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:
We would like to welcome you to The Bible Guys.

Jeff:
Welcome.

Chris:
Yes, that is our genuine feeling as we are thrilled that you’re here.

Jeff:
We are always amazed. Yes. That people keep coming back to The Bible Guys. Yes, and thank you. And all the new people that are joining us all the time. Yes, which is really cool. It’s amazing.

Chris:
Welcome new people. Yes. Welcome. This is your first time in the Bible guys.

Jeff:
The new people are here.

Chris:
You can go back and binge and there are 403 episodes of the Bible guys to binge in the past.

Jeff:
Yes. Which is hysterical. We commented on episode 399 and then didn’t say anything about episode 400. That’s so funny. That’s so us. If you’re asking for a synopsis of the Bible, guys, we recognize insignificant milestones and miss the big ones.

Chris:
That’s hilarious. Which just goes to show you that we don’t take ourselves too seriously.

Jeff:
That’s correct.

Chris:
So today we’re going to do a segment at the beginning like we always do. Who’s most likely? And so Desiree has written five things and we are supposed to just what? Just vote instinctively, very fast. I think so. Who’s most likely to do these things?

Jeff:
I think, should we say names out loud? Yes. Because what we used to do is we used to hold up the paddles with pictures, but you know, two thirds of our crowd can’t see paddles and pictures. Let’s just say the first name that comes to mind. Yeah, that’s right. Chris or Jeff?

Chris:
Which we always, we always did the paddles and we said the names too. That’s correct. So here we go. So who’s most likely, I’ll read the first one. All right. Who’s most likely to cut their own hair and think it looks good, Chris or Jeff? Chris. Definitely Chris. Yes.

Jeff:
I have never cut my own hair.

Chris:
I have not cut my whole, I’ve not cut my own hair in its entirety. Okay. But I feel as if, if I could sit down and attempt to cut somebody else’s hair, I could do it. So could I really do my own hair? Um, you know, uh, I think I could try. Okay. So did you know my father was a barber?

Jeff:
Yes. That’s why I said that.

Chris:
And my mother cuts hair. Oh, wow. She has her own little beauty shop hair in her house. Yeah.

Jeff:
So you’re going to just, by nature, be more skilled. Genetically, you’re predisposed to being better at this. Predisposed? That’s right. All right. You want to go to the second one? Who’s most likely to spend hours in a YouTube conspiracy theory hole? That’s Jeff.

Chris:
I think it’s me too. Is it you? Do you get sucked into those? But I will go ahead and say Jeff.

Jeff:
Yeah.

Chris:
So believe it or not, the reason why I said me instinctively, I’ll say Jeff, because I think you’re the information gatherer, is I think that I can actually believe some conspiracies, buddy.

Jeff:
You get sucked into them.

Chris:
I do. Did you hear? I got involved in one where people are just thinking I’m ridiculous. I’m like, I think there’s some merit to this. And my whole family’s like, dude, you are ridiculous. So I’ve been known. I’ve been known. Yeah.

Jeff:
Yeah. Good for you, dude. Yeah. So one of my strengths, you know, in the StrengthsFinder test. Yes. One of mine is ideation. So ideas capture my attention. And so I rarely get sucked into a conspiracy theory, but I’m very curious about the ideas behind conspiracy theories. Why do people believe this or why do people think that this is true? Okay. Right. And so I’ll get sucked into a, one of those, you know, conspiracy theory things, not believing any of it, but just watch, you know, five hours worth of video or read a whole book on it.

Chris:
See, I’m the opposite. If I, if I dive into a conspiracy theory and I decide, if I decide that I don’t believe it, I turn it off. Oh, yeah. I don’t care why people think.

Jeff:
Yeah. I want to, I always want to figure out what’s the cause or the root cause behind why. So ideation is a thing for me. The ideas of it is what’s interesting to me. All right.

Chris:
Number three. Who’s most likely to win a hot dog eating contest?

Jeff:
I’m going to say that’s me.

Chris:
I’m going to say that’s you too.

Jeff:
I can put down hot dogs, buddy.

Chris:
Yeah. I’m going to say that’s you. Yep. All right. Go ahead.

Jeff:
Who’s most likely to be mistaken for a celebrity? This could be Chris. I’m gonna say me.

Chris:
Yes. I was, by the way. You were? A local celebrity, not a real celebrity. Right? A local celebrity. So you know the guy on the radio, what’s his name, Jay?

Jeff:
Oh, yeah. I’ve heard people say that about you before. I don’t, I don’t know. But yeah, yeah.

Chris:
There’s a radio guy that you sound like. Yeah. Well, there’s a radio guy that I look like too. In fact, I just went to The Chosen last night with my wife and I saw season four, episode seven and eight. And he was on the Imagine, because Imagine’s a local theater for us. There was like a local commercial and they interviewed like local celebrities and he was on there and Liz looks over and she goes, that’s the guy that people say you look like.

Jeff:
That’s crazy. His name’s Jay something. Yeah.

Chris:
iHeartRadio, I think maybe is what it is.

Jeff:
And then number five? Number five. Who’s most likely to walk by a celebrity on the street? Oh, that’s me. Is that you? Oh, yeah. Oh, you mean not acknowledge them? Just walk past them, not even recognize them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Chris:
Well, that’s me. Yeah, that’s probably you. Although I’ll be honest, I’ve had several stories where I’ve just, just, you know, not acknowledged celebrities very much.

Jeff:
But did you recognize them?

Chris:
When you didn’t acknowledge him? Like, okay, Jason Momoa, you know Aquaman. So he walked by us literally at the airport. And as he walked by, I was like, Hey, look guys, Jason Momoa.

Jeff:
So I never see them. The only celebrities I’ve ever seen in my life. Yeah. Somebody else pointed out. hey, that’s, and I’m standing right there. So I sat next to a rock star. I got bumped up to first class on the way home from St. Croix or from Dominican Republic. I’m sitting next to a rock star. He comes in, he sits down. I look at him just briefly go, I think I know that guy. He goes, sorry, mate, not big conversationalist. I’m like, me neither. I put my headphones on, never tried to say another word, didn’t take a picture with him. He gets off the plane and said, hey Chad, you see that Rockstar guy sitting next to you? He goes, yeah. He said, no, why? I said, I don’t know who it is, I can’t remember who it is. He goes, you didn’t ask him? I said, no, why would I ask him? That’s hilarious. Yeah. So it’s, I’ve seen his face before. He’s a guitar player for like a famous rock band. I just couldn’t remember who he is. Yeah.

Chris:
Isn’t that funny? And he said, sorry, mate.

Jeff:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, so the, uh, uh, but I would say 99% of the celebrities I’ve ever seen, somebody else pointed them out to me. Oh, that’s hilarious. Isn’t that funny? I just don’t even see it.

Chris:
So I have, real quick, I’ll squeeze the story in. I have a good friend, Kevin, who lives in Orlando. And he got on the plane and he sat first class and just started a conversation with this girl next to him and he kept on saying, did I ever tell you this? No. He said she was super pretty, like unbelievably pretty. And he was talking to her, you know, of course, he’s shy because he’s a married pastor guy. So he’s not going to, you know, necessarily like strike up a conversation with a really pretty girl. But she kept on talking to him. So he was just, you know, talking pastorally to her and everything. So he brings up uh, like spiritual things. They talk all about like her faith and whether she believes. And he said, he talks to her on this plane ride to, to, to California. I think it was, it was like a three to four hour trip, right? The entire trip he’s talking to her like openly, and they’re having this incredible conversation. And then he says, Oh, why are you going out to California? And she’s, well, I’m going out to film a movie. And he goes, Oh, really? And she’s like, yeah, it’s starring. And she names these other stars. And he goes, what? I know those other stars. She’s like, really? He’s like, wow. And then they get to talking a little bit more. And she says, well, I was married to, I’m divorced because they’re talking about her life. And he says, Oh, really? And was it, was it something like, what was his name? And she’s like, well, it was Andre Agassi. And you know, this famous tennis player. And then all of a sudden he stops and he goes, wait a minute. He goes, I feel like I should know you. He goes, I’m so sorry. He goes, what is your name? They’ve talked for four hours. And she goes, it’s Brooke. It’s Brooke Shields. And he goes, he goes, I am so sorry that I didn’t recognize you. And she goes, it’s okay. It’s all right. She goes, I really enjoyed talking to you. Pastor Kevin, you know, he’s like, okay, bye. And he leaves. And anyway, but we all make fun of him, right? We’re like, you talked to Brooke Shields for four hours. One of the prettiest women on the face of the planet. By the way, most recognizable. And you know, and it’s so funny. That’s funny. Like, how do you not recognize her? Right.

Jeff:
That’s me. I just, I don’t recognize famous people. Yeah. That’s really great. Like I have a hard time recognizing you if I run into you outside the studio.

Chris:
Right. Yeah. Well, good looking guys. Yeah. Yeah. It’s a little intimidating. Sometimes we blend into the background.

Jeff:
Okay, well today we have had a couple of episodes recently where, as we’re going through the 250 events of Jesus’ life, we’ve had a couple times recently where there were just a few verses. Yeah, today’s one of those days. This is the least number of verses in any event we’ve read so far. Is that true? It’s four verses.

Chris:
Because didn’t we have one just the other day?

Jeff:
It’s four verses, Chris. The last one was like six.

Chris:
Okay. All right. Yes. So this is, this is four verses, but there’s a lot in this.

Jeff:
So I’m looking forward to jumping into it. Are you ready? Yep. Here it goes. Matthew chapter 28, verse 11 through 15. It’s five verses.

Chris:
Oh, you can count.

Jeff:
I was wrong. I was doing the math. 11 plus four is 15, but I forgot you had to count. 11 is correct. It’s five verses. Okay. Still fives less than six. As the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and told the leading priests what had happened. A meeting with the elders was called and they decided to give the soldiers a large bribe. They told the soldiers, you must say Jesus disciples came during the night while we were sleeping and they stole his body. If the governor hears about it, we’ll stand up for you so you won’t get in trouble. So the guards accepted the bribe and said what they were told to say and their story spread widely among the Jews and they still tell it today. So there you go.

Chris:
That’s it. So the guards accepted the bribe and said that they were told what to say and their story spread widely among the Jews and they still tell it today. That is a sentence there, isn’t it? Yes. So it’s spread widely among the Jews. Now, keep in mind, this is written 2000 years ago. And what’s so interesting is, is that it’s no secret that if you were to visit, you know, Israel today, a person who is Jewish in their faith, widely reject and adamantly reject that Jesus was the Messiah, right? Right. So they believe in the Old Testament, and if somebody is Jewish in their faith, they would say, hey, we live in the spot where the Old Testament ends, and we just wait for, we’re still waiting for the Messiah. So, and yet they believe 100% of the Old Testament, right? And so it’s interesting how this statement, it describes the Jewish belief today. And yet it was written 2000 years ago.

Jeff:
That’s correct.

Chris:
Or almost 2000. Well, actually probably over roughly around 2000 years ago.

Jeff:
So it’s amazing to me that they’re not denying the body was gone. And even today, even today, I’ve never had a person say, I don’t believe the tomb wasn’t empty. I’ve never, never had. I haven’t had atheists say it. I haven’t had people from other religions say it. Muslim leaders, Jewish leaders, Buddhist leaders, Hindu leaders. I’ve never had another person say the tomb was not empty. I’ve only ever heard either he was resurrected or somebody stole the body. So, We’re going to take the idea off the table that the body was still there. Yes. Historically. Right. So this is outside of Christianity and this is outside the claims of the gospel. Right. Historically, the Romans were concerned about the fact, and I’ll explain to you why in just a moment, the Romans were concerned about the fact that the tomb was empty. these religious leaders, these Jewish religious leaders, were also concerned about the fact that the tomb was empty. Right. Mary and the other Mary and Peter and John said the tomb was empty. So the Christians are saying the tomb is empty, the Jewish leaders are saying the tomb is empty, the secular leaders are saying the tomb is empty. We’ve got a problem because the tomb is empty, is the way that both the Romans and the Jewish leaders saw it. Which should be an indicator that we should lean into, why is the tomb empty? Right? Because if the tomb is empty because Jesus was resurrected, well then everything he said and did was true. One of your favorite preachers says, hey, the guy who says I’m going to rise from the dead in three days and then does it, you should listen to him. That’s right. If you can pull that off, you should listen to him.

Chris:
Who predicts their own death and resurrection and pulls it off? I have a tendency to believe that person.

Jeff:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen to that guy. So if that’s true, and he resurrected, then everything else he said and did, we just have to lean into. It’s absolute fact. It’s the greatest single event in the human history. Right? This has never happened before. I don’t know if you heard, Buddha’s still in the grave. Right. Right? Muhammad’s still in the grave.

Chris:
So is John Smith.

Jeff:
That’s right, John Smith is still in the grave, but Jesus is not. And so in this situation then, I would say It’s fair for us to say, let’s lean into and try to either disprove or prove the resurrection. And historically, we know that the Romans had a problem with this because here’s what they say. So the religious leaders go, hey, here’s some money, just say that the disciples came and stole them. And if there’s a problem with the government, will protect you. The reason why that’s such a big deal is if you lost, if you allowed a seal that had been sealed by the governor or a Roman seal, if you lost what was sealed, then as a Roman soldier, one of the things would be death. Yes. If you were assigned to guard a prisoner and the prisoner gets away, it’s death. It’s death. For the Roman soldier. If you lose the thing you were supposed to hold, it’s death for the Roman soldier. So this is why they had to say, hey, listen, here’s some money. Just say that. And then we’ll go ahead and we’ve got some political clout. We’ll protect you with the governor. That’s it. But then there’s a note, and this is one of the reasons why you need to get a Life Application Study Bible. I always recommend the regular Life Application Study Bible instead of the chronological Life Application Study Bible, and that’s the one we’re using because it’s easier to navigate. But anyways, in there, there’s a note. And it says, a document comprising 20 lines of Greek inscribed on a slab of white marble was discovered in Nazareth in the latter part of the 19th century. The statement was a decree of Caesar assigning the death penalty to anyone breaking the seal of a tomb and stealing the body. The decree was issued by Claudius, he was the Caesar at the time, in about AD 50. Because Claudius had issued some other decrees against those who followed Christ, it’s believed that the Nazareth decree was aimed at early Christians who were proclaiming that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. The rabbis of the time claimed that Jesus’ disciples came and they stole his body. Whatever his viewpoint on the matter, Claudius did not wish to encourage theories about the disappearance of bodies from tombs. The Nazareth decree thus becomes a pointer to the resurrection of Christ, which was at that time upsetting the Roman world. Claudius apparently took steps to curb the spread of these disturbing ideas. Is that fabulous? Yeah. the Caesar of the world, the emperor of the known world went, well, this is a problem. He’s not saying, surely there’s still a body there. So we have, the Roman government has record that they executed a guy that was called the King of the Jews. right? They have a centurion. This isn’t some ding dong, you know, uh, private who just got enlisted a centurion, a leader of over a hundred soldiers. He’s an expert at what he does. He’s been around death all along, pierces the side of this guy, blood and water comes out of his, of his heart area. And then they take him down. He’s dead. And they bury him. The Romans have multiple, documented accounts of the fact that this guy’s dead and was put in a tomb. Pilate, in a documented way, permitted the body to be taken down by one of the high, it would be like a Supreme Court justice, by two of the Supreme Court justices, So again, this isn’t some bread maker on the corner. These are Supreme Court justices who take the body, put them in a tomb. All these things are documented by the Romans. And then finally in 50 AD, another Roman Caesar goes, yeah, this is a problem. So no more breaking seals, people. If you do, you’re going to die, right? So for me, this is one of the strongest evidences that the resurrection happened is not the claim of Peter and Mary. The greatest, some of the greatest proofs to me that the resurrection actually happened is the cover-up, and not only the cover-up proclaimed in the Bible, but the cover-up proclaimed by the Romans, hey, we have to stop people from stealing bodies. They’re claiming the tomb was empty, right?

Chris:
Yeah, which by the way, it really eliminates any skeptic trying to prove that Jesus was still there.

Jeff:
This is just religious followers making up a story. The Romans were concerned about this. Yes.

Chris:
And by the way, the guards being bribed, it says a large bribe, but it doesn’t tell us how much. And I’m thinking, everything was at stake for them. So literally everything was at stake. Um, the, uh, the, you know, again, I told you that the chosen has this hypothetical, it was all, you know, a lot of hypothetical fill in the blanks. And, uh, there, there was a, uh, uh, an argument at the temple that we’re at the place where season four ends and Jesus is about to march in Jerusalem on the, on Palm Sunday. Okay. So anyway, but the people are in the temple and they’re, and they’re arguing, there’s a Pharisee there and they’re arguing back and forth. And he says, uh, he says, uh, one guy challenges the Pharisee. It was, it was the woman who, uh, they, they, they, they, they put the woman who is bleeding for 12 years. They put her there. She’s healed now. And she’s in the temple. And she says the reason why you’re saying these things against Jesus in the temple right now is because you’re afraid. And, and, uh, he has authority over you because he just rose Lazarus from the dead. He has authority over you in that one day you’ll be under his authority. And he gets mad and he goes, you recant that statement right now. And she goes, why are you going to stone her too? And so it’s just like, I mean, it was just, it was just this argument that goes back and forth. And again, it’s just another one of these things, even though it’s a radical hypothetical, it’s another one of these things that reminds me that, you know, doesn’t John say that the books can’t contain all the other things that Jesus did?

Jeff:
The world could not contain all the books.

Chris:
Yeah, the world could not contain all the books that need to be written, which means that there are conversations.

Jeff:
There’s some hyperbole in that statement, but the idea of being. Yes. Right. Yeah.

Chris:
there’s, there’s conversations, there’s miracles, there’s things that were not recorded. And surely people had these types of debates when it says they were arguing, the question is what’s the dialogue. Right. And so, and so as they were, you know, supposing this dialogue, I was thinking to myself that that’s so true. Like things like this would have happened because that was an outrageous statement, right? You’re going to be under his authority. What? This guy just goes outrageous. He goes like nuclear, right? And I’m thinking, of course, things like this were said, right? Because it wasn’t necessarily said by, let’s just say like Peter or, you know, things, you know, cause those, those conversations are recorded, but, but of course the people arguing in the temple are going to be saying these types of things. And so anyway, it just, it was just great. You just sort of sit there and, and soak it all in. And it was just wonderful. But, anyway, what else is in here? Is there anything else?

Jeff:
I would say, you know, as we look at the historical proofs and the fact that people from outside of Christianity are claiming that the tomb is empty, I would encourage our people to lean into some of the proofs. There’s a really great book by Sean and Josh McDowell called The Unshakable Truth. And it goes, it’s one of my favorite books for this. It’s easy to read, it’s not hard, but it deals with how can you trust that the Bible is true, all these things. But there’s an entire segment in that book about the proofs of the resurrection, for instance. Of course, Lee Strobel wrote a whole bunch of books. He was an investigative reporter before he became a Christian. And he became a Christian because he was investigating the resurrection. So he wrote a couple books. He wrote a book called The Case for Christ, which is really great. He interviews all these experts from around the world. And then from there, The Case for the Real Jesus, The Case for a Creator, you can go on down the line. But both that, Josh and Sean McDowell, Josh and Sean McDowell, and Lee Strobel would be two that if you want to lean into the proofs of the resurrection from outside the Christian world, those two guys would be worth, or three guys would be worth looking into what they have to say.

Chris:
So it’s pretty great. I agree. And I’ve read several of the books that you just mentioned, and they’re phenomenal. And they hold up. They’re old, but they still hold up today.

Jeff:
Yeah, it turns out so’s the resurrection. It’s like 2,000 years old, so it’s okay if you read an old book. That’s so funny.

Chris:
All right. Well, hey, that’s our time. So we will see you next time on The Bible Guys.