WEBVTT

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Welcome to Season 3 of Love & Context. This season,

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we're exploring the life of Jesus step -by -step

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and uncovering what His story teaches us about

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loving God and others. Here on Love & Context,

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we're all about having real conversations about

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how to live out that love in practical, everyday

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ways, and understanding the Bible in its full

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context. We're so glad you're here. Let's dive

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into Season 3 of Love & Context. Welcome back

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to the Love and Context podcast. I am your host,

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Ben, and we are once again joined by our good

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friend, Les Kronk. Good to be here. Thank you

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for being here again. You have taken a break

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out of your incredibly busy schedule of retirement.

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Yes, retirement is quite busy, actually. We've

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said this a bunch, but I think literally every

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person I've talked to who retires, they're like,

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how did I get so busy now that I don't have work?

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Yeah. Right? To me, it's like a 15 -year backlog

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of projects that I wanted to get done. Just bouncing

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around, hitting all of them at once. Yeah, you

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were actually, you were telling me, and this

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hopefully doesn't break anybody's illusion, but

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on Easter Sunday, you actually painted because

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we live in a place where it's not convenient

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to paint often. It was a beautiful sunny day,

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and I took advantage of that and got some outside

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house painting. Yeah. Anybody who's ever painted

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before knows that if you live in a rainforest,

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it's not very cooperative for painting. That's

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right. So if you have sun, you take advantage

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of it. That's more retirement stuff, right? It

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is. It is. That's good stuff. And I also have

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more time to do this sort of thing. Yeah. Well,

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we appreciate it. Every time you're on here,

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people, you know, I've gotten multiple emails,

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and they go, we really like it when Les is on.

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All right. I was like, sweet. Not near as many

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as they always say. They're like, man, we really

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like listening to Sarah Harney. That mostly comes

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from my wife. Yes. And I'm like, so you only

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listen to the episodes where Sarah's on, so I

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guess I'm just chopped liver here. You're just

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chopped liver, yeah. That's right, from your

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wife, really. Oh, man. Well, actually, your wife

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was on, too. That was back in Women in Ministry.

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Right, right. Yeah, that was fun. Good stuff.

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So we're going through life of Jesus and going

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into life of Jesus. It's really hard to talk

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about the beginning of his ministry without talking

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about John the Baptist. Correct. Right. John

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the Baptist is kind of important in everything

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that's going on here. Yes, he is. But before

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we actually get into the text, I wanted to go

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over a couple of things that I think are really

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interesting to talk about before we read these

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and kind of take our perspectives from it. Because

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we're going to be, if you are listening and you

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want to read the Bible yourself, it is going

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to be coming out in Matthew 3, Mark 1, and Luke

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3. Those are the beginning of the three places.

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And then also when we talk about Jesus' baptism,

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we're going to be in Matthew 3, Mark 1, 9 -11,

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and Luke 3, 21 -22. So those are the places we're

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going to be. The first thing I want to talk about

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is what they call mikvah. We call it baptism.

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They call it mikvah in Hebrew. It's basically

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the ablutions. Ablutions? What do they call it

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when you do something with water? Ablutions?

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Ablutions, yeah. Yeah. Where is my dictionary

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when I need it? Right. It's a ritual washing,

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and that's where the mikvah comes in. That's

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what mikvah means. It's ritual washing. Purification

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practice in Torah. So in Leviticus 15, if you

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have a bodily discharge, you take a mikvah. Right.

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So after you're you're allowed to come back into

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the community, bodily discharge might be well

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to be a little bit gross. You might have the

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flu or diarrhea. OK. Right. Right. And there's

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no telling like why you're sick. And so they

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have you separate from the community. And once

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you're better, you take a mikvah. Yeah. And then

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you come back and join everybody else and you're

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clean. Right. So the the idea has this. purifying

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from the sickness that came before. You also

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take a mikvah in Numbers 19 if you have contact

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with a dead body. All right. Probably a good

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idea. Sure, sure. One of the things we don't

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think about when we think about mikvahs is these

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instructions come in Torah, which is when they're

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in the middle of the desert where there's not

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a lot of water. Right. So if they're telling

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you to go and bathe your whole body, It's significant,

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right? There's something significant going on.

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And I would think that sickness and contact with

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a dead body, good reasons to bathe yourself.

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Good reasons. Good reasons to bathe yourself.

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But the whole symbolism behind it is that you're

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cleansing from impurity and you're preparing

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to participate in worship and community life.

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So you're rejoining community, right? So baptism

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is about like washing something that shouldn't

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be there and then rejoining what you were meant

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to be. Later, the mikvah, the ritual bath was

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used when somebody converted to Judaism. And

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it's like a public declaration of I was one way

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and I'm choosing to be another. This is a public

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declaration that I'm actually going a different

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direction. Right. And it actually required flowing

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or living water. So if I say living water, do

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you know what I mean? So it's not water with

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microbes in it. Right, right. Put it that way.

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Not that kind of living, right? Yeah. What I

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would think of... Moving water. Yeah. Well, it's

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specifically water that comes from heaven or

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it's provided by God. So it would be rainfall.

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All right. Or it would be a well. Or it would

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be, so it wouldn't be like a lake. A lake wouldn't

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necessarily be considered that because it's,

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I mean, obviously we know science. All these

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waters come from different places that come from

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the clouds and different ways. But in Jewish

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thinking, it's living water is water that comes

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from God. So it's water that you draw from the

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ground. It's water that falls from the sky. Those

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are living waters, right? Which is really important

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because Jesus is going to specify living waters.

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multiple times in his ministry. He's going to

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say, if you would come to me, I would have given

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you water and it would bubble up streams of...

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Living water from within you, right? Water from

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God within you. Right. And so it's not just talking

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about water. It's talking about a certain type

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of water. And now in my head, first time I heard

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living water, you know, I thought, you ever seen

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those swamps in the bayou? Oh, yes. They have

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all these things living in them. I was like,

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well, that's living water right there. It's alive.

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It's alive. And I'm not getting in it. No, not

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a chance. I actually got... Traumatized by a

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camera what movie it was but they get in the

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swampy water and they come out and the guy has

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leeches Like I'm like very nervous about leech

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infested water now So that is, that's the kind

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of idea of baptism. Okay. And in the day, specifically

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Jesus's day, taking a mikvah was largely a declaration

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of I was doing something wrong. So it was tied

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with repentance, right? Repentance being a word

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in Hebrew, it's shuva. Okay. It means to return.

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I mean, the best way I can kind of like illustrate

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it in American ideas is imagine that you're walking

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on a cement pathway and you veer off into the

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yard. Yeah. Shuvah is coming back to the path

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that you're meant to walk. Right. So you veered

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off and you shuvahed. Right. And the mikvah takes

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place when you shuvah back to your path. Right.

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If you walked off the cement into the mud and

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came back out, you had to wash off. Yeah. And

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so like the mikvah says, it says I was off the

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path and I'm returning to my design. Okay. Right.

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This design being this instructions in Torah

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where God says you're created for a purpose.

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You're created with an identity. The Jewish people

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specifically, you are my treasured possession

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and you're supposed to put this thing on display

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for the entire world. So when they're choosing

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to make a commitment and follow after something,

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they would mikvah. And so they would repent.

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They would come back to their design and they

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would go and proceed with their design. And the

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mikvah was a public declaration that I recognize

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my original design. I'm going to go walk in it.

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Right. Right. So with Jesus, he hadn't strayed

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from the path. Correct. Yeah, we're going to

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get in there in a second. Don't jump ahead of

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me. All right, all right. Jesus' baptism is there.

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All right, all right. Yeah, we're talking about

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that later. All right. Yeah. We'll work up to

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it. Well, and I mean, you caught it, though,

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because John actually notices that. Yeah. He's

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like, why would I baptize you? Right. Why? Why

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would I baptize you? So the last thing I want

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to talk about is John the Baptist himself. There

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is a significant scholarship around the idea

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that John the Baptist wasn't, first of all, a

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Baptist. I'm sorry. I probably blew somebody's

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mind there. They, it's actually, they call him

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John the Baptist because he was a baptizer. He

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baptized a lot of people. And so it actually

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has nothing to do with the denomination of Baptist,

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except that the Baptist, the reason they were

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called that is because they fully emerged people

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originally. Right. I mean, there's, there's more

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reasons, but that was, that is a reason. And

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so John. There is there's five different reactions

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to the silent years post Malachi. Right. Five

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major reactions. There's more, but there's five

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major ones. We know them as the Pharisees, the

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Sadducees, the Herodians, the Zealots. And then

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there's a fifth one called the Essenes. Yeah.

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If you are familiar with the Dead Sea Scrolls,

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the Essenes are the ones who are responsible

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for that. Um, so the Essenes, they lived in a,

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in a desert compound off of Israel or off of

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Jerusalem called Qumran, right? So that's where

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they find that all these caves, they found them

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in Qumran. And, uh, the Essenes believed that

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basically the world was going downhill very quickly.

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And so they secluded themselves off from society

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and devoted themselves to preservation of the

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word of God. And it was, and it's an incredibly

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rigorous practice, but they believe like, Hey,

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you know, like, God's coming back. He's going

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to judge the world. This is, by the way, represented

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in John saying the ax is at the base of the tree.

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Base of the tree. Right? This is very Essene

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theology. It's like, hey, we strayed so far.

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Judgment is coming. You need to be holy. You

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need to walk in a correct way. You need to preserve

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Torah. You need to put Torah on display. You

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need to seclude yourself from all the things

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that influence you, a .k .a. Rome. Right? Right.

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And so this is a lot of Essene theology. Second

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temple period, they're known for their strict

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purity laws and living, like I said, often in

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the desert. One of the things that they are also

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known for is frequent ritual washing to maintain

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purity and prepare for divine encounters. So

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because you're trying to remain pure, you would

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mikvah on a regular basis in order to prepare

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yourself to be connecting with God, right? There's

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an emphasis on communal purity. group being pure

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and separation from the corruption of the world,

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AKA Rome, AKA the Sadducees, AKA anybody who's

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compromising their faith. Right. Right. Um, so

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John has a crazy wilderness lifestyle and he

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calls for repentance, echoing Essene practice.

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And they both emphasize preparation for the divine

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intervention and the coming kingdom of God. Um,

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however, one of the things that I wanted to point

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out here is that John's baptism was inclusive

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in that it was open to all who would repent.

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Right. So while Essene practices were exclusive,

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focused on their own community. So John would

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have been an outlier even in his own community.

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But there's a lot about his message that is Essene

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influenced. And in the show notes, I'm probably

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going to link a Bema episode in the silent years.

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Ronnie Solomon is talking about the five different

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responses to actually there's a bunch of episodes,

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but five different responses to of Judaism to

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the silent years. Each one has a piece that completely

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nails what God's asking for. And each one has

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a piece where they really struggle with what

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God's asking for. Okay. And so the five responses,

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none of them completely nail what Jesus is going

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to do. And that's why all five sects of Judaism

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are incredibly frustrated with Jesus. Oh. Because

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he doesn't, you know, and yeah, for example,

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the zealots are like, well, you're going to go

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and destroy Rome. Right. Right. The Pharisees

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are like, Hey, you're going to force everybody

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to observe Torah. Yes. But you're missing the

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heart of Torah. Right. Or, you know, the Sadducees

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are like, well, you're going to make the temple

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great. Yes. But the temple is actually going

00:12:13.049 --> 00:12:15.870
to be dwelling within people. So they're, they're

00:12:15.870 --> 00:12:18.009
all like struggling with like his, his reality.

00:12:18.070 --> 00:12:20.210
And plus a lot of other things with the Sadducees.

00:12:20.289 --> 00:12:21.590
I'm not going to get into their temple corruption,

00:12:21.690 --> 00:12:26.409
but Jesus comes and steps into a place where

00:12:26.409 --> 00:12:29.830
there is diverse opinion on scriptural issues.

00:12:30.490 --> 00:12:32.690
Okay. I wonder if that has any relevance for

00:12:32.690 --> 00:12:36.070
today. Just a little bit, just a little bit.

00:12:36.330 --> 00:12:38.490
All right. So with that said, with all those

00:12:38.490 --> 00:12:40.990
things being put in perspective, I'm going to

00:12:40.990 --> 00:12:45.049
start reading in Matthew 3, 1 through 12. So

00:12:45.049 --> 00:12:47.710
in those days, this is after Jesus had returned

00:12:47.710 --> 00:12:50.490
from Nazareth or returned to Nazareth after Herod

00:12:50.490 --> 00:12:53.840
died. In those days, John the Baptist. preaching

00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:56.679
in the wilderness of Judea and saying, repent

00:12:56.679 --> 00:12:59.919
Shiva for the kingdom of heaven has come near.

00:13:00.200 --> 00:13:03.240
This is who, uh, this is who was, sorry, I can

00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:06.120
read. This is he who has spoken of through the

00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:08.559
prophet Isaiah, a voice of one calling in the

00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:10.559
wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord, make

00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:13.539
straight paths for him. John's clothes were made

00:13:13.539 --> 00:13:15.659
of camel hair and he had a leather belt around

00:13:15.659 --> 00:13:18.480
his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:21.019
People went out to, people went out to him from

00:13:21.019 --> 00:13:23.399
Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region

00:13:23.399 --> 00:13:25.759
of jordan confessing their sins they were baptized

00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:29.620
they were mikved right by him in the jordan river

00:13:29.620 --> 00:13:32.679
but when he saw many of the pharisees and sadducees

00:13:32.679 --> 00:13:34.580
coming to where he was baptizing remember being

00:13:34.580 --> 00:13:38.779
an essene he said to them you brood of vipers

00:13:39.879 --> 00:13:43.679
We've got tons of chill here. Who warned you

00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:46.279
to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit

00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:48.440
in keeping with repentance and do not think you

00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:50.799
can say to yourself, we have Abraham as our father.

00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:53.259
I tell you that out of these stones, God can

00:13:53.259 --> 00:13:55.659
raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already

00:13:55.659 --> 00:13:57.820
at the root of the tree and every tree that does

00:13:57.820 --> 00:13:59.940
not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown

00:13:59.940 --> 00:14:02.950
into the fire. I baptize you with water for repentance,

00:14:03.110 --> 00:14:05.149
but after me comes one who is more powerful than

00:14:05.149 --> 00:14:07.809
I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He

00:14:07.809 --> 00:14:09.970
will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

00:14:10.370 --> 00:14:12.929
His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will

00:14:12.929 --> 00:14:15.049
clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat

00:14:15.049 --> 00:14:16.870
into the barns and burning up the chaff with

00:14:16.870 --> 00:14:19.409
unquenchable fire. I don't know if you hear some

00:14:19.409 --> 00:14:21.269
Essene theology in there. Yeah, for sure. Right?

00:14:21.409 --> 00:14:23.909
Now, one of the things we will talk about in

00:14:23.909 --> 00:14:26.980
a second. He's not wrong. A lot of those things

00:14:26.980 --> 00:14:30.139
come to pass. He is preparing a way. Yes, he

00:14:30.139 --> 00:14:32.639
is. He's also preparing a way in the way that

00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:36.480
he thinks it should be done. Okay. Right. Uh,

00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:39.580
he's like, he's like, Oh, you don't know. Like

00:14:39.580 --> 00:14:42.360
that, that axis here, it's, it's coming for you.

00:14:42.700 --> 00:14:46.019
And, uh, and he says, you know, Jesus is coming.

00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:48.299
He's got his winnowing fork. He didn't just,

00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:50.480
of course, didn't call him Jesus, but he says,

00:14:50.500 --> 00:14:52.159
this guy is coming. He's got his winnowing fork

00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:53.720
and he's going to gather his wheat and everything

00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:57.259
else. He's going to burn up. Yeah. Okay. The

00:14:57.259 --> 00:14:59.740
problem with that is that actually isn't what

00:14:59.740 --> 00:15:03.220
Jesus ends up preaching. Correct. In fact, there's

00:15:03.220 --> 00:15:06.240
a parable that Jesus ends up preaching about,

00:15:06.440 --> 00:15:10.220
there's a person who has wheat, and then somebody

00:15:10.220 --> 00:15:12.600
goes and sows tares in among the wheat. Ah, yeah.

00:15:12.860 --> 00:15:16.659
Right? And the angels come and they say, hey,

00:15:16.700 --> 00:15:19.120
should we just go and uproot the tares? Because

00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:20.679
somebody came in and sowed a bunch of tares out

00:15:20.679 --> 00:15:23.720
here. He says, no, because if you do, you're

00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:26.450
going to rip up the wheat. let them grow up.

00:15:26.490 --> 00:15:28.409
And when everything is done, we'll separate the,

00:15:28.450 --> 00:15:31.289
the wheat from the tares and I'll take the wheat

00:15:31.289 --> 00:15:34.149
home and we'll burn the, during the tares. Well,

00:15:34.190 --> 00:15:37.090
that's very different. Yeah. That's a very different

00:15:37.090 --> 00:15:38.950
attitude. In fact, that's mostly an attitude

00:15:38.950 --> 00:15:41.429
of grace. It really is. Now, eventually as things

00:15:41.429 --> 00:15:43.289
going to get burned and separated. Yes. Because

00:15:43.289 --> 00:15:45.309
they're not wheat. Yeah. Right. They're going

00:15:45.309 --> 00:15:46.809
to a separate place because they're not wheat.

00:15:46.870 --> 00:15:50.519
Correct. I think I gave you, let's read what

00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:52.460
he has to say in Mark. Now, remember, Mark being

00:15:52.460 --> 00:15:55.159
a largely written to a Roman audience, starting

00:15:55.159 --> 00:15:57.240
in verse, oh, wow, it's right off the top. Right

00:15:57.240 --> 00:15:59.879
in verse one. Yeah. The beginning of the good

00:15:59.879 --> 00:16:02.200
news about Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God,

00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:05.240
as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, I will

00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:07.879
send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare

00:16:07.879 --> 00:16:10.600
your way, a voice of one calling in the wilderness,

00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:13.480
prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths

00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:16.789
for him. And so John the Baptist appeared in

00:16:16.789 --> 00:16:18.690
the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance

00:16:18.690 --> 00:16:22.090
for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean

00:16:22.090 --> 00:16:24.669
countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went

00:16:24.669 --> 00:16:26.590
out to him. That's quite a few. That's a lot.

00:16:26.690 --> 00:16:30.230
Yeah. Confessing their sins, they were baptized

00:16:30.230 --> 00:16:33.210
by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing

00:16:33.210 --> 00:16:35.450
made of camel hair with leather belt around his

00:16:35.450 --> 00:16:39.240
waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And

00:16:39.240 --> 00:16:41.299
this was his message. After me comes one more

00:16:41.299 --> 00:16:43.659
powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals

00:16:43.659 --> 00:16:47.960
I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize

00:16:47.960 --> 00:16:49.720
you with water, but he will baptize you with

00:16:49.720 --> 00:16:52.100
the Holy Spirit. So that's two tellings in a

00:16:52.100 --> 00:16:55.419
row where they've mentioned his appearance. Do

00:16:55.419 --> 00:16:59.720
you know why camel hair and leather belt? No,

00:16:59.740 --> 00:17:01.659
I don't. Do you know any figure in the Old Testament

00:17:01.659 --> 00:17:05.700
who dressed in similar attire? I'm saying that's

00:17:05.700 --> 00:17:08.109
probably Elijah. It's Elijah. Yeah. Yeah. Which

00:17:08.109 --> 00:17:10.069
also is why they're confused later. They're like,

00:17:10.170 --> 00:17:12.710
hey, are you Elijah? Right. Right. Are you Elijah,

00:17:12.849 --> 00:17:16.829
you know, to come? And so he's similar to Elijah

00:17:16.829 --> 00:17:21.589
because he comes to Ahab and he pronounces judgment

00:17:21.589 --> 00:17:26.680
on Israel. Right. John is kind of doing a little

00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:28.940
bit of theater here, right? He's putting on camel

00:17:28.940 --> 00:17:31.059
hair and the leather belt and he's coming and

00:17:31.059 --> 00:17:33.599
also pronouncing judgment on Israel, right? That

00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:35.819
you need to repent. You need to come back. You

00:17:35.819 --> 00:17:38.500
need to stop serving Baal, right? In the case

00:17:38.500 --> 00:17:40.460
of Elijah, you need to stop serving yourselves

00:17:40.460 --> 00:17:43.519
and come back and serve the Lord. The locusts

00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:45.500
and wild honey actually has to do, the wild honey

00:17:45.500 --> 00:17:47.480
is considered pure because it's wild, right?

00:17:47.700 --> 00:17:50.660
It's out in nature. It's God provided. So that's

00:17:50.660 --> 00:17:53.759
where that... comes from. That's why it's a very

00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:56.339
Essene thing to do. So that's another connected

00:17:56.339 --> 00:17:58.160
thing. So anybody who's listening, they're like,

00:17:58.259 --> 00:18:00.259
why does this keep coming up? Right, exactly.

00:18:00.500 --> 00:18:02.200
I was thinking that as I'm reading this. Why

00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:05.619
is that important? Yeah, and so that is a very

00:18:05.619 --> 00:18:07.619
Essene theology type of thing that he brings

00:18:07.619 --> 00:18:11.339
up. I also do love, by the way, we talked in

00:18:11.339 --> 00:18:14.079
our first episode of this season that Mark...

00:18:14.460 --> 00:18:16.980
uh, is very much Roman. So it's like this happened,

00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:18.720
then this happened, then this happened. And I

00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:20.579
love that the gospel of Mark starts off and it's

00:18:20.579 --> 00:18:23.279
like, John the Baptist, you know, it's like,

00:18:23.299 --> 00:18:25.880
no, no preamble, no preamble. We're talking just,

00:18:25.880 --> 00:18:28.160
uh, just what happens straight up. So he jumps

00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:30.039
right into it. All right. So let's go to the,

00:18:30.039 --> 00:18:34.359
to the third one here. This is Luke three, one

00:18:34.359 --> 00:18:36.059
through 20. So this one is a little bit longer.

00:18:36.140 --> 00:18:38.640
Now remember Luke written from the conversation

00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:42.019
of about 500 witnesses, 500 plus witnesses about

00:18:42.019 --> 00:18:46.420
this time. In the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius

00:18:46.420 --> 00:18:49.460
Caesar, much more specific. Yeah. You know, like

00:18:49.460 --> 00:18:51.539
it's not a, then this happened. Right. He's like

00:18:51.539 --> 00:18:54.400
in the 15th year when Pontius Pilate was governor

00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:57.160
of Judea, Herod, Herod was Tetrarch of Galilee,

00:18:57.220 --> 00:19:01.539
his brother, Philip Tetrarch of Ituria and Trachonius

00:19:01.539 --> 00:19:06.039
and Lysanias Tetrarch of Abilene. So he's very

00:19:06.039 --> 00:19:09.700
specific. Right. During the high priesthood of

00:19:09.700 --> 00:19:12.640
Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John,

00:19:12.740 --> 00:19:15.819
son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went to

00:19:15.819 --> 00:19:17.359
all the country around the Jordan, preaching

00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:19.799
a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of

00:19:19.799 --> 00:19:21.880
sins. Okay. I want to pause right here really

00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:25.539
quick. He preached a returning to the path for

00:19:25.539 --> 00:19:27.380
the things that you've done that have strayed

00:19:27.380 --> 00:19:29.880
you. Okay. Okay. I want you to like have this

00:19:29.880 --> 00:19:32.460
imagery. Yes. Sin is absolutely something that

00:19:32.460 --> 00:19:34.420
you do that violates God's command, but it's

00:19:34.420 --> 00:19:36.240
straying from this path and you're being called

00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:39.160
to return to your path. And I want this imagery

00:19:39.160 --> 00:19:40.779
to be built into our head when we're talking

00:19:40.779 --> 00:19:43.920
about Jesus, because Jesus is going to repeatedly

00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:45.900
talk about the fact that God wants you on his

00:19:45.900 --> 00:19:50.480
path. Right. That sin is easy to fix. And if

00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:52.759
it wasn't easy to fix, he's going to go and take

00:19:52.759 --> 00:19:56.240
all of sin, all of enmity, all of death and take

00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:58.559
it to the cross so that we're done with it forever.

00:19:58.779 --> 00:20:01.480
Right. Now, I think what some people might have

00:20:01.480 --> 00:20:03.440
heard me said is sin is not a big deal. Yeah.

00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:05.319
It's not what I'm talking about. Nope. Not at

00:20:05.319 --> 00:20:07.640
all. It's not difficult for God to deal with.

00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:10.299
Right. What he wants you to do is come back.

00:20:10.900 --> 00:20:13.160
Correct. I was actually, I had this conversation.

00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:14.859
So my son has been struggling a little bit at

00:20:14.859 --> 00:20:18.160
school. Okay. because he's six years old and

00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:20.980
the frontal cortex is developing. And so like

00:20:20.980 --> 00:20:23.700
he's feeling his emotions slower than his reasoning

00:20:23.700 --> 00:20:27.200
is catching up, right? So he has these really

00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:29.740
big emotions and he does a lot of things. And

00:20:29.740 --> 00:20:32.259
so he's like, well, I don't understand why this.

00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:34.500
And I said, I understand. I was like, the problem

00:20:34.500 --> 00:20:37.059
isn't what you did. It's that you don't understand

00:20:37.059 --> 00:20:40.200
why it was wrong. Okay. And that's more what

00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:43.180
I'm concerned about. What you did I can fix easy

00:20:43.180 --> 00:20:45.319
like if he gets upset he tosses something across

00:20:45.319 --> 00:20:47.339
the room break something I can fix that easily

00:20:47.339 --> 00:20:50.079
like you know as well I do replacing a plate

00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:53.519
not a problem. No fixing a broken toy not a problem,

00:20:53.599 --> 00:20:56.539
right? But the behavior behind the toy that's

00:20:56.539 --> 00:20:59.160
is a much bigger issue. Yep, like him understanding

00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:02.359
like Why how that makes people around him feel

00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:04.240
empathizing with people understanding how it's

00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:06.319
affecting his relationship with his mom and with

00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:08.799
me and with his teachers It's a much bigger deal

00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:11.640
much bigger deal. Yep Um, all right, it's coming

00:21:11.640 --> 00:21:14.299
back in here as it is written, continuing verse

00:21:14.299 --> 00:21:16.059
four, as it is written in the book of, in the

00:21:16.059 --> 00:21:18.059
words of Isaiah, the prophet, a voice of one

00:21:18.059 --> 00:21:20.579
calling in the wilderness prepared for the way

00:21:20.579 --> 00:21:23.299
for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every

00:21:23.299 --> 00:21:26.339
valley shall be filled in every mountain shall

00:21:26.339 --> 00:21:29.059
and hill shall be made low. The crooked roads

00:21:29.059 --> 00:21:31.579
shall become straight. The rough ways smooth

00:21:31.579 --> 00:21:35.140
and all of all people will see God's salvation.

00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:37.740
You think that's interesting by the way that,

00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:41.450
uh, He quotes from Isaiah much longer, like a

00:21:41.450 --> 00:21:43.470
much bigger quote. He does. It was a bigger quote.

00:21:43.509 --> 00:21:46.569
Yeah. It feels like one of the things we talk

00:21:46.569 --> 00:21:48.289
about Luke is that Luke is kind of talking to

00:21:48.289 --> 00:21:51.029
the universal world about how Jesus is applying

00:21:51.029 --> 00:21:54.049
to all of them. To everybody. Right? And so it

00:21:54.049 --> 00:21:55.890
makes sense when he's talking about every hill

00:21:55.890 --> 00:21:58.869
is filled in. Every one. Every valley is filled

00:21:58.869 --> 00:22:01.029
in. Every mountain is made low. All the paths

00:22:01.029 --> 00:22:05.049
are made straight. Yeah. Right? Um, so then he

00:22:05.049 --> 00:22:06.910
turned to the crowds who were being baptized

00:22:06.910 --> 00:22:08.789
by him. Okay. Turn to the crowds in this one,

00:22:08.829 --> 00:22:11.470
not to the Sadducees and the, and the Pharisees.

00:22:11.710 --> 00:22:14.910
You brood of vipers who warned you to flee from

00:22:14.910 --> 00:22:17.410
the coming wrath, produce fruit in keeping with

00:22:17.410 --> 00:22:20.130
repentance and do not begin to say to yourselves,

00:22:20.210 --> 00:22:23.349
we have Abraham as our father. For I tell you

00:22:23.349 --> 00:22:25.789
that out of these stones, God can raise up children

00:22:25.789 --> 00:22:28.089
for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of

00:22:28.089 --> 00:22:30.109
the trees and every tree that does not produce

00:22:30.109 --> 00:22:32.289
good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the

00:22:32.289 --> 00:22:34.970
fire. What should we do then? The crowd asked.

00:22:35.710 --> 00:22:38.390
John answered, anyone who has two shirts should

00:22:38.390 --> 00:22:40.829
share with the one who has none. Anyone who has

00:22:40.829 --> 00:22:43.529
food should do the same. Even tax collectors,

00:22:43.710 --> 00:22:45.329
even tax collectors, by the way, I just love

00:22:45.329 --> 00:22:49.359
it when they talk about tax collectors. Even

00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:52.740
tax collectors came to be baptized. Teacher,

00:22:52.859 --> 00:22:55.259
they asked, what should we do? Don't collect

00:22:55.259 --> 00:22:57.299
any more than you are required to, he told them.

00:22:57.519 --> 00:22:59.859
Then some soldiers asked him, what should we

00:22:59.859 --> 00:23:02.099
do? He replied, don't extort money and don't

00:23:02.099 --> 00:23:04.339
accuse people falsely. Be content with your pay.

00:23:04.779 --> 00:23:07.180
Okay, pause right there. So this is a little

00:23:07.180 --> 00:23:08.740
bit different. It's once again a lot longer.

00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:12.720
And Luke really talking about the universal nature

00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:16.079
because both Mark and Matthew are going to be

00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:18.440
speaking to Jewish people, but in a Roman setting

00:23:18.440 --> 00:23:21.960
versus a Jewish setting. Right. You hear him

00:23:21.960 --> 00:23:24.119
talking to the religious people first. Don't

00:23:24.119 --> 00:23:25.799
think that because you're a son of Abraham, you're

00:23:25.799 --> 00:23:28.539
going to be okay. Right. Right. Your heritage

00:23:28.539 --> 00:23:32.920
doesn't justify you. Correct. God expects you

00:23:32.920 --> 00:23:35.259
to uphold Torah. Yeah. The fact that you're just

00:23:35.259 --> 00:23:38.220
from Abraham's lineage doesn't. Doesn't exempt

00:23:38.220 --> 00:23:40.680
you from anything else. Yeah. So religious leaders,

00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:43.940
this is the conversation for you. Tax collectors,

00:23:44.119 --> 00:23:46.640
those people on the outside, you betrayers of

00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:49.680
your culture and your people. Yep. They come

00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:52.559
and they ask, what should I do? Soldiers, which

00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:55.579
would mean Romans, right? Romans. They come and

00:23:55.579 --> 00:23:58.000
ask, what should we do? Yeah. And John gives

00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:00.799
them instructions too. Correct. So we can definitely

00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:04.900
see in Luke, he's opening this up and it's likely

00:24:04.900 --> 00:24:07.960
all of these conversations happened, but each

00:24:07.960 --> 00:24:10.400
gospel specifies a specific part because they're

00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:12.980
telling a different story. Right. Right. Luke

00:24:12.980 --> 00:24:15.019
is really trying to open it up to the entire

00:24:15.019 --> 00:24:16.759
world and what Jesus is doing through everyone

00:24:16.759 --> 00:24:18.599
and also doing the accounts of the witnesses.

00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:24.180
Yep. Let's see here. Continuing in verse 15,

00:24:40.929 --> 00:24:43.849
There's that Essene thing again, right? His winnowing

00:24:43.849 --> 00:24:45.849
fork is in his hands to clear his threshing floor

00:24:45.849 --> 00:24:48.230
and to gather the wheat into his barn. But he

00:24:48.230 --> 00:24:50.069
will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

00:24:50.309 --> 00:24:53.210
And with many other words, John extorted the

00:24:53.210 --> 00:24:54.769
people and proclaimed the good news to them.

00:24:54.930 --> 00:24:57.609
But when John rebuked Herod the Tetrarch because

00:24:57.609 --> 00:24:59.630
of his marriage to Herodias, his brother's wife,

00:24:59.769 --> 00:25:02.349
and all the other evil things he had done, Herod

00:25:02.349 --> 00:25:05.349
added this to them all. He locked John up in

00:25:05.349 --> 00:25:10.000
prison. So, one of the things that, there's a

00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:11.680
couple of things I want to talk about here is

00:25:11.680 --> 00:25:17.039
sometimes people look at differences in the Gospels

00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:19.829
and they think that they're mistakes. There are

00:25:19.829 --> 00:25:21.430
mistakes in the way that people are reporting

00:25:21.430 --> 00:25:24.009
it. And one of the reasons we went through on

00:25:24.009 --> 00:25:25.549
the first episode and talked about what is a

00:25:25.549 --> 00:25:27.529
gospel, what is the perspective of the gospel?

00:25:27.569 --> 00:25:30.869
How is history done in ancient Near East is to

00:25:30.869 --> 00:25:33.750
point out that these are written in such a way

00:25:33.750 --> 00:25:36.710
on purpose. And just because they don't all share

00:25:36.710 --> 00:25:38.930
the exact same details doesn't mean they're not

00:25:38.930 --> 00:25:41.650
talking about the same event. Now, the other

00:25:41.650 --> 00:25:43.569
part of that that you also need to think about,

00:25:43.630 --> 00:25:45.910
like, because I read enough of I read a number

00:25:45.910 --> 00:25:50.269
of books by like critical scholars, too, is that

00:25:50.269 --> 00:25:55.430
John is preaching for months. Right. We just

00:25:55.430 --> 00:25:58.950
read like four paragraphs that emphasize what

00:25:58.950 --> 00:26:00.849
he talked about for like months. Months of time.

00:26:00.950 --> 00:26:06.599
Right. When did he say what? Sometime in that

00:26:06.599 --> 00:26:08.839
time. Correct. Right? The witnesses remember

00:26:08.839 --> 00:26:11.240
him saying this at some point. At some point,

00:26:11.259 --> 00:26:12.920
some soldiers asked him this question. Yeah.

00:26:12.940 --> 00:26:15.579
Was it all the same day, same moment? Maybe.

00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:19.339
Maybe, maybe not. Maybe not. I mean, there's

00:26:19.339 --> 00:26:22.859
so much that happens in months. Yeah. And we

00:26:22.859 --> 00:26:25.579
assume, because it's written in the same time

00:26:25.579 --> 00:26:27.039
period, that we're talking about the exact same

00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:29.700
moment. Even differences in the way the parable

00:26:29.700 --> 00:26:31.539
is being told. Jesus might tell the same parable

00:26:31.539 --> 00:26:35.039
16 times. Yeah. And it's likely that he told

00:26:35.039 --> 00:26:36.799
the same parable when he went to different towns

00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:39.619
over and over again, right? Because it's a universal

00:26:39.619 --> 00:26:42.819
truth. And he probably shifted it a little for

00:26:42.819 --> 00:26:45.759
each town, right? Sure. Speaking to the audience

00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:49.509
that he had. So the other piece that I want to

00:26:49.509 --> 00:26:51.349
talk about here, which I think is really important

00:26:51.349 --> 00:26:54.769
to hear, is this is going to be a little bit

00:26:54.769 --> 00:26:56.509
of a thought experiment. And so hopefully the

00:26:56.509 --> 00:26:59.670
listeners are on board for it. Eschatology is

00:26:59.670 --> 00:27:02.650
the study of end times. End times, yeah. So prior

00:27:02.650 --> 00:27:07.650
to the time of Jesus, most Jews had a two -part

00:27:07.650 --> 00:27:10.059
eschatology. Okay. There was the kingdom that

00:27:10.059 --> 00:27:11.839
was here and there was a kingdom that was to

00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:14.099
come and those were overlapping in one moment.

00:27:14.299 --> 00:27:16.480
And when the new kingdom came, the old one passed

00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:18.480
away and the new one went forward. Okay. Right.

00:27:18.660 --> 00:27:21.019
So in other words, Messiah would come, Rome is

00:27:21.019 --> 00:27:23.460
done, Israel goes and they just rule all. Yep.

00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:26.319
Right. That's oversimplification. So if historians

00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:28.500
listen, they're like, well, that's not, I know.

00:27:28.579 --> 00:27:32.380
All right. This is oversimplification. And, and

00:27:32.380 --> 00:27:35.019
so John seems to believe this. He says the winnowing

00:27:35.019 --> 00:27:37.960
fork is in his hand. Okay. Right. And so is it

00:27:37.960 --> 00:27:39.339
true that at some point there's going to be a

00:27:39.339 --> 00:27:40.680
winnowing fork and there's going to be chaff

00:27:40.680 --> 00:27:42.980
that are balanced out? Yes. A hundred percent.

00:27:43.059 --> 00:27:46.559
Yeah. Except Jesus comes and he introduces what

00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:48.240
I'm going to call a three -part eschatology.

00:27:48.579 --> 00:27:51.140
He says there is a kingdom that is coming. There

00:27:51.140 --> 00:27:52.920
is going to be institution of a reign and it's

00:27:52.920 --> 00:27:56.519
going to start a second period where the kingdom

00:27:56.519 --> 00:27:59.359
is now here and it's going everywhere throughout

00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:02.579
the world. And there will be a future point when

00:28:02.579 --> 00:28:05.950
it is everywhere. Right. And we live in this

00:28:05.950 --> 00:28:09.109
space in between, which is going to be echoed

00:28:09.109 --> 00:28:11.269
through Paul's teaching. It's going to be echoed

00:28:11.269 --> 00:28:13.190
into revelation because revelation is going to

00:28:13.190 --> 00:28:14.609
be talking about the culmination of the kingdom.

00:28:14.890 --> 00:28:17.049
But also, what does it mean to live until the

00:28:17.049 --> 00:28:20.849
culmination of the kingdom? Right. And so it's

00:28:20.849 --> 00:28:22.630
one of the reasons John and a lot of the other

00:28:22.630 --> 00:28:24.990
religious leaders really struggle with him, too,

00:28:25.069 --> 00:28:28.589
because they're like, OK, you're Messiah. But

00:28:28.589 --> 00:28:30.730
when you come, everything's supposed to change.

00:28:31.269 --> 00:28:33.930
Right. No. That's their belief. That's their

00:28:33.930 --> 00:28:41.029
belief. Yeah. Yeah. And he's like, yes, but not

00:28:41.029 --> 00:28:44.869
really. Like, let me try to explain it to you

00:28:44.869 --> 00:28:46.809
in a picture form, you know? And so he starts

00:28:46.809 --> 00:28:51.349
telling these parables. So those three talks

00:28:51.349 --> 00:28:54.710
through John the Baptist, like just his opening

00:28:54.710 --> 00:28:57.849
salvo is what I'm going to call it. What do you

00:28:57.849 --> 00:28:59.849
think about those? Do you have any thoughts from

00:28:59.849 --> 00:29:01.109
those three different times? Well, and I really

00:29:01.109 --> 00:29:03.470
appreciate your explanation of both baptism and

00:29:03.470 --> 00:29:06.750
the beginning of John because it helps set the

00:29:06.750 --> 00:29:09.009
foundation and understanding of what John was

00:29:09.009 --> 00:29:12.289
doing. But you're right. I mean, John was what

00:29:12.289 --> 00:29:15.990
about? Six months older than Jesus age wise.

00:29:16.190 --> 00:29:19.490
So and this is introducing Jesus's ministry when

00:29:19.490 --> 00:29:22.470
Jesus is about 30. So John had had a lot of years

00:29:22.470 --> 00:29:24.690
to work up to this and a lot of training and,

00:29:24.730 --> 00:29:29.349
you know, a lot of thought process and motivation

00:29:29.349 --> 00:29:32.450
from the Lord to be here. So it's helpful to

00:29:32.450 --> 00:29:35.589
understand all that context. And John's expectations

00:29:35.589 --> 00:29:40.390
are built on the theology that he knew. And so

00:29:40.390 --> 00:29:45.329
the theology of. We're here and we're going to

00:29:45.329 --> 00:29:47.609
be here. It's coming and look out. Well, and

00:29:47.609 --> 00:29:49.950
Jesus doesn't disagree with all of his theology

00:29:49.950 --> 00:29:52.549
because you remember John's proclamation, repent

00:29:52.549 --> 00:29:54.190
for the kingdom of heaven has come near. Right.

00:29:54.589 --> 00:29:56.750
That's actually Jesus's gospel. By the way, this

00:29:56.750 --> 00:29:59.549
is a little side note. I have had conversation

00:29:59.549 --> 00:30:01.470
with Christians and they say, well, we need to

00:30:01.470 --> 00:30:02.970
preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's like,

00:30:03.009 --> 00:30:05.890
yeah. Do you know what that is? They're like,

00:30:05.950 --> 00:30:07.710
yeah, Jesus came to save sinners. It's like,

00:30:07.730 --> 00:30:09.170
no, no, that's the realization of the gospel

00:30:09.170 --> 00:30:11.799
of Jesus Christ. That's right. what is his gospel

00:30:11.799 --> 00:30:14.220
that he preached? The kingdom of heaven is here.

00:30:14.279 --> 00:30:16.299
Kingdom of heaven is here. Come back. Yeah. Come

00:30:16.299 --> 00:30:18.680
back. Come home. Yep. Get on the path. Yep. Time

00:30:18.680 --> 00:30:20.599
to get on this path and go after it. Like, cause

00:30:20.599 --> 00:30:23.119
the kingdom of heaven is here. And then he goes

00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:25.859
and through his life, death, burial, and resurrection,

00:30:26.059 --> 00:30:28.720
he makes it so that now the kingdom of heaven

00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:30.740
is no longer something that you interact with,

00:30:30.779 --> 00:30:32.849
but something that dwells within you. Yeah. Right.

00:30:32.930 --> 00:30:35.289
There is no separation between heaven and earth

00:30:35.289 --> 00:30:37.410
now because we become the temple, this place

00:30:37.410 --> 00:30:39.910
where heaven and earth intersect. Right. Which

00:30:39.910 --> 00:30:41.529
is very similar to what the prophets are going

00:30:41.529 --> 00:30:44.250
to say. They're going to write the Torah on your

00:30:44.250 --> 00:30:47.150
heart. Yeah. And the Torah is no longer going

00:30:47.150 --> 00:30:49.390
to, I'm going to borrow some language from Paul

00:30:49.390 --> 00:30:52.960
in the future. The Torah is no longer going to

00:30:52.960 --> 00:30:55.680
reveal the sin in your life, but the Torah is

00:30:55.680 --> 00:30:57.519
actually going to bring out the goodness of God

00:30:57.519 --> 00:31:00.079
in your life. Yeah. Because now the spirit is

00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:02.839
going to enable you to no longer be bound by

00:31:02.839 --> 00:31:05.599
the past. Right. No longer be bound by your fear,

00:31:05.619 --> 00:31:07.819
no longer bound by your mistakes, but you can

00:31:07.819 --> 00:31:09.940
actually live into what God has always wanted

00:31:09.940 --> 00:31:11.859
you to do. You know, and that really goes back

00:31:11.859 --> 00:31:13.319
to what you were talking about and trying to

00:31:13.319 --> 00:31:17.599
explain that sin isn't simple, but the solution

00:31:17.599 --> 00:31:21.779
to sin. God has made simple for us. Yeah. It's,

00:31:21.779 --> 00:31:24.019
it's, there's this conversation I've had and,

00:31:24.019 --> 00:31:26.319
and, um, it makes people kind of uncomfortable.

00:31:26.420 --> 00:31:28.500
So we'll see how it goes on the podcast. We might

00:31:28.500 --> 00:31:30.380
get some emails. That's always possible. It happens.

00:31:30.779 --> 00:31:33.420
Um, there is, there's a guy and I forget what

00:31:33.420 --> 00:31:36.039
his, uh, he's a, he's a reformed foreign person

00:31:36.039 --> 00:31:37.700
and we love him because he sends me messages

00:31:37.700 --> 00:31:40.660
periodically and I love him being on here, but

00:31:40.660 --> 00:31:44.240
this might be for you, buddy. Um, anyways, uh,

00:31:44.460 --> 00:31:48.039
we're, uh, I asked people, I said, why did Jesus

00:31:48.039 --> 00:31:51.720
have to die? Right? I was trying to ask a very

00:31:51.720 --> 00:31:53.319
simple question. They said, well, because we

00:31:53.319 --> 00:31:55.839
need the forgiveness of sins. To which my next

00:31:55.839 --> 00:31:59.039
question is, so are you telling me that God was

00:31:59.039 --> 00:32:01.380
incapable of forgiving sins unless Jesus died?

00:32:04.019 --> 00:32:09.859
Tough question. And because we have said these

00:32:09.859 --> 00:32:12.519
things so many times, and by the way, I believe

00:32:12.519 --> 00:32:15.240
that Jesus does kill sin. He does kill death.

00:32:15.460 --> 00:32:17.700
He takes it to the grave and sends it to hell.

00:32:17.740 --> 00:32:20.339
Right. Like that's what happens with sin and

00:32:20.339 --> 00:32:23.059
death. And he rises so that we can have new life

00:32:23.059 --> 00:32:27.079
in him. But there's no indication in the Old

00:32:27.079 --> 00:32:28.680
Testament that God is incapable of forgiving

00:32:28.680 --> 00:32:31.380
sins. Right. He removes things from the east

00:32:31.380 --> 00:32:34.539
to the west. He blots out iniquity. Right. So

00:32:34.539 --> 00:32:37.339
he is capable of forgiving sin. So then what

00:32:37.339 --> 00:32:39.720
is the issue? Well, the writers of Hebrews says

00:32:39.720 --> 00:32:43.339
something is wrong with us. fundamentally that

00:32:43.339 --> 00:32:46.960
even when we're forgiven, we're still coming

00:32:46.960 --> 00:32:49.680
back to our broken state over and over again.

00:32:49.720 --> 00:32:52.539
Sin actually has, it is a power to once again,

00:32:52.559 --> 00:32:56.039
quote from Paul, it has power over us. And that

00:32:56.039 --> 00:32:58.119
power is actually broken through Jesus Christ.

00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:01.259
Paul is actually going to talk about in Ephesians

00:33:01.259 --> 00:33:05.099
that, that on the cross, it's not just Jesus.

00:33:05.160 --> 00:33:07.440
That is, that is like what's happening here,

00:33:07.519 --> 00:33:10.059
but it is sin and death that are being punished

00:33:10.059 --> 00:33:14.119
and crucified. Okay. Right. Jesus is, is holding

00:33:14.119 --> 00:33:16.380
these things, but it's actually sin and death

00:33:16.380 --> 00:33:18.180
that are going. And then he, he is raised to

00:33:18.180 --> 00:33:20.519
life through God, the father. Right. And then

00:33:20.519 --> 00:33:23.059
because of that, because we cast our identity

00:33:23.059 --> 00:33:25.680
onto the lamb of God in the same way than in

00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:27.440
Leviticus, they cast their identities onto these

00:33:27.440 --> 00:33:32.799
animals. We are now in Christ. Yep. We're a new

00:33:32.799 --> 00:33:35.519
creation. Yeah. The old is gone and the new has

00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:39.150
passed away. And now. These things that used

00:33:39.150 --> 00:33:41.490
to just bring out condemnation in our life, because

00:33:41.490 --> 00:33:44.569
that's what the Torah did. It revealed that,

00:33:44.630 --> 00:33:46.269
oh, by the way, you're not doing what God told

00:33:46.269 --> 00:33:49.950
you to do. Right. Ah, dang it. You know, now

00:33:49.950 --> 00:33:52.710
those very things that used to bring condemnation,

00:33:52.710 --> 00:33:55.170
we actually live into and bring life and produce

00:33:55.170 --> 00:33:58.430
fruit and bring love and joy and peace and patience

00:33:58.430 --> 00:34:00.190
and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and

00:34:00.190 --> 00:34:02.430
gentleness and self -control and the spirit of

00:34:02.430 --> 00:34:05.250
God. And we do, we have prophetic words and miracles

00:34:05.250 --> 00:34:08.789
and. People pass from death to life on a regular

00:34:08.789 --> 00:34:11.989
basis because of the finished work of Jesus Christ.

00:34:12.250 --> 00:34:15.429
Yes. And we trust that his work was sufficient.

00:34:15.650 --> 00:34:19.829
Yep. We do. That he did it all. John doesn't

00:34:19.829 --> 00:34:22.210
get that. No, he doesn't. And that's what my

00:34:22.210 --> 00:34:24.869
point is. From his religious teaching standpoint,

00:34:24.969 --> 00:34:28.130
he doesn't see that depth of it. Yeah. Now, to

00:34:28.130 --> 00:34:29.829
be fair, I think a lot of us struggle with it

00:34:29.829 --> 00:34:32.269
too. And by the way, if anything I said in there

00:34:32.269 --> 00:34:34.070
you're uncomfortable with, that's okay. We can

00:34:34.070 --> 00:34:38.510
just disagree on that. It is a, I'm going to

00:34:38.510 --> 00:34:44.309
say, ever -widening understanding of what God

00:34:44.309 --> 00:34:47.159
did for us. It's a challenge for our human minds

00:34:47.159 --> 00:34:50.179
to grasp it, I think, is part of that. We want

00:34:50.179 --> 00:34:51.920
to come up with some different thoughts and expectations

00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:54.739
or explanations for that because we just can't

00:34:54.739 --> 00:34:58.239
grasp the power of God's grace in forgiveness.

00:34:58.519 --> 00:35:01.659
Yeah. Well, and one of the things that I've made

00:35:01.659 --> 00:35:03.579
very clear on the podcast over and over again

00:35:03.579 --> 00:35:06.760
is that the crucifixion of Jesus and the resurrection

00:35:06.760 --> 00:35:09.019
of Jesus are pivotal moments in history, and

00:35:09.019 --> 00:35:11.820
they're incredibly important. Yes. Because they

00:35:11.820 --> 00:35:13.940
are the invitation into a different life. Yep.

00:35:14.199 --> 00:35:18.079
And you cannot walk into a house and engage in

00:35:18.079 --> 00:35:20.619
house life without a door. Without a door. Right?

00:35:20.820 --> 00:35:22.860
Without a door, you can't get in there. Right?

00:35:23.219 --> 00:35:25.820
And the door is so important. If that door is

00:35:25.820 --> 00:35:28.059
not open, then you are outside living in the

00:35:28.059 --> 00:35:31.800
woods. Yeah. Which is, there are probably people

00:35:31.800 --> 00:35:33.679
who like living in the woods, but I'm not one

00:35:33.679 --> 00:35:37.400
of them. Right. I like my bed. I like my stove.

00:35:37.500 --> 00:35:38.960
If I'm going to live in the woods, I at least

00:35:38.960 --> 00:35:42.960
want a cabin to live in. Yeah, exactly. So. Any

00:35:42.960 --> 00:35:45.699
other thoughts from John the Baptist here so

00:35:45.699 --> 00:35:51.260
far? Just the... And trying to figure out how

00:35:51.260 --> 00:35:53.559
you could eat locusts every day. That's definitely

00:35:53.559 --> 00:35:58.179
crunchy. I get the honey, but the crunchy locusts,

00:35:58.179 --> 00:36:00.179
I mean, I've... I mean, maybe he's like dipping

00:36:00.179 --> 00:36:02.380
the locusts in the honey. Something like that.

00:36:02.380 --> 00:36:04.739
I don't know. But obviously there was a purpose

00:36:04.739 --> 00:36:06.599
for that. You know, the problem is he's never

00:36:06.599 --> 00:36:08.340
had cake. If he had cake, it would have been

00:36:08.340 --> 00:36:09.599
much more difficult. It would have been more

00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:11.199
difficult. If that's all you've had, I guess

00:36:11.199 --> 00:36:14.239
you understand that's all you got. Oh, man. It's

00:36:14.239 --> 00:36:17.340
so good. All right. So you asked a question about

00:36:17.340 --> 00:36:19.179
Jesus earlier. We're at that point. point now,

00:36:19.239 --> 00:36:23.099
Jesus's baptism. Yeah. Um, the baptism that John

00:36:23.099 --> 00:36:25.579
was doing was for the repentance of sin. Jesus

00:36:25.579 --> 00:36:29.059
led a sinful life. Yeah. And so he wasn't, you

00:36:29.059 --> 00:36:31.980
know, he, he, he didn't need that level of repentance

00:36:31.980 --> 00:36:35.800
and that baptism for that reason. Yeah. So that

00:36:35.800 --> 00:36:38.500
is, uh, so let's go to Matthew. I'm going to

00:36:38.500 --> 00:36:40.639
choose Matthew because he's the most Jewish of

00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:44.159
the, of the, um, gospels. Okay. And let's actually

00:36:44.159 --> 00:36:46.440
read that account really quick here. So it's

00:36:46.440 --> 00:36:51.800
in Matthew. 3, 13 through 17. Okay. So this picks

00:36:51.800 --> 00:36:54.480
up. He says, hey, the guy coming after me, he's

00:36:54.480 --> 00:36:57.300
going to winnow you out and burn you in fire.

00:36:57.440 --> 00:37:01.360
Okay. Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan

00:37:01.360 --> 00:37:03.880
to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter

00:37:03.880 --> 00:37:07.239
him saying, I need to be baptized by you. And

00:37:07.239 --> 00:37:11.389
do you come to me? Jesus replied, let it be so

00:37:11.389 --> 00:37:14.530
now for it is proper for us to do this to fulfill

00:37:14.530 --> 00:37:17.769
all righteousness. Then John consented. As soon

00:37:17.769 --> 00:37:19.690
as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the

00:37:19.690 --> 00:37:22.210
water at the moment heaven was opened and he

00:37:22.210 --> 00:37:24.250
saw the spirit of God descending like a dove

00:37:24.250 --> 00:37:26.789
and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven

00:37:26.789 --> 00:37:30.269
said, this is my son whom I love with him. I

00:37:30.269 --> 00:37:34.639
am well pleased. Okay. So this is also why it's

00:37:34.639 --> 00:37:36.400
important to understand what a mikvah is and

00:37:36.400 --> 00:37:38.780
what it isn't. Okay. So he is baptizing for the

00:37:38.780 --> 00:37:41.619
forgiveness of sins. Jesus doesn't have any sin

00:37:41.619 --> 00:37:45.699
to be forgiven. Right. But he is making a public

00:37:45.699 --> 00:37:48.000
declaration of a ministry because that is another

00:37:48.000 --> 00:37:50.820
portion of why people would do a mikvah. If they're

00:37:50.820 --> 00:37:52.480
being called into something they're stepping

00:37:52.480 --> 00:37:56.019
into. For example, if you are what happens when

00:37:56.019 --> 00:37:58.380
you convert to Judaism, but also when you become

00:37:58.380 --> 00:38:00.860
a rabbi, when you become a teacher, a sage, you

00:38:00.860 --> 00:38:02.860
would also do mikvah. And it's not necessarily

00:38:02.860 --> 00:38:07.260
about it's not necessarily about sin, but about

00:38:07.260 --> 00:38:09.980
it's almost like you would think of like public

00:38:09.980 --> 00:38:12.650
declaration. I'm now going to do this. Right.

00:38:13.409 --> 00:38:17.170
And so Jesus comes to John and he's like, well,

00:38:17.250 --> 00:38:19.889
I should not be baptizing you because you're

00:38:19.889 --> 00:38:22.210
greater than me. Because this conversation with

00:38:22.210 --> 00:38:25.329
Jesus isn't about the sin. No. Right? This conversation

00:38:25.329 --> 00:38:27.349
with Jesus there is not about sin. No, it's about

00:38:27.349 --> 00:38:29.269
John recognizing who he is. He's about recognizing

00:38:29.269 --> 00:38:31.110
who has the greater authority. Yes. Right? And

00:38:31.110 --> 00:38:34.849
so you would be baptized into, like, if you're

00:38:34.849 --> 00:38:37.269
going to step into a ministry by the greater

00:38:37.269 --> 00:38:39.690
party. And then Jesus says, he's like, no, we're

00:38:39.690 --> 00:38:41.610
going to do this so that we're following proper

00:38:41.610 --> 00:38:44.369
channels. Yeah. We're doing this right. And just

00:38:44.369 --> 00:38:46.530
to put an exclamation point on everything that's

00:38:46.530 --> 00:38:49.079
going on there. Heaven literally tears open.

00:38:49.199 --> 00:38:51.760
The word here is actually tears open. Like, uh,

00:38:51.920 --> 00:38:54.000
it's very similar. It's the same word. I believe

00:38:54.000 --> 00:38:55.820
someone can fact check me on this and that's

00:38:55.820 --> 00:38:57.920
okay if I'm wrong. I believe it's the same word

00:38:57.920 --> 00:39:00.239
that at Jesus's death where the curtain is torn.

00:39:00.380 --> 00:39:02.599
The curtain is torn. Yeah. It's, it's, it's violent

00:39:02.599 --> 00:39:05.719
ripping that the, the, uh, the heavens rip open,

00:39:05.800 --> 00:39:08.480
the spirit descends and it rests on him. Yeah.

00:39:09.099 --> 00:39:12.480
And a voice says, this is my son whom I love.

00:39:12.880 --> 00:39:14.699
And I'm all pleased. Got the Trinity at play

00:39:14.699 --> 00:39:16.940
right there. Yeah. You got, you got God, the

00:39:16.940 --> 00:39:20.079
father declaring Jesus, the spoken word there

00:39:20.079 --> 00:39:22.800
receiving empowered by the Holy spirit. And he's

00:39:22.800 --> 00:39:25.139
going to go and spend 40 days in the desert before

00:39:25.139 --> 00:39:27.260
he goes and has a conversation with the devil,

00:39:27.300 --> 00:39:33.000
which is next week's topic. Right. But I think

00:39:33.000 --> 00:39:34.380
we connect those because there's like oh well

00:39:34.380 --> 00:39:36.280
he's baptizing forgiveness of sin So Jesus is

00:39:36.280 --> 00:39:37.920
coming and getting baptism for forgiveness of

00:39:37.920 --> 00:39:40.840
sins, but there's a shift there He is baptizing

00:39:40.840 --> 00:39:42.860
for the forgiveness of sins, but Jesus comes

00:39:42.860 --> 00:39:47.699
and recognizes the the I'm gonna say the The

00:39:47.699 --> 00:39:50.940
gospel that John is preaching. Okay repent for

00:39:50.940 --> 00:39:53.469
the kingdom of heaven is here And he is starting

00:39:53.469 --> 00:39:56.849
his public ministry. And so he goes and is baptized

00:39:56.849 --> 00:40:00.170
by John to go and then walk in this gospel. Right?

00:40:01.090 --> 00:40:03.150
And some people are going to be uncomfortable.

00:40:03.309 --> 00:40:05.050
They're like, son of God doesn't have to blah,

00:40:05.150 --> 00:40:07.309
blah, blah, blah. And it's like, okay, but Jesus

00:40:07.309 --> 00:40:09.829
repeatedly puts himself below people. He does.

00:40:10.030 --> 00:40:12.530
All throughout the gospel. He places himself

00:40:12.530 --> 00:40:16.030
underneath people and places them at their authority,

00:40:16.150 --> 00:40:19.610
at their behest. Not because he has to, but because

00:40:19.610 --> 00:40:22.590
he actually identifies with humanity and all

00:40:22.590 --> 00:40:25.869
of our weakness. Right. And all of our powerlessness.

00:40:26.010 --> 00:40:28.250
I mean, we're talking about literally God emptying

00:40:28.250 --> 00:40:30.969
himself so that he can be human. Yeah. Right.

00:40:31.449 --> 00:40:35.860
And so he can actually experience. the same things

00:40:35.860 --> 00:40:37.860
that we experience and show us what Torah was

00:40:37.860 --> 00:40:39.519
always supposed to look like. The example that

00:40:39.519 --> 00:40:44.739
he sets in in the power of humility is is a long

00:40:44.739 --> 00:40:47.440
message in itself. But because he did that, he

00:40:47.440 --> 00:40:49.519
was the son of God. And yet he walked on earth

00:40:49.519 --> 00:40:52.460
with a humility that that didn't usurp anybody

00:40:52.460 --> 00:40:55.940
or any system. He preached. He followed that

00:40:55.940 --> 00:40:57.699
process very well and demonstrated it was just

00:40:57.699 --> 00:41:00.989
amazing. Yeah. Yeah. All right. And but just

00:41:00.989 --> 00:41:03.949
just and I'll have you kind of just comment on

00:41:03.949 --> 00:41:06.110
these as I go through them. But there's a few

00:41:06.110 --> 00:41:08.010
few connections into the Old Testament about

00:41:08.010 --> 00:41:10.429
what's going on in the water, too, that are not

00:41:10.429 --> 00:41:12.289
necessarily service connections or they're a

00:41:12.289 --> 00:41:14.849
little bit deeper. So the first thing is we it's

00:41:14.849 --> 00:41:16.389
been quoted multiple times, but says a voice

00:41:16.389 --> 00:41:18.050
of one calling in the wilderness. Prepare the

00:41:18.050 --> 00:41:20.130
way for the Lord. Make straight in the desert

00:41:20.130 --> 00:41:22.889
the highway for our God. Right. So this is what

00:41:22.889 --> 00:41:25.289
John is doing. And so when Jesus comes and is

00:41:25.289 --> 00:41:28.010
baptized by John, he's actually recognizing that

00:41:28.010 --> 00:41:29.909
John is the forerunner. Right. And he's stepping

00:41:29.909 --> 00:41:32.809
into what's being prepared for him. Right. So

00:41:32.809 --> 00:41:35.070
that's that's number one. The second thing is

00:41:35.070 --> 00:41:38.429
in Isaiah 42, one, it says, here is my servant.

00:41:38.510 --> 00:41:40.489
Now, in that time talking about Israel, but Jesus

00:41:40.489 --> 00:41:42.750
stepping in as a Jewish Messiah. Right. Right.

00:41:43.130 --> 00:41:45.670
Whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight.

00:41:45.809 --> 00:41:50.320
I will put my spirit on him. And he will bring

00:41:50.320 --> 00:41:53.179
justice to the nations. Okay. Okay. So this is

00:41:53.179 --> 00:41:55.760
once again, if he doesn't actually go into the

00:41:55.760 --> 00:41:57.239
waters and the spirit doesn't come down and rest,

00:41:57.400 --> 00:41:59.699
then people aren't necessarily going to see this

00:41:59.699 --> 00:42:03.400
image. Right. In Isaiah 11, 2, the spirit of

00:42:03.400 --> 00:42:06.320
the Lord will rest on him. The spirit of wisdom

00:42:06.320 --> 00:42:08.519
and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and

00:42:08.519 --> 00:42:10.519
of might, the spirit of knowledge and of fear

00:42:10.519 --> 00:42:14.880
of the Lord. Right. In Luke 4, 18, Jesus actually

00:42:14.880 --> 00:42:16.719
quotes this. He says, the spirit of the sovereign

00:42:16.719 --> 00:42:20.940
Lord is on. Me. How do they know? They all watched

00:42:20.940 --> 00:42:22.460
him get baptized. They watched him get baptized.

00:42:23.219 --> 00:42:25.659
Because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim

00:42:25.659 --> 00:42:30.760
euangelion, good news, to the poor. And then

00:42:30.760 --> 00:42:33.139
the last thing is, water has actually been a

00:42:33.139 --> 00:42:36.900
massive theme throughout the Bible. If you go

00:42:36.900 --> 00:42:39.820
back to Genesis 6 -9, the flood actually cleanses...

00:42:40.030 --> 00:42:42.349
All the earth, right? For this new thing that's

00:42:42.349 --> 00:42:44.670
about to happen. There is a new creation. There's

00:42:44.670 --> 00:42:46.389
a new thing happening. So Jesus is going to be

00:42:46.389 --> 00:42:48.130
stepping into that. If you talk about the Red

00:42:48.130 --> 00:42:50.289
Sea parting in Exodus, they walk through on dry

00:42:50.289 --> 00:42:52.190
land and the water crashes and it's the start

00:42:52.190 --> 00:42:55.989
of a new identity for Israel. In the Levitical

00:42:55.989 --> 00:42:58.730
washings, when they actually first go to do the

00:42:58.730 --> 00:43:01.349
things that they're supposed to do, Aaron, the

00:43:01.349 --> 00:43:04.710
priesthood, they have to be ritually purified.

00:43:04.750 --> 00:43:07.550
Purified. Right? Not because they're wicked,

00:43:07.670 --> 00:43:09.679
but because they're stepping into a role. Right.

00:43:09.719 --> 00:43:11.599
Like they're stepping into this role that they're

00:43:11.599 --> 00:43:13.480
going to actually be stepping and doing what

00:43:13.480 --> 00:43:17.579
God has called them to be. There's also like

00:43:17.579 --> 00:43:20.059
this theme that's been going on of like anointing.

00:43:20.059 --> 00:43:22.139
And so like the spirit, by the way, when it comes

00:43:22.139 --> 00:43:25.559
and rests on him is very similar to how I'm quote

00:43:25.559 --> 00:43:28.780
from 1 Samuel 16, 13. Samuel took the horn of

00:43:28.780 --> 00:43:30.920
oil and anointed him in the presence of the brothers.

00:43:31.059 --> 00:43:33.300
And from that day, the spirit of the Lord came

00:43:33.300 --> 00:43:37.280
powerfully upon David. Like the spirit is coming

00:43:37.280 --> 00:43:40.340
and it pours out on him and it rests on him.

00:43:40.400 --> 00:43:45.190
And the spirit of God is with him. Right. This

00:43:45.190 --> 00:43:49.010
is from Ezekiel. He says, I will sprinkle clean

00:43:49.010 --> 00:43:51.190
water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse

00:43:51.190 --> 00:43:52.769
you from all your impurities and from all your

00:43:52.769 --> 00:43:54.449
idols. I will give you a new heart and put a

00:43:54.449 --> 00:43:57.469
new spirit in you. Zechariah 13 .1. On that day,

00:43:57.489 --> 00:43:59.409
a fountain will be opened to the house of David

00:43:59.409 --> 00:44:01.550
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them

00:44:01.550 --> 00:44:04.230
from sin and impurity. Okay. So all these things

00:44:04.230 --> 00:44:05.969
connecting with water and the Jordan River and

00:44:05.969 --> 00:44:08.670
everything that's going on here. Jesus is David.

00:44:08.989 --> 00:44:13.949
Jesus is Moses. Jesus is Aaron. Jesus is... Torah.

00:44:14.150 --> 00:44:17.690
Jesus is the suffering servant. Jesus is, he

00:44:17.690 --> 00:44:19.949
is the Old Testament wrapped in flesh, right?

00:44:20.030 --> 00:44:24.349
He is God incarnate. And he is also, the spirit

00:44:24.349 --> 00:44:27.630
of God is on me. You've seen it. You heard the

00:44:27.630 --> 00:44:31.170
voice from heaven, right? The heavens literally

00:44:31.170 --> 00:44:34.730
tore open and you heard him say it. And now the

00:44:34.730 --> 00:44:36.590
spirit of God is resting on me and I'm going

00:44:36.590 --> 00:44:39.289
to go and follow into this kingdom mandate. The

00:44:39.289 --> 00:44:41.409
way has been prepared by John, but now it's time

00:44:41.409 --> 00:44:43.820
for me to step out and go and teach. The kingdom

00:44:43.820 --> 00:44:46.539
of God. That was really the declaration of the

00:44:46.539 --> 00:44:49.280
beginning of his ministry, and that's what he

00:44:49.280 --> 00:44:51.400
did from then on forward. That's quite the way

00:44:51.400 --> 00:44:53.539
to start your ministry. That's pretty significant.

00:44:54.000 --> 00:44:56.019
The only way that you could probably top that

00:44:56.019 --> 00:44:59.980
is literally coming back from the dead. That

00:44:59.980 --> 00:45:03.920
happens. Yeah, no, that's a powerful statement,

00:45:03.960 --> 00:45:06.639
and having the spirit come down and rest on him.

00:45:06.900 --> 00:45:10.079
It didn't leave. It was it. It rested on him,

00:45:10.139 --> 00:45:14.960
and he walked forward in that spirit. that really

00:45:14.960 --> 00:45:19.260
was what was minister was about. If you don't

00:45:19.260 --> 00:45:20.760
understand the old Testament, it's one of the

00:45:20.760 --> 00:45:22.840
reasons we waited till season three to talk about

00:45:22.840 --> 00:45:25.039
the life of Jesus. If you don't understand the

00:45:25.039 --> 00:45:26.460
old Testament, a lot of these things are going

00:45:26.460 --> 00:45:28.300
to be missed. Yeah. You're not going to recognize

00:45:28.300 --> 00:45:31.170
like, like. understand like there's five different

00:45:31.170 --> 00:45:33.530
responses, right? You're not going to necessarily

00:45:33.530 --> 00:45:35.929
understand that John is stepping into the role

00:45:35.929 --> 00:45:38.289
of Elijah. You're not going to recognize that

00:45:38.289 --> 00:45:40.489
it's not just the one part of Isaiah, but it's

00:45:40.489 --> 00:45:42.710
all these parts of Isaiah that are talking about

00:45:42.710 --> 00:45:45.949
Israel. Right. But Jesus is stepping into that.

00:45:46.670 --> 00:45:49.289
John 1, 1 opens up in the beginning was the word,

00:45:49.309 --> 00:45:54.070
the logos, right? Or Torah for the Jews. Yeah.

00:45:54.110 --> 00:45:57.840
Right. And Jesus is literally Torah made flesh.

00:45:57.880 --> 00:46:00.780
Torah made flesh. Right? And so a lot of the

00:46:00.780 --> 00:46:03.119
references, in fact, next week when Jesus has

00:46:03.119 --> 00:46:05.280
conversations with the devil in the desert, he's

00:46:05.280 --> 00:46:07.139
going to quote from Deuteronomy three times in

00:46:07.139 --> 00:46:13.079
a row. Yeah. Ironically, because Deuteronomy

00:46:13.079 --> 00:46:15.119
is the last book written before the Israelites

00:46:15.119 --> 00:46:19.079
leave the desert. Got it. They're about to go

00:46:19.079 --> 00:46:21.679
in and take over the land. And Moses is giving

00:46:21.679 --> 00:46:23.679
them one last hurrah before they go into the

00:46:23.679 --> 00:46:25.559
promised land, before they step into their identity.

00:46:26.059 --> 00:46:28.139
Jesus has a conversation with the devil on three

00:46:28.139 --> 00:46:30.599
different occasions. We're not going to get into

00:46:30.599 --> 00:46:33.440
that. He quotes Deuteronomy. Gotcha. There's

00:46:33.440 --> 00:46:34.960
a significant thing going on. That's the point.

00:46:35.019 --> 00:46:38.000
Yeah, there's a point in that. Yeah. So he's

00:46:38.000 --> 00:46:40.579
stepping in and redeeming Israel's past all throughout

00:46:40.579 --> 00:46:45.769
his life. I find it interesting that there's

00:46:45.769 --> 00:46:47.809
so much that happens in the wilderness. And in

00:46:47.809 --> 00:46:49.489
this particular story we're talking about today,

00:46:49.610 --> 00:46:52.809
John comes out of the wilderness. And as soon

00:46:52.809 --> 00:46:56.409
as he and Jesus meet and Jesus gets baptized

00:46:56.409 --> 00:46:58.610
in that process, Jesus goes into the wilderness.

00:46:59.429 --> 00:47:02.889
And a lot happens out there. Yeah, it's really

00:47:02.889 --> 00:47:06.269
interesting. So I'm not a Hebrew linguist, but

00:47:06.269 --> 00:47:09.849
there are Hebrew as a pictorial language. And

00:47:09.849 --> 00:47:13.510
so. it has, there's like word families is what

00:47:13.510 --> 00:47:16.949
I want to call them. And, uh, in the word for

00:47:16.949 --> 00:47:21.690
the voice of God, shepherd, wilderness, desert,

00:47:21.789 --> 00:47:25.250
they're all part of the same word family. Okay.

00:47:25.769 --> 00:47:29.750
Because you go to hear God's voice in the desert.

00:47:30.610 --> 00:47:32.670
When, when you're being shepherded by God, you,

00:47:32.750 --> 00:47:35.190
you find him in the, in the lonely places. Right.

00:47:35.269 --> 00:47:37.389
Right. Like that's where you hear his voice.

00:47:37.429 --> 00:47:39.760
So you think about. Moses is in the desert, right?

00:47:40.300 --> 00:47:43.039
The Israelites are in the desert. Even Jesus

00:47:43.039 --> 00:47:44.739
frequently throughout his ministry, it's going

00:47:44.739 --> 00:47:49.360
to say he withdrew to lonely places. Lonely places.

00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:53.159
Wildernesses to pray. Yeah. He went to where

00:47:53.159 --> 00:47:56.460
the voice of God was to talk. Well, you get away

00:47:56.460 --> 00:48:00.119
from all the noise. Yeah. It's just, those aren't

00:48:00.119 --> 00:48:02.539
accidents. And again, if you understand like

00:48:02.539 --> 00:48:04.619
Hebrew, you're like, oh, of course you did. Yeah.

00:48:04.659 --> 00:48:07.070
Of course you did. Yeah. All right. Well, I just

00:48:07.070 --> 00:48:09.750
looked at the time on the episode and based on

00:48:09.750 --> 00:48:11.889
this, if we don't cut it, we may have the longest

00:48:11.889 --> 00:48:15.329
episode to date. Yeah. So and I definitely feel

00:48:15.329 --> 00:48:17.909
like I've done way too much talking. Well, actually,

00:48:18.010 --> 00:48:20.829
Ben, I appreciate what you do talk. And I like

00:48:20.829 --> 00:48:22.949
asking questions because you give so much of

00:48:22.949 --> 00:48:26.449
the backstory and background and Jewish history

00:48:26.449 --> 00:48:28.489
and cultural history that so much of this makes

00:48:28.489 --> 00:48:30.530
sense. And that's why it's so powerful to do

00:48:30.530 --> 00:48:32.489
that. And I and so it's not a problem that you

00:48:32.489 --> 00:48:35.489
do that much talking. It's the it's the explanation

00:48:35.489 --> 00:48:38.590
that you're providing is wonderful. Well, I will

00:48:38.590 --> 00:48:40.869
take that compliment and then I'm going to throw

00:48:40.869 --> 00:48:43.670
it back for I. trying to connect people to things

00:48:43.670 --> 00:48:45.250
that have been written by people way smarter

00:48:45.250 --> 00:48:48.949
than me. I'm always a big fan of like the Bama

00:48:48.949 --> 00:48:50.690
podcast. I recommend checking them out. They've

00:48:50.690 --> 00:48:52.829
got great stuff on the Jewish perspective. Tim

00:48:52.829 --> 00:48:54.869
Mackey at the Bible Project has incredible content.

00:48:55.289 --> 00:48:58.389
Kenneth Bailey about Jesus through Middle Eastern

00:48:58.389 --> 00:49:00.170
eyes, Paul through Mediterranean eyes, great

00:49:00.170 --> 00:49:04.610
books. Lois Verberg. She has a number of books

00:49:04.610 --> 00:49:07.050
about following Jesus and the Jewish perspective.

00:49:07.610 --> 00:49:11.170
There's so many, so many people that have great

00:49:11.170 --> 00:49:13.550
content. Epic of Eden by Sandra Richter, Understanding

00:49:13.550 --> 00:49:18.909
Covenants. I cannot. say how much I appreciate

00:49:18.909 --> 00:49:20.650
all these people. And I never want to take credit

00:49:20.650 --> 00:49:22.769
for the things that they have to say. So I always

00:49:22.769 --> 00:49:24.389
want to make sure people know like, hey, there

00:49:24.389 --> 00:49:27.429
are people who devote their life to this and

00:49:27.429 --> 00:49:30.050
they do a great job. My hope is that we have

00:49:30.050 --> 00:49:31.989
real conversations that connect people to go

00:49:31.989 --> 00:49:33.909
and dig a little deeper. And that's what I appreciate.

00:49:33.989 --> 00:49:36.150
You do dig deeper and you bring the rest of us

00:49:36.150 --> 00:49:40.190
that opportunity to learn from that. And I really

00:49:40.190 --> 00:49:42.889
appreciate that. Absolutely. I'll take it. I'll

00:49:42.889 --> 00:49:47.719
take it. So fun little thing here. I'm going

00:49:47.719 --> 00:49:50.000
to do a little shameless self -promotion here.

00:49:50.059 --> 00:49:51.960
Perfect. All right, I'm going to do some shameless

00:49:51.960 --> 00:49:54.260
self -promotion here because at this point when

00:49:54.260 --> 00:49:56.579
you view this video, this has actually been released.

00:49:56.719 --> 00:50:00.099
This is my book, and it is Beautiful Chaos, Infinite

00:50:00.099 --> 00:50:03.340
Love, and it is writing my experience of raising

00:50:03.340 --> 00:50:08.170
my son. My sons are six and four. the different

00:50:08.170 --> 00:50:10.190
things that we go through through parenthood

00:50:10.190 --> 00:50:13.969
and then using that as a, as a focal point to

00:50:13.969 --> 00:50:17.650
then talk about maybe God as my father loves

00:50:17.650 --> 00:50:19.809
me in a different way than I think. Yeah. He

00:50:19.809 --> 00:50:21.829
treats, he thinks about me differently than I

00:50:21.829 --> 00:50:24.429
think about myself because if there's nothing,

00:50:24.489 --> 00:50:26.750
nothing else, having kids has really changed

00:50:26.750 --> 00:50:29.130
the way that I view a way the father loves children.

00:50:29.170 --> 00:50:32.780
Yes. Right. And, uh, so this is, you should be

00:50:32.780 --> 00:50:34.099
able to find this on Amazon. We'll put it on

00:50:34.099 --> 00:50:36.599
our link on our YouTube page and, uh, on our,

00:50:36.599 --> 00:50:38.860
on our link page. Um, but you can go there and

00:50:38.860 --> 00:50:40.519
you can order it. Uh, if you order the audio

00:50:40.519 --> 00:50:42.679
book and you really don't like listening to my

00:50:42.679 --> 00:50:44.679
voice, I don't know what to tell you. Yeah. Um,

00:50:44.739 --> 00:50:46.639
I did not hire somebody to do it. I just did

00:50:46.639 --> 00:50:49.539
the audio book myself. Um, but if you're also

00:50:49.539 --> 00:50:50.920
in season three of the podcast, you're probably

00:50:50.920 --> 00:50:52.760
okay with my voice at this point. I would think

00:50:52.760 --> 00:50:55.179
so. Yeah. So there you go. Beautiful chaos, infinite

00:50:55.179 --> 00:50:58.059
love is it's available now. Excellent. All right.

00:50:58.219 --> 00:51:01.460
Uh, until then. Have good conversations. Love

00:51:01.460 --> 00:51:06.070
people well. Bye. And that's a wrap for today's

00:51:06.070 --> 00:51:08.889
episode of Love and Context. We hope this conversation

00:51:08.889 --> 00:51:11.349
encouraged you and gave you fresh insights into

00:51:11.349 --> 00:51:13.630
how we can better love God and others through

00:51:13.630 --> 00:51:16.210
the powerful truths of the Bible. We'd love to

00:51:16.210 --> 00:51:18.010
hear from you. Send your questions, thoughts,

00:51:18.190 --> 00:51:21.389
or suggestions to loveandcontext at gmail .com.

00:51:21.550 --> 00:51:23.750
Your feedback means the world to us and helps

00:51:23.750 --> 00:51:26.429
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00:51:26.429 --> 00:51:28.429
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00:51:28.429 --> 00:51:30.849
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00:51:33.409 --> 00:51:35.570
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00:51:39.369 --> 00:51:41.409
and context family. Remember, love is at the

00:51:41.409 --> 00:51:43.769
heart of it all. Until next time, keep seeking

00:51:43.769 --> 00:51:45.989
wisdom, embracing love, and living out your faith

00:51:45.989 --> 00:51:46.809
in today's world.