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:
Good morning, Jeff.

Jeff:
Good morning, Chris.

Chris:
Good morning. Good morning.

Jeff:
I was wondering.

Chris:
We talk all night through good morning. Good morning to you.

Jeff:
Oh, wow.

Chris:
Yeah. Yeah.

Jeff:
You gonna do the jazz hands?

Chris:
Yeah, well, you know, there’s a lot of tap dancing in that, you know. Debbie Reynolds. Did you know that she and Gene Kelly actually had a horrible relationship? I did not. And Gene Kelly actually at the end of his life said his biggest regret in his whole life was how he treated Debbie Reynolds.

Jeff:
Really? Yeah. Wow. Yeah.

Chris:
Who, by the way, was somebody famous’s mom. Debbie Reynolds was the mom of, anybody know?

Jeff:
Somebody famous.

Chris:
Princess Leia. Carrie Fisher.

Jeff:
Yeah, I think I knew that now that you mention it.

Chris:
Yeah. And so that’s appropriate because it’s a good segue.

Jeff:
Because you tied it into this one. Wow. Six degrees.

Chris:
Yeah, six degrees.

Jeff:
There you go. So here it is. We’re going to do another installment of Bible or not. Okay. And so on this one, what I’m going to do is I’m going to test you on your Bible trivia and your Star Wars trivia. And so what’s going to happen is I’m going to read a word, and you have to figure out if the word is a Bible city, a city in the Bible, or a Sith Lord from Star Wars.

Jeff:
I found out that this game was happening two seconds ago, and I gotta tell you, there are so many, I already know, there are so many archived names that never get mentioned. Even if you were to watch.

Jeff:
Or sometimes they mention them just in passing like you know who it is, but it’s not even, there’s nothing, no back story on it.

Chris:
So there’s like 16 seasons or something like that of like the Clone Wars, it’s the cartoon, right? And they’ve now said that that’s canon. I’ve not watched any of that. So there’s probably better catch up. There’s probably 50 names of Sith Lords that, that, that have never ever been spoken that I’ve never even heard.

Jeff:
And then the, the Bible towns are a lot of times they’re very incidental.

Chris:
You don’t really pay attention. They’re absurd. Yeah. Okay. Here you go. Ready? Go ahead.

Jeff:
So this is either a city from the Bible or it’s a Sith Lord. Ready? I got five of them for you. Okay.

Chris:
Um, Javon. Who knows? Okay. It does not sound terrifying enough to be a Sith Lord. So that’s the only basis I’m going to go off of. I’m going to say it’s a Bible city.

Jeff:
It is a Bible city. Yes. Good job. It’s from Ezekiel chapter 27, 19, a town from which the Syrians obtained iron, Cassia and Calamus.

Chris:
Well, I’d like to say that I’m that good with the Bible.

Jeff:
You are, but I’m, but I just, I would have never remembered that Bible city. Go ahead. Relish it. Here’s another one. Sion.

Chris:
S-C-I-O-N?

Jeff:
No. S-I-O-N.

Chris:
So Zion. I’m going to say that that sounds fierce enough to be a Sith Lord. I’m going to say Sith Lord.

Jeff:
I think it sounds like Zion in Jerusalem.

Chris:
It does, which is why I don’t think it’s a Bible city.

Jeff:
It’s a Sith Lord. Nice! He’s the Lord of the Plain, a Sith Lord who lived in the time of the old Sith Wars.

Chris:
Yeah, which I would never know, by the way. Okay. Even had I watched all the canon. Me either. There’s no way I would have remembered that.

Jeff:
This is brutal, but you’re two for two anyways.

Chris:
Yes. Lucky dog. In spite of. Okay. Just by using logic.

Jeff:
Cartan.

Chris:
Ooh, that sounds like it could be anything. How do you spell it?

Jeff:
K-A-R-T-A-N.

Chris:
Ooh, that sounds very doable for both. Excuse me. I’m going to say Sith Lord.

Jeff:
It’s a Bible city.

Chris:
No! No!

Jeff:
There you go. It’s from Joshua 21, 32. It says, it means double city. It’s a town of Naphtali assigned to the Gershonite Levites in one of the cities of refuge. That’s a city of refuge. That’s a big one. I hope we get to that part. I’d love to go through the book of Joshua again and go back and cover those cities of refuge. Okay, this is a tough one. Nihl. N-I-H-L.

Chris:
Nihl. I’m gonna say Bible City. It’s a Sith Lord. Oh no! Which means I’m two and two!

Jeff:
It’s a Nagai male Sith Lord serving in Dark Krait’s Galactic Empire during the Sith Imperial War and the Second Imperial Civil War.

Chris:
This is kind of fun. Okay. I have so much tension in my body right now because I want to finish. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So this is it right here. Three and two.

Jeff:
This is for the win. Yes. This is for the win. Oh, come on, come on. Right here. Please be good to me. Masa.

Chris:
Masa, how do you spell it?

Jeff:
M-A-S-S-A-H.

Chris:
I feel like I’m going to spelling bee.

Jeff:
Use it in a sentence, please. M-A-S-S-A-H.

Chris:
O-H at the end. Oh, that’s about a city.

Jeff:
Really?

Chris:
Sure.

Jeff:
Are you sure? Yes. Okay, you are correct. Yes. It’s a name given to the place where the Israelites, by their murmuring for a wand of water, provoked Jehovah to anger against them in Exodus chapter 17.

Chris:
Yeah, it was the spelling that gave that away. The H. Yeah, the H at the end.

Jeff:
I shouldn’t have spelled it. That was my mistake.

Chris:
What the heck? I’m not allowed for a spelling. There’s no rule that says you can’t spell it.

Jeff:
Okay.

Chris:
Actually, I think you’d have to say Masach. But yeah. Probably so. Hey, I’m three and two, baby. I’m in the red.

Jeff:
You’re the best guesser in the room. Okay. Well, hey, that was a neat one. Thank you, Desiree, for putting that on our list today. That was very fun. And you created a lot of tension. So good.

Chris:
Yeah.

Jeff:
I can breathe now. I’d be curious to see if our listeners knew any of those. Because I didn’t. When I read the list, I told you before we started, I didn’t know any of them. Not any of them. That was crazy. Okay, well we’re continuing now in the last days before the crucifixion and Jesus is getting ready to predict Peter’s denial. And there’s some really significant statements in these passages. Again, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all cover them, so we’ll jump right into it. It’s just a few verses in each one this time. So Matthew 26 31 says, on the way, remember they sang a hymn after the Last Supper and then they go out to the Mount of Olives. So on the way to the Mount of Olives is what it says. On the way, Jesus told them, tonight all of you will desert me. For the scriptures say God will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I’ve been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there. Peter declared, even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you. And Jesus replied, I tell you the truth, Peter, this very night before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me. No, Peter insisted, even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you. And all the other disciples vowed the same. On the way, in Mark chapter 14, on the way, Jesus told them, all of you will desert me, for the scriptures say God will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. But after I am raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you into Galilee and meet you there. Peter said to him, even if everyone else deserts you, I never will. Jesus replied, I tell you the truth, Peter, this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times you even know me. No, Peter declared emphatically, even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you. And all the others vowed the same. In Luke chapter 22, verse 31, it says, Simon, Simon, Satan has asked us if each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you’ve repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” Peter said, Lord, I’m ready to go to prison with you, even to die with you. But Jesus said, Peter, let me tell you something. Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you’ll deny three times that you even know me. Then Jesus asked them, when I sent you out to preach the good news and you did not have money, a traveler’s bag, or any pair of sandals, did you need anything? No, they replied. But now, he said, take your money and a traveler’s bag, and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. For the time has come for this prophecy about me to be fulfilled. He was counted among the rebels. Yes, everything written about me by the prophets will come true. Look, Lord, they replied, we have two swords among us. That’s enough, he said. And then in John 13, 31, it says, As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into His glory, and God will be glorified because of Him. And since God receives glory because of the Son, He will soon give glory to the Son. Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. As I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going. So now I am giving you a new commandment. Love each other, just as I have loved you. You should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. Simon Peter asked, Lord, where are you going? And Jesus replied, you can’t go with me now, but you will follow me later. But why can’t I come now, Lord? He asked, I’m ready to die for you. Jesus answered, die for me. I tell you the truth, Peter, before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you’ll deny three times that you even knew me. So there you go. So the first three are very different from the last one.

Chris:
Yes. Right. Yeah. And tell me why again, what stands out?

Jeff:
Uh, well in John, he’s talking all about, um, at the beginning, he gives them the new commandment and all those kinds of things. Whereas the other ones, Jesus is just going, um, well, Luke is different too. Simon, Simon, Simon, Satan is, uh, asked us to be like wheat. So Matthew and Mark are very, very similar. They sing their song. They’re going out. Hey, we will never deny you. We will die for you.

Chris:
Right.

Jeff:
Right. And then they’re all like, yeah, me too.

Chris:
Me too, Jesus. I’ll die for you too, Jesus. It’s so funny that I’m laughing. It’s not really a laughing matter, is it? But yeah, so As I was looking, the reason why I said, tell me why, is because right when you started, John, I looked down out of curiosity to see what scripture Jesus was quoting, and it was from Zechariah 13, verse 7. God will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. Oh, yeah. That’s why I think I… I sort of was reading that when you were reading, John. But anyway, the point is, is that this is actually pretty crazy, because look how absolutely clear Jesus was in Matthew. He didn’t say this in the other versions, but he said, but after I’ve been raised from the dead.

Jeff:
Yes, right. I mean, you know, other times… He said that in Mark, too. Oh, did he? So Matthew and Mark, it’s exactly the same, but after I’m raised from the dead. So he gives him clear

Chris:
I mean, before he says, strike this temple down in three days. Right. I mean, like, you know, but he he says it very plainly. And I almost wonder at this point, because, you know, clearly it says that they didn’t believe it. Right. Right. Like during the resurrection or excuse me, during the the crucifixion. And, you know, they did scatter. They lost faith when Jesus was was risen. Nobody knew. Nobody understood it. And then it even goes out of its way to say that we’ll read. And then they remembered the word. They’re like, oh, and then they remember that he said he was going to rise from the dead, which means that they had forgotten. So it just makes me believe that Jesus said so many crazy things that they could not understand that maybe perhaps they didn’t know whether to take him literal or not.

Jeff:
Well, if you’ve been with a teacher long enough, eventually sometimes their voice starts to sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher. Right. Possibly. He’s just he’s talking again.

Chris:
Right.

Jeff:
A lot of times they’re not hanging on every word. You kind of get used to. the great teachers that you’re around sometimes, or the other influencers, your own parents, those of you that are currently parents, you know, sometimes it’s easier to have a coach tell your kid the same thing you would tell your kid, but they’ll listen to that coach or they’ll listen to that teacher and they won’t listen to you for some reason.

Chris:
Right. Yeah. It’s almost as if maybe perhaps Jesus could have said in this moment, I don’t think you heard me. Yeah. Yeah.

Jeff:
Let me, let me say this again.

Chris:
Like you all just breezed over it. Like you weren’t even talking to me.

Jeff:
I think about it, so he’s in this group of at least 13 of them, it’s Jesus and the 12. It’s very likely the women are around at this point.

Chris:
Well, Judas had already left.

Jeff:
Yeah, yeah. Well, I was talking about yesterday in the upper room. Then they sing their song, Judas Leaves. So now it’s the 12 of them plus the women or whoever else is with them. But how very alone he must have felt. He just told them just a few minutes ago, you know, one of you is going to betray me. And then he leaves. And everybody, they just don’t even understand what he’s talking about. Is it me? Am I the one that’s going to, right? And then now he goes on and he says, he said, you know, you guys are going to desert me. They’re like, not me. I’ll die for you, Jesus. And how alone he must have felt knowing, no, you won’t.

Chris:
You just won’t. Not today, you’re not. To Peter’s credit, he does take out the dagger and slice off Malchus’s ear. That’s coming up. He just gave away one of the big secrets. Yeah, right. Sorry. A little bit of cross-referencing there. But like, so at least, at least Peter, right. You know, maybe in that moment, a hundred percent believes, okay, he wants to, Hey, it’s going, this is going down. Right. So we’ll get there. But so, so Peter says, Hey, I’m ready to do this. I think he means it in that moment.

Jeff:
Now what’s really astounding to me, and this is a parenthetical kind of an idea, but Every one of them said, I’ll die for you, Jesus. But every one of them abandoned Jesus. Every one of them. Yeah. But they’re only three and a half years into their relationship with Jesus. Every one of them except John, when they’re old men die for Jesus. Right. Every one of them. And John was tortured. He just didn’t die. Right. And so there is something to be said about don’t put so much confidence in how strong of a Christian you are because you read through the Bible one time and you’ve been a believer for a year. Right. Right. But understand, stay on this long journey. And when you’re that older man, that older woman, you’ve been walking with the Lord for a long time, the depth of the desire of your faith, when you’re only a follower of Jesus for a year or two, the desire, I think, can really truly be fulfilled as you continue to spend time with Him. Because every one of them do. Every one of them.

Chris:
Eventually they get to be that, you know, and not only that, but like… They also saw the resurrected Lord, so that helps too.

Jeff:
That helps too, right.

Chris:
Yeah. And, and, uh, you know, at this point they’re, they’re completely convinced he’s the Messiah. He’s the son of God. Peter’s proclaimed it. He’s got a new name. And, uh, and so they know it. Uh, but yeah, I think that when it comes down to it, none of us really understand what it’s like, like how we really like, did you ever see something and you know, there’s a big heroic moment in a movie and you think to yourself, I’d like to believe I would do that. Yeah. But you don’t really quite know. You just don’t know. So I’m going to squeeze the story in. So when I was working for a car dealership, I was selling cars. I went on a test drive with this guy in an Explorer, and he got in a massive car wreck. It was the worst car wreck I’ve ever been in by far. So the airbags deployed, which that’s when I found out that airbags can burn you, the chemicals. They get filled with chemicals, not with air. So anyway, so this guy smashes into this truck, totals the car, and airbags deploy, and when the chemicals come out of the airbags, it looks exactly like smoke. Like, and I thought the car was on fire. So literally, you know, I’m just banged around. I hit the airbag. I unbuckle and I, and I run across the street and I am now like on the other side of the road because I’m thinking the car is on fire and it’s going to explode. And then I look over and the guy who was driving is now like so dazed and everything else. And I’m waiting for him to get out of the car, but he’s in there for at least a minute. And all of a sudden he rolls down the window. and says to me, Hey, help. I can’t get the buckle undone. And there’s smoke coming out of the, out of the windows. And so I scream and say, it’s on fire. It’s going to blow. And he says, I can’t get the buckle undone. And in that moment, instead of rushing over and helping him with the buckle across the street, I yell, just mash it harder. as smoke is coming up, which wasn’t smoke, right? The smoke’s coming out of the windows. I go, just smash it, smash it really hard. And then later on, you know, he’s able to get it and he runs out, then I find out the car wasn’t on fire. And I look back at myself and I was like, who am I in that moment? Right? I am the coward. Oh no. And I couldn’t believe it. It was just that day. Now granted, it wasn’t like it was my relative or my wife or my son or whatever, which I would have ran back for, hopefully.

Jeff:
Yeah, maybe.

Chris:
You just don’t know. Right. And so I give, I give Peter a little bit of credit here because I think he needs it in the moment. Yeah. But yet when it comes down to it, you know, he, he does, he denies them as we’re about to read here in a day or two.

Jeff:
So anyway, that’s huge. And so I think it’s one of those that one, it’s important to have thought through these things.

Chris:
Yeah.

Jeff:
and to think through what would I do in this really bad moment if you were ever faced with it. You know, I’ve told you many times I’ve sat down with pastors that are risking their lives every single day and they just say, I’m going to keep doing it until I get arrested. I’m going to keep doing it until they catch me. I’m going to keep doing it until they kill me. And they’ve already counted the cost and they made that decision. Right? Hopefully, as you think about it ahead of time, it’s not a surprise in the moment you’ve thought about it, you decide, if a situation like this happens, I’m all in for Jesus. They are, in the spur of the moment, just talking. They’re not thinking it through, right? They’re just talking. But Peter goes on and he does actually do what Jesus says, but later on you find Peter risking his life for Jesus all the way to the end of his ministry when he dies as an old man. And I think there is something about that, that in the spur of the moment we can just say whatever, whatever. and have good intentions but no real ability to back it up. But when you make a real decision, he had a real encounter with the resurrected Lord, those two things, then I think he had the whole rest of his life to contemplate, what happened to me in that moment? Right? And at the end, he steps up and does what he says he would do. So there’s that. I also think it’s interesting The one big difference in these four passages is Jesus says in verse 34 of John 13, so I’m going to give you a new commandment, love each other. Right? That’s such an odd commandment to have to give people who’ve been together for three and a half years. Let alone, he’s really kind of announcing, my kingdom needs to be a kingdom of love. My people need to be people of love. Just as I’ve loved you, you should love one another. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you’re my disciples. Your love for one another, the other believers. He’s not saying your love for people in the world. He’s saying here, how you treat each other inside of my followers, inside the family of God, proves to the world that you’re my disciples. And for a lot of us, we think typing in all caps are really strong political opinions. That’ll prove that we’re good Christians. Or we think that it’s being able to win some kind of a Bible trivia thing or that we know more big Bible words than other people That’s what proves that we’re from God’s followers But Jesus says your love for one another how you treat the other Christians among you that means there are going to be Christians who are better Christians than you and There are going to be Christians who have a different view on things than you. There’s going to be Christians who have stronger rules or weaker rules. There’s going to be people who have more Bible knowledge and less Bible knowledge. And he says, inside of your family of God, how you love one another in that moment. proves that you’re my disciples. Sometimes Christians will get frustrated, the more mature they become, they’ll get frustrated that they look at other Christians who are nominal Christians or newer Christians or just kind of halfway living a Christian life, they’ll get frustrated going, I can’t believe those people, they really don’t love God. I’ve got to leave that group and I’ve got to go to another group where people are more committed and love God even more, right? And I would say, so I need to divorce the family of God I’m a part of and go find a new family. And he says, your love for one another, not for the other group of Christians over there, for the group of Christians you’re in will prove to the world that you’re my disciples. And so I think a lot of times we’re quick to go ahead and divorce the group of disciples we’re a part of because we’re frustrated with them. We’re just gonna go find a better group. I think there’s some danger in that, as opposed to we all collectively can make our group better. There’s somebody ahead of us that’s stronger. Spiritually, I need to follow them and I need to become stronger in my faith. If there’s people behind me that haven’t yet developed it, how do I wrap my arm around them and bring them along and say, there’s more. There’s more to this life of following Christ. Um, how do I take my resources and share in a way that can provide for somebody who’s struggling financially? How can, how can I love them when they’re going through a hard time? Right? We need to be thinking not what is best for me in the context of the family of God I’m a part of, but instead figure out how can I demonstrate extreme sacrificial love like Jesus is about to do here for everybody in my group. Right. And we’ll all make the group better. So,

Chris:
Yeah, and you know, it’s interesting how, you know, when people get mad at church, they walk away from God, and yet, you know, it’s the people who are imperfect, right? So it’s like, it’s no wonder how, like, we’re going to mess this up. Right? And he says, you know, this is how people will know. Well, I mean, even when there’s tension inside the church, because again, people are just imperfect, and it’s hard to love people who are very hard to love, right? And again, it’s just imperfect. People, that’s the one thing that I just can’t get over, which is, you know, when people have a bad experience with a church leader or an elder or, you know, a key volunteer or whatever it is, they end up walking away from faith and they walk away from God. And all of a sudden now, you know, there’s a lot at stake. I mean, their legacy, their eternity, their family’s eternity, all these different things are all at stake because of bad church experiences, because there’s tension in the body of believers. To where I would just say, you know, we have to recognize that we’re going to mess this up all the time. But, you know, the more that we submit to it, the more that we surrender to it, the better it will be. Yeah.

Jeff:
Love is always a choice. Yep.

Chris:
Yep. All right. Well, hey, sounds like that’s our time and we’ve covered a lot. And so hopefully we will see you next time on The Bible Guys.