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.

Jeff
I think Thanksgiving is the best.

Chris
Do you really? Yeah. The best holiday? Absolutely. Yeah. And you said that because that’s part of our segment today. Yes. Because we just found out. Absolutely. We just found out that was our segment like a minute ago. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. And I’m just I’m just telling you that you truly think Thanksgiving is the best holiday. Yeah.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah, I think so.

Chris
There’s so much.

Jeff
Pressure on everything else.

Chris
Right. Is that why or is it just because it’s food? Well.

Jeff
And football. That’s true. Yeah, but.

Chris
Food and football. Think about it. Yeah.

Jeff
But I mean, other than getting dinner ready and I like to do a lot of the cooking, usually the big, the big whatever the big thing is, you know, turkey or whatever. But yeah, the rest of it is just it’s just kind of a laid back day. Yeah. The weather is perfect. Usually it’s just, you know, fall weather and football and family and hanging around playing games, that kind of stuff. Yeah. And it just doesn’t feel as pressure filled or as some of the other.

Chris
You have great leftovers. Oh yeah. Yeah. And then the best, the best leftovers. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

Jeff
No. You’re grilling at 4th of July and it’s hamburgers and hot dogs and leftovers are like yeah right. But Thanksgiving the leftovers are better than the meal usually.

Chris
Yeah yeah yeah.

Jeff
Sometimes.

Chris
That’s great.

Jeff
And then. And then do you guys make a lot of turkey gravy.

Chris
Yeah. My wife makes everything. Yeah.

Jeff
So then.

Chris
Yeah.

Jeff
So then your leftovers are just smothered in gravy and that’s. Yeah, that’s the best part. Oh. So, hey, let’s do a draft.

Chris
Okay. You want to. Yeah. You want to do a draft? Yes, I want to do what? The show. She tells me. Man, that.

Jeff
Was such a good idea.

Chris
It says, let’s do a draft of the best Thanksgiving. Ready for this side dish.

Jeff
Side dishes.

Chris
Okay, so ham and turkey are off the table.

Jeff
I’m going to take those off the table. Yep. Are there any other main dishes?

Chris
Um, I.

Jeff
Don’t let’s just say ham and turkey.

Chris
Yeah, I don’t think so okay. Yeah. Okay.

Jeff
So so side dishes.

Chris
Yeah. So. Okay, here we go. Well, you go first. Rock paper scissors.

Jeff
Rock paper scissors. Okay. I was just going to defer.

Chris
How about one, two three. Shoot. Ready? Okay. You ready?

Jeff

123. Shoot. One. Two. Three. Shoot!

Chris
Ah! Gotcha.

Jeff
Okay. So rocks. First time you gave rocks and I gave scissors. Scissors second.

Chris
Time. So I’m going to definitely stay stuffing. And I’m going to say I’m actually a fan of either one. So whether it’s stovetop stovetop stuffing which is traditionally what my mom made growing up, which I love, and then my wife makes the homemade dressing and I like either one. Yeah, yeah.

Jeff
Does it make your wife mad that you go, I like it out of a box just as much as I like all the work you put into it.

Chris
I would hope.

Jeff
Not. Yeah, well, she’s listening now, so guess what’s going to happen.

Chris
Here’s what she knows about me. Like. So my my mom is 100% Italian and she was an Italian cook, which means like she worked at like four different restaurants. And her sauce has been literally bought and adapted to to in a place where it’s all Italian, like Youngstown is largely Italian. So I’ll tell you how good she is. And I like chef. Chef Boyardee too. Well, so I’d be just as content with eating Chef Boyardee. Okay, so I’m sort of easy to please. Okay. In some ways, yeah. Okay. Food wise.

Jeff
All right. So I have to say my favorite. And this is so dumb. But my favorite side dish at Thanksgiving is mashed potatoes.

Chris
That’s not dumb.

Jeff
I love it. Well, I mean, it’s just it’s kind of a now.

Chris
I’m assuming you’re meaning a homemade homemade mashed potato. Is it usually like, leave the chunks in it or is it more like whippy whip?

Jeff
So my mom likes to whip it, but I like, I like, yeah, I like, I like it a little chunkier but yeah, yeah, either way is fine. And believe it or not, as much as I love gravy. Not on the mashed potatoes. I like to just. I just.

Chris
Blew my mind.

Jeff
Right there. I like to bathe it in butter and salt. That’s what I love.

Chris
So wow, that my mind equals blown.

Jeff
Wow. That was very significant. Reveal.

Chris
All right, so my second side dish that I love is I’m going to say corn. And I know that that’s a very unusual side dish to be a favorite.

Jeff
That’s weird.

Chris
But I’m a guy who does. It has to be this way at Thanksgiving. Mashed potatoes with corn in the mashed potatoes. Yeah, you kind of. And then gravy on top. And I honestly think that that combination is heaven.

Jeff
Heaven. Okay. Very good. So I like, like a, like a good cranberry jello.

Chris
Jello.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, I don’t know what it’s like some kind of cranberry thing. It’s. Well, it’s jello.

Chris
It’s jellied. Okay, so.

Jeff
So I don’t know what it is. No, this is important.

Chris
This is an important conversation okay. Because this is.

Jeff
Actually I think jellied is the right.

Chris
Word. Yeah. So it comes out of a can and it looks like jello okay. And you slice it and then. But the other cranberry sauce which is actually more popular is sort of the gooey whole cranberry sauce kind of cranberry.

Jeff
So I think that’s the one I’m talking about.

Chris
Okay. You like.

Jeff
The saucy. Yeah. Yeah. Not out of not the sliced canned stuff.

Chris
Okay. So the reason why is because. So anyways.

Jeff
I like the cranberry.

Chris
Stuff. My wife, who is listening, probably can’t believe that I didn’t say cranberry sauce as my first favorite song.

Jeff
Yeah.

Chris
So I am a massive.

Jeff
So I just you don’t get to claim mine.

Chris
No, no I’m not. Let me tell you why.

Jeff
But you’re going to talk about it.

Chris
Jelly. No, I’m claiming it okay, okay. Because it’s different okay. Jellied cranberry sauce is an absolute must okay. Absolute must. Yours. In fact, they’ve learned over the years, like, if we don’t have two cans, two full cans for me at Thanksgiving, it’s going to be a bad day. Wow.

Jeff
So we just covered both sides of the of the cranberry thing right there.

Chris
Well, and by the way, I don’t really know too many people that like jellied cranberry sauce.

Jeff
I don’t know if I do or not. Yeah okay. All right. So does that count as yours. Yes okay okay.

Chris
Yes I’m claiming.

Jeff
It. You know what I love? I like I like the green beans and the cream of mushroom sauce with the French onions on top. Oh, yeah. That’s not bad. You. No, I’m talking about.

Chris
Yeah, yeah. I’ve learned to like green beans over the years. I grew up not liking them, but they have to be fresh. Not out of a can for.

Jeff
Me, I so we used to grow, you know, huge garden. We’d have five, six rows, 50ft long of green beans. And so I’d spend most of my summer snapping green beans. Snap, snap. I’m like, you know, we can get a can of these for like $0.10, right? Right, right, right. So apparently my my time is worth about $0.30 an hour, I think is what my parents decided when I was a kid. That’s so.

Chris
Funny.

Jeff
That’s so funny. But I love green beans.

Chris
All right then. So you were the first, right?

Jeff
No, you were first. Yeah, yeah. All right.

Chris
So we’ll go one more each.

Jeff
Oh, one more each. Okay okay. One more.

Chris
Okay okay. So I’m going to say the sweet potatoes with the, with the crumbly with the crumbly.

Jeff
Everybody is waiting for that. What do you like the marshmallows on top.

Chris
I can take or leave the marshmallows.

Jeff
Okay, okay. And I am going to choose, believe it or not, not pumpkin pie.

Chris
I like anything but pumpkin pie.

Jeff
Like a chocolate mousse pie at Thanksgiving.

Chris
Yeah. You lost me at.

Jeff
Hello there. Yeah. That’s okay. Good. Well, then it’s all for me, then.

Chris
Yeah. Pumpkin pie.

Jeff
I’m pumpkin. Pumpkin pie.

Chris
Pumpkin all the way. Yeah.

Jeff
Okay. Well, there you go. The incredibly important things that people need to know about us coming into Thanksgiving. Well, you know what?

Chris
It is important. Those are important moments. I know, I know, so let’s get on to also something more important. John chapter eight. Yeah.

Jeff
Jesus warns the coming judgment. That’s going to be a fun one. Yeah. Okay. Here we go. John eight chapter 21 John eight verse 21 says, later, Jesus said to them again, I’m going away. You will search for me, but will die in your sin. You cannot come where I am going. The people asked, is he planning to commit suicide? What does he mean? You cannot come where I’m going. Jesus continued, you are from below. I am from above. You belong to this world, I do not. That is why I said that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins. Who are you? They demanded. Jesus replied, the one I have always claimed to be. I have much to say about you, and much to condemn, but I won’t. For I say only what I have heard from the one who sent me is completely truthful. But they still didn’t understand that he was talking about the father. So Jesus said, when you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I am he. I do nothing on my own, but say only what the father taught me, and the one who sent me is with me. He has not deserted me, for I always do what pleases him. And then many who heard him say these things believed in him. Yeah. Wow.

Chris
I love whenever it talks about that. Whenever it says. And then many people believed and followed him. Yeah. So I’m reading a different version. And verse 30 for me reads even as he spoke, many put their faith in him. So I’m not sure if this is NIV. Yep, it’s NIV. So so I just I love when it includes that because it, you know, you hear this hard teaching and you’re like, whoa, did you just say that some people who don’t believe in you are going to die in their sins? Which of course, I’m interpreting it as eternal separation from God. Right, right, right. That’s what he’s talking about. He’s talking about like, you know, not going to heaven is what he’s saying. And he’s saying to the people there who are present there that some of you are going to die in your sins. And then and then, of course, he talks about him, you know, being of I’m from heaven, you’re of this world. That’s the reason why I’m saying anyway. So anyway, that’s a pretty harsh kind of a thing. And my point is, is that there’s a crowd of people listening, and it says many believed in him, and I love that. I just absolutely love it. Yeah.

Jeff
So he tells them I’m going to go away. So he begins even telling the people in Jerusalem that he’s going to die, right. His disciples were shocked. Remember the first time he mentions it? Peter goes, oh no, Lord, we won’t let that happen. And Jesus has to say, get behind me, Satan, right, right. So Jesus has been prepping the disciples for the fact that he’s going to go die, and now he’s beginning to tell the people that I’m going to die. And without me, you’re going to die in your sins. And so I think he’s kind of implying to them, listen, there’s not much time for you to make this decision, right? Come to faith. And I think that’s true for all of us, right? Life doesn’t last that long. And you’ve done a lot of funerals. I’ve done funerals. And. And every time I’m standing near the body, I always think, boy, life is incredibly fragile. Our bodies are very resilient, but incredibly fragile at the same time, isn’t it? It’s just so weird. And then life is just we’re always just hanging on by a thread. And so I think a lot of times we think, well, I’ll make this decision for Christ tomorrow. I’m going to wait a little while. I’m going to do these things first. You know, I’m not yet ready. And Jesus isn’t saying, hey, get ready. Jesus is saying, right now is the time I’m getting ready to leave. And so now is the time. And I think that’s why people, some of the people felt urgency in this and they responded with, okay, I believe you are who you’re claiming to be and others didn’t. And he’s warning them, hey, if you don’t turn towards the light now. Jeff
You know you’re going to miss your opportunity.

Chris
Yeah. I’m looking and and here it is right here verse number 28 where he says, so Jesus said, and again this is the NIV. When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one that I claim to be. So in your version says, lift it up on the cross, right? Yeah.

Jeff
Son of man on the cross.

Chris
Son of man on the cross. So there are only a few times, I think, where Jesus actually gets very specific in the way in which he is going to die. Yeah. So, you know, he mentioned several times that he’s going to, you know, destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days. He tells Peter that he’s going to be betrayed and killed, but there’s only a few times where he actually paints the picture of exactly how he’s going to die. And and everybody listening, I’m sure in the first century understood this. Lifting up the Son of Man on the cross. Well, number one, the Son of Man is the name that he gives for himself. Right? So everybody knows he’s referring to himself. Yeah. And secondly, when he says lift it up, everybody also knows what that means. So you’ve been to Israel. Yeah. And you’ve been to the place where they believe could have been Golgotha. Yeah. And, you know, it’s a place where it definitely would have been prominent. Oh, absolutely. It would have been outside the city walls of Jerusalem. And the reason why is because, I mean, think about it. Every single movie you see with this sort of culture, any empire is displaying their power by when they when they execute somebody publicly because there’s a difference between executing somebody privately. Right. And then publicly, public execution is sending a message. Oh, absolutely. Right. And it’s like it’s like, just know if you betray us, this is your fate. Yeah.

Jeff
The rest of you better behave.

Chris
Right. So, so a public execution on a cross would have been absolutely prominent. So to be lifted up on a cross is, is a visual that if you think about it, it, it has to strike the people with. Not just like we look at it and go, oh, look, he died for our sins. But that’s not the way they viewed it. Yeah, they viewed it like absolute A, somebody who is is canceled. Right? Right. Somebody who is, you know, super terror striking in the hearts of people. And I mean, just think about all the feelings that come with that. And then another place where he talks about it is and I don’t think we’ve covered it yet, because I don’t think we’ve talked about it yet. But I think he’s about to say the only sign that I’ll give you is Moses hanging up the serpent on the cross in the wilderness. Yeah.

Jeff
John three.

Chris
John three. Oh, so we did cover. Yeah, yeah, we did cover it. Okay, so Jesus already said that, and and that was a sign, right? Right. That was a.

Jeff
Picture. Yeah. So he has that one. He says he gives the sign of Jonah. Right. Three days resurrect in three days. So he gives that one. But there’s only 1 or 2 times where he says, I’m going to be crucified, executed on a cross. Right. This is very prominent because he’s in Jerusalem. So, I mean, he’s just weeks away at this point from from the crucifixion happening. I think from the time he left Galilee until his crucifixion was like six months. Right? Because it was he. Remember he left at the Feast of Tabernacles? Yep. And so that’s like six months before Passover. And so we are within months now of Jesus dying. And so he’s becoming more and more and more clear to everybody. And I think the reason why is because he is very, very aware that most people had been following him and he was only famous because of miracles. He taught us amazing things that were way more interesting than what the Pharisees talk about. And then he does miracles. And those two things were capturing their attention. And he begins to, you know, once he leaves Caesarea Philippi a while back, he begins to talk a lot more about, I’m going to die. I’m going to be betrayed. I’m going to be buried for three days now, he says. I’m going to be on the cross. And that’s very profound, because for them, they wouldn’t have had any reason why. Why is Jesus going to be on a cross? Because the cross people knew that that the Pharisees didn’t like Jesus, but the Pharisees, the priests, they didn’t have the right to execute. Only the Roman government did executions. So what is Jesus going to do to make the Romans decide to execute him? Jeff
Right? Because the Jews couldn’t do it. The Jewish leaders couldn’t do it. And so this must have been kind of a weird thing. So it’s interesting. Early on they go, what are you talking about? You’re going to what, are you going to kill yourself, right. They literally ask him that because he goes, you can’t go where I’m going. Then later on he said, I’m going to be crucified. This, this probably sounded a little unhinged to a lot of the people at the time that he was. He was just it probably sounded like crazy talk a little bit. And then in the middle of all that, he keeps saying, I am, which is really, really prominent, right? He says it, he says 2 or 3 times here. Yeah. He says in verse 24, that’s why I said that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am who I. Claim to be. You will die in your sins. And then when you get down to. Verse 28, when you’ve lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I am he. And in both of these in the New Living Translation, they capitalize. I am all three. And so they’re recognizing the word he used is the word that God used when he was talking to Abraham. I am, and so he’s making these very definitive God statements about who he is and that he’s going to die. And they think you’re talking about suicide. And now why are the Romans involved? Right. This whole thing was confusing to some, but to many others they’re like, you’re right, there is an urgency. And I do believe you are who you say you are.

Chris
You said the I am or the words that God used when talking to Abraham. Did you mean I meant Moses, Moses, Moses, Moses? Yeah. And didn’t want that to slide by the. What I was going to say is you made a comment earlier and you said he was only famous because of miracles. And and it’s interesting because, you know, I believe that’s absolutely true. He was made famous by miracles only. But then what ended up happening was the miracles are the things that people started to, because there was a certain few of people that started to connect the dots saying, well, if he’s doing all these miracles, is he the Messiah? Right? And then I think there was sort of a second wave of his fame and the second wave of his fame, as demonstrated by the crowd on Palm Sunday, was if he is the Messiah, then he has come to deliver us. But but we largely see and we’ll probably get into that later. Yeah. That, that they expected to be delivered in a military fashion.

Jeff
Right. So unfortunately he’s saying he’s going to lose because he’s going to be crucified. This is a Roman. Right? Right, right.

Chris
Yeah. It doesn’t work out too well.

Jeff
For him in the end. Yeah. He’s admitting I’m going to be crucified. Yeah.

Chris
That is that is crazy.

Jeff
It’s very, very, very significant there. So he says, when you’ve lifted up the Son of Man and on the cross. So you were talking about Golgotha there in outside of Jerusalem, right, the hill. And so it’s interesting. There’s two different places that people say there’s there’s a kind of a rise in the church of the Holy Sepulchre, where they say that they believe that the tomb was well, they.

Chris
They sort of built, just to be clear. Yeah. So the Catholic Church has built churches around what they believe are holy sites. Yeah. So that they’ll always be.

Jeff
Protected and protected. Yeah, yeah. So the church of the Holy Sepulchre, that tomb is outside the walls of of ancient Jerusalem at the time. But then there’s just a little rise and they say, oh, that’s where they crucified Jesus. And that doesn’t make any sense because the Bible says Golgotha, which is the place of the skull, and there’s no skull concept there. But when you get out to where the Garden Tomb is, probably the garden Tomb is not where Jesus was buried, right? But there’s some seats where you can see a hill that looks like a skull. A skull, even now, even though what used to be the nose part of the skull has fallen off, right? That that that broke. But you can see the deep eyes, the recess, the fact that it comes narrow into a chin. It’s very rounded on the top. And there’s a thing there in Jerusalem, you know, during the Crusades, when Suleiman and the others came back and they retook Jerusalem, they did a lot of things to Christian sites like outside of the Bible says that when Jesus returns, he’s going to come back through Jerusalem, through the eastern gate. So the priests could not walk, holy men could not walk through cemeteries. So they put a muslim cemetery right at the, at the, at the eastern gate. So that way he if he returns, he can’t come through there, right? Of course, Jesus can do anything, so he’ll work it out. Right? But they were so convinced, even though they rejected Jesus, they were convinced, hey, we better block this off. And they put a cemetery there. They did the same thing at Golgotha. The top of that hill is a is a muslim cemetery. And then at the bottom they put a bus stop. Jeff
Right? Not not a bus stop, like a bus station right down there at the bottom. And the fact that it seems like the devil’s tried so hard to obscure that spot, seems to me, you know, it just seems to really. I was really drawn to that place. But that place is just outside the furthest wall of Jerusalem. And it was on the road, the crossroads, one of the roads heading towards Damascus, the other one cutting across east and west. And so it was a very, very prominent place. And that would.

Chris
Have been way more consistent with everything we know about written and recorded culture. Yeah. And, you know, a Roman Empire who wanted to send messages and all of that, just like you said, it’s a it’s an actual God made mountain that looks like a skull.

Jeff
So the church of the Holy Sepulchre, perhaps that tomb could be the tomb of Jesus. Perhaps we don’t know for sure, but it could be. It’s about a mile away. And so the tradition sprung up that that’s where he was buried. Where was he crucified? There. Right. That’s what they did. Whereas when you get around to the other side, I think it’s very, very much that way. But this idea of him being lifted up, it was a place of shame. And isn’t it interesting now, instead of it being a thing of shame to us, you know, we wear crosses, we celebrate the cross. That’s right. And he invites us to take up our cross. And so there’s a privilege to it. Whereas in that day they could not have wrapped their head around why you’re a hero. Why are you talking about the cross? You know, that’s a weird thing. But to us, thank God for the cross.

Chris
Yeah. So let’s just wrap up by saying this. And I didn’t think about it until you just said it. So Jesus took a symbol, a cross that was only viewed by the masses about it was just death, and it was misery. And he took it and changed it to a symbol of hope and love. That’s right. And forgiveness and eternal life and all good things. And that’s what he does actually, with our lives as well. So he takes, you know, he makes dead things come alive. He gives hope to the hopeless. He takes that which we view as having no hope. And he restores and gives hope and eternity and everything else. Right? So he the same thing he did with the symbol of the cross, he does with our lives. Yeah. Which is amazing.

Jeff
And he says it all in the power of I am.

Chris
Right there it is. Right. Well, that’s a really good place to end and we will see you next time on The Bible Guys.