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
Hello, Jeff.

Jeff
Hi, Chris.

Chris
We are The Bible Guys. My name is Chris. This is Jeff. And that’s who we are.

Jeff
We’re happy to be here.

Chris
We’re also pastors. Yes, I always think of that when it says on the roll and it says couple of friends decide to talk about the Bible and fun in practical ways, I think, well, we’re also pastors. Yeah, right.

Jeff
So we’re more pastor than we are friend. Are we? Are we? I don’t know.

Chris
I am, so.

Jeff
I thought you were trying to make.

Chris
So offended.

Jeff
I thought you were trying to make a point or something.

Chris
Well, no, no, no, because if we didn’t announce or excuse me, or even mention that we pastored somewhere, uh, nobody would do that from the Roland. That’s all I was saying.

Jeff
Oh, okay.

Chris
Yeah, unless they went to the website and saw our description, Chris. Which, by the way, I wonder if anybody does go to the website, the Bible. Do we have metrics on Vice.com? Yeah, the Bible guys.com. Yeah.

Jeff
People leave messages there and stuff all the time. Yeah. So uh, on the website, we have a lot of things that are getting ready to come. I’m glad you brought that up. Uh, so we’ve started putting the the word for word transcripts of the podcasts on, on our website so you can go and do that. Uh, and then we’re developing it like a search line where you’ll be able to search topics. So, uh, Desiree said it’s going to take a little while, but she’ll be able to go put every episode, the transcripts, and you’ll be able to search a topic. So, hey, what is what did the Bible guys say about, you know, John chapter seven, right. It’s kind of neat. We should be able to do that kind of stuff. Um, and, uh, there’s a lot of other features that we’re not going to talk about today that we’re getting ready to add to the website. But yeah, people do. Bible guys.com.

Chris
That’s pretty cool.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah, it’s pretty neat.

Chris
So Jeff, today the segment that we’re going to launch into is da da da da da. What made Jeff happy this week. Oh because after all we all know that you never get mad at anything.

Jeff
Yeah. Nothing made me happy.

Chris
Yeah. No no no. Yeah. Chris is the only one that gets mad. Apparently in life, I.

Jeff
I think that that that’s a way more fun segment is what made what made Chris mad this week.

Chris
Then then what made Jeff happy?

Jeff
Oh yeah.

Chris
Yeah, definitely. Well, you know what though? What what made Jeff made Chris mad is something that people can relate to. And they always go, yeah, that makes me mad too.

Jeff
Or people can’t relate to anything that I’m happy about.

Chris
Say, I can’t believe that made him mad, right? Right, right. But but when you say what makes it happy, it’s like number one. It’s sweet. Usually. Yeah. And number two, it’s usually contained just to you.

Jeff
Yeah, usually just to me. Like today. Today is what made me happy. Are you saying I’m self-centered? Are you saying I’m a narcissist?

Chris
I’m saying most things you’re happy.

Jeff
About don’t matter to us. It’s only you. You’re the only one that’s happy.

Chris
Unless it’s butterflies and rainbows and flowers or kids. Yeah, yeah, I’m saying that most people can’t say. Oh, that happened to me too. Oh, because it’s usually a specific story.

Jeff
Well, I had Covid last week. Womp womp. I know, I thought we were done. I thought we were done with Covid. Didn’t didn’t like the president announce COVID’s been defeated. The pandemic is over.

Chris
Yeah, I’m I’m not sure I want to respond to that. I’ve had so many really great quips that I was ready to say so.

Jeff
Anyways, I thought we were done with Covid and then I got there’s some new when it comes out with the name has a P to it.

Chris
Yeah.

Jeff
So I don’t know what that that was about. But um, so I had Covid and it was and.

Chris
You got it to be.

Jeff
Clear, I got it pretty bad. Yeah.

Chris
No, I was just going to say you got it. You know who you got it from? Yeah, I know who.

Jeff
I got it from. I sat next to him in a meeting for like four hours. Five hours? Whatever. Yeah.

Chris
And it was you in another state. In another.

Jeff
State? That’s right. And, uh, so I came home and get sick, and I’d been away for a while. So I was all excited about coming back and preaching at Heritage Church.

Chris
And then you called me on Saturday.

Jeff
I know I well, I was holding out because I didn’t know. Yeah. So I started getting sick and I was sick for a couple days. And I just told Bonnie, I said, I’m going to power through if I can stand up, if I can, if I can go without coughing, I’m going to do this. And she said, do you think you have Covid? I said, no, I don’t have Covid. She goes, let’s, let’s just take a test. So we take a test. And it was positive. It was one of those, you’re supposed to wait 15 minutes and the line comes up. Yeah, it was immediate, immediate line. I was like, that one’s broken. Let’s get another one. So we got another one. Did you really. Yeah. So I did like so we get we do another test and then that’s when I called you that night is dude. Yeah I would, I would have powered through sick. Yeah. Because I wasn’t coughing bad. Yeah. Um, so I thought I’ll just be miserable and go, go do it. Because I really wanted to be a heritage.

Chris
So now our listeners, listeners know on the third week of the old school series that we were in a while back at Heritage Church, uh, I got the call on Saturday night to speak. Yeah. Yeah. Right. And that’s what.

Jeff
Makes Chris mad this week. That’s right.

Chris
That’s what made Chris mad.

Jeff
Jeff calls me right before I’m supposed to preach. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, so anyways, that, um, uh, being sick was pretty much so this one, because this is the fourth time I’ve had Covid.

Chris
It’s crazy.

Jeff
The first time I had Covid, you gave it to me.

Chris
The Omicron was the first time. This first time.

Jeff
I had Covid. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you gave it to me. I thought.

Chris
You got it before.

Jeff
Me. Ah, no. So. So remember I had surgery then I was out for weeks and they didn’t want me to come back publicly at all until then. And that was the first time I got Covid.

Chris
No, that was 2020. I didn’t get Covid till 2021 22.

Jeff
Oh, really? Yeah.

Chris
So I got because I didn’t get the Covid Covid, I got the Omicron Covid. Oh yeah.

Jeff
Yeah I got Covid. Yeah. No you had Covid first.

Chris
No I’ve only had Covid once and it was the Omicron Covid Christmas of 2121.

Jeff
Yep. Okay I thought I got it from you. Who did I get it from then. Don’t know somebody. Anyways that was the worst one. Man. That was like oh no, I’m going to die. Then the next Covid, I just tested positive for Covid. I didn’t even feel it. And then the third time.

Chris
See, so you’re saying the one I gave you, you didn’t even.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah. You’re welcome. You’re welcome. But I but I tested positive then then the third one was no no no the second one was I was sick. Third one I wasn’t. The third one was what was the that one that came out Delta or whatever it was. Remember. Yeah. Yeah I forget what it was. That one was the one that wasn’t bad. So the third one and then this year was bad. Like. I didn’t have a fever and I didn’t supposed to be.

Chris
What made you.

Jeff
Happy? No, no, I’m happy that I’m still alive and healed. That’s it. That’s what you’re leading to. I’m just happy that I’m here. Yeah, yeah, I’m just complaining. I’m complaining about Covid now. So. So this one was bad. I just was miserable. Like I couldn’t get off the couch. If I walked up the stairs, I felt like I ran around the block. It was. It was crazy. Mhm. Um, so it was exhaustion and body pain, but I didn’t have a fever and I didn’t cough a lot. I got a little cough but not, not like, you know when I was coughing my lungs out the first time. So then it was miserable, miserable miserable like I’m never going to get better. And then somebody flipped a switch and in one day I was like, I feel great. Yeah, right. Yeah. All this, all this release. Miserable for like, it was like six days of just being miserable and then bang, I feel great and my energy level is down a little bit, but I feel great. And so I’m just glad that it’s over. That’s what makes me happy this week. I’m happy to be back here. I’m happy that I get to be with Chris Sarbaugh. Hey. Thank you. All that stuff.

Chris
Hey, I probably shouldn’t say this. I’m going to say it anyway. Uh, I saw this old clip of John Chris, the Christian comedian, which I love. He’s so funny. Right? But this was a clip that’s like maybe a year or two old, but he goes, uh, he goes, hey, everybody has that really ultraconservative relative at a family gathering. And he goes, and he’s the guy that always whispers, and he’s like, hey, come here, come here. And he walks over and he goes, did you get the vaccine? And he’s whispering like, did you get it? Did you get it? And he goes, I hear it’s laced with Hillary’s blood.

Jeff
And I was like, I was like, oh no, oh no, that’s so funny. But yeah. So yeah, that’s I had somebody asked me, did you get the booster? Yeah, yeah. You know why, why did you get Covid. Didn’t you get the booster. Oh okay. Yeah. Well I guess I guess this one wasn’t what they, you know, because they, they make the boosters like, they make, um, uh, flu vaccines. Yeah. They just say we think this is what it’s going to be, and then they make one kind of maybe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then how often have you ever gotten back in the old days you get a flu a flu thing. And then like three weeks later you get the flu, you get a flu vaccine and then you get the flu all the time. It’s because they missed it, right? They missed which one. And that’s kind of I think what’s happened here on this one, it’s just blown up. But anyways, it wasn’t that bad. I felt miserable, my wife got it and she was fine. I didn’t have any symptoms. Yeah. Hardly any symptoms at all. Yeah.

Chris
So I bet you she would beg to differ on that.

Jeff
No, no she she was. So she had hurt her back. So she was miserable with her back. But she got up. She did Thanksgiving dinner did all those things. It was fun. And we’re.

Chris
Over our time.

Jeff
So. Well, I’m happy to go over time. That’s the other thing I’m happy about today. So. So, uh, I wanted I was going along on purpose because we only have six verses to talk about today. Thank you.

Chris
They’re so.

Jeff
Rich. Yes, they are rich. So here we go. Ready? In Luke chapter 14 one through six, Jesus heals a man with swollen limbs, and it says, One Sabbath day, Jesus went to eat dinner in the home of a leader of the Pharisees, and the people were watching him closely. There was a man there whose arms and legs were swollen. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, is it permitted to heal or in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day or not? When they refused to answer, Jesus touched the sick man and healed him and sent him away. Then he turned to them and said, which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don’t you rush to get him out? Again, they couldn’t answer. Yeah.

Chris
That’s it. So. So let’s start at the beginning. When it says on the Sabbath day, Jesus went to eat dinner in the home of the leader of the Pharisees. Now the leader of the Pharisees was that Caiaphas.

Jeff
With a leader.

Chris
Oh, it says a leader. Yeah, you are correct, I missed that. Okay.

Jeff
Yeah. So Caiaphas was wasn’t a Pharisee. He would have been a sadducee. And he was the high priest.

Chris
Oh yeah. That’s right on the Supreme Council there. Yeah.

Jeff
So the high priests, most of the priests were Sadducees, not Pharisees. So the Pharisees were like the blue collar, genuinely religious guys. And the Sadducees were mostly political. That bought their positions.

Chris
Yeah. And, uh, I always heard that the, uh, Sadducees were a lot unhappier than the Pharisees.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that, too. Go ahead.

Chris
Please. Okay. Here comes because they were sad, you see.

Jeff
Well, why why were they said.

Chris
Oh, actually, I don’t.

Jeff
Know, because they didn’t believe in the resurrection. Oh, is that why. Yeah, that’s why they were sad. You see.

Chris
I see so that’s your version.

Jeff
Of the joke. So. So the the Sadducees, um, didn’t believe in angels. They didn’t believe in miracles, and they didn’t believe in the resurrection. So really, they didn’t believe in a creator God that could intervene or interact with humanity at all. Well, right. So they didn’t really they had a religious system.

Chris
So, so, so I think I’ve been always been a little unclear about this because in my mind, I never even differentiated, uh, Caiaphas being a sadducee versus a Pharisee. Although as soon as you said it, it.

Jeff
Was likely, very likely that he was a.

Chris
As soon as you said it, it triggered in my mind, I’m like, I remember hearing about this. Yeah, yeah, but it’s just not talked about a lot.

Jeff
Right. So the Sadducees, uh, for the most part because they didn’t really believe in the things that, you know, that what you would think the Jews would believe in a creator God who has chosen the people of Israel, who interacts and intervenes on behalf of the people of Israel. And he does miracles, and that there’s angels that minister to us and that there’s a heaven someday and a resurrection. The Sadducees didn’t believe any of that.

Chris
What did they believe?

Jeff
That they believed that their religious system was for their social benefit.

Chris
Wow, right? They didn’t anchor themselves into Abraham.

Jeff
Well, no, they did, they did. But it’s. We are God’s people. So they believed in a god. Yeah. And we are God’s people because of Abraham. So we need to keep this culture alive. Whereas the Pharisees were like, no, we need to obey the law because we want to go to heaven, right? So the Pharisees motivation was to be good enough to go to heaven. The Sadducees were we need to preserve our our religious culture because it is our culture.

Chris
So why? Why was there a necessity for both the Pharisees and the Sadducees? Could couldn’t the Pharisees accomplished?

Jeff
It’s kind of like the Democrats and Republicans, right? It’s kind of that, that that they hey, we both love America. We both, you know, we both have our view of things. But what you had was you had the the Pharisees who were deeply religious, who genuinely believed that their religion would get them to God. And the Pharisees believe that they were already the chosen people of God, and they didn’t believe in the resurrection. So this is the only life that matters. And they bought their positions and their power from the Roman government. And so they it it was a smaller class. It was a rich class. And they bought their power. And then that’s because, remember, the Roman government was the one, uh, uh, appointing the high priests at that point. It’s purely political. So, so.

Chris
The so the Sadducees were more snake like probably.

Jeff
Yeah, certainly they had less, um, uh, moral qualms. So would they be more like.

Chris
The Republicans or the Democrats? Yeah.

Jeff
So I, I’m not saying that. I’m saying alls I was saying was two different.

Chris
Geoff, finish the illustration.

Jeff
I was only saying there’s two different parties, two different parties. Right. Run. One was a constitutionalist.

Chris
And all I’ve thought about.

Jeff
Since one party, one party was a constitutionalist party. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were situational. Yeah, yeah yeah yeah, yeah. Gotcha. Okay. All right. Yeah. So you can you can decide which which party then aligns with that. Yeah.

Chris
Yeah. You can decide everybody.

Jeff
So so here anyways, what I think is amazing is the the Pharisees. Hated Jesus. Yeah. And yet. You have some kind of a summit here? Yep. On a Sabbath day, it’s the holy day. Jesus is at a Pharisees home. Having dinner. Why would Jesus go into the turf? Of his perceived enemies, right? Right, right.

Chris
So so there’s a note that’s written here.

Jeff
Oh, there is in the, in the life application study.

Chris
Bible study Bible. Okay. One note. And uh, by the way, we recommend the Life Application Study Bible, even though that they don’t pay us, they don’t they.

Jeff
Don’t pay us at all.

Chris
But we love it. So we’re just giving that out for free. And Luke chapter 14, verses one through six, it says this on the notes. Earlier, Jesus had been invited to a pharisee’s house for discussion in Luke 736. This is a prominent Pharisee. This time a prominent Pharisee invited Jesus into his home specifically to trap him into saying or doing something for which he could be arrested. It may be surprising to see Jesus on the Pharisees turf after he had denounced them so many times, but he was not afraid to face them, even though he knew that their purpose was to trick them into breaking their loss. Um. So I you know, oftentimes we see that that was what they were trying to do. And so it’s probably it’s most likely that this is the case because the idea that he would be invited on a Sabbath day. Yeah. Uh, is is probably more than coincidence. And then elsewhere in the scriptures, doesn’t Jesus say something similar because he’s healed men on the Sabbath before? Yeah.

Jeff
Oh, lots of times. This is one of the battles. They fight all the time. Yes.

Chris
And so and so. Once again, he goes back to his same argument and he says, which one of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath now? Uh, it’s not like, um, there was a rule by God in the Old Testament that you shouldn’t work on the Sabbath. Uh, it just says, no, no, it says there’s.

Jeff
Lots of rules. No, there’s.

Chris
Lots of rules about work. But but but it’s it’s it’s the application of what is work, right? That’s that’s that’s what I’m trying to say. Right, right. It’s the application of like what is actual work. So the so the spirit of the law says that we should rest from work in general to not concentrate or toil or labor toward the physical things, but rather to put our energy, our time and relaxation, and also an attitude of worship and gratitude toward, uh, toward God. Yeah. So that so that the Sabbath is, is both beneficial for us worshiping God and for our benefit as well. Right?

Jeff
They weren’t supposed to plow their fields. They weren’t supposed they were supposed to prepare their meals before the Sabbath began. Uh, they weren’t supposed to carry firewood. There’s all these rules about how to honor the Sabbath that God was trying to say, hey, this isn’t a general principle about resting. This is. I want you to rest. Don’t do the work of your life on Sabbath. This is a time for you, your family and me. That that’s that’s what it’s for. So don’t do those things. Uh, but then God gave exceptions and says, hey, if if a donkey falls in the thing, you rescue that donkey. If somebody needs to be rescued or saved, take care of them. And that’s what Jesus is referring to here is, hey, even you guys are willing if your son needs to be rescued, you’d rescue him on the Sabbath, right? Right. So there are things that are more important in the moment. The emergency, uh, of saving a life is more important than. Oh, I’m sorry, I have to sit on my hands. Got to wait until 6:00 tomorrow afternoon, and then. Then I’ll rescue you.

Chris
Right. Well, what I was trying to go to earlier when I said there were no rules, and then I corrected you. No. Yeah. Pivoted. What I was trying to say is, is that the Pharisees often created rules. More rules, more rules.

Jeff
They made rules about the rules. About the rules. Yeah. To the point that. Now, did you know that there are elevators in Jerusalem for for the, the, the Hasidic Jews? Oh, this is.

Chris
Going to make this is going to make Chris Madden.

Jeff
There are elevators in Jerusalem that just go up and down, and they stop at every floor and they open, and then they close and they go to the next one so that nobody has to push a button. Because when you push that button, there’s an electrical spark which creates a fire. And God said, don’t make a fire on the Sabbath. Make a fire before the Sabbath.

Chris
You have got to be kidding.

Jeff
I promise you. So. If the fire is already going, that’s fine. So the fact that this motor is going up and down and creating sparks going up and down, that’s fine, because it’s already going before the Sabbath. But the push the button to make that electrical contact, there’s, there’s, there’s the chance of a little spark.

Chris
So God’s in heaven going, uh, he pushed the button.

Jeff
Yeah, exactly. So, so that.

Chris
Has broken the law.

Jeff
So that so so even today in Israel for for the, the Orthodox Jews, they’ve made rules about the rules, about the rules, about the rules, about the rules. And those are laws in their mind as opposed to God saying, listen. You know, your Sabbath goes from sundown on Friday till sundown on Saturday and during that time. Don’t make fires. Don’t. You can do all that other work before sundown on Friday and then, uh, you know. So don’t make fires to cook. Uh, have have it already going do all that. That’s what he did. And they’ve taken it all the way down to you can’t have a button because it might create a spark.

Chris
Yeah. Right. That’s super crazy. Yeah.

Jeff
And so this is what Jesus is pushing back against. Come on. There are something. So the principle is rest and do everything you can to not do any work on the Sabbath. But there are times your animal falls in a pit. Your son needs to be rescued. Of course you would do that. And Jesus is trying to explain. And by the way, God gave permission in the law for those kinds of things. So he’s trying to explain that this man who has an edema, right. His skin is all swollen. His, his he’s retaining water or something. This man’s current circumstance is one of those. He fell in a pit. He needs to be rescued. And I have the ability. I’m just going to do it. Yeah.

Chris
And by the.

Jeff
Way, Jesus didn’t even break a sweat. He just touched him. Right.

Chris
And by the way, he sort of takes that position on anybody. He heals on the Sabbath. That’s right, that’s right. Because because he’s saying he’s saying it’s the same thing. Somebody is in need of rescuing a need of health. Uh, you know, uh, you know, uh, the healing. And so therefore it’s it’s just like rescuing somebody out of a pit.

Jeff
Yeah. So he’s sitting here with, with with his perceived enemies because he’s not afraid, uh, to be there. I would also say another element is. Uh, if you want to affect change, you have to be in the room. And so I think this is another hint that Jesus hadn’t given up on his enemies. He hadn’t given up on his Pharisees. Mhm. Uh, you know, on, on the people who who had had set themselves against him knowing that they’re going to kill him. But you know what? Nicodemus was a Pharisee and Nicodemus was a, you know, became a follower of Jesus. There’s so I think while you’re still breathing breath, even while you’ve positioned yourself as an enemy of Christ, Jesus doesn’t perceive you as an enemy. So he wants to change them. He wants to change their lives. That’s why he’s continuing to engage. It’s why they’re the ones compromising, not him. So he’s already decided the gospel is available for everybody. Whosoever will may come, right? So he’s already decided. Everybody that’s willing to turn from their sin and turn to God can come through this narrow gate, can go down this narrow path, can, can, can come into my kingdom. So he’s not the one compromising. They’re the ones who said you’re a heretic. They’re the ones who said you’ve committed blasphemy. So Jesus isn’t the one compromising to be in this meeting. He’s hoping to change them with his words. That’s why he’s continuing to engage theologically with them. They’re the ones compromising by sitting down, but they’re doing it with evil intent, and that is to try to trap him.

Chris
Yeah, and I love how Jesus poses questions for which he knows that nobody has the answer to. Yeah, they can answer. He says, which of you? Right. And so it’s that same scenario where he says, okay, I’ll make you a deal. He who is without sin cast the first stone, right? Which is not a question, but a statement. Right. But, but, but it’s one of those things where he already knows the answer, which is nobody’s going to cast the first stone because everybody has sins, right? And it’s one of these things where he’s like, which of you doesn’t do this? Right? And then, of course, they have no answer because, you know, it’s just it’s just great the way that Jesus sometimes does that I think he does it in our lives too, doesn’t he, where he often, uh, you know, in the Scripture he’ll ask us questions. Uh, where is your faith? You know, and you know, why are you afraid? And and it’s meant for that. Those people there, you know, in the boat. But at the same time, it’s one of those questions where it just penetrates. Yeah. And we don’t have to answer because we know the answer. Yeah. Which is like, yeah, I should have faith. Yeah. Right. The god, the God who is in control of the storms is in the boat. You know, it’s just one of those kind of statements.

Jeff
So he’s not afraid of his enemies. He’s willing to engage with them. But clearly his audience is not his enemies. His audience is. It says in the first verse. And the people were watching him closely. Mhm. So sometimes you choosing to be a good citizen, you’re choosing to be a decent person. You’re choosing to sit down with your perceived enemies. It’s not just about the engagement of you and that person, right. Otherwise you can go nuclear, right? It’s a fight to the death between the two, you know, verbal fight to the death between your two opinions. But at Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinner or New Year’s dinner, there’s witnesses. There’s other people watching. Your Jesus is not changing. Most of the fair. A few of the Pharisees changed, but most of the Pharisees did not change until after his resurrection. Right. Um, and then lots of Pharisees did. But before he didn’t win the win them in the argument. But what he was doing was he was speaking and demonstrating for the for the people who were watching. And I think sometimes we forget that we’ve got so many. We want to argue religious stuff at work. In an angry way. Forgetting the fact that there’s lots of silent witnesses all around us watching. Just curious to see how all this is going to go down. Right? And instead of showing love and grace and mercy and gentleness while we’re still declaring the truth like Jesus would do here, speak the truth in love, grace and truth kind of idea. Sometimes we just want to fight, and then we wonder why people, you know, reject Christ. A lot of times it’s because they’re rejecting Christians, right? Right. We don’t like Christians. And so we we don’t really we’re not going to become a follower of Christ. Jeff
Um, and.

Chris
That makes Chris.

Jeff
Mad. Yeah, that makes Chris mad. And so in this situation, you can tell Jesus was aware of the fact not only is he having a debate with these Pharisees who are enemies. Um, he’s aware of the fact that there’s a crowd. So his audience was the people watching. He’s had to be aware that there’s way more people watching than we realize.

Chris
That’s great. Well, that’s our time. And that’s a great place to end. So we will see you next time on The Bible Guys.