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. Let me think.

Chris:
Let’s try something different. Okay. I’m trying to make a joke. Dang it.

Jeff:
Yeah, it didn’t work. Yeah, no. But how could you make a joke? We know you’re usually trying to make jokes.

Chris:
Well, how could you make a joke about saying, let’s not talk about the Bible?

Jeff:
Yeah, on a podcast called, you know, The Bible Guys. There is that.

Chris:
Yeah, so I agree. Let’s talk about the Bible.

Jeff:
Okay, great. But before we do that, let’s do a segment called, Who’s Most Likely? And by the way, I haven’t read these yet. Have you read them?

Chris:
No, I’ve not even glanced at them. However, I do have a feeling that I think, I think this is true. Most of the time, we’re in agreement on this.

Jeff:
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Here we go. Yep. Who’s most likely to win their March Madness bracket?

Chris:
That would definitely be you.

Jeff:
That’s me.

Chris:
Yeah. And let’s tell everybody why.

Jeff:
Because I’m a winner.

Chris:
No.

Jeff:
I have won the office bracket a couple of times. And then my wife won it one time.

Chris:
Because I loathe basketball.

Jeff:
That’s right. You loathe basketball in general. Basketball in general. You hate basketball.

Chris:
I do not like basketball.

Jeff:
Barely a Christian. Yep. Okay. So yeah, March Madness bracket.

Chris:
Did I tell you that as a youth pastor, I tried, I had somebody train me because I thought I cannot be successful as a youth pastor without being good at basketball. So I went to like, I grabbed somebody and said, please mentor me. I must like basketball. And I forced myself. Wow. And then at the end of months and months of me trying to become a basketball player, I decided that I would surround myself with basketball players so that my youth group could have basketball be a part of its culture. And I decided to abandon that whole track.

Jeff:
So then did you just run around like in the ref jersey or something?

Chris:
No, I just walked around shaking hands.

Jeff:
I would say basketball is one of those things you have to start when you’re young. I did? I mean, very young. And probably a couple of months isn’t going to get you at the level where you’re going to be able to capture the attention of teenagers.

Chris:
Well, I just wanted to like it.

Jeff:
Oh, you just wanted to like it.

Chris:
I just wanted to be able to hang, right?

Jeff:
And not play well, just be able to hang. Well, March Madness, you’re going down this year.

Chris:
So I was given floor seats to the Atlanta Hawks game, and my feet are on the floor, and I’m literally right behind the players. And about midway, I was like, I’m bored, let’s go home.

Jeff:
Wow. Okay. Well, there you go. So I am most likely to win the March Madness bracket. Correct. Number two, who’s most likely to be voted class clown?

Chris:
That would definitely be me because I was.

Jeff:
Yeah, so was I. Were you really? Yeah, 8th grade. Wow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What grade? What grade for you?

Chris:
Geez, I’d like to think it was… That’s a great question. Yeah? Probably 7th grade.

Jeff:
Wow. So, we’re going to split that point, those points. Okay. That’s hilarious. Yeah, that’s amazing. Yeah. That’s really funny. Who’s most likely to go off on a tangent during a meeting? Jeff? Yeah, that’s definitely you. I’m a tangent guy. You’re definitely a tangent guy. I have all my thoughts all at once. All the time.

Chris:
thoughts all at once.

Jeff:
All the time. That is really funny. Everything reminds me of another thing. That’s so funny. It’s true. Who’s most likely to be the favorite child? That’s me. Is that you? Yeah, I literally call my parents and go, hey mom, it’s your favorite son. Do you? I do it. My dad’s birthday was a couple days ago. I called him. Hey, it’s your favorite son. And so they bought me a shirt that said favorite son. Oh, that’s hilarious. Not my parents, but well, so my mom did, but she bought it for all of us. World’s best boss. Yeah.

Chris:
Yeah. I found it at a garage sale.

Jeff:
Yeah. So even my brothers complain that I’m the favorite child. I’m the oldest. They got it right the first time. Right. Everything’s downhill from there. It is. Which son are you? I’m the fifth. I’m the youngest. So you’re the last. Yeah. But everything goes downhill.

Chris:
But actually I did. I always signed. Well, I used to a long time ago. Sign my cards. Number five, your favorite.

Jeff:
Your favorite? Oh, yeah. So there you go. Yeah. Yeah. So are you really your mom’s favorite? Uh, I’ll concede to you. The baby, the baby is.

Chris:
I’m not, I’m not certain. My mom is incapable, I think. Yeah. So. Okay. Of having favorites.

Jeff:
Yeah. No, she’s not. That’s funny. If you have to say that, then no, you’re not the favorite. That’s hilarious. Oh, I love everybody the same, right? Means you’re not the favorite because parents go.

Chris:
Yeah, I disagree.

Jeff:
Disagree. It’s true. Dude, I’ve had that happen. You don’t know me or my mom. If my brothers are listening, my mom tells me that every time she talks to me. No, I’m joking. That’s not true. Okay. I’m lying.

Chris:
Number five.

Jeff:
Number five. Who’s most likely to get stuck up a mountain and have to call for rescue?

Chris:
That would be me. No, no, no, no. Well, Okay. That’s definitely, uh, I’ve mixed emotions on this, but the answer is definitely me. Is it you? Yeah. But here’s the reason why, because, um, number one, you would most likely never have to call for a rescue for anything. That’s really the main operative part. Okay.

Jeff:
You just gave me that one. Like, just get that out of the way.

Chris:
However, the other half of this is I would never be on a mountain for any reason whatsoever.

Jeff:
So if you’re there, you need rescued. Right.

Chris:
Unless it’s on a missions trip. Yeah. Yeah, right. If it’s on a missions trip, then I guess I could see myself being on a mountain.

Jeff:
That’s funny.

Chris:
But other than that, I’m not voluntarily heading toward a mountain anytime soon. I remember I told you when I see those shows about people, oh no, they died on Everest. I have no compassion. I’m like, what did you think was going to happen?

Jeff:
Yeah, of course you did.

Chris:
Yeah. I was like, and then the weather came in and how tragic it was. I’m like, yeah, that’s what happens when you sign up to go to Everest.

Jeff:
The way you don’t die on Everest is, you know, don’t climb Everest. Don’t climb Everest.

Chris:
because chances are you’re going to die. So there’s no compassion there for me.

Jeff:
Last year, my wife and I and my daughter, we went to Grand Tetons. And then at Jenny Lake, if you’ve ever been there, it’s beautifully, just beautiful, beautiful. And the Grand Teton Mountains are just so stark right there. And so you ride a little boat across the lake and then we could hike up the hill. You go into this valley and there’s elk and all kinds of stuff you’re trying to see, waterfalls. I’m telling you, so I’m not the super fittest guy, but when we do those kinds of things, I just like, I don’t care, I’ll pay the price tomorrow, but let’s do these things. And I just, I love doing those things. And so, Honestly, you’re sitting there and you’re looking at these, what, 14,000 foot mountains. I’m like, I wonder how much it would cost to get a guide to go. You don’t do that? Like when you see big mountains, you don’t? No. Oh man, I look at everything, everything like that.

Chris:
I wonder what it would be like to fly in a chopper over this mountain.

Jeff:
Yeah, people were doing that.

Chris:
I mean, I’d do that. Yeah.

Jeff:
No, I just like, I wonder, and then I start thinking, I wonder how expensive it’d be to buy all the equipment and just do like a five day hike through the, through the Tetons. You are very different people. Yeah. All the time. I always want to just go around the next Hill. I want to go up that mountain. I want to see what’s just beyond. All the time. I don’t know why it’s just in me. Yeah. Well, good for you. Yeah. Good for you. Love that. But, uh, in my current physical state, that’s why we’re doing the 77 day challenge, right? That’s right. That’s right. In my current physical state, I’m likely to have to call for rescue if I actually try to do those things.

Chris:
You know, oftentimes when I’m not a certain way, uh, I, I often more times than not, I’ll say, you know, I really wish I was this way. Like I wish, I wish I was the way that you are, you know, that kind of thing. Uh, in this particular case, most people do in almost every area.

Jeff:
Stop, stop. Yeah.

Chris:
But in this particular case, I am so glad the way I am that I am. Because I have no desire to be that way.

Jeff:
I don’t know why.

Chris:
Matthew 26.

Jeff:
Here we go. So we are in Matthew chapter 26, and again, short little verses, but we’re doing each of these events in the life of Jesus. And so yesterday, Judas committed to betray Jesus. And so now here, the disciples are preparing for the Passover. So Matthew 26, 17 says, on the first day of the festival of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you? As you go into the city, he told them, you’ll see a certain man. Tell him, the teacher says, my time has come and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house. So the disciples did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover meal there. In Mark 14, 12, it says on the first day of the festival of bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus disciples asked him, where do you want us to go to prepare the Passover meal for you? So Jesus sent two of them into Jerusalem with these instructions. As you go into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, say to the owner, the teacher asks, where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples? And he’ll take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal. So the two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there. And then in Luke chapter 2 verse 7, it says, Now the festival of unleavened bread arrived, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, Go and prepare the Passover meal so we can eat it together. Where do you want us to prepare it? They asked him. He replied, As soon as you enter Jerusalem, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, say to the owner, The teacher asks, Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples? He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare your meal.” They went off to the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there. So they’re getting ready for Passover.

Chris:
Well, this is one of those things where it was just like, It was just like when Jesus found the donkey. Remember that? He says, go into the city and you’re going to find somebody there with a donkey and a colt. And you’re going to say, the teacher’s time, the teacher needs a donkey. And he’s going to give you the donkey. And we talked about that. And I said, I said, gee, I wonder if that guy was like overtaken with Jesus powers. You know, he just went into a trance. Yes. Yeah. Here are the reins of my donkey. But then you suggested something, which was hilarious because I’d never, hilarious only in that I’ve never thought about it. It’s so practical. you said, well, maybe it was just a person that he knew or he had healed before, or maybe it was just somebody who knew him, you know. And when they had heard the master is, you know, needing a donkey, they’re like, well, absolutely anything for Jesus. Right. And so it could be something as simple as that. Right. Sure. But my brain doesn’t go there at all.

Jeff:
Sure.

Chris:
My brain goes to it’s a miracle, you know, like ominous music starts. Right. And Jesus is like, you will run into a man with a pitcher, you know, and then he will magically say, I have a room prepared already upstairs for you. Yeah. Yeah. So that’s, that’s where my brain goes.

Jeff:
It does seem like if, if they knew the guy, they would say, Hey, you’re going to run into Simon. Yeah. Right. It seemed like that’s what he said. He didn’t. He said a man with a pitcher. Right. Right. So there is a little bit of mystery to this one, but the guy clearly knew who Jesus was because the teacher asks what teacher, you know, all of Jerusalem was full of rabbis today, right? Because it’s Passover week. Right. So,

Chris:
But if he was overtaken with Jesus powers to that point, he wouldn’t, he wouldn’t, he would know exactly where the teacher was.

Jeff:
Sure. Yeah. Or, you know, the whole city had just turned out a couple of days ago to say Hosanna. Right. Right. So I think, I think, I think he probably, I think the guy with the picture knew who Jesus was. Yeah. Cause, cause again, the disciples didn’t know who this guy was.

Chris:
It’s not up to these authors to, uh, you know, unveil, the dynamics of that conversation. What teacher? Who do you think? The teacher? I’m sure that probably even happened, right? But that’s not up to the author to lay that out for us, right? So yeah. So I would think that that conversation probably took place.

Jeff:
Yeah. One of the benefits of doing these parallel things, even when you’re reading some simple passages like this, is you see how they’re all telling the same story and they tell it in a different way, but it all meshes. For instance, Matthew chapter 26 says, on the first day of the festival, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, where do you want us to go to prepare the Passover meal for you? And then he says, as you go into the city. So it’s the disciples. Which disciples? How many disciples? I think it’s all the disciples. Right? Then if you read Luke chapter 22, it says, the festival of all the bread arrived when the Passover lamb, Jesus sent Peter and John ahead. So it turns out Peter and John are the two who get sent. Right. All the disciples come and ask. He sends Peter and John. The way you know that is on Mark 14, it says, on the first day of the festival, all the bread when the Passover lamb sacrifice, Jesus’ disciples asked him. So the disciples ask him, where do you want us to go? Jesus sent two of them. Isn’t that interesting? So Matthew says, the disciples just ask. Luke says, he sends Peter and John. Mark says, the disciples ask and he sends two. Isn’t that neat? It’s a simple thing. It means nothing. But what I’m saying is, when the stories differ, they still always mesh. Yeah. Right. There’s a way to mesh them together.

Chris:
And that’s the thing. I’ll even push back on one thing that you said when it says the disciples, it doesn’t necessarily mean all 12.

Jeff:
Right. Right. Right. It could be five. Yeah. It was likely more than the two. Right. Right.

Chris:
It could mean five. So again, unless there’s another piece of insight that tells us which five disciples came or which six or twelve or whatever.

Jeff:
But more than the two he sent. Yes. Because if he wanted to talk about the two, he said two disciples, but instead it said the disciples, and then he sent two. So it differentiates between the disciples and two, and then we know that those two are Peter and John.

Chris:
Yeah, which by the way is cool.

Jeff:
It’s cool to know, right? Well, so it’s just useful in knowing, you know, sometimes if you watch History Channel, they will want to try to disassemble the authority of the Gospels by showing what appears to be controversial, um, conflicts. Yeah. And, and they’re not, they’re differences, but they’re not conflicting ever. Like there’s none. There’s a reasonable response for every single difference between the gospels. And so in my mind, again, and we’ve already asserted this several times in my mind, the differences give me more confidence that we’re talking about real witnesses as opposed to collusion to make sure we all get our story straight before we write it. Right.

Chris:
Right. Right. That’s really good. And notice also that he chose Peter and John again. So again, right? So Peter and John are the ones who are chosen by Jesus to witness really cool things that the other disciples may not have been chosen for, at least evidence in the scripture. And so And I believe, and I’ve always said it, it’s because of their inquisitive heart. They’re the ones that pursue Jesus and pull him aside. And they’re the ones that say, tell us more. We want to know more. And let’s ask you a question more than the others. And so, you know, you know, Peter and John get to experience this cool little thing where, you know, imagine them walking into a town. And at this point, is there still a piece of them that wonders, Gee, you know, I wonder if this is going to happen. There’s got to be some anticipation, right? He said, we’re going to see this mysterious man with a picture. Oh, I wonder what’s going to happen. Right. Or are they just so unbelievably confident, which I imagine they would be.

Jeff:
Yeah. By this time they’re, they’re accustomed to this.

Chris:
They’re accustomed to this. Right. So then it’s going to walk in. They’re going to be like, well, he’s got to be here. Jesus said he would be. Yeah. Right. And so, which is pretty cool.

Jeff:
And then, did you, when you were in Jerusalem, did you go to one of the traditional upper rooms?

Chris:
We did not.

Jeff:
You didn’t? So it’s kind of funny, like you have mentioned before, in Israel when you go on tours, the tour guides will rank things one, two, three. One, Jesus was definitely here. Two, Jesus was probably in this area. Three is it’s traditional and nobody knows, right? And so it used to be that the upper room was like a two, maybe a one. except the government made some changes and turned a space into a national park kind of a space and so then the Catholic Church just moved where the upper room was.

Chris:
Oh my word.

Jeff:
Yeah. So, so, uh, it’s interesting when you’re in the old city, cause you’re in this, uh, they probably came through one of the lower gates in the lower part of the city. So if you, if you can envision Jerusalem sits on a hill and then it’s hills all around and the valleys are really steep. They’re like, they’re, they’re valleys made from runoff and little Brooks that just cut through this softer dirt and rock. Right. And so the valleys are steep. And so while it might take a long time to walk, it’s only just a few miles away. But like Bethany is only just a few miles from Jerusalem. So in this, then Jerusalem has the lower part of the city on the on the lower part of the hill. And then it comes up to the high part of of the city. They call it the upper part of city. There’s multiple walls. And so they would have come through and into the upper part of the city, which also happened to be, there were a lot of rich stuff there. A lot of rich people there. This is where Herod’s lower palace was. It’s where the Hasmonean palace was. It’s where Herod’s royal palace was. Caiaphas’s house, we believe was right there. All these things. And so Jesus goes up into kind of the swanky neighborhood and that’s where he decides I’m having my last meal in class. Yeah, there is a first class place. And so it mentions here.

Chris:
Anybody who has a guest room that’s on the large upper room, a large upper room, and it’s big enough for a traditional table to house, not house, but feed 12 people.

Jeff:
Or 13. Oh yeah, 13. Plus, you know, the disciples, it could have included all the women, too. It could have, that’s right. It could have been 15, 18 people.

Chris:
15, 20 people, yeah, yeah. And so that’s a pretty big house, especially by the standards… Of those days. Of those days. Because today, you’re like, well, that’s a moderate house. But back in those days, that’s a rich man’s house.

Jeff:
So we’re not talking about a mud hut here. No. And so sometimes, you know, people want to talk about the poverty of Jesus. The fact that Jesus didn’t own a home, is where we always get the idea that Jesus was poor.

Chris:
As you said, the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.

Jeff:
Right. But we have mentioned this in the past. Jesus’ friends tended to have some significant resources. And in this case, this person has a large home and is happy to let Jesus use this for the Passover meal. Now, think about that for a minute. This is the day before the Passover. Mm-hmm. Really? Jerusalem goes from somewhere around 50,000 people to 250,000 people? And a giant upper room in this mansion is still available? Right. Right? This guy didn’t have his own plan? You know, people who build big houses usually plan to fill them on holidays. Right. Right. Isn’t that why? So, you know, the people who have nice big homes that are listening on our podcast, you got that house because you were envisioning how great it’d be to have all the kids over and the grandkids over for Christmas. Right. And how great this dining room is going to be for Thanksgiving. That’s why we buy bigger houses, you know. Otherwise, most of us would just buy something much more manageable. So this guy has a big house, big room, probably with the intent of filling it on big days. And it’s not. Or he chooses to change his plans for Jesus. Something happened where in this very wealthy area, this guy makes accommodation for Jesus and his big group of people. And that is really quite astounding that this happened. It may have been the sacrificial decision of this guy to let Jesus use it instead of him packing his family into it.

Chris:
Or Jesus transced him with his Jesus powers.

Jeff:
Yeah, maybe. I doubt it. But anyways, the two places where they have identified saying, hey, this may be an upper room, their upper room, you know, for this meal, both of them are in very ancient areas of the city. And the downstairs is very big and the extended buildings and the little courtyard, all that stuff is very large. So this person probably was pretty wealthy.

Chris:
So this would be, we’re at Thursday now, is that right? In the week?

Jeff:
Yes, I believe so.

Chris:
I believe so, yeah. So again, it’s unclear. It doesn’t say this took place on Thursday.

Jeff:
Yeah, it’s likely. Because preparing the meal, you’re going to sacrifice the lamb, you’re going to cook for a long time. In order to get good lamb, it takes a while.

Chris:
And then we know that he has the Passover meal in the upper room, and then he still has to go through the garden. Actually, he goes through the vineyard first, then he goes through the garden, then he gets arrested, then he gets tried, and then he gets crucified. And so that would bring us to Friday.

Jeff:
You go to the Olive Grove, the Mount of Olives?

Chris:
Is that what you’re talking about? No, no, no, no. Actually, I think I’m pretty sure I learned this. And I think it’s, I think this is true. No, it’s John 15. Remember, I’m the vine, you’re the branch, where he leaves the upper room. And before he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane, I think he stops and teaches John 15.

Jeff:
That’d be interesting. We’ll see that.

Jeff:
Yeah. So, all right. Well, that is our time. So we will see you next time on The Bible Guys.