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:
Hey, everybody, my name is Chris. And I’m Jeff. And we’re The Bible Guys. Yes, we are. And we are here today to talk about the Bible.

Jeff:
Rumor has it. Rumor has it. Rumor has it.

Chris:
Yep. And so, but before we do, we have a segment, don’t we, Jeff?

Jeff:
We do. And it is everybody’s favorite segment, the one that everybody’s been waiting for with bated breath all week long. They’ve been waiting. Oh, Jeff, quit talking. Just get to the most important segment of the week. And so here we are, folks. What made Chris mad this week?

Chris:
Yeah. And we haven’t done this in a few weeks.

Jeff:
It seems so long for you. It seems so long for you. Everything just makes you so mad that you want to talk about it every day. You’d prefer that this was your daily

Chris:
We recorded two weeks of episodes last week and two weeks this week. So we recorded four weeks.

Jeff:
That’s right. 20 episodes.

Chris:
So for us, it’s been a week. For them, it’s been like four weeks.

Jeff:
But you would prefer that this would be every day. No. Oh, you just walk around mad about everything.

Chris:
That’s not true at all.

Jeff:
That’s in my experience. In my personal experience.

Chris:
You are going to actually get people to think that.

Jeff:
Don’t minimize my experience.

Chris:
Everybody is not telling the truth. Okay. Don’t make me mad.

Jeff:
You wouldn’t want to see me when I’m angry.

Chris:
That’s right. That’s right. David Banner, Cradle of a Hog, 1978. All right. So here is actually my, um, the thing that made me mad this week is I was with a buddy of mine and he said, Hey, let’s go see a movie. And we looked and we realized that there are no good movies out. And, and, and, uh, but that, no, it’s bigger than this. Uh, but then we get into a deeper discussion about how movies in theaters are the, the quality of movies being released in theaters has gone down considerably. I’m not sure if you like would agree with that, but like, I haven’t seen a movie in a theater in

Jeff:
six months, maybe a year. Okay. See, so the point is, is that like the quality has gone down so much. Yeah.

Chris:
Whatever it used to be. It used to be where like, uh, if you’d look at the lineup in the theater and you’d say, you know, that just rewind like five years ago. And you’d say, man, there’s like three movies out here that I really want to see. Right. And, and, uh, and now you’re, you’re like, okay, this is the fifth week in a row where I’m looking and I’m just seeing garbage. I mean, it’s just, it’s garbage that nobody’s even ever heard of. Like I’ve never even seen a preview for this movie and it looks terrible. And it is, and you know, it’s terrible if rotten tomato says is good. Right.

Jeff:
Right.

Chris:
So, you know, so all the critics are always wrong. So anyway, the point is, is that set. Except me, except me. You’re the critic that is right. In my own mind. That’s right. No, here’s, so here’s what I started doing. So it turned into this larger conversation that like, like theater experiences in general have really declined. Well, you know, COVID people were, you know, saying a lot of things about theaters and they were saying, Oh yeah, after COVID the theater is going to be obsolete. And we certainly know that that is the traction of theaters has gone down considerably. Right. And so you’re almost waiting for the day where they’re going to shut down all theaters everywhere. And it’s just going to be the living room experience, right? But then in my mind and in my heart, here’s what I resolved. I said to myself, I said, well, I don’t think they’re going to go away because, you know, as long as a movie’s released in the theater first and then it makes it to your TV, as long as that system stays in place, then basically, you know, I think that the dinner and a movie is the most common date still in the world today. And I think that people like the theater experience and the popcorn experience. So I don’t think it’s going to go away. I just think it’s going to decline, you know, but people are lazy. They stay home and all this stuff. Right. Now that I’m looking at movies and all of a sudden I’m connecting dots. Here’s what I believe I started to connect the dots and think all the good movies are now being made for TV.

Jeff:
That’s right. So now it’s like, it’s like making four prime. They’re made for Netflix.

Chris:
And there, I think actually we’ve, we’ve just now reached the tipping point to where the ones that are made for streaming services are better than the ones in the theaters. And I think that that actually has only been true.

Jeff:
Home theater systems and all that kind of stuff. Yeah.

Chris:
And so I guess what I’m saying is, is like, I just now started to connect the big picture dots and I’m saying, oh my goodness, we’ve reached the tipping point. And I think it’s only happened in the last like year to year and a half to where I think, I think actually that could be the downfall of most theaters as we know them.

Jeff:
Yeah, I think coming out of COVID, people got in the habit of, they invested in their home theaters and then they bought all the streaming, you know, things. Well, COVID rocked everything, didn’t it? Everything. We got out of the habit.

Chris:
Yeah, for most of it, for the worst.

Jeff:
I think the last movie that I went to in theater was Indiana Jones. Oh yeah. The new one. The new one. That was the last one. That was last year. With the girl. Yeah. That was last year. Right. Right.

Chris:
Anyway, the point is, is that it may be mad. It may be mad for the theater experience. It may be mad for future generations that they’re probably not going to grow up and experience the great theater experience.

Jeff:
Yeah, all that stuff. The world is changing and Chris is mad about it. Next week, tune in as he complains about kids on his lawn.

Chris:
Me old man, no like changing. Get off my lawn! Darn kids.

Jeff:
Okay. Well, good.

Chris:
Well, I’m mad for the theater experience. Yeah.

Jeff:
I like change. Apparently you just need to buy a really good popcorn machine. I have all that. You don’t think I have that, Jeff? Yeah, I would think you did. I have everything. You just don’t want to have to make it yourself. I have the streaming services. You’d rather go pay $25 for it?

Chris:
I’ve got the surround sound. I’ve got the big screen. I’ve got all that. I just like the movie theater experience. Okay. I just do. Okay.

Jeff:
Well, there you go. You have it, folks. I know that was important to you. Yes. So we have just dealt with it. You’re welcome. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Everybody. Yes. You’re grieving. Now, today it wasn’t so much mad, it’s grief. You’re grieving on behalf of the rest of us that we’re losing this amazing theater experience.

Chris:
How about this? I’m mad at the broad strokes of Hollywood of actually making the choice to cut off the theaters. How about that? That would make me mad, right? So I’m sad for the theater experience, but I’m actually mad at the decision makers who don’t care about the theater experience. Oh, there you go. There it is.

Jeff:
There’s where the anger comes in. And anymore, so many of the movies just feel preachy and it feels way, instead of getting up and leaving a movie that you just spent 30 bucks on or 40 bucks on, it’s easier just to go find a different movie on Netflix. So I think there’s a lot of that.

Chris:
It’s every Disney movie ever made. Okay.

Jeff:
So let’s move on. That’s what you can yell about next week.

Chris:
In the last five years, all the Disney movies are terrible that way.

Jeff:
Okay. So, and it’s funny that preachers hate preachy stuff. So that’s, that’s funny to me too, but. Yeah. Okay. So today we’re continuing on as we are in the last hours before the crucifixion, just maybe these are the last minutes before the crucifixion. Now, as of today, Matthew chapter 27 is where we’re going to start and verse 27. And then it’ll also go over to Mark 15. It’s these two, these two places.

Chris:
And this really is the Roman soldiers part.

Jeff:
Yeah, this is the soldiers. And some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. And they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. And they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, hail, king of the Jews. And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified. And in Mark chapter 15 verse 16, the soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s headquarters called the Praetorium and called out the entire regiment. They dressed him in a purple robe and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. And then they saluted him and taunted, hail, king of the Jews. And they struck him on the head with a reed stick and spit on him and dropped to their knees and mock worship. And when they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. And then they led him away to be crucified.

Chris:
Okay, first thought is one calls it a scarlet robe and one calls it a purple robe. I wonder if that’s, now I know that Herod put a purple robe on him. Scarlet robe I would think is more red, right?

Jeff:
I would imagine. Yeah. But you can have red that looks purple-y. Yeah, probably so.

Chris:
Purple that looks red. Yeah, yeah. Scarlet purple. So let me read this note in the Life Application Study Bible that it says about Roman soldiers. It says, when the military invention of Pompeii in the internal affairs of Judea in 63 BC, Rome established its presence in Palestine. The Roman military presence is visible throughout the Gospels. And during the New Testament period, service in the Roman legions was open to all Roman citizens. A professional volunteer of army had replaced a conscripted militia. The permanent standing army was made up of legions of recruited from the ranks of citizens. expressed officers in the ranks of the consul command of the legions on special occasions, particularly all the great Jewish festivals when riots and disorders could be anticipated. The providential governor would take up residence in Jerusalem, accompanied by a substantial contingent of troops. And so just a little insight here about the history of Roman soldiers and understanding that a Roman legion contained about 200 men. A regiment was a division of a Roman legion.

Jeff:
Yeah, yeah, so the Roman Legion did not contain, it’s the regiment contained about 200 men.

Chris:
Oh, okay. Oh yeah, because the legion is a thousand, isn’t it? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jeff:
Okay. So a regiment, there’d be five regiments in a legion. That’s what it is. So it’s about 200 men that come out to mock Jesus. This isn’t just a little thing. This is a big thing, right? They bring out Jesus. They decide that they’re going to mock him. They’re going to beat him. They’re going to rough him up. They’re just going to play with him like a cat plays with a mouse, right? Is what they’re doing here. And they’re incredibly brutal. So you have a power-hungry leader in pilot who wasn’t particularly gifted. You have a kind of a another power-hungry half-Jewish king, Agrippa, who just dismisses Jesus, just wants him to do tricks. You’ve got a bunch of just wild-eyed radical leaders, religious leaders, wanting to execute Jesus because they have multiple reasons, but a lot of it was, according to Pilate’s view, it was just envy. they didn’t like that Jesus was so popular. That’s Pilate’s take on the whole thing was, they’re just envious. And so there’s this rage, this anger, this brutality in this whole process right here that seems unwarranted and unmerited for a guy that basically is famous for saying, turn the other cheek and go the extra mile. Treat people the way you want to be treated. Love your enemies. Love your enemies and pray for them and do good to them. And don’t judge lest you be judged and give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, give to God what is God’s. Oh, let me heal that little girl. Let me, let me heal that man. Let me solve your problems. Let me feed the hungry. Let me just walk among the people and love them. It seems so inordinately violent and brutal to go after a guy like Jesus the way that they do, but they are, it doesn’t make any sense, which a lot of times persecution and, uh, you know, uh, the, the fight against what is good and right seems so heavy handed, far more heavy handed than is reasonable.

Chris:
So the crown of thorns that they made, it says here that they took a wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head and put a reed stick in his hand as a scepter. So, uh, you know, if you’ve been to church a little while, you’ve been going to church, you know, for years, you’ve probably heard preachers mention this, but you know, when you’re over, when you’re over in that part of the world and you see thorns, the thorns are not like thorns on a rose bush, right? Where there’s just like, Ooh, these little prickly thorns. And I remember one time in my backyard, I had like a, I had a, it was like a red bush that was thorny. And those were like maybe twice the size and twice as pointy as rose thorns. And I even thought that was like killer thorns. Until you go over in Israel and you realize that the thorns are like sometimes and three inches, maybe two and a half inches long. And, and I’m telling you, they are as sharp as a needle would be. Yeah. So imagine. And strong. Yeah. Imagine, imagine just as strong. Yeah. In some cases. So imagine if you were to get needles Uh, you know, it’s, it’s the, it’s, it’s the things that look like, remember when Dr. Strange was tortured on the infinity wars, you know, remember that? Yeah. So it’s like, it’s, it’s sort of like that, right. Where all the needles are coming at you. Uh, but those needles, man, I mean, those thorns were like needles. And when you’re over there, you touch them and you can’t even barely go to touch the tip of them just to say, well, I wonder how sharp this is. And it’s already immediately in your skin. Right. So they took those kinds of thorn branches, which are the only kinds of thorns branches over there, by the way, and they wound them together and they put them on his head. Well, I mean, you know, the scalp is the most rigid part of the body and it bleeds the most profusely, right? So there would have been blood coming down his face in such a raging fashion. It would have just been probably even maybe even hard to breathe. Because that’s how much blood would be going over his nose and his mouth. So it’s just an unbelievable thought of the cruelty, right?

Jeff:
When you were in Israel, did you come across one of those trees where the thorns, they call them the Jesus Christ trees? Yes. Yeah. So we were in Getty near the Dead Sea and we’re, I don’t know, just South of Jericho, you know, maybe an hour or so, maybe an hour and a half outside of Jerusalem. So kind of, you know, to the East. And there were a couple of those trees. And so I thought, Oh, neat. I’m going to get a, I’m going to go get one of those and stab myself so bad. And I wasn’t even doing anything. All I was trying to do is I was trying to get it off the tree. So it was a little, the branch didn’t want to come off easy. And so I started to bend it and I stabbed myself right in my hand and it just lit me up, man. It just was instant searing pain. And I mean, I’ve been around, you know, I’m a hunter. I have a pocket knife right here. Right? This razor blade, this blade is a razor blade. You see how I can remove the blade? It’s a razor blade. This thing right here, I could carve you up so quick. Right? I’ve been around really, really, really sharp. I’ve been thinking about it. I’ve been around really sharp stuff all my life. So it’s not like I was just being reckless. It was that it was just a slip of my hand and bam, lit me up. Good news was I mean I got to stop quickly, but it was it shocked me how Painful it was and how quick it could just penetrate your skin like that So that’s what they made the crown of thorns from is probably that that’s the most commonly viewed so they and it says It says sequentially they put the crown of thorns on his head They put a reed stick in his hand right which which is decently heavy right right and then it says in both accounts Then they hit him in the head right which means

Chris:
It sounds like his crown of thorns was still on. So if they would have hit him in the head with that crown of thorns still on, it is almost unthinkable. That could have probably killed him there. You know, but obviously it wasn’t his time, but the, but the pain, because, you know, it’s not going to be his time until he’s on the cross. But the pain that he endured through this was just unbelievable. And then to have the, to have them spit on him and mock him and, and then beat him, uh, is just unthinkable. The idea that, uh, I just can’t even think about it.

Jeff:
I think about this, um, idea that, you know, they, they, they’re so brutal to him. And then at the same time, just mocking him. Right. And they’re bowing down with their knees to the ground, like, you know, pretending, mocking him of being the King of the Jews and just this, this harassment. And, uh, I think of a song, there’s an old Southern gospel song that says, uh, the lyrics said like a lamb led to the slaughter Jesus never opened his mouth which is what Isaiah says from the trial to the crucifixion to the grave he was laid out after three days in the garden tomb I can hear the angels sing as the lamb came forth as the lion and the lion became a king They’re bowing down to him in this moment like he’s a king. But what we do know is at the end, every knee will bow. Right? Right. And every tongue will confess that he’s the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And so the chorus on that song says, you won’t find him again at the whipping post, standing there so meek, and he won’t be nailed to a rugged cross through his hands and through his feet. There’ll never be another Calvary because he don’t have to prove a thing. That day, the lamb became the lion and the lion became the king. Right. So when he rose out of the out of the tomb, the Bible said it was like he was the lion of Judah. And then when we see him come back, he’s the king of kings. This is going to be the last time. So they’re bowing their knee now. They’re mocking him now. But this is the last time he’s the lamb. Right? So we see him as the lamb from the, in a past tense in the book of Revelation, but he returns to earth as the King of Kings. He’s got fire in his eyes. He’s got a blazing sword. He’s wearing a white robe and he’s coming back and wiping out all the armies of this world. And so on the one side, I feel so bad for what’s happening. But there is a little bit of me, I feel bad for these Roman soldiers because they have no idea what they’re doing. They have no idea who they’re missing. And Jesus says, they don’t take my life from me. I’m going to lay it down freely. So all these things Jesus was permitting. At one point, do you remember he told Peter, he said, don’t you know, I could call 10,000 angels, right? A whole legion of angels to come and rescue me. And one angel, two angels came and wiped out entire cities in the Old Testament. Right. So let’s bring in a thousand or ten thousand of them. Right. Right. So Jesus is permitting these things. They’re not abusing Jesus because they had the power to do so. Jesus was taking the abuse for you and me. But the next time we see him, he comes back as the king.

Chris:
You know, if you, if you are a Marvel fan, have you ever seen on Disney plus the, the, the little things that what if you ever seen the what if series?

Jeff:
No.

Chris:
So they suppose things. So what they say is they say, like, what if instead of the super soldier serum going to Rogers, Captain Rogers, what if it would have been given to the woman? What’s her name? His girlfriend.

Jeff:
His girlfriend. Oh, good. Captain America’s girlfriend?

Chris:
Uh, just, uh, Agent Carter.

Jeff:
Oh, okay.

Chris:
Okay, Agent Carter. And then, and then, and then, and by the way, when you saw Doctor Strange’s multi-universe of madness, uh, that, that was Doctor Carter was, uh, she played the Captain America member. Okay. That was from, that was from the,

Jeff:
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Remember they went into a different alternate universe.

Chris:
Yeah. Well, that was that was actually based off of it was a nod to the what if series. OK. OK. So so it’s just it’s a what if suppose, you know, universe. Right. And so that whole series was comic books when I was kids and it was called The Watcher and The Watcher would see all the different possibilities and he would he would create these what if scenarios. And there were a lot of fun to read because they weren’t true. And and there’s a what if scenario that plays in my mind every single time, without exception, that I read this, and it is Jesus calling the angels. I try to envision this Raiders of the Lost Ark ending kind of scene when the angels swoop around and people’s faces melt off.

Jeff:
They just destroy everybody.

Chris:
So I see Jesus standing there, you know, and he’s bound in chains and everybody’s around them and he’s in front of either Pilar, Herod, or somebody, you know, and all of a sudden he looks up at the clouds and he squints his eyes and he just gives a nod. you know, and all of a sudden everything happens, you know, like there’s an earthquake, and there’s an eruption, and then the clouds part, you know, there’s a voice coming down. All of a sudden these angels came down, and they raised the lost ark to everybody, right? And then Jesus is like, enough of this. I’m going home. I’ve had enough of this. And although, obviously, you know, Jesus says, you’ll be glad. And one day the whole world will rejoice over the, over the sadness. Right? So Jesus knows that we’re rejoicing now that he did not do that.

Jeff:
Yeah. I was going to say, there’s an old Gaither song, had it not been. And it was, if Jesus hadn’t been willing to die, I would be lost. Right. And the, the, the, the consequences of that are incomprehensible for us. You’re busting out the Southern Gospel today.

Chris:
Yeah. Yeah. You’re right. But, but there is a what if scenario that, because I long, and it’s the same instinct that you had. You’re like one day he’s going to come back lion, you know, King of Kings, Lion of Judah. And that instinct for me is like, I just wish in that moment that Jesus was able to, to, to show his power to those guards who were beating them and mocking him. Right. It’s that,

Jeff:
But he was able, he chose not to.

Chris:
Yes, I know, but I wish he did.

Jeff:
Just a little bit, another I am moment, where he goes, I am, and they all fall down. At this point, he’s operating as a man, taking the punishment of our sin in his body. And that’s what he’s doing.

Chris:
Yeah, well, the God part spiritually and the man part physically, right? Because the payment for sin is death, which is both a physical and a spiritual death, isn’t it? Yeah. So, well, hey, that is a great place to end. And that wraps up today’s passage. So hopefully we’ll see you Monday on The Bible Guys.