the world.

Another fan made a similar distinction: “The filming…will come to an end. But The Chosen will live on to tell the story and be a witness for Jesus.”

That idea gives the final season an unusual narrative challenge. Most long-running television series build toward closure. The Chosen, however, is reaching its production ending at the precise moment when its story is emphasizing continuation.

And that makes Season 6 especially important.

Before audiences reach the empty tomb, they will first have to experience the crucifixion. Season 6, which is scheduled to debut on Prime Video in November, centers on Jesus’ death and has already been described by Jenkins as “easily our hardest” season to film.

In another Instagram reel, Jenkins acknowledged that watching Jesus suffer and die “will be tough” for viewers. But he framed that discomfort as part of the experience rather than something the series intends to avoid.

He encouraged believers to “aim…to follow in Christ’s footsteps and even attempt to identify with Him. Like He did with us. That includes the suffering.”

Jenkins also made clear that any discomfort caused by watching a dramatized crucifixion is “not even in the same universe as what [Jesus] went through.”

Still, he has emphasized that Season 6 will not consist only of pain and grief. Alongside suffering, the season is also expected to contain love, power, humor, joy, and beauty.

That balance may ultimately explain why the first Season 7 footage feels so important.

If Season 6 asks the audience to remain with the characters through the most painful stage of the story, Season 7 appears ready to reverse the emotional direction almost immediately. Peter and John are no longer standing helplessly before death; they are running. Mary Magdalene is no longer simply mourning; she is preparing to tell others that “he is alive!”

The filmmaking itself may be ending, but the story the cast is portraying is suddenly moving forward again.

That is the paradox at the center of The Chosen’s conclusion. The people making the series are saying goodbye to something they have built for years, while the characters they portray are discovering that what appeared to be an ending was not an ending at all.

Jenkins’ description of filming as “bittersweet” therefore carries more meaning than a normal behind-the-scenes farewell. Season 7 is being created in an atmosphere of real-life closure, yet its central message is about what happens when closure is unexpectedly broken open.

And if the footage of the empty tomb is any indication, The Chosen may be preparing to end its television journey not with the feeling that everything is finished, but with the sense that something much larger has only just begun.