Transcription

Connor
You’re listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun and practical ways.

Chris
Chris. Jeff, what are you doing here? Well, guess what. I’m here to ask you. What made you mad today? What? Or actually, this week. This week? Yeah.

Jeff
Oh, that’s your segment. I don’t want to. I don’t want to push it on your segment. Hey, by.

Chris
The way, I’m going to tell you something real quick. We’re going to see how this goes. Because everybody always asks me what made me mad because apparently I’m passionate about certain things.

Jeff
You’re very passionate person. Yes.

Chris
And then and then every once in a while they would they would ask me. I think I’ve been asked only like twice would make Chris happy because I vocalized this. This because you complain. Well, that makes you mad.

Jeff
It makes you mad that we ask you what made you mad.

Chris
It’s a stereotype, Jeff. We don’t like profiling and so and so to assume that everything in Jeff’s always happy and Chris is always mad.

Jeff
I’m always.

Chris
Happy. So so so therefore, this is probably one of two times ever where we’ve actually asked the question directly to you. What made Jeff mad. Yeah. This week.

Jeff
So literally like eight minutes ago, I realized that that was a segment. And what did I do?

Chris
You called Bonnie.

Jeff
And Jenna and asked them.

Chris
Said what made me mad this week?

Jeff
Because I don’t ever have it right on the on the, you know, tip of my tongue like you do.

Chris
Well know.

Jeff
I’ll say, oh, hey, it’s Christmas week because I know, I already know what I want.

Chris
To talk about. Your brain is delusional and you forget things all the time.

Jeff
Ignorance is bliss. Ignorance?

Chris
Well, that is true. Yeah.

Jeff
I just walk around in this blissful ignorance all the time. Yeah, totally. Yeah. No, you know what? I do go around. I’m a complainer. I complain about stuff all the time. Oh, that’s so stupid. That’s dumb. This is dumb. But I try not to be. I want to be a positive person. So I did call Bonnie, and she reminded me almost immediately.

Chris
I thought you said Jenna said.

Jeff
Oh, yeah. Yeah, it was Jenna. It was Jenna that said so I have to travel a lot, right? So this is so, you know, you’re always mad for people vicariously. You’re mad about things for us. Yeah, yeah, for us little people.

Chris
Yeah. For the.

Jeff
World. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So. So this is one of mine. So I wind up traveling a lot and I fly a lot. As a matter of fact, I’m leaving the studio and I’m going to the airport. Right. So I’m flying out for a meeting tomorrow or tonight and tomorrow morning. And so I’ll tell you what makes me mad is the TSA lines. Oh, TSA lines make me so mad, aren’t you?

Chris
Aren’t you.

Jeff
PreCheck? I am PreCheck, I’m I am everything, I am everything, and yet.

Chris
You’re clear.

Jeff
For some reason. I still get randomly selected for advanced advanced screening, right? So going through Paris in particular, which just skipped Paris, people don’t fly through Paris. Yeah, I.

Chris
Had a really bad experience in Paris, too.

Jeff
So I’ve been through Paris this year. I’ve probably been through the Paris airport ten times, maybe 15 times, and I’ve been stopped more than half the time for advanced screening. You know, random, advanced.

Chris
You sort of look shady. Yeah, well.

Jeff
I fit every profile for a bad guy, right? Overweight, middle aged white guy from America with a religious, you know, religious visa, whatever. So anyways, I keep getting getting. So I got a little grumpy. Yeah, believe it or not. Yeah. And I asked the guy, I said, uh, how long has it been since you personally caught a terrorist? Oh, wow. And he goes, oh well I’ve never I’ve personally I’ve never I said, well how long has it been since your unit has ever caught a terrorist? He goes, well, I don’t know. I said, well how long has it been since I don’t know the entire US. So this was in the US. How many has since? How long has it been since the entire US TSA organization has caught a terrorist? He goes, oh no, I said, I can tell you never, never. You’ve never caught a terrorist. So originally they told us they imposed the whole TSA thing on us to catch terrorists. And they tell us every week, oh, we caught this person who had nail clippers. We caught this person every once in a while, somebody, you know, packing a gun or something like that. They never they’ve never said that they believe that the person was going to shoot the place up. It was somebody had a concealed carry gun and they forgot. Right, right, right, right. That’s usually what it is. And but so they tell us every week that they caught somebody with nail clippers, but they, they have never declared I mean they let a guy through with bomb in his underwear. Right. They’ve done all those things, but they’ve never actually told us that they caught a bad guy. And I said so. Never, never. So what you’ve done is we’ve spent trillions of dollars just inconveniencing travelers. Jeff
That’s all we’ve done. And and so what happened was you used to have this target, we’re going to catch terrorists. And then since we’ve never caught a terrorist, you move the target over here and said, we’re just going to inconvenience people and it’s preventative. Right. I said, but you can’t even prove that your job is it? And he goes, yeah, why don’t you go ahead and bring your bag over here? Then you open up. Took everything out of my bag, spread it all over. He goes, oh, I guess everything’s good. You’re free to go. And just left all my stuff over. So I learned I shouldn’t talk to TSA people.

Chris
Yeah, yeah.

Jeff
Right. But that’s what makes me mad. It makes me mad that, you know, it inconveniences millions of people.

Chris
He really. He really did that, too.

Jeff
He unloaded every single thing out of my bag. Every single thing. Rightfully so, because I was being sassy, I guess. Right? And he has the authority, and I shouldn’t have been being sassy, but it just makes me mad. We’ve spent trillions of dollars on this. Yeah. Right, right. Hundreds of billions, at least. Yeah. Inconveniencing people and building an entire industry around something that has not actually produced what we said we were doing for 22 years. Right. So it’s not like it’s not like, well, let’s just test it out and see how it works, right? 22 years later, we’ve never actually caught a terrorist. So yeah, that’s that’s what my TSA lines make me mad. Now what’s really bad is I’m getting on an airplane. I’ll probably get busted today.

Chris
Oh, you’re getting on an airplane today?

Jeff
Yeah, I’m leaving this. I’m leaving the studio and I’m going straight to the airport. And where are you.

Chris
Going this time?

Jeff
Raleigh. Just. Just down to Raleigh, North Carolina. Okay. Yeah.

Chris
That’s funny.

Jeff
Yeah. Isn’t that terrible? So TSA lines make me mad.

Chris
Yeah, well, you know what? If I flew as much as you did, I would be upset, too.

Jeff
So. And it’s not just me. It’s for the people, you know? Isn’t that what you told me? Your anger is is for the half of the millions of inconvenienced travelers.

Chris
Yeah, because. Because you yourself can deal with it.

Jeff
It’s just that I can deal with it.

Chris
Your compassion for others.

Jeff
That’s right. It’s just that I’m thinking. Look at all these poor souls that are struggling, standing in line, taking off their shoes and belts.

Chris
I do not believe that you.

Jeff
With with two ounces.

Chris
Are more compassionate toward others with.

Jeff
Three ounces of soap.

Chris
Right, right.

Jeff
You can’t have three and a half.

Chris
Right, right, right, right.

Jeff
So I had a guy who was going to make me throw away. I had a little bottle of Cologne. He’s going to make me throw it away because it said I forgot it, said it in milliliters, but it didn’t say it in ounces. Yeah. And I said that’s under three ounces. He goes, how am I supposed to know. Because it was it was in a larger bottle.

Chris
Do your math.

Jeff
And so I pulled the calculator out and I showed it to him. He goes, how you know, that’s a legitimate calculator? I said, why don’t you pull it out? He said, I’m not going to he’s going to throw away $80 bottle of thing. And I was like, yeah, you’re going to go get your supervisor on that. So yeah. Wow. Goofy man.

Chris
Anyways, now that that that actually made me mad just listening to that story. It made me mad.

Jeff
Yeah. Okay. So it’s on behalf of the people, Chris. Yes, yes.

Chris
So today we’re talking.

Jeff
About TSA agent. Thank you for serving your country. And if you ever see me, please don’t stop me.

Chris
So funny. Well, today we’re talking about Jesus forgives an adulterous woman. There’s a woman caught in adultery. And this is one of the most powerful stories, I think, in terms of, well, really in terms of all things. Yeah.

Jeff
So, um, there is some question where this belongs in the book of John, right? Yeah. But it is one of the most sweet and precious engagements or encounters Jesus has with anybody. I don’t think I can ever hardly talk about it without tearing up. So you find it in John chapter eight, verse one. It says, Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives. So he’s in Jerusalem, right? He returned to the Mount of Olives. But early the next morning he was back again at the temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. And as he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. Teacher, they said to Jesus, this. A woman was caught in the act of adultery. The Law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say? They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, all right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone. And then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you? No, Lord, she said. And Jesus said, neither do I. Go and sin no more. How powerful.

Chris
Yeah. Super powerful. And so a couple of things that stand out to me. The first one is, is that. They never addressed the woman. They never know. So there seems to be, uh, you know, it says that they said this to trap him, right? So their motivation for using this woman was to trap him. And so never at one time, as they’re trying to decide the fate of the woman, do they ever allow her to even build her case with Jesus? So think about it. So they’re saying, Jesus, what is your verdict? But they never once say to the woman, you know, plead your case with Jesus.

Jeff
Well, it was pretty much a. Sealed up issue. They caught her in the act. Yeah, right. So it’s a death penalty issue?

Chris
Yeah. And by the way.

Jeff
That’s important defense.

Chris
That’s important to talk about. Right, right. So so so back then what you’re saying is, is that if you would cheat on your spouse, it would be put to death.

Jeff
Yeah. Yeah, that was the law. The law was, you know, if you engage with in intimacy outside of marriage with a death penalty issue in almost every case. And it’s interesting, Jesus doesn’t deny that he just goes, okay. Right? Because they’re like, yes, put her to death and all this stuff. Now they’re breaking the law because it’s supposed to be both her and the guy. So where’s the dude? Right, right. That’s fair to ask. They don’t bring the guy, they just bring her. So the law would state that you’re supposed to bring them both. That’s what Moses Law said was you’re supposed to bring both of them. They were caught in the act.

Chris
Which means he was catchable.

Jeff
Right, right. He was very catchable. He’s running down the street with a sheet around his waist. You know, running or whatever. It is easy to catch. And they only brought the woman because, you know, men are men. Men will be men. Boys will be boys. Right, right. That’s kind of kind of the attitude. And so they’re bringing her and they’re going to shame her. And it’s easy to to shame somebody who’s weaker than you. Right. And I think that that’s what’s happening here. So they’re breaking the law and they’re just going to accuse her. But Jesus acknowledges it. He goes, they say, oh, she’s supposed to be put to death. And he goes, okay. That’s so. He doesn’t deny the law. What they were trying to do is get him to break the law or to deny the law. And he doesn’t. Right. He goes, he says, all right.

Chris
Well, he where does he say all.

Jeff
Right. Verse seven. So they kept demanding an answer. So he stood up again and said, all right.

Chris
So so, so.

Jeff
He’s acknowledging that the law is the law.

Chris
Right. For sure. Oh, okay. Okay. I see what you’re saying, right. He’s acknowledging that what they’re saying, what they’re saying is the law. Yeah, yeah, I got you okay.

Jeff
Because they’re trying to catch him. Right. And he’s not letting them catch him.

Chris
Well, what he’s what they’re trying to do is they’re trying to either show him as a person who doesn’t have love and compassion because he says, you know, he’s the people. To hate him, gets people to hate him, or somebody to break the law of Moses.

Jeff
Somebody who’s unskilled in the law of Moses. Right. And then they bust him there.

Chris
Right? So they think it’s the perfect trap. Oh, yeah. Because either way, whatever, whatever Jesus chooses, they win, right? Right. Because he’s either going to be a law breaker of Moses, and they’re going to claim that he’s not from, you know, the Messiah, he’s not the Messiah, or he’s going to be a person who’s absolutely, you know, a person not of love and forgiveness. Right? So, Jesus, you know, he doesn’t. He says he stoops down and he writes something in the dust with his finger. Now, I’m sure that your whole life you’ve heard this story and there’s been a lot of theory. What did he write as to what did he write? And it doesn’t tell us, does it?

Jeff
No, I wish it did.

Chris
So what do you think he wrote?

Jeff
Well, at.

Chris
This point, let me say it differently. What could he have written?

Jeff
Yeah, I didn’t say he could have just been doodling. Like it’s true, you know.

Chris
But why would they record that, though?

Jeff
Because he wasn’t really giving them any much attention. He wasn’t giving them any attention. They were. They were demanding attention. He was ignoring them. Right. So some people say it could have just been that. But I’ve I’ve heard and I hope, I hope when we get to heaven. This is true. This is one of the first things I want to ask. Right. So I’ve got a bunch of questions I want to ask and heaven, I’d say this in the first 20 and is what were you writing? Because I hope he was writing the names of those guys that had also been with that woman. Oh, because these Pharisees didn’t they didn’t try to bring the man in. What if the man was one of these guys? How did they catch her? Right, right, right. How did they know it was going on? Right. So? So it would be great if. You know, Jesus just stooping in the ground, and he’s writing. Yeah. Bob was with her a month ago, and Ralph was with her two weeks ago, and. Right. Yeah. What would that be? Or. You know. Bob’s been horsing around with his administrative assistant.

Chris
It would make the statement that he makes later on quite, quite powerful, even more so when he says, let he who has no sin cast the first stone. Right. So if he’s writing down, he’s.

Jeff
Been writing it out in the dust in front of him.

Chris
Right. So that that or maybe just or maybe just instead of writing out full sentences, he just writes names.

Jeff
Oh, when it would have been great, right? I hope that’s what he was writing. Yeah, I do, I hope.

Chris
Was that is that is an amazing thought. I don’t think I’ve heard that theory before, but I have I have heard that like he you know, he either he quoted a verse in the Old Testament or he was reminding people of, you know, of, of love and forgiveness or but but again, it’s it’s not it could be just like what you said, just ignoring them. Yeah. Paying them no.

Jeff
Mind. He could have been writing out the verses because when Jesus gave the great commandments in Matthew 28, love God and love people, he was quoting Deuteronomy, right? He could have been writing out both love God and love people because even the the, the religious leaders knew that those were the two big ones, right? Yeah. So how do you love God and love people at the same time? And so he could have been doing that, but I’m hoping he was right in the names of the guys that had been with somebody else, some other woman that also committed adultery because it’s so it just jumps off the page to me. Where’s the dude? Right? So they don’t want to throw stones at the guy that behaves just like they do.

Chris
Which by the way.

Jeff
Right.

Chris
Throwing stones at somebody’s skull until they’re dead.

Jeff
Yeah. It’s brutal.

Chris
That is brutal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I imagine the stones that you would have to have in your, in your hands are pretty big.

Jeff
Yeah. Yeah.

Chris
Right. So, so they’re sort of standing there straining, I’m sure, you know, holding this thing ready to drop it or whatever. And by the way, size of.

Jeff
A cinderblock kind of a thing.

Chris
Right. Yeah. And so she’s embarrassed. She’s probably half, half unclothed.

Jeff
She’s just covering herself up with whatever she has covering.

Chris
Herself, maybe.

Jeff
Or, you know, they brought out the shamer.

Chris
The shamer to shame her. Oh, to shame her.

Jeff
Yeah. So she may have been. Well, it.

Chris
Is quite possible that she doesn’t have anything on. Right. But but again. So there’s just embarrassment. There’s shame and that which is another reason why she probably didn’t speak up. Right, right. And so Jesus, it says that he he’s writing something in the sand. He stands up, makes an unbelievable statement. And then it says, and then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. Yeah. Which, by the way, would support the fact that he’s just ignoring them. Right? Like I’m busy. And then he stands up, makes a statement and goes back to being busy. Right. Sure.

Jeff
But or he’s going back and finishing the names of the rest of the people in the crowd. Maybe because the old men leave first.

Chris
Yeah.

Jeff
Yeah. Right. So the old men are like, yeah, we’re not.

Chris
But that’s customary, right? Because the old men are the leaders or the wise ones. They’re the ones that are looked to and as the old men do such, you know. So do everybody else.

Jeff
Say that the old man left first because they had the most experience for sinning. And the young men were the zealots who really wanted to put this woman to death. It could be. Yeah. Yeah, it could be. Most old men have a skeleton or two in the closet. Yeah. And so that’s where she’s at or that’s where they’re at. So I would love it if he’s writing names. And he started off with the young men first. And then at the end he said, yeah, he has no sin. Cast the first stone. Then he starts writing. The big dog’s names in the sand would be. So I hope that’s it.

Chris
I have a tendency to believe that the reason why the older men left first is because they’re the ones that have the most wisdom. Yeah, yeah. And they immediately knew that Jesus was right. Yeah, well, he’d outplayed them.

Jeff
They’re playing a game and he beat them at it. Yeah.

Chris
Yeah. Well he’s he’s playing chess where everybody else is playing checkers. So and by the way, we just heard on yesterday’s podcast where or maybe it was two days ago where they’re like, hey, why didn’t you bring Jesus in? And the guards are like, because he’s amazing. Amazing. They said, nobody speaks like he speaks, right? So here they create a scenario and they can imagine the wisdom of Jesus and and what a wise thing to say. Okay, fine. So he’s not breaking the Law of Moses. He’s saying I’ll consent to the Law of Moses as long as those of you who don’t have any sin, let him cast the first stone. And so he’s consenting to the law of Moses. Yeah. And meanwhile, under, you know, just sort of he’s.

Jeff
Submitting he’s submitting the Law of Moses. Yes. Right, right. And then he doesn’t even say, as long as he’s not making any demands, it’s that they were doing this in front of a crowd. So he just said so. Sure. All right. Just. He has no sin. Cast the first stone. And the whole crowd now is going. Well which one of these Pharisees can claim to have no sin? Right, right. They’re all looking. And these guys realize, man, he backed us into a corner we can’t get out of. And the old man are like, yeah, I’m going to leave.

Chris
So, so so the big message here, well, actually there’s a ton of big messages. Oh, man. But but one of the big messages is, is that we’re all we’re all sinners. And I, I’ve been a part of a lot of conversations where people are angry at somebody. In fact, I recently had recently had family members come to me. As you know, I become the pastor in the in my own family. Right? Which is you have to you have to do a lot of years to do that, a long time. You got to put in a lot of years to get that, to get that. But but people came to me and said they’ve decided.

Jeff
It’s not just a little hobby that you’ve got going.

Chris
Right, right. And they said, they said, I’m so angry for, for years ago for this happening. And my response to them is, well, do you remember yourself back then? Because, yeah, you’re right. This person was this way and you don’t have a problem in that area at all. In fact, you’re great in that area. But then you had the problem in this area and that person that you’re mad at, they’re great in that area. Right. And so you have to understand that everybody has sin. Everybody. There’s nobody perfect. In fact, maybe, perhaps the only thing we have in common listening to this podcast is every one of us are imperfect people, regardless of which country you’re listening from or which state or whatever it is. And so that’s one good message, right? All of us need to recognize before before we condemn somebody, let us recognize, you know, we have sin in our own lives, right? Yeah. Right. Yeah. And what’s another big lesson here.

Jeff
I think? He says to her, where are your accusers? Yeah, right. So they all leave and Jesus still hasn’t engaged her at all. He hasn’t talked to her at all. And so I would imagine, along with the accusers, the crowd. Dispersed. Dispersed. Well, it.

Chris
Says it says actually they left until it was only the woman in Jesus. Yeah.

Jeff
And so it’s in that at that moment he stands up and said to the woman, where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you? And she says, no, Lord, Lord is important. Yeah, right. Lord, Lord means you’re the ruler or you’re the king. You’re the one with the power, right? I really view that as a moment of repentance, maybe, or a coming to Jesus moment, literally there and then he goes, neither do I. And then he says, go and sin no more. So. All of us want him to say he’s not going to condemn us. None of us want him to say, now go and sin no more. Right? Right. But there’s this repentance moment. And repentance should lead to a change of heart and a change of life. Right. Those things kind of go together. And so Jesus is incredibly, outrageously compassionate. He he agrees with the law. He acknowledges it. All right. That is the law. He finds a way which I love. That’s what Jesus does. Jesus just finds a way. He finds a way because eventually he’s going to pay the price for the law. He’s going to fulfill the entire law. So it’s not like, oh, the law is not important. The law is what’s going to kill him. Right. And he’s going to completely fulfill the law. And so he’s not just dismissing it, going, oh, honey, we all make mistakes. He doesn’t do that. He’s going to die for her, and he knows it. He’s in Jerusalem just a few weeks. He’s dying for her, and he had the right to execute her and then didn’t. But then he says, I don’t condemn you either, which is beautiful. He found a way. But then he says, now go and sin no more.

Chris
Yeah. Well, John 122 says that Jesus himself said, Moses came to bring the law, but I came to bring both truth and grace, and he’s demonstrating both truth and grace.

Jeff
There’s nothing better. There’s no story better in Jesus life ministry than this one of both truth and grace in one sentence. Neither do I go and sin no more.

Chris
Right, right. Because it’s hard truth. It’s go and sin no more. Yeah, but. But it’s complete grace. And so he brings, you know, Jesus brings with him both truth and grace. He never shied away from hard truth for commandments of what God wants, but he gave incredible grace. You said outrageous grace, right? Which is great.

Jeff
Scandalous.

Chris
Yeah, it really is.

Jeff
Well thank God. Thank God for it.

Chris
That’s right. Amazing grace. So that’s a great place to end. And hopefully we will see you next time on The Bible Guys.