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:
Well, good morning, everyone, and welcome to The Bible Guys, or good evening, if that’s when you choose to listen to us. Welcome.

Jeff:
Yes, welcome.

Chris:
Welcome. You’re definitely welcome at all hours of the day.

Jeff:
You’re so welcome. You are the most welcome.

Chris:
You’re assuming they’re thanking us.

Jeff:
Well, no, no. I mean, they’re welcome to join us in this conversation. Oh, I see. I see. That’s what I’m saying.

Chris:
Jeff, we are going to do a segment that is very sophisticated today.

Jeff:
And very near and dear to our hearts, right? That we only bring the finest news to our listeners. So if you’re brand new with us today, just understand that we searched far and wide to find the most important and authentic news. And we found maybe the most authentic news on the planet is the Babylon Bee.

Chris:
And we would say that this is a half a step more reliable than CNN.

Jeff:
Oh, or any of the news channels, right? So any news channel that sells advertising is not giving you the news, they’re giving you the news that they need you to listen to, to be able to watch the commercials they sold. Yes. That’s how it works. So anyways, the Babylon Bee, we think is, they also sell commercials, but they’re more honest about the fact that it’s just satire. Right. Yeah. So the Babylon Beast says, this article today that we felt like you should read and listen and hear about is, the title is, I don’t need church, I study the Bible for myself, says man who has clearly never studied the Bible for himself. Austin, Texas. A local man declared himself free of any need to belong to a local church, relying instead on the fact that he studies the Bible for himself, clearly indicating he has never studied the Bible for himself. I don’t need the church,” the man said confidently. I’m perfectly capable of reading my Bible and knowing exactly what it says. Maybe some people need pastors and teachers and other believers, not me. I have a full understanding of absolutely everything. I’ve got it covered. Despite repeated invitations from family and friends, the man has remained convinced that belonging to a local church is entirely unnecessary for him. Nah, I’m good, he said. The way everyone keeps talking about it, you’d think there was something in the Bible about it, but being really important to gather with believers to study it. Not for me. There’s nothing anyone else could do to help me comprehend the Bible better than I already do. When asked to list some of his favorite passages, the man was quick to offer multiple examples. Definitely the positive stuff, he said. You know, the Jesus stuff. Loving everyone, the part where it says nobody’s ever allowed to judge anyone’s really good, and God helps those who help themselves part. So good. At publishing time, the man had also reassured his family and friends he was totally fine with his way of life, with the way his wife was crumbling down around him. So there you go.

Chris:
Yeah. So it’s so funny because that’s a pretty clever angle on the fact that the Bible talks about how we need church, right? We need each other and God designed the church for us and it’s a necessity. That’s correct.

Jeff:
That’s so funny. Well, you cannot, you cannot grow into the Christian God designed you for, uh, to be, uh, without being in a body of believers. It’s not possible, right? The Bible says that the church, every person that’s a believer is a part of the church, the big church. Uh, and you can’t, but we’re a part of a body and you can’t sever a piece from the body and have the peace still thrive and grow. Instead it rots and stinks. Right. And that’s been my experience with people who sever themselves from the body. Yeah, for sure. And then also, I thought it was funny, he quotes here, God helps those who help themselves. So just in case you want to know, I want all of the listeners to know this. So you guys are Bible experts. That phrase, God helps those who help themselves, is not in the Bible.

Chris:
Correct. Correct. In fact, after Easter, I’m not sure if this will air during this series or not, but right after Easter, we’re going into a series called, Did Jesus Say That?

Jeff:
Oh, right.

Chris:
And it’s actually like four, it’s a four-week series on misconceptions on what Jesus said.

Jeff:
Oh, right. Are you doing that one? God helps those who help themselves?

Chris:
No, we’re doing… Because we just covered it. No, we’re doing God Never Gives Me More Than I Can Handle.

Jeff:
Oh, yeah.

Chris:
Yeah. People always say that. God will never give you more than you can handle.

Jeff:
That’s the phrase that people actually think is true. It’s a misquote of a verse on temptation. That’s right. Okay, well hey man, there you go. Only the finest news for our people. If you never watched or read the Babylon Bee, you should go check it out when you’re done with this podcast today. We think they’re funny, right? That’s great. And they have both social and political commentary from a satire standpoint and I just, I think they’re hysterical. I laugh and laugh and laugh all day long when I get into that. Okay, well here we are, we are continuing with our study through all of the 250 events in the life of Jesus and yesterday Jesus had gone to the cross as we were talking on the podcast. Father, forgive them. Today you’ll be with me in paradise.” He asks John to take care of his mother. So these are really significant. And then we’re going to continue on, and this again is in all four Gospels, Matthew chapter 27, Mark 15, Luke chapter 23, and John chapter 19. So we’re going to read all four, listen along and see if you can see the differences or the extra information that you pick up from each of the passages. So it says, Remember they crucified Jesus at 9 a.m. And then it says, at noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, which means, my God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Some of the bystanders understood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah, or misunderstood, I’m sorry, and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. But the rest said, wait, let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him. Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. At that moment, the curtain in the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people. The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened, and they said, this man truly was the Son of God. Many women who’d come from Galilee with Jesus to care for him were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee. In Mark chapter 15 verse 33 it says, Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, which means, Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah and one of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, this man truly was the son of God. Some women were there watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James the younger and of Joseph and Salome. They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there. Then in Luke chapter 23 it says, When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshipped God and said, surely this man was innocent. And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow. But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching. And then in John chapter 19 verse 28 it says, Jesus knew that his mission was now finished and to fulfill scripture he said, I am thirsty. A jar of sour wine was sitting there so they soaked a sponge on it, put it on a hyssop branch and held it up to his lips. When Jesus tasted he said, it is finished. And then he bowed his head and released his spirit. It was the day of preparation. The Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath and a very special Sabbath because it was the Passover. So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs. One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear and immediately blood and water flowed out. This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so that you also can believe. These things happened in fulfillment of the scriptures that say no one of his bones will be broken and they will look on one they pierced.” So we covered a lot there.

Chris:
Yeah, that’s so sad. It’s so sombering, you know, you read that and you’re like, I’m just somber at this point. So, you know, so we talk about this on Good Friday, especially, we should talk about it more, but on Good Friday, that, you know, the greatest, the greatest difficulty that Jesus experienced on the cross wasn’t the physical pain, although that was excruciating. It was the fact that Jesus looks up into heaven and says, my God, my God, why have you abandoned me or why have you forsaken me? And so it’s the belief that, you know, based on everything that is explained to us, that Jesus became sin. that Jesus took on all the sin of humanity at that point, you know, fulfilling the scripture, being the perfect sacrifice for humanity. And then God the Father turns his back. And for the first time and only time in eternity past and eternity future, God the Father and God the Son are separated. And so the idea that Jesus is now separated from his father and he cries out and say, why have you forsaken me? You know, that is the darkest time in all of history. And so that would have been something that obviously we don’t understand, but it seems to be way more excruciating as an experience, you know. So, you know, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit work together relationally and intrinsically and, you know, in a dynamic in such a way that you and I can’t even possibly comprehend.

Jeff:
So he had never been separated from the Father in all of eternity, not just in time, right? There had never been. So there’d never been a beginning or an ending to Jesus Christ. And so to be now separated from the Father, why? It’s because the Bible says in a couple different places that God cannot look upon sin, right? He can’t tolerate sin. And so 2 Corinthians chapter five says, and here’s a quote, he became sin for us who knew no sin so that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. And so the idea is that he embodied all of the sin of humanity. So think about that. Every bad thing you’ve ever done, every lie you ever told, every time you ever hurt a person, every time. But he also took on the sins of every despot, and every horrible dictator, every child molester and every murderer and every genocidal leader, he took on every horrific sin that has ever been committed and he paid for all of it on the cross. So he embodied, literally embodied all of the collective evil for all of humanity. And in that moment, Jesus says, God, why did you abandon me? Now in this, in this moment, this total desperation of God turned his back.

Chris:
Yeah. And by the way, one little caveat, I think what you said, what you meant to say where you said God couldn’t look on sin, but I think what you meant to say was God cannot have sin be a part of who he is.

Jeff:
Yeah. Well, it says in, in, in the old Testament that he won’t, won’t even look at it. God the Father will not look at sin. Does say that?

Chris:
Yeah. Did not know that. Huh.

Jeff:
Yeah. And so, so because of that, then God rejects it. This is why you and I have to be clothed in Jesus righteousness because we are sinners. Right. So the only way he can look upon us with favor would be the fact that we’re clothed in Jesus. When he looks at me and you now by faith in Christ and any of our listeners who’ve placed their faith in Christ, He sees the righteousness. So that’s it. He became sin for us who knew no sin. He was sinless and then became the embodiment of all of the collective sin of all of humanity from all time, past, present, future. He became sin for us who knew no sin so that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Chris:
So theologically, he looks upon me and you and sees no sin. And it’s because were clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. But the theological nuance is that he turns back because he couldn’t look on sin. And that’s what the Old Testament tells us. That is interesting. I’m not sure I’ve hung on to that nuance. I mean, either way, it’s the same application, but yeah, the reason why. That’s interesting. It’s really interesting. So Jesus dies at three o’clock, and let’s not overlook the fact, I guess we can get to it in a minute, but there’s darkness that falls across the land. The sun goes away at noon. Right. Right. So, so, so at the heat of the day, everybody knows that noon is the high, the high point of where the sun is, but darkness falls across the land. And then it goes further. It doesn’t just say darkness. Oh, it must’ve been a cloudy day. No, it says there is no light from the sun. Right. Which, which means like, this is an unbelievable miracle. And then let’s not overlook the fact that it says ready for this one. We don’t talk about this very often, The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead and they left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection. So this would have been three days later, right? Or, you know, on the third day. And went into the holy city of Jerusalem and appeared to many people. Zombies. Hi mom.

Jeff:
So they’re not zombies, they’re like completely restored.

Chris:
They’re resurrected people. But I mean, in our world, the only visual that we have in our minds are people rising from a grave out of a cemetery.

Jeff:
It wasn’t like that.

Chris:
It’s the thriller video.

Jeff:
So they were completely restored. They would have been back fully alive, like Lazarus.

Chris:
Let’s go ahead and take away my fun. No, no, no, no.

Jeff:
So this wasn’t a horror movie. This was a celebration.

Chris:
Yeah. Hi, mom. It’s hilarious. So, so holy cow, I mean, what, what an unbelievable, like, we don’t talk about that that often.

Jeff:
So then you wonder why so many priests and so many religious leaders became Christians almost immediately. Right. Well, that’s why. Yeah. It wasn’t just one guy. Right. It was all these people. Many godly men. Right. Right. It’s all these people. I wouldn’t be surprised if a bunch of them were, were former prophets and religious leaders and people that they would have respected that were followers, true followers of God. coming back, not just, you know, random people, probably random people too, but people that would have credibility. But, man alive, the Bible says a bunch of people became followers of Jesus that day, right? And that’s why.

Chris:
So it goes dark from noon to three. Now, keep in mind, 630, or six o’clock rather, sorry, was the start of the Sabbath and not just any Sabbath in the morning.

Jeff:
Oh, six o’clock at night.

Chris:
Because this would have been noon to three. That’s correct. So Jesus gives up the ghost or his spirit at three o’clock. That’s right. Right. So in three hours, in other words, he had three hours to spare there where it was going to be the Sabbath. And it actually says in parentheses in one of the versions, this was a very special Sabbath. Right. Because it was the Passover. So, legally, they have to hurry up and push through this illegal trial and execution, where they’re having Jesus being crucified by the Romans illegally, and it’s against their custom to crucify anybody on the Sabbath, or kill anybody on the Sabbath, really.

Jeff:
The body has to be buried before the beginning of the Sabbath, especially the Passover.

Chris:
And they’re really pushing this thing through. So anyway, that’s why that detail’s there. And then let’s talk about the fact that the veil rips in two. That’s a huge sermon altogether, isn’t it?

Jeff:
But before we get to that part, you’re talking about trying to bury him right away. That’s why they went to Pilate and said, hey, would you break their legs? Right. It’s because they needed to kill him. Right. And they knew that the idea of being crucified, sometimes people would be on the cross for days. Sometimes they would just die from a lack of water. Right? From thirst. They would die from exposure. They’d die from the birds coming and picking out their eyes and just horrible stuff. It was a horrific death. But here, it’s just a few hours. And they’re like, oh, hey, we need to cut this off. And the other way people died was suffocation. So your arms are stretched out. You can’t stay with your body hanging below your arms with your arms over your head for very long. And eventually you become very shallow in your breathing. Your lungs begin to fill with water. You can’t breathe. And so people would pull themselves up to breathe on their nails. and then have to let themselves back down, because you can’t hold yourself up that long either, the back and forth. So the idea is go break their legs. Now they can’t pull themselves up at all, because it’s only your arms. They can’t push themselves up. Instead of pushing, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you could push up on the nail and then let yourself down on the nails on your wrists, and then push yourself up on the nails on your feet, and let yourself, your weight down on the wrists. Well, break the legs, and then they’ll just suffocate. Right. And die pretty quickly, you know, within an hour or so, they would die.

Chris:
So that meant that Jesus died first. Jesus died first. Because they broke the two revolutionaries’ legs. That’s right. And then they saw no need to break Jesus’ legs because he had already died. Which again, just like we said yesterday, just another one of those things to fulfill prophecies.

Jeff:
And then he’s finished.

Chris:
Because no bone is broken.

Jeff:
That’s right. He’s finished with all the commitments. So he says, it is finished, right? To tell us die at paid in full and then into your hands, I commit my spirit. And it’s in that moment, the Bible says that the tomb’s open and the veil splits. So that gets you to the point that you were talking about. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Chris:
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So the veil ripping in two, you know, most of us who are listening, I’m sure, are Christians. We all understand the significance of this. But just as a reminder for those who may not, so the temple is where God lived. God lived in one location. And this is the moment, the single moment, where the huge symbolism happens, where later on in the New Testament, it says, now we are the temple, right? Our bodies are the temple. That God ceases to exist in one location in the Holy of Holies inside the temple, but the veil is ripped in two, which means everybody has access. Hebrews says we can boldly go before the throne, which is unheard of. And God basically rushes out from one location, and His Spirit floods out, and now He is in the hearts and in the minds and in the souls of every believer. And the Holy Spirit is the part of God, the part of the Trinity, that Jesus says is better for us. Right? Because Jesus is only one person. He’s God in the flesh, representative of the Father in one person, a physical person. But he says, it is going to be better for you, remember, when I leave, because I’m going to send the Spirit. And so now we have God in us. So the Bible says that we are in Christ, but then also that Christ is in us. And so if the Holy Spirit indwells in every believer, that makes us, you know, the actual temple. And symbolically, it says that we’re the priest.

Jeff:
Right.

Chris:
And then we’re a nation of priests and Jesus is the high priest. Right. So all of that symbolism that happened for centuries.

Jeff:
There’s no more separation between God and men anymore.

Chris:
Yes. Yeah. All that symbolism for centuries was, you know, the priest and the high priest and the temple and the sacrifice and the lamb. Well, Jesus is the lamb. That’s right. Right. Jesus is the high priest. Jesus is the lamb. Right. He took, he took care of all of it.

Jeff:
So when Jesus says, why did you forsake me? This isn’t like a desperation thing. He’s quoting Psalm 22. And if you read Psalm 22, it talks about what the Messiah’s death is going to be like. And then when you and I hear the story of how horrific crucifixion is, it’s almost mind boggling. It’s a terrifying thing. But to Jesus, the devastating element was not just the physical, even more, times a million, was the idea of becoming sin, the embodiment of sin for one who had never sinned. And then Jesus, when it’s all done, in a short amount of time, it didn’t require three days to die here for him, in a short amount of time, he had done everything he needed to do. He took the punishment for our sin in his body. If you sin, you will die. And he’s taking that punishment, but he pays the price like the lamb. Right? Without the shedding of blood, there’s no forgiveness of sins. So he took the punishment for your sin and my sin in his body, in his death. But he paid the price for our sin with his blood. And with that, then he shouts out, it is finished. Tetelestai literally means it’s paid in full. Like there was a debt and he stamps it, the big rubber stamp paid in full. That’s what he did for all of us. And then he says, now, into your hands I commit my spirit, right? And he gives up his life in that moment, and it’s an astounding thing. But literally, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done, past, present, or future, Jesus was looking back at every sin that had ever been committed, every sin that was being committed in the moment, he forgave right there on the cross, and everything that would ever happen in the future, Jesus pre-chose to forgive. And all of that forgiveness is available to us when we choose by faith. Salvation is by grace through faith. Right. And so by faith, we just choose to believe and accept this free gift that he offers us forgiveness and every sin that you have ever committed or will ever commit, Jesus forgave in that moment. And then his job was done. It’s finished. Yeah. And he goes to his father.

Chris:
And Romans tells us if we confess with our mouth and we believe in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, that we will be saved and whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

Jeff:
And then in passing, that one little caveat that I mentioned where God can’t look on sin is out of Habakkuk chapter one, where it says he can’t look on sin. Now I understand God’s asking a bunch of questions there. It doesn’t mean that God does not have the ability to notice sinful people. It’s that God cannot participate with sin of any way. And so at this moment, understand that in the perfect unity of the Trinity, it’s nonstop, perpetual, perfect participation all the time. And when Jesus took on the embodiment of all the sin of humanity, God was like, I can’t participate with that. And for the first time, Jesus was like, I feel abandoned.

Chris:
Yeah. Well, hey, that’s a great place to end. And that’s well past our time. So there’s a lot in there. So we’ll continue next time on The Bible Guys.