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, how do you do, Wesley? Yeah, I’m.

Wesley
Good to be here again. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Been here the whole week.

Chris
Yeah. And this is this is your last podcast filling in for Jeff this week.

Wesley
Last one. Yeah.

Chris
But next time when I’m out or he’s out, maybe we’ll see you again. Yeah. And there’s gonna be Wesley fans saying Wesley.

Wesley
Wesley I doubt it. Yeah.

Chris
Let’s say let’s say Jeff’s back. Bring back the good looking one.

Wesley
Oh yeah. Bring back your twin. That’s so funny. All right, we got something. Ladies and gentlemen. That is epic. It is amazing. It is jaw dropping. The thing that you all have been waiting for all week long. I’m not sure.

Chris
About that either.

Wesley
This is the segment. This is it. This is what we get the most requests about.

Chris
Wow, you’re really building this up.

Wesley
What made Chris mad this week? That’s it. We haven’t heard from this in a while, so we gotta know what made Chris Matt this week.

Chris
Believe it or not, uh, I have one. And, uh, that’s not a surprise to anybody, but I actually, it happened on the way here. Oh.

Wesley
So it’s it’s a today thing. Oh, yeah.

Chris
In fact, in fact, literally as I was pulling in, I actually thought, I wonder if there’s going to be a segment because we don’t know the segments. We literally read them right before the podcast. Yeah. So I didn’t know if it was going to be me, Chris, Matt this week. But I was like, I was I was looking at my rearview mirror going, that made me mad. And then I go, oh, I wonder if that’s going to be a segment.

Wesley
Because, well, there you go.

Chris
Because I have it. So here’s, here’s what happens. So, uh, for those people listening who aren’t local Michigan, uh, my wife says every state has this. I disagree radically. I don’t remember this being in, uh, Atlanta at all when I lived in Atlanta for ten years. I don’t remember this being in Youngstown, Ohio when I lived there. I certainly don’t remember this being in Springfield, Missouri, when I lived there. Uh, but but but Michigan has this irritating thing, and I’m not talking about Michigan lefts.

Wesley
Well, that’s what I was just about to say because.

Chris
Because those are super irritating. And they only exist in Michigan.

Wesley
But but doing U-turns in the intersection in Ohio is a bit strange. Yeah. That U-turn thing.

Chris
Yeah, yeah. So so the, uh. So anyway, here’s what Michigan does. So Michigan, uh, you’ll be riding on a road. And so, uh, 18 miles is the name of the road to get here. Yeah. Right. And so you’re driving down the road and all of a sudden it goes to two lanes and you’re like, oh, cool, two lanes. So you get in the right lane and you’re riding along, you know.

Wesley
Well then it’s going to cut back away.

Chris
And then all of a sudden you get to a light. Yeah. And then uh, the light’s there and you’re at a red light and all of a sudden you look beyond the red light and you notice you’ve only got like 30 yards to make your way back into the left lane. And there is no sign before that red light that says this lane is going to end. Yeah. So and then by the way, that only happens like half the time. Yeah. So half the time it goes into a right lane and that right lane goes on forever. Yeah. And then half the time it’ll go into a right lane and you’re like oh look a right lane. And they’re like ha ha just kidding. Yeah. Right. And then all of a sudden now you’re stuck and now you’re like, oh do I burn rubber? And do I make it past this big Kroger truck that’s in front of me. Right. Or do I, uh, drop behind and then take a chance that this guy is not going to let me in? Yeah, right. And there’s this whole big culture of, like, nobody’s going to let you in because you’re the jerk who went over in this lane, and there are people who are like that. Yeah, they really are. And so it’s like it’s this big thing. And so I always get so mad just at that lane. Yeah. So that alone makes me mad, right? Uh, but sure enough, I did it again, and I. And I got over in this lane. But in this particular case, I did it on purpose because in front of me was this massive, huge semi dump truck. Yeah, like an extended one. And in front of that was a Kroger, uh, big truck. Chris
Like it wasn’t quite a semi, but it was a big truck. And then and then there was a couple other cars. So I thought, okay, you know, it’s going to turn red and it’s going to turn green, and I’m going to be able to just go in front of this Kroger truck and in front of this other truck, which I did. So it turns turns green. I hit the gas a little bit. I get in front of both trucks and I get over no problem at all. So what I’m angry about didn’t even happen to me. Yeah, here’s what happens. So, uh, this Kroger truck sees that I got in front of him. Yeah, right. Which, again, he’s going super slow, right? The car behind me wanted to do the same thing. Yeah. Now, let me just add to our listeners. There was plenty of room. Yeah, for the car behind me to get in front of this Kroger truck. Plenty of room.

Wesley
Did he do the get over thing?

Chris
The Kroger truck literally got in that lane. And then the car. I watched the car behind me, then try to switch lanes back into the left lane to get around the Kroger truck, thinking that the Kroger truck was going to take a right into that plaza. Yeah, but then the Kroger truck swerved back and then took up the middle lane.

Wesley
Oh, no.

Chris
Until both lanes merged into one. Yeah. In other words, this guy thought for some reason.

Wesley
I’m not letting you around.

Chris
That it was his job. Yeah. To prevent somebody else from doing their their driving duties. Right? Yeah. Like like, hey, I have the right to control your driving, which he does not, by the way. Yeah, right. Like it is not his business. At all with this guy chooses to do right? Yeah. So if he’s going to go 30 miles an hour, just stay 30 miles an hour, bro. Yeah, right. Don’t punish somebody for going 25 behind you if they want to go 35 in front of you. Yeah, right. It was none of your business that that guy wanted to get around you. So if you’re the kind of person that even in a merge. Have you ever done this? Yeah. Where it’s like there’s a merge and it’s like a mile down the road, so everybody gets in the right lane. Yeah, but then there’s somebody who drives a little bit further down. Yeah. Right. And or they.

Wesley
Go all the way up to where it merges. Right, right.

Chris
Which by the way, if you ask any single person on any website, anywhere connected to the dot, the dot, yeah, they would say the proper way to do it.

Wesley
Is like that.

Chris
Is like that. Yeah. Instead of everybody getting over and causing a traffic jam, if everybody would just pull up on both lanes where it merges and just zipper. Yeah. And if you just zipper, the efficiency I think is like 44% faster. Yeah. Right. But yeah, but.

Wesley
People feel like they’re cutting in front of us. Yeah. So so they.

Chris
Get over because it’s their job to police that lane. Yeah. Right.

Wesley
Or they block that lane. Yeah. Like I’ve seen that happen where the guy or lady straddles the white line. Yes. So that you can’t get around. And semis.

Chris
Semis do this often right. Yeah. And so and so we need to wrap up this segment by saying this. Listen, um, first of all it’s better to to do the zipper by the merge. Second of all, if you’re the person that does that, I am absolutely convinced you are not a nice person. Yeah, I really am. I’m completely convinced that you are probably a little too selfish to be my friend. Yeah, and by the way, I’m laughing. Yeah, but I’m sort of not kidding. I’m sort of not kidding.

Wesley
Epic segment. What made Chris mad? Yeah.

Chris
So. So, hey, listen, I was mad for the person. Two cars behind me. Yeah. I was so angry for him. Yeah, I was like, dude. Anyway, so if.

Wesley
We see a bunch of those merge signs bent down in the in the metro area, we know who did it. That’s right, that’s right.

Chris
All right, well, let’s go ahead and jump into John chapter nine, verse 35 through 41. And this really has been a sort of a three day continuation. Yeah. Because Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath, born blind. And that was the first one. And then, uh, yesterday’s segment was he then was questioned by the Pharisees and the religious leaders. Yeah. Uh, because they didn’t want to recognize Jesus as somebody who had authority to do that. Yeah. Right. And then today Jesus teaches about spiritual blindness. Mhm. So we’re going to pick up in verse number 35. Yeah.

Wesley
So that’s John chapter nine verses 35 through 41 New Living Translation. Uh, when Jesus heard what had happened again a continuation, he found the man and asked, do you believe in the Son of Man? The man answered, who is he, sir? I want to believe in him. You have seen him, Jesus said, and he is speaking to you. Yes, Lord. I believe, the man said, and he worshiped Jesus. Then Jesus told him, I enter this world to render judgment, to give sight to the blind, and to show those who think they see that they are blind. Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, are you saying we’re blind? If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty? Jesus replied, but you remain guilty because you claim you can see.

Chris
Oh, Jesus.

Wesley
That was a deep, uh.

Chris
Dude, I.

Chris
I love Jesus’s wisdom. Yeah, obviously he has more wisdom than anybody. Yeah. And he is so clever. Yeah.

Wesley
Witty responses. Yeah.

Chris
And by the way, he never look at this. He never he never said they were blind. Yeah. He never, uh, said um, anything about them. He said if if you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty. Yeah. But you remain guilty because you claim you can see he twisted the words. Yeah. And it was a perfect word picture. Yeah. Wasn’t it?

Wesley
Yeah. No, that was awesome.

Chris
It was so great. And, uh, and by the way, I also, uh, love the fact that so much controversy, uh, happened around this man. This man then goes in front of, you know, the the religious leaders. He defends Jesus boldly and and and rightfully so. And then I love how let’s not overlook the fact that Jesus then comes back around to show care to this man. Yeah, right. So it gives him the privilege of finding him again. When he had heard what happened, he found the man. Yeah. Let’s just let’s just rest there for a minute.

Wesley
Yeah no, that that’s really good. The fact that he found him a second time now, this wasn’t an issue of sin or anything like that. Right. But I even think about that with Jesus pursuing us and finding us again when we mess up. So a little different context. But the fact that Jesus, it wasn’t a pursuit once, and maybe there’s someone listening and you knew Christ when you were younger and you kind of strayed away from the church. Yeah. Jesus is still pursuing you. He’s still looking for you. He still wants to find you again. So I love that about Jesus. He never gives up on us. He never leaves us alone. He will always find us again, like he did for this gentleman.

Chris
Yeah. And I remember the first time I heard somebody say, no matter how far you feel like you’ve run from God, if you if you do an about face, he’s only one step away. Yeah. And so that’s good. And so we think, uh, you know, I’ve gone so far, I’ve strayed so far from my youth or from my faith or from my, uh, you know, behavior of of who I used to be, the person I used to be. And I am leap years. And so we think we think it’s going to take just as much work to find God, you know, to go back to where we used to be, but, you know, going to God, you don’t have to clean yourself up to go to to go to God. Yeah. You go to God to get yourself cleaned up. Yeah. Right. And so God’s only a prayer away. He’s only, uh, you know, a sentiment away. Just a one apology away. One heart, repentance. Turn away. And I think that, uh, it’s important to know that you know. So. So anyway, so. So the man finds, uh. Or. Excuse me? Jesus finds the man and knows that he’s, you know, been going through a hardship because of him. And then and then and then he decides to reveal himself as the Messiah. Yeah. And think about this. He is not really, uh, other than a few times at this point. I mean, he’s ready to go to the cross. He’s heading to Jerusalem, right? He’s on his way there. And and there’s not too many times he’s revealed himself. Yeah. He revealed himself to the woman at the. Well. Yep. Uh, he revealed himself to, uh, just a few people, and he said a couple of different times. Chris
He said, I. Am he right? Yeah. And so, uh, you know, as far as this man is concerned, um, you know, he has no idea who Jesus is. Yeah. Do you believe in the Son of Man? Uh, who is he? Yeah, I’ve not heard of him, but I want to believe him. Oh. That’s me. Yeah. Yeah, well, I certainly believe in you, right? Yeah. That’s awesome.

Wesley
Yeah. No, that’s that’s really good. Uh, something else here that just want to throw this out for the listening audience. It says, do you believe in the Son of Man? Just so that everyone knows that was a time that Jesus used in reference to himself? Yes. So that’s not someone else. That’s Jesus talking about himself. Yeah. Just wanted to clarify that for anyone. Um, um, listening. Yeah. And then it goes on. You have seen him, Jesus said, and he is speaking to you. I love the fact that no matter who we are or where we come from, what we struggle with, the concept that Jesus can always speak to us. And you alluded to this, I think earlier, earlier on in the week, the fact of how, um, Jesus speaks to us in a variety of different ways. It can be through other people, it can be through, um, a church service, maybe a pastor or a preacher. It can be through. It can even be through people. You would not necessarily think you could receive a positive message for. I’ve had that happen before. Where, um, it’s a person. It could be like a, a homeless person on the street and you’re walking by them and they just say something that really clicks or resonates with you and you’re like, wow, that was actually an amazing thing. God knows the best way to articulate his viewpoint to you.

Chris
Yeah. That’s great.

Wesley
And I love that about so Jesus can speak to us in a matter of different, uh, formats.

Chris
Hey, I’d like to read a footnote here, uh, actually off my phone where it says, uh, the question is asked, what did Jesus mean by the Son of Man? Yeah. And it says definition. The designation Son of Man means for Jesus both that he is human as we are a son of Adam, and that he is the coming Messiah. For who, uh, who has been given authority by the Most High and reigns over his kingdom, uh, through his weakness, seen most clearly at the cross. And then another one, another uh, footnote says, uh, the Hebrew word for the Son of Man is Ben. Adam. Yeah. Uh, well, well. And, uh, or Aramaic, it’s equivalent, uh, bar Adam is used, uh, the book of Daniel and Post-biblical literature. Uh, it is, it is, uh, the Hebrew word uh is is meant to refer to the Son of Man. And then it says, uh, the Son of Man seems to symbolize the angels, perhaps the Archangel Michael, and at times and is found in Daniel, uh, seven, 22, ten and 21. Yeah. So kind of neat. And then there. Oh, actually, there’s another footnote that says there’s poetic parallel. Uh parallelisms. In the Old Testament, uh, also to use the Son of Man also found in Numbers, Job, Psalms, Isaiah and Jeremiah as well.

Wesley
Yeah.

Chris
That’s interesting. So yeah. So when Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man, uh, it definitely is the nickname he gave to himself. Yeah. And he refers to himself, uh, the Son of Man the most often. That’s the most common phrase that he used to refer to himself. Um, he’s he’s really, uh, announcing the fulfillment of scriptures.

Wesley
Now this is interesting here. So in verse 39 and I want to get your opinion on this, Chris, what you think this means. Yeah. It says Then Jesus told him, I entered this world to render judgment, to give sight to the blind, and to show those who think they see that they are blind. I want to back up. Someone may read that word says, I entered this world to render judgment. So did Jesus come here to earth to kill us and strike us all down just to wipe us all out, because it says he came to this world to render judgment.

Chris
Yeah.

Chris
It’s so interesting about that, is that that’s only hearing the word judgment in a negative context. Yeah. So we’re talking semantics, right? Yeah. It’s so funny, isn’t it? How? Um, uh, just the other day, uh, I was having lunch with, uh, staff member of mine, and, and he said that he, he, he was in an argument with somebody on staff, and he goes, you know what I really wanted to say is this. Yeah. And I said, well, that’s vindictive. Yeah. And he goes, no, no, no. He goes vindictive. Is is something you say when you’re angry? And I said, no. I said, for instance, I said ten minutes ago, the waitress kept on forgetting to take my menu, and I and I and I kept on sliding it more and more and more to the to the to the menu, to the, to the, to the end of the table. And I said, I said, I said so I said the server can come over and I can say, uh, well yeah. Are you going to forget our order? Just like you forgot to take my menu ten times? Yeah. I said, that’s vindictive, I said, and yet I have no anger at all about it. Right? Yeah. You can still be vindictive and not angry. Yeah. And then he said, oh, I guess you’re. I guess you’re right. So the definition of vindictive for him meant angry. Yeah, but it’s not vindictive is just an action to get back at somebody. That’s what it means. And you could and you could actually do it without having bitterness at all. You can just be vindictive, to be vindictive, just out of humor. Actually, some people love to be vindictive, right? They just want to watch the world burn.

Wesley
Yeah, well some people like the sport of it. Yeah, so to speak.

Wesley
Yeah.

Chris
So anyway, all that to say. Yeah. Uh, so God is a righteous judge. That’s what, that’s what. That’s what he refers to himself, the righteous judge. Yeah. So at different times in the, in the New Testament, he refers to himself as the one who is the only judge. Yeah. Remember the woman caught in adultery? He said he was without sin. Let him cast the first stone. You know what he’s really saying? He’s saying I’m the only one who has the right to judge here. Yeah, I’m the only one present who is without sin, right? Jesus is the only judge. So when he says, I haven’t come to render judgment, that means righteous judgment. That means fair judgment. Yeah, that means justice judgment. Right. But it also means judgment of what is right and wrong. Yeah. So so the judgment is really neutral. Yeah. It’s actually what he is judging that’s negative or positive. Right. It’s just that, you know, he’s he is the judger. And and we’re, we’re the, we’re the judged. Yeah. And so yeah. So it’s really funny because our culture uh.

Wesley
Judgment we just assume bad negative dude.

Chris
We that’s we only associate that word judgment with bad don’t we. Yeah. Yeah. We say, oh, stop judging me. Yeah. You know, it’s so linked to bad. Yeah. Especially in the faith. Yeah. Because because Christians have earned their reputation, buddy. We have earned it. Uh, you know, well, Christians have a bad reputation, and people always go, don’t view Christians bad. And I always say, dude, we deserve every bit of bad reputation that we get. Yeah, right. We really do. Uh, but the only, the only difference is, is that everybody judges, right? It’s just that we’re scrutinized more than everybody else, right? So. So people judge other people at work. It’s just that they expect Christians to know better. Yeah, right. And then all of a sudden we get.

Wesley
Who’s to bless you?

Chris
Hang on. Holy cow! Thank you so much. Ooh! Can’t believe I did that. It’s just that we were expected to know better. And then when we violate that rule. And then. And then people will misuse the Bible, they’ll leverage it for their own defense, you know? So stop judging me. You know, the Bible says don’t judge, you know? And so, yeah, it’s just pretty funny.

Wesley
And then maybe we finish up with this point here when it goes on to say to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.

Chris
It’s so great.

Wesley
This is a in a much broader context, because now Jesus isn’t just talking about physical blindness, which is how this whole chapter, uh, kind of started and what it’s dealing with. But in this instance, he’s talking about this on a on a much larger scale.

Chris
Yeah.

Chris
It’s symbolic isn’t it? Yeah. It’s spiritual blindness. And so and so Jesus has come to give sight to the blind physically. And what he’s really saying is it’s it’s the same thing when he says he who has ears to hear, let him hear. Yeah. And and to which, you know, if you’re taking that literal, you say, well.

Chris
I have two ears.

Wesley
I can hear, I got ears.

Chris
I have, I have two of them. Yeah.

Chris
And yet I still didn’t understand what you were saying. Right. And so Jesus often says things like that when he says, I am the door, I am the rock. I am the good shepherd. You know, uh, he always uses metaphorical examples, right? Yeah. Uh, you know, this, this fig tree and all these kind of things. You know, I’m the vine. Uh, whoever’s connected to the branch, it’s like, you know, you know, we have to understand that these are metaphors and these are great word pictures, right? Yeah. And so when he says, I’ve come to give sight to the blind, well, that is a double meaning. Yeah, because he’s just given sight.

Wesley
Healed a person that was blind.

Chris
Yes. But then. But then he’s talking much broader and he says, uh, some who think they can see that they are blind. Well, that’s when you have to think twice and say, well, wait a minute. Yeah, that’s not a physical comment because that’s not applicable.

Wesley
Yeah, right.

Chris
Hey, I can see no you’re not, you’re blind. Yeah, well, don’t tell me I’m blind.

Wesley
I can see. Chris
I can see you have black hair and you have a blue shirt on.

Wesley
Yeah.

Chris
Don’t tell me. Yeah. You know, but he’s not talking about that, you know? So I do believe that there’s a lot of, uh, beautiful wisdom here and. And righteous judgment. And then he says, are you saying that we’re blind and they’re getting so angry? Yeah. And then Jesus turns it around. No, no, I’m not calling you blind at all. So he never says that they’re guilty of being blind. Yeah. He says you’re guilty because you can see. Yeah. No, you know, he says you’re guilty because you claim you can see, right? Yeah. And so yeah, that that’s just unbelievable. And so I think that it’s okay to, uh, accept the fact that God’s the only one, uh, who’s in, in, in the position to call out your sin. And then and then those of us who know Christ, uh, if we if we if I approach you and say, Wesley, I’m concerned. Right. If I find out that you’re having an extramarital affair, God forbid. Right. And I would say this is what God’s word says, right? Yeah. And let me call you out because I’m your friend. Well, you shouldn’t say you’re judging me. Yeah, you should say God’s judging me and Chris, you’re pointing it out. Yep. Because, you know, one last comment on judging is that some people say that just because Jesus says do not judge, uh, that he’s talking about, uh, Christians shouldn’t judge at all. But actually, if you read the context of that verse and then you measure it up against everything that the apostle Paul says in first Corinthians, we find out is, is that Christians are not called to judge outsiders, but we are actually responsible for judging insiders. Yeah, but that’s a healthy, righteous, loving judging.

Wesley
Yeah, right.

Wesley
And I think there’s a subtle difference between judging and correction. Yeah, yeah. So offering godly correction versus judging judging is just you’re bad. Correction is hey, you might want to take a different road or a different route.

Chris
Yeah yeah yeah.

Chris
Well that’s that’s the difference in semantics. Yeah. Because, because, uh, the Bible would define judging as what you said, the healthy way. Yes. Right. Of healthy correction. Right. And so it’s just that we’ve, we’ve made it out to be bad. Yeah. But but yeah. So we’re called you know, the apostle Paul even says like how how should we expect, why should we expect somebody who doesn’t believe in Christ to act like Christians? He actually says that’s unreasonable, right? So so that’s crazy. But to to to think that those who believe in Christ, to expect them to act like Christ, that’s actually reasonable. Yeah, right. So to point it out lovingly and to point people toward the Word of God and leverage our influence, leverage our relationship, God actually calls us to do that. Yeah, on more than one occasion. In fact, all the way throughout the epistles, in the Gospels and everything else. So, uh, yeah, I think that’s a good place to end. Yeah.

Wesley
No, that’s good.

Chris
All right. Well, hey, we will see you on Monday. Hopefully Jeff will be back. Yeah. And I’ll be here hopefully. And we’ll see you next time on The Bible Guys.