WEBVTT 00:00:02.600 --> 00:00:06.019 Welcome to Season 3 of Love & Context. This season, 00:00:06.120 --> 00:00:08.640 we're exploring the life of Jesus step -by -step 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:11.140 and uncovering what His story teaches us about 00:00:11.140 --> 00:00:13.919 loving God and others. Here on Love & Context, 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:16.059 we're all about having real conversations about 00:00:16.059 --> 00:00:18.140 how to live out that love in practical, everyday 00:00:18.140 --> 00:00:20.199 ways, and understanding the Bible in its full 00:00:20.199 --> 00:00:22.839 context. We're so glad you're here. Let's dive 00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:28.579 into Season 3 of Love & Context. Welcome back 00:00:28.579 --> 00:00:32.259 to the Love and Context Podcast. Ben's really 00:00:32.259 --> 00:00:34.479 into singing right now. Yeah. In case you can't 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:36.420 tell. It's different than the one that we did 00:00:36.420 --> 00:00:38.320 last time. So you said the last one was probably 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:41.100 copywritten. That one probably is too. No, it's 00:00:41.100 --> 00:00:43.380 different. It's a brand new song that nobody's 00:00:43.380 --> 00:00:48.679 ever heard. Love and Context Podcast. That sounds 00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:52.539 familiar. Podcast. I think it's because you've 00:00:52.539 --> 00:00:54.700 heard me sing podcast like a million times. It's 00:00:54.700 --> 00:00:58.920 true. It's true. I am Ben. I'm not. That's Spencer. 00:00:59.539 --> 00:01:01.920 If you're on YouTube, you saw me point. If you 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:04.700 are listening, then you're like, I'm assuming 00:01:04.700 --> 00:01:07.719 it's the other guy talking. Yeah. And welcome 00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:11.859 to the life of Jesus. Oh, yeah. Season three. 00:01:12.040 --> 00:01:15.859 Yeah. In season one, we were like, do you think 00:01:15.859 --> 00:01:18.400 we'll make it to season three? Yeah, we were 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:20.680 like that. Yeah. Now we're not. Now we're not 00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:22.019 because we're actually there. That'd be weird 00:01:22.019 --> 00:01:23.920 if we asked if we were getting there when we're 00:01:23.920 --> 00:01:28.620 already here. Yep. Yeah, I forgot what I was 00:01:28.620 --> 00:01:33.260 going to do. I kind of want to leave that sound 00:01:33.260 --> 00:01:37.299 in. I did on the last episode, by the way, for 00:01:37.299 --> 00:01:40.180 anybody listening, I did leave a nice little 00:01:40.180 --> 00:01:43.500 blooper. It's not really a blooper. It's me singing 00:01:43.500 --> 00:01:46.299 nonsense at the very end of the last episode. 00:01:46.739 --> 00:01:49.299 So if you listen to the last episode and you're 00:01:49.299 --> 00:01:50.700 like, oh, I didn't catch that. Go to the very 00:01:50.700 --> 00:01:53.079 end, like after the credits. Yeah. Yeah. I put 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:55.560 it in there. So I haven't done that in a while. 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:57.340 So I decided to do it again just for kicks and 00:01:57.340 --> 00:02:01.239 giggles. So it's a lot of fun. Nice. Yeah. I 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:03.620 got a Bible. We're going to talk about Jesus. 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:07.400 I don't know if you know this, Spencer, but most 00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:09.240 of the places that we have like text about Jesus 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:11.520 are actually in the Bible. I know. Interesting. 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:14.199 This is new information that you're not familiar 00:02:14.199 --> 00:02:16.000 with. So interesting. New information that you're 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.479 not familiar with. Specifically today, so last 00:02:19.479 --> 00:02:23.379 week we talked about Jesus in Nazareth and rejection 00:02:23.379 --> 00:02:25.020 and calling his first disciples. One of the things 00:02:25.020 --> 00:02:26.259 we're actually going to talk about today is a 00:02:26.259 --> 00:02:28.340 couple of stories about Jesus healing people. 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:32.349 Because we want to talk about like... just Jesus 00:02:32.349 --> 00:02:34.710 healing people in general, and what does Jesus 00:02:34.710 --> 00:02:37.770 do? What ramifications does it have for our life? 00:02:38.210 --> 00:02:40.349 Obviously, if you grew up in a Pentecostal church, 00:02:40.490 --> 00:02:42.050 you're going to be leaning heavier into this. 00:02:42.150 --> 00:02:44.030 If you grew up in a Southern Baptist church, 00:02:44.189 --> 00:02:46.669 you're going to be leaning a different direction. 00:02:47.729 --> 00:02:49.490 If you grew up in a Free Methodist, it's going 00:02:49.490 --> 00:02:52.780 to be leaning somewhere in between. No. No, more 00:02:52.780 --> 00:02:55.319 towards AOG, right? Yeah. Yeah, Pentecostal. 00:02:55.580 --> 00:02:57.560 Yeah. So there's going to be a lot of different 00:02:57.560 --> 00:02:59.180 opinions. And so we want to just jump back into 00:02:59.180 --> 00:03:01.099 the Bible and say, hey, what does it actually 00:03:01.099 --> 00:03:04.919 say? And what do we do with this stuff? So we're 00:03:04.919 --> 00:03:07.780 actually going to be in Mark today. And we're 00:03:07.780 --> 00:03:12.039 going to start in Mark 21. Through 28. Chapter 00:03:12.039 --> 00:03:15.680 1, 21. Chapter 1, verse 21 through 28. Chapter 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:18.939 uno. Uh -huh. Yeah, and I don't know. If you 00:03:18.939 --> 00:03:21.759 can find Mark chapter 21, more power to you. 00:03:21.879 --> 00:03:25.319 Yeah. Yeah, good luck. It is always interesting 00:03:25.319 --> 00:03:29.680 when somebody, I'll encounter this occasionally. 00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:32.919 So we post like reels and things on TikTok and 00:03:32.919 --> 00:03:34.840 YouTube, and some of you may have found us through 00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:38.370 that. Sometimes I'm just scrolling through to 00:03:38.370 --> 00:03:40.750 see what other media is out there, and I'll run 00:03:40.750 --> 00:03:42.789 into people who are like, here's something Christians 00:03:42.789 --> 00:03:45.469 don't want you to know. If you go to Ephesians 00:03:45.469 --> 00:03:48.110 chapter 8, and I'm like... There is no Ephesians 00:03:48.110 --> 00:03:50.289 8. There is no Ephesians 8. There's an Ephesians 00:03:50.289 --> 00:03:53.150 6. I was like, but there's no Ephesians 8. So 00:03:53.150 --> 00:03:55.289 sometimes I wonder, is it like a typo, or did 00:03:55.289 --> 00:03:57.430 they just write a... So I don't know. I don't 00:03:57.430 --> 00:03:59.430 know. But that's a guaranteed way that the person 00:03:59.430 --> 00:04:01.719 didn't read the book. Yep. All right. So chapter 00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:05.219 one, starting in verse 21 says, they went to 00:04:05.219 --> 00:04:07.759 Capernaum and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:10.379 into the synagogue and began to teach. The people 00:04:10.379 --> 00:04:12.139 were amazed at his teaching because he taught 00:04:12.139 --> 00:04:14.879 them as one who had authority, not as the teachers 00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:17.860 of the law. Just then a man in their synagogue 00:04:17.860 --> 00:04:20.139 who was possessed by the impure spirit cried 00:04:20.139 --> 00:04:22.600 out, what do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:24.860 Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, 00:04:24.939 --> 00:04:27.689 the Holy One of God. Be quiet, said Jesus sternly. 00:04:27.810 --> 00:04:30.389 Come out of him. The impure spirit shook the 00:04:30.389 --> 00:04:32.370 man violently and came out of him with a shriek. 00:04:32.769 --> 00:04:34.750 The people were also amazed that they asked each 00:04:34.750 --> 00:04:36.810 other, What is this, a new teaching? And with 00:04:36.810 --> 00:04:39.769 authority, he even gives orders to impure spirits 00:04:39.769 --> 00:04:42.490 and they obey him. News about him spread quickly 00:04:42.490 --> 00:04:44.850 over the whole region of Galilee. As soon as 00:04:44.850 --> 00:04:46.509 they left the synagogue, they went... Oh, sorry, 00:04:46.569 --> 00:04:47.790 actually we'll get into that story in just a 00:04:47.790 --> 00:04:50.329 second. But it's going to continue from where 00:04:50.329 --> 00:04:55.790 this last one left off. So... The first thing 00:04:55.790 --> 00:04:59.089 I want to note here is they note it's the Sabbath. 00:04:59.529 --> 00:05:01.870 So Jesus is healing on the Sabbath, the day that's 00:05:01.870 --> 00:05:04.189 meant for rest, for communion, for celebration, 00:05:04.470 --> 00:05:09.509 for time with God. So he's in the synagogue on 00:05:09.509 --> 00:05:11.509 Sabbath. And one of the things that they note 00:05:11.509 --> 00:05:14.550 is it happens frequently in the Gospels. People 00:05:14.550 --> 00:05:19.569 are amazed at Jesus' teaching and also the miracles. 00:05:21.180 --> 00:05:23.600 I think that's a really important thing to note 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:26.399 is that sometimes, we'll get to that in a little 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:28.839 bit, but people are actually really encountered 00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:31.259 by the teachings of Jesus because he taught as 00:05:31.259 --> 00:05:34.000 one with authority. Now, in rabbinic Judaism 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:36.959 and turn -of -the -century Judaism, authority 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:41.060 is this word shmikah, and it's rabbinic authority, 00:05:41.220 --> 00:05:43.660 in other words, the authority to interpret Scripture, 00:05:43.899 --> 00:05:45.540 in other words, to take Scripture and actually 00:05:45.540 --> 00:05:48.360 make application of it. Yeah, and contrast that 00:05:48.360 --> 00:05:51.279 with the religious authority of the day in Jewish 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:54.839 culture. It wasn't as God -centric as you would 00:05:54.839 --> 00:05:57.939 like it to be. It was more focused on what power 00:05:57.939 --> 00:06:01.160 can I obtain, what wealth can I gain from this. 00:06:02.060 --> 00:06:05.360 And so the religious leaders of the day, did 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:08.759 they teach through Torah? Yes, they did, but 00:06:08.759 --> 00:06:10.620 they did it in a way that brought more money 00:06:10.620 --> 00:06:12.300 into the temple so that they could line their 00:06:12.300 --> 00:06:16.750 pockets. Yeah, well, and you're correct, especially 00:06:16.750 --> 00:06:20.089 in Jerusalem and in a lot of those bigger cities. 00:06:20.170 --> 00:06:21.750 But specifically what I'm talking about with 00:06:21.750 --> 00:06:25.310 the Shemitah is that the scribes and the teachers, 00:06:25.410 --> 00:06:27.029 a lot of times what they would do is they would 00:06:27.029 --> 00:06:31.019 teach Torah exactly. Or they would teach what 00:06:31.019 --> 00:06:33.759 some other rabbi said, but they're not necessarily 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:37.139 interpreting on their own. And that's not really 00:06:37.139 --> 00:06:39.959 super common. There's only a few during that 00:06:39.959 --> 00:06:41.819 time that would have been interpreting with authority. 00:06:43.139 --> 00:06:45.959 Nicodemus might have been one of them. Probably 00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:49.360 Hillel, Shammai, and a few others. But most of 00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:51.980 them are going to be teaching either what the 00:06:51.980 --> 00:06:55.759 other rabbis taught. But not interpreting Scripture 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:57.379 themselves. Which brings me back to my point 00:06:57.379 --> 00:06:59.839 where a lot of the religious teachers were probably 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:02.800 taught in the bigger cities and synagogues where 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:04.699 this corruption was going on, and they saw that 00:07:04.699 --> 00:07:07.639 and probably carried a portion of that over. 00:07:07.860 --> 00:07:11.279 True. And so through their teaching. And so they 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:14.360 go, the people listening, they're like, oh, Jesus 00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:17.959 is interpreting. And this is very plain. In a 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:19.720 couple of weeks, we're going to be getting into 00:07:19.720 --> 00:07:21.579 the Sermon on the Mount. He's going to say, you 00:07:21.579 --> 00:07:23.850 have heard it said, but I say unto you. That's 00:07:23.850 --> 00:07:26.870 an interpretive statement. We'll talk about it 00:07:26.870 --> 00:07:28.750 more, but essentially when you say, you've heard 00:07:28.750 --> 00:07:31.009 it said, but I say unto you, that phraseology 00:07:31.009 --> 00:07:34.970 is you've heard it said, but it was always supposed 00:07:34.970 --> 00:07:38.550 to be this. So what Jesus is saying is he's not 00:07:38.550 --> 00:07:40.610 raising an ante, but he's correcting a misconception. 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:43.459 And we're going to get into that in a couple 00:07:43.459 --> 00:07:44.860 of weeks. But this is what it means to teach 00:07:44.860 --> 00:07:46.439 with authority, is that you're taking Old Testament 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:48.040 and you're actually interpreting and being like, 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:51.019 no, it's misunderstood. It has been misapplied. 00:07:51.079 --> 00:07:52.720 This is actually what it was supposed to be. 00:07:53.379 --> 00:07:59.620 And the people are like, this is crazy. You have 00:07:59.620 --> 00:08:03.310 the authority to do this. And then in the middle 00:08:03.310 --> 00:08:04.769 of this, in the middle of Jesus interpreting 00:08:04.769 --> 00:08:06.550 scripture and him taking the Old Testament and 00:08:06.550 --> 00:08:07.769 being like, this is what God has always been 00:08:07.769 --> 00:08:09.449 wanting you to do through Torah, through the 00:08:09.449 --> 00:08:11.170 law, through the prophets. Like these are the 00:08:11.170 --> 00:08:12.949 things he wants you to do. There's a person who's 00:08:12.949 --> 00:08:17.860 filled with the demon and they go, hey. Why are 00:08:17.860 --> 00:08:20.800 you here? Right? What does he say? I was comfy 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:23.360 before. Now I'm not comfortable in this conversation. 00:08:23.720 --> 00:08:25.759 Well, I love that he says, what do you want with 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:28.000 us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:29.779 us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. 00:08:29.860 --> 00:08:32.720 Now, up to this point in the text, Jesus hasn't 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:34.899 done anything. He hasn't said anything to this 00:08:34.899 --> 00:08:38.820 man, except teaching a proper interpretation 00:08:38.820 --> 00:08:42.559 of Scripture. But when he does that and he's 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:44.139 bringing his presence and he's bringing the presence 00:08:44.139 --> 00:08:46.080 of God into people's life and helping them to 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:47.740 connect with the heart of the Torah and what 00:08:47.740 --> 00:08:50.519 God wants for people's life, immediately the 00:08:50.519 --> 00:08:52.659 forces of darkness rise up and they're like, 00:08:52.779 --> 00:08:56.600 hey, why are you here punishing us? What do you 00:08:56.600 --> 00:08:59.000 want with us? So the New Living Translation phrase 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:02.120 is, why are you interfering with us, Jesus of 00:09:02.120 --> 00:09:04.539 Nazareth? That's an interesting interpretive 00:09:04.539 --> 00:09:11.879 thing. Not a sponsor. So that's an interesting 00:09:11.879 --> 00:09:14.100 interpretive thing. So I want to push pause here 00:09:14.100 --> 00:09:16.259 and say this is going to be Ben and Spencer talking 00:09:16.259 --> 00:09:19.740 about interpretive things. This is not necessarily 00:09:19.740 --> 00:09:21.899 what's written exactly in the Bible, okay? So 00:09:21.899 --> 00:09:28.259 if we're talking about the demons being upset 00:09:28.259 --> 00:09:31.320 when Jesus is correcting bad teaching, that they 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:35.039 cry out and they scream about it, right? That 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:39.649 has very interesting implications. to a lot of 00:09:39.649 --> 00:09:41.710 stuff that we deal with in the modern day. Yeah. 00:09:42.350 --> 00:09:45.330 Some very interesting applications. Um, speaking 00:09:45.330 --> 00:09:48.789 of going through social media, right. And, uh, 00:09:48.950 --> 00:09:51.289 and by the way, I said this and there are some 00:09:51.289 --> 00:09:54.649 people who are, uh, they're like, yeah, get them. 00:09:54.730 --> 00:09:58.149 I'm probably talking about you too. That when 00:09:58.149 --> 00:10:00.169 somebody comes and they, and they, and you have 00:10:00.169 --> 00:10:01.570 like this doctrinal stance where you're going 00:10:01.570 --> 00:10:04.710 to go, you know, um, I'm going to do X, Y, and 00:10:04.710 --> 00:10:06.330 Z. And if you don't do this and you're not in 00:10:06.330 --> 00:10:08.740 the kingdom. And I said, Hey, we actually need 00:10:08.740 --> 00:10:11.659 to do these things saturated in love. Yeah. And 00:10:11.659 --> 00:10:14.679 compassion. And compassion for the people around 00:10:14.679 --> 00:10:17.620 us, right? And that if it's not resounding and 00:10:17.620 --> 00:10:19.799 it's not saturated and filled with love, you 00:10:19.799 --> 00:10:22.759 shouldn't be the one doing it. Otherwise, it's 00:10:22.759 --> 00:10:24.460 just going to be a clanging and resounding symbol. 00:10:25.159 --> 00:10:29.279 And then you go, heretic! Right? Or something, 00:10:29.460 --> 00:10:33.960 right? And it's really interesting that the demon 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:36.899 doesn't speak up in this case where it says interfering. 00:10:37.399 --> 00:10:39.820 Yeah. You're interfering with what we're doing. 00:10:39.879 --> 00:10:41.559 In the very synagogue where the words of God 00:10:41.559 --> 00:10:44.019 are being spoken, the interference that's happening 00:10:44.019 --> 00:10:46.740 is relying on tradition rather than the intent 00:10:46.740 --> 00:10:49.740 of the word of God. So, and the interesting thing 00:10:49.740 --> 00:10:52.960 here is in first century Judaism, demonic forces 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:56.100 are unclean spirits, demons are often seen as 00:10:56.100 --> 00:10:58.440 agents of chaos, opposition to what God is doing. 00:10:58.940 --> 00:11:02.279 And it is interesting here that there is actually 00:11:02.279 --> 00:11:05.519 a process of like... driving out demons in Jewish 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:08.860 history and Jewish protocol is what I'm going 00:11:08.860 --> 00:11:10.639 to call it. It's probably not the right word, 00:11:10.659 --> 00:11:13.320 but I'm going to call it protocol. But what Jesus 00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:16.600 does is he gives it a word and commands it to 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:19.700 come out. And there's nobody during that time 00:11:19.700 --> 00:11:23.120 that commands demons out by a word. Yeah. Right? 00:11:23.299 --> 00:11:27.059 So it's a very different thing. And everybody's 00:11:27.059 --> 00:11:29.259 looking around. They're like, okay, so not only 00:11:29.259 --> 00:11:33.039 is he interpreting. scripture, he commands evil 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:37.019 spirits by a word. Well, and there's the practical 00:11:37.019 --> 00:11:38.960 implication of our lives too. When we're living 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:41.639 in a place of sin or living in a place where 00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:44.419 we are not following Jesus and he shows up and 00:11:44.419 --> 00:11:47.980 speaks truth into our lives. And there's part 00:11:47.980 --> 00:11:50.100 of us that wants to be like, why are you messing 00:11:50.100 --> 00:11:53.580 with what I got going on? And Jesus is like, 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:55.679 oh, just wait and see. Like, you'll understand, 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:58.559 but I need to mess with this first and make sure 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:03.179 you get to a good spot. Yeah. And so in this 00:12:03.179 --> 00:12:05.220 story, too, I think it's important to note that 00:12:05.220 --> 00:12:09.200 who does Jesus oppose? Yeah. The spirit, not 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:12.220 the man. The man has a spirit, but he doesn't 00:12:12.220 --> 00:12:14.039 oppose the man. He opposes the spirit in the 00:12:14.039 --> 00:12:19.580 man. The reason I classify this or clarify this 00:12:19.580 --> 00:12:22.399 is we have to continue to remind ourselves that 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:26.500 when we have battles to fight against chaos and 00:12:26.500 --> 00:12:28.559 sin and all these different things, it is not 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:31.100 against the person. It's against the thing that 00:12:31.100 --> 00:12:33.740 is influencing the person. The powers and principalities 00:12:33.740 --> 00:12:35.580 is what Paul is going to call it. It's a lot 00:12:35.580 --> 00:12:41.879 of P's. Powers and principalities and Paul. Principalities. 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:48.429 I like that word. This is also Jesus in the start 00:12:48.429 --> 00:12:53.230 of his ministry, quote unquote, working on the 00:12:53.230 --> 00:12:56.789 Sabbath. Like if it's for the kingdom of God, 00:12:56.830 --> 00:12:59.950 he's like, yes, I will. Yeah. I'm going to do 00:12:59.950 --> 00:13:01.309 this for the betterment of the kingdom of the 00:13:01.309 --> 00:13:03.580 Lord. Well, it's interesting. I was actually 00:13:03.580 --> 00:13:05.299 having this conversation with a friend of mine, 00:13:05.419 --> 00:13:07.919 Marty Solomon, Bayma Podcast, and we were having 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:10.740 this conversation because he is an Orthodox Jew 00:13:10.740 --> 00:13:13.240 that follows Jesus, right? And so he tries to 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:16.029 absorb as much as possible. Torah law, right? 00:13:16.090 --> 00:13:19.230 Because he's genetically Jewish. And one of the 00:13:19.230 --> 00:13:21.509 things I was asking him, he says, well, so Sabbath 00:13:21.509 --> 00:13:23.669 is an important one, but when Jesus says, love 00:13:23.669 --> 00:13:24.710 the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, 00:13:24.750 --> 00:13:26.950 mind, and strength is your primary, and the secondary 00:13:26.950 --> 00:13:28.710 is like it, love your neighbor as yourself, which 00:13:28.710 --> 00:13:31.190 sides with Hillel over Shammai, who would have 00:13:31.190 --> 00:13:34.230 said obey the Sabbath is a second. He says that 00:13:34.230 --> 00:13:38.250 your framework is love, not obedience. That doesn't 00:13:38.250 --> 00:13:40.370 mean that obedience doesn't matter, but it's 00:13:40.370 --> 00:13:44.049 subservient to love. Right? And so one of the 00:13:44.049 --> 00:13:45.649 things he'll talk about is he says on the Sabbath, 00:13:45.850 --> 00:13:49.710 the only time that he will violate Sabbath is 00:13:49.710 --> 00:13:51.570 if it's pursuit of love of somebody else. Yeah. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:55.120 If you are pursuing love, love is the higher 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:59.320 calling. Now, with that being said, I think that 00:13:59.320 --> 00:14:03.200 people have a tendency to go a little overboard 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:05.860 on that and over -qualify that and badly schedule 00:14:05.860 --> 00:14:08.519 and then try to never take a Sabbath because 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:09.940 they're like, I've got to be about kingdom ministry. 00:14:10.100 --> 00:14:12.259 I've got to reach people. You also need to rest. 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:16.600 right you need to recoup he's redefining what 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:19.019 the sabbath is though right right yeah like because 00:14:19.019 --> 00:14:22.659 in jewish culture of this day it uh it was from 00:14:22.659 --> 00:14:26.279 sundown sundown on friday night to sundown on 00:14:26.279 --> 00:14:29.559 saturday correct right and so he's redefining 00:14:29.559 --> 00:14:32.100 that and being like no you can take your day 00:14:32.100 --> 00:14:35.919 of rest when you need to right But if an opportunity 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:37.940 arrives for you to love your neighbor, you should 00:14:37.940 --> 00:14:40.700 do that. Yes. Don't fall prey to the religious 00:14:40.700 --> 00:14:43.500 aspect and forget the relational one. Yeah. Right? 00:14:44.179 --> 00:14:46.679 It's a good practice, but it does not circumvent 00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:49.039 the responsibility of loving God and loving other 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:51.720 people. Yep. Right? He's actually going to talk 00:14:51.720 --> 00:14:54.000 about this elsewhere. He's like, if your donkey 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:56.379 fell into a ditch, are you just going to leave 00:14:56.379 --> 00:14:57.919 it there until after Sabbath? Of course you're 00:14:57.919 --> 00:14:58.899 not. You're going to leave the donkey out of 00:14:58.899 --> 00:15:02.679 the ditch. Yeah. Right? At the same time, this 00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:04.460 guy's got an evil spirit. Or later, it's somebody 00:15:04.460 --> 00:15:07.100 with a withered hand. They've been bound up for 00:15:07.100 --> 00:15:09.259 years. Am I going to leave them here when I can 00:15:09.259 --> 00:15:13.279 deliver them today? Yeah. Now, notice he doesn't 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:15.539 necessarily go searching for those people, but 00:15:15.539 --> 00:15:17.559 he does run into them, and he takes care of it. 00:15:17.659 --> 00:15:20.240 Yep. You know? Yep. So let's go to the next story 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:25.559 here. Let's go into Peter's mom's story. Mother 00:15:25.559 --> 00:15:31.600 -in -law. Sorry. Mom -in -law. All right, where 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:34.460 is this at? So picking up right there where it 00:15:34.460 --> 00:15:36.460 ended, it says, As soon as they left the synagogue, 00:15:36.779 --> 00:15:38.759 they went with James and John to the house of 00:15:38.759 --> 00:15:41.580 Simon and Andrew. Simon's mother -in -law was 00:15:41.580 --> 00:15:43.500 in bed with a fever, and they immediately told 00:15:43.500 --> 00:15:45.799 Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her 00:15:45.799 --> 00:15:47.600 hand, and helped her up. The fever left her, 00:15:47.659 --> 00:15:49.500 and she began to wait on them. That evening, 00:15:49.559 --> 00:15:52.720 after sunset, the people... brought to Jesus 00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:54.980 all the sick and demon -possessed. The whole 00:15:54.980 --> 00:15:57.360 town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many 00:15:57.360 --> 00:15:59.399 who had various diseases. He also drove out many 00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:01.820 demons, but he would not let the demons speak 00:16:01.820 --> 00:16:04.580 because they knew who he was. I'm going to include 00:16:04.580 --> 00:16:05.919 this next spot because I think it's important. 00:16:07.179 --> 00:16:08.820 Very early in the morning, while it was still 00:16:08.820 --> 00:16:10.899 dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went 00:16:10.899 --> 00:16:13.659 off to a solitary place where he prayed. Simon 00:16:13.659 --> 00:16:15.559 and his companions went to look for him. When 00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:17.519 they found him, they said, Everyone is looking 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:19.379 for you. Jesus replied, Let us go somewhere else 00:16:19.379 --> 00:16:20.960 to the nearby villages so I can preach there 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:23.100 also. That is why I have come. So he traveled 00:16:23.100 --> 00:16:25.120 throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:28.740 and driving out demons. Okay. So he goes to the 00:16:28.740 --> 00:16:30.639 house of James and John. They go to the house 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:34.019 of Simon's mother -in -law, and she's sick. And 00:16:34.019 --> 00:16:37.580 they say, Jesus, mother -in -law is sick. He 00:16:37.580 --> 00:16:42.259 says, Okay, go. heals her and and and um he grabs 00:16:42.259 --> 00:16:44.419 her hand heals her and then she immediately does 00:16:44.419 --> 00:16:46.139 mother -in -law things which just goes and takes 00:16:46.139 --> 00:16:47.460 care of everybody in the house because that's 00:16:47.460 --> 00:16:50.740 what moms do yeah right mom is feeling good she 00:16:50.740 --> 00:16:52.799 starts taking care of everybody um i actually 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:54.700 love i don't know if you've seen the episode 00:16:54.700 --> 00:16:56.759 of the chosen the way they interpreted it when 00:16:56.759 --> 00:16:59.159 she like heals and she's like oh you need some 00:16:59.159 --> 00:17:01.519 food oh it's like do you want some bread it's 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:03.100 like going around and doing this stuff i was 00:17:03.100 --> 00:17:05.299 like it was such a like mom stepping into you 00:17:05.299 --> 00:17:08.299 know yeah um but it this is the one person but 00:17:08.299 --> 00:17:10.400 then note there it says after dark so what does 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:14.640 that mean sabbath is over okay after dark the 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:16.660 next day people bring all the people who are 00:17:16.660 --> 00:17:19.779 sick and demon possessed to jesus so jesus doesn't 00:17:19.779 --> 00:17:22.019 actually do a ton of healing on the sabbath He 00:17:22.019 --> 00:17:24.180 healed people that he ran into, one, the guy 00:17:24.180 --> 00:17:27.019 who was demon -possessed, and then Simon's mother 00:17:27.019 --> 00:17:29.440 -in -law, because they went to her house, and 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:31.740 she was sick there. So he took care of the people. 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:35.059 He loved the people who were in his way, is probably 00:17:35.059 --> 00:17:36.619 the right way to say that, in his path for the 00:17:36.619 --> 00:17:40.700 day, right? But he also made himself available 00:17:40.700 --> 00:17:44.279 that after Sabbath, for anybody who was sick 00:17:44.279 --> 00:17:45.559 or demon -possessed, because a ton of people 00:17:45.559 --> 00:17:47.460 come and they get healed, but they wait until 00:17:47.460 --> 00:17:50.849 after Sabbath. Because it is important to have 00:17:50.849 --> 00:17:52.950 that rhythm in your life, that rhythm of rest 00:17:52.950 --> 00:17:55.769 and communion and communication with God and 00:17:55.769 --> 00:17:59.930 oneness with the Spirit of God. Even Jesus Christ 00:17:59.930 --> 00:18:01.529 thinks it's important to spend time with the 00:18:01.529 --> 00:18:04.569 Father. Probably important for me, too. Right? 00:18:05.089 --> 00:18:08.950 Right. Yeah. But then they bring all these people 00:18:08.950 --> 00:18:11.509 afterwards. And then it says that the next day 00:18:11.509 --> 00:18:14.009 Jesus woke up early. So they come at night. He 00:18:14.009 --> 00:18:16.410 heals people for a ton of time. And then he goes 00:18:16.410 --> 00:18:18.690 to bed and gets up early to go spend time with 00:18:18.690 --> 00:18:25.569 the Father. Yeah. Right? What I'm hoping in breaking 00:18:25.569 --> 00:18:27.289 down the story and saying this over and over 00:18:27.289 --> 00:18:30.529 again is healing is a natural part of the Christian 00:18:30.529 --> 00:18:33.549 life. Yeah. And we can talk about Peter, James, 00:18:33.750 --> 00:18:35.829 John. Paul, all these guys, when they're going 00:18:35.829 --> 00:18:39.289 and doing their ministry, they go and they share 00:18:39.289 --> 00:18:42.430 with people about the kingdom, right? In this 00:18:42.430 --> 00:18:44.069 case, Jesus is going to preach the good news, 00:18:44.130 --> 00:18:46.190 the euangelion, that the kingdom of God is here 00:18:46.190 --> 00:18:49.509 and it's ready for you to interact with it. And 00:18:49.509 --> 00:18:53.650 while he's doing that, he runs into people who 00:18:53.650 --> 00:18:56.089 have problems. And because he's so tied to the 00:18:56.089 --> 00:18:59.609 mission, miracles fly out. Right. There's healing 00:18:59.609 --> 00:19:01.650 in his wings to quote from the Psalms. Right. 00:19:02.329 --> 00:19:04.910 And then even on the Sabbath, he's healing people 00:19:04.910 --> 00:19:08.150 because he's loving people. He's showing exactly 00:19:08.150 --> 00:19:09.410 what it means to love God, love other people, 00:19:09.450 --> 00:19:13.049 but also to be obedient to Torah, follow Torah, 00:19:13.130 --> 00:19:16.890 what God has in for your life. But then as soon 00:19:16.890 --> 00:19:18.589 as Sabbath is over, he's healing people a bunch. 00:19:18.650 --> 00:19:20.069 Then the next day, the disciples come and they're 00:19:20.069 --> 00:19:21.809 like, all right, everybody's looking for you. 00:19:21.849 --> 00:19:23.049 He's like, yeah, we got to go somewhere else 00:19:23.049 --> 00:19:26.490 because they want the show. and they're missing 00:19:26.490 --> 00:19:28.369 the message, and I gotta go preach the gospel, 00:19:28.589 --> 00:19:30.630 this good news that the kingdom of God is here. 00:19:30.750 --> 00:19:33.230 But it still says, even as he went, he was healing 00:19:33.230 --> 00:19:36.269 and driving out demons. Right. So, are healings 00:19:36.269 --> 00:19:38.750 a part of the natural Christian ministry? Yes. 00:19:40.750 --> 00:19:43.430 100%. Do they take place in many shapes and forms? 00:19:43.789 --> 00:19:48.049 Yes. Yeah. Sometimes it, you know, and it's, 00:19:48.049 --> 00:19:53.069 I do think that, the supernatural has probably 00:19:53.069 --> 00:19:55.809 been de -emphasized in American Christendom to, 00:19:55.849 --> 00:19:59.869 to, to a point. Um, and some places it's overemphasized, 00:19:59.890 --> 00:20:02.849 right? Uh, that there's a lot of practical healing 00:20:02.849 --> 00:20:05.190 and a practical like moves of God that can be 00:20:05.190 --> 00:20:07.829 made to that people want to rely on a supernatural 00:20:07.829 --> 00:20:10.509 where a practical would make sense. I would push 00:20:10.509 --> 00:20:12.930 back a little bit on that actually. And I would 00:20:12.930 --> 00:20:14.930 say what we've done is we've actually separated 00:20:14.930 --> 00:20:17.529 two things that are meant to be cohesive. Sure. 00:20:17.900 --> 00:20:20.380 Um, cause like the supernatural move of God, 00:20:20.460 --> 00:20:24.660 we've often equate that to the, to the big physical 00:20:24.660 --> 00:20:27.079 healings, the casting out demons and stuff like 00:20:27.079 --> 00:20:29.799 that. Right. Right. But the supernatural move 00:20:29.799 --> 00:20:32.299 of God is also the change of someone's heart. 00:20:32.420 --> 00:20:35.880 Right. Uh, the, the, someone being pulled from 00:20:35.880 --> 00:20:38.619 a life of sin into a life of, uh. Oh, that's 00:20:38.619 --> 00:20:39.700 the portion you're, I thought you were talking 00:20:39.700 --> 00:20:42.059 about, uh, for example, like somebody has a need 00:20:42.059 --> 00:20:45.109 and you meet it. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, but I, I 00:20:45.109 --> 00:20:46.589 hear what you're saying. Yeah. So, but I think 00:20:46.589 --> 00:20:48.690 I, so that's where I would like, I would be like, 00:20:48.750 --> 00:20:50.369 yeah, you know, I think, I think what we have 00:20:50.369 --> 00:20:52.349 done as church is we said, this is what supernatural 00:20:52.349 --> 00:20:55.309 looks like. And this is just normal. Yeah. Because 00:20:55.309 --> 00:20:56.950 I mean, you think about it, if you're a person 00:20:56.950 --> 00:21:00.789 who is like really wrapped up in, uh, like you're. 00:21:01.150 --> 00:21:02.329 there's a lot of people in the church that have 00:21:02.329 --> 00:21:04.309 anxiety. Yeah. You're really wrapped up in anxiety 00:21:04.309 --> 00:21:05.730 and you're like, you're like concerned about 00:21:05.730 --> 00:21:07.650 the future. You're unsettled in your spirit. 00:21:07.849 --> 00:21:10.109 And God brings calm to that because you cast 00:21:10.109 --> 00:21:12.529 your identity onto Christ and like, and you still 00:21:12.529 --> 00:21:14.650 have anxiety, but it's not what it was. Yeah. 00:21:14.750 --> 00:21:17.589 That's a miracle. Yeah. Right. When you pass 00:21:17.589 --> 00:21:19.869 from death to life, that is a miracle. When you're 00:21:19.869 --> 00:21:21.349 filled with the Holy Spirit, that's a miracle. 00:21:21.630 --> 00:21:24.190 When you are able to put on love and patience 00:21:24.190 --> 00:21:25.869 and kindness and goodness and faithfulness in 00:21:25.869 --> 00:21:27.930 your everyday life, especially with dumb people 00:21:27.930 --> 00:21:30.109 because they're everywhere. That's a miracle. 00:21:30.529 --> 00:21:33.910 Right? And then also praying for people with 00:21:33.910 --> 00:21:35.910 broken legs and them getting healed is a miracle. 00:21:36.190 --> 00:21:38.170 Praying for people who have cancer and no longer 00:21:38.170 --> 00:21:40.470 have cancer, that's a miracle. Yeah. You know, 00:21:40.490 --> 00:21:42.829 praying for people to have a revelation from 00:21:42.829 --> 00:21:44.430 God on where they're supposed to go and then 00:21:44.430 --> 00:21:47.990 God speaks, that's a miracle. And all of these 00:21:47.990 --> 00:21:49.690 things are meant to work. Like, to your point, 00:21:49.730 --> 00:21:51.589 they're not separate things. They're all moves 00:21:51.589 --> 00:21:55.410 of God. And so the hard thing is, is that we 00:21:55.410 --> 00:22:00.640 are trying to... We're trying to pursue the stuff 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:03.079 instead of just pursuing the kingdom of God and 00:22:03.079 --> 00:22:05.920 allowing God to direct us in those steps. Yeah, 00:22:05.940 --> 00:22:08.180 I think sometimes we try to reconcile something 00:22:08.180 --> 00:22:10.900 that doesn't need to be reconciled. When God 00:22:10.900 --> 00:22:13.779 is moving, there's going to be a supernatural 00:22:13.779 --> 00:22:17.920 movement that's happening. That could look like 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:21.440 a handful of people coming to know Jesus. That 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:23.900 could also look like huge transformation in a 00:22:23.900 --> 00:22:25.900 city. That could look like physical healing, 00:22:26.019 --> 00:22:29.140 casting out demons. It could also look like the 00:22:29.140 --> 00:22:32.930 true gospel of Christ being preached. And so, 00:22:32.970 --> 00:22:35.589 like, I think sometimes we just are like, oh, 00:22:35.609 --> 00:22:37.250 yeah, well, this is what supernatural looks like 00:22:37.250 --> 00:22:38.710 and this is what normal looks like. And it's 00:22:38.710 --> 00:22:39.849 like, actually, when you're talking about the 00:22:39.849 --> 00:22:42.470 move of God, it's all interconnected. Yeah. Right? 00:22:42.890 --> 00:22:46.640 It's one thing. It's one move. I do think there 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:48.880 are times, and this is demonstrated in the Gospels, 00:22:48.900 --> 00:22:51.339 and it's not in this particular story, but it 00:22:51.339 --> 00:22:55.440 is demonstrated in many of the stories, is this 00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:58.640 reality is that when you are caught up in a situation, 00:22:58.779 --> 00:23:01.200 and when somebody tries to bring the Gospel, 00:23:01.259 --> 00:23:03.059 the good news, this reconciliation of the Kingdom 00:23:03.059 --> 00:23:05.420 of God here among us, if you are in the middle 00:23:05.420 --> 00:23:07.880 of chaos, you're in the middle of emergency, 00:23:08.059 --> 00:23:13.819 you're in the middle of need, sometimes you can't 00:23:13.819 --> 00:23:18.130 hear that. One of my favorite verses talking 00:23:18.130 --> 00:23:23.289 about this is this referencing forward. It has 00:23:23.289 --> 00:23:26.150 a context in its day, but Isaiah has this prophecy 00:23:26.150 --> 00:23:28.349 where he's talking about Israel, and he's talking 00:23:28.349 --> 00:23:29.490 about God, and he's talking about Israel and 00:23:29.490 --> 00:23:32.210 what they're going to do. But it has future implications 00:23:32.210 --> 00:23:34.069 on who Jesus is and what Jesus is going to do 00:23:34.069 --> 00:23:36.329 through his people. It says, A king will reign 00:23:36.329 --> 00:23:38.430 in righteousness, and rulers will rule in justice. 00:23:38.950 --> 00:23:43.390 Each man will be like a stream in a desert. And 00:23:43.390 --> 00:23:44.990 each man will be like a shelter from a great 00:23:44.990 --> 00:23:47.650 storm. Yeah. Right? And each man will be like, 00:23:47.809 --> 00:23:49.890 there's one other analogy, and I forget what 00:23:49.890 --> 00:23:52.990 it is. Then the eyes of those that can see will 00:23:52.990 --> 00:23:55.069 see, and the ears of those that can hear will 00:23:55.069 --> 00:23:57.329 hear, and the tongues of those that can speak 00:23:57.329 --> 00:24:01.109 will speak. This idea is that there is a desert, 00:24:01.230 --> 00:24:04.890 there is a need, and when those are met, suddenly 00:24:04.890 --> 00:24:07.130 these eyes that couldn't see before can now see. 00:24:07.529 --> 00:24:09.829 And the ears that could hear before can now hear. 00:24:10.289 --> 00:24:12.650 But the reason they can't hear is not because 00:24:12.650 --> 00:24:14.849 they're broken, but because there's something 00:24:14.849 --> 00:24:17.809 stopping them up now. There's a thirst. There's 00:24:17.809 --> 00:24:20.849 a heat. There is a storm that is in their life. 00:24:20.950 --> 00:24:23.490 And we get the privilege as Christians and as 00:24:23.490 --> 00:24:27.069 believers to come and be the peace in chaos and 00:24:27.069 --> 00:24:31.970 to bring the settled in, which is Jesus and the 00:24:31.970 --> 00:24:35.269 Holy Spirit. And so sometimes you will lead with 00:24:35.269 --> 00:24:38.789 a miracle, right? And sometimes the miracle is 00:24:38.789 --> 00:24:42.220 you offering food. Yeah. Like the amount of times 00:24:42.220 --> 00:24:44.640 where like a simple meal has changed a person's 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:49.259 life and has drawn them to Jesus. Like the reality 00:24:49.259 --> 00:24:51.259 is there are sometimes there's things that are 00:24:51.259 --> 00:24:54.000 just so ordinary that when you offer those up 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:55.700 in the circumstances where the Lord prompts you 00:24:55.700 --> 00:24:57.279 to offer those up, that becomes a supernatural 00:24:57.279 --> 00:24:59.319 thing for the person who's receiving it. Yeah. 00:24:59.579 --> 00:25:03.720 And so. And now they have, because their stomach 00:25:03.720 --> 00:25:05.640 is, like, because it's not screaming at them, 00:25:05.700 --> 00:25:07.619 or in the case of parents who have kids that 00:25:07.619 --> 00:25:10.200 are hungry, they're not worried about, is my 00:25:10.200 --> 00:25:11.960 child going to have food tonight? Yeah. They 00:25:11.960 --> 00:25:13.539 have an opportunity to actually hear the gospel, 00:25:13.720 --> 00:25:16.859 to hear this good news. Yeah. Working in camping 00:25:16.859 --> 00:25:19.140 ministry, this is just a little side note, one 00:25:19.140 --> 00:25:21.279 of the things that we were always taught was 00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:23.859 make sure the basic needs of everybody there 00:25:23.859 --> 00:25:27.819 are met, because if someone is hungry or cold 00:25:27.819 --> 00:25:31.190 or... you know, dirty, like not able to take 00:25:31.190 --> 00:25:33.390 a shower or stuff like that, they're less likely 00:25:33.390 --> 00:25:34.950 to be able to hear what the good news that's 00:25:34.950 --> 00:25:36.349 going on because they're going to be distracted 00:25:36.349 --> 00:25:40.049 by that. Right. And it's like, make sure those 00:25:40.049 --> 00:25:43.809 needs are met. Right. And so like, but coming 00:25:43.809 --> 00:25:46.210 back to that idea, like the move of the Lord 00:25:46.210 --> 00:25:49.150 is a supernatural move. It comes in many, many 00:25:49.150 --> 00:25:52.799 shapes and forms. And I think. I think maybe 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:55.880 the problem is we said supernatural is like we 00:25:55.880 --> 00:26:00.019 think otherworldly, but it also can be contextually 00:26:00.019 --> 00:26:01.940 in the way that you behave and that you live 00:26:01.940 --> 00:26:04.299 in the face of adversity and love in the face 00:26:04.299 --> 00:26:06.200 of hate and like those type of things. Those 00:26:06.200 --> 00:26:07.819 are also supernatural things. Yeah, and I know 00:26:07.819 --> 00:26:09.180 we're kind of on a rabbit trail right now too. 00:26:09.180 --> 00:26:10.380 Yeah, that's okay. I like rabbit trails. But 00:26:10.380 --> 00:26:14.130 if we're talking like otherworldly. Yeah. Let's 00:26:14.130 --> 00:26:17.529 remind people that heaven was originally here, 00:26:17.650 --> 00:26:20.769 right? And then we stepped out of it. And then 00:26:20.769 --> 00:26:23.369 there's more scriptural evidence for heaven being 00:26:23.369 --> 00:26:26.849 restored to earth. So if you want to talk otherworldly, 00:26:26.849 --> 00:26:30.140 like really, this is the place. Yeah. A place 00:26:30.140 --> 00:26:31.240 where we're supposed to bring heaven to earth. 00:26:31.400 --> 00:26:33.759 Yeah. Now, so this is an interesting thing because 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:36.319 I'm going to, I know we have some international 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:38.480 listeners, but I'm going to talk to Americans 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:40.119 right now because we all have a fair amount of 00:26:40.119 --> 00:26:43.819 money living in this country. I was reading through 00:26:43.819 --> 00:26:45.539 this list of like specific, because I have some 00:26:45.539 --> 00:26:47.480 notes here, just on some things on the verses, 00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:50.500 but reading some specific things, talking about 00:26:50.500 --> 00:26:52.720 healing the blind and healing the lame. Did you 00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:57.700 know right now you, listener, can actually... 00:26:58.750 --> 00:27:01.990 participate in people being healed just with 00:27:01.990 --> 00:27:06.029 your wallet. All over, Cure International, I 00:27:06.029 --> 00:27:08.450 forget who runs that, but they work a lot in 00:27:08.450 --> 00:27:10.490 South America and a lot of different places in 00:27:10.490 --> 00:27:12.750 Africa. There are kids that are born with club 00:27:12.750 --> 00:27:14.809 feet, and they're able to separate that out so 00:27:14.809 --> 00:27:17.509 that they can actually run and grow the way that 00:27:17.509 --> 00:27:20.730 they're supposed to. I remember there was a thing 00:27:20.730 --> 00:27:24.099 where... talk about Mr. Beast for a minute. Mr. 00:27:24.220 --> 00:27:26.140 Beast did a thing and it was like his philanthropic 00:27:26.140 --> 00:27:28.240 thing where he raised money and they went and 00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:29.960 took doctors and they helped people who were 00:27:29.960 --> 00:27:32.500 legally blind and have a surgery that corrected 00:27:32.500 --> 00:27:35.099 their eyesight. Like they literally took the 00:27:35.099 --> 00:27:38.599 blind and made them able to see right now, obviously 00:27:38.599 --> 00:27:42.140 like full blind in like healing power got a hundred 00:27:42.140 --> 00:27:44.400 percent. Those are absolutely things that God 00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:46.500 does. I was like, but also with your resources, 00:27:46.539 --> 00:27:48.200 do you know that you could contribute to people 00:27:48.200 --> 00:27:51.420 being healed? Because medical science has changed 00:27:51.420 --> 00:27:54.059 so much, and God has absolutely been involved 00:27:54.059 --> 00:27:57.259 in that. Yeah. You have the ability to do that. 00:27:57.619 --> 00:27:59.799 You also have the ability to have people who 00:27:59.799 --> 00:28:03.059 are hungry have food. Yeah. People who don't 00:28:03.059 --> 00:28:07.940 have shelter have shelter. I think that you have 00:28:07.940 --> 00:28:11.480 to, you know, and so the point in all of this 00:28:11.480 --> 00:28:13.940 is that if the church isn't going to be involved 00:28:13.940 --> 00:28:16.829 in healing people, If the people who call themselves 00:28:16.829 --> 00:28:19.250 followers of Jesus, who in his life was about 00:28:19.250 --> 00:28:21.250 proclaiming the kingdom of God, 100 % you got 00:28:21.250 --> 00:28:23.670 to do that. But also as he is going and found 00:28:23.670 --> 00:28:25.730 people in need, found ways to reach out to them 00:28:25.730 --> 00:28:27.150 and heal them. And if the church isn't going 00:28:27.150 --> 00:28:32.569 to be those people, who is? Right? Well, and 00:28:32.569 --> 00:28:34.509 the reality is the people who are going to step 00:28:34.509 --> 00:28:36.789 into those roles are going to be people who do 00:28:36.789 --> 00:28:40.470 not have the intention of Jesus, do not have 00:28:40.470 --> 00:28:42.710 Jesus in their lives, right? There's going to 00:28:42.710 --> 00:28:46.759 be an ulterior motive to it. And so you can ask 00:28:46.759 --> 00:28:49.240 the question, okay, if people are stepping in 00:28:49.240 --> 00:28:51.519 to these roles to say, hey, I'm just going to 00:28:51.519 --> 00:28:54.880 provide medical care for somebody who needs it, 00:28:54.980 --> 00:28:58.420 right? Yes, there are generous people there, 00:28:58.519 --> 00:29:00.880 but when we're doing that outside of the lens 00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:04.559 of Jesus, outside of our relationship with Jesus, 00:29:04.819 --> 00:29:08.839 we're missing the point of who is the healer, 00:29:08.839 --> 00:29:13.130 right? Because Jesus is the one. You could say, 00:29:13.150 --> 00:29:16.630 yes, Jesus still heals, right? Also, he's given 00:29:16.630 --> 00:29:19.569 man the mind to heal, right? And we've come up 00:29:19.569 --> 00:29:24.309 with ways to cure tons of diseases that we, in 00:29:24.309 --> 00:29:28.390 the past, were uncurable, right? Yep. Tons of 00:29:28.390 --> 00:29:31.970 ways to prolong life, right? And what does that 00:29:31.970 --> 00:29:35.910 prolonging life do? That gives people a longer 00:29:35.910 --> 00:29:39.740 chance to hear about Jesus. or participate in 00:29:39.740 --> 00:29:41.980 the kingdom of God here on earth. Right? Yeah. 00:29:42.660 --> 00:29:47.200 And so I should probably specify if any listener, 00:29:47.299 --> 00:29:48.920 well, obviously we did the spiritual gifts last 00:29:48.920 --> 00:29:50.720 season, but if we have any new listeners that 00:29:50.720 --> 00:29:53.519 are like, oh, does Ben believe in healing ministries? 00:29:53.640 --> 00:29:56.400 Absolutely I do. I also believe in you opening 00:29:56.400 --> 00:29:57.700 up your wallet and caring for the people around 00:29:57.700 --> 00:30:00.660 you. I believe in being a generous person with 00:30:00.660 --> 00:30:03.559 what you've been given. I believe Genesis 12 00:30:03.559 --> 00:30:08.539 that says you will be blessed so that. all nations 00:30:08.539 --> 00:30:11.500 would be blessed. I believe that in Jesus Christ, 00:30:11.640 --> 00:30:13.940 that's our call. We're given a great deposit 00:30:13.940 --> 00:30:16.880 called the Holy Spirit. And that deposit demands 00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:21.660 a return. It demands our life, our allegiance, 00:30:21.880 --> 00:30:24.640 and our getting out into the world. Not because 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:27.099 we're trying to earn anything, but because we've 00:30:27.099 --> 00:30:28.700 been blessed and blessing is meant to flow from 00:30:28.700 --> 00:30:31.460 us. Yeah. And if you're sitting here thinking 00:30:31.460 --> 00:30:34.329 like, okay, yes, I live in America, but... Cost 00:30:34.329 --> 00:30:35.829 of living is really high. I don't have a ton 00:30:35.829 --> 00:30:37.890 of extra money to go around. You have more than 00:30:37.890 --> 00:30:42.210 you think. You have a lot more than you think. 00:30:46.869 --> 00:30:49.309 There's organizations where it's like $15, $20 00:30:49.309 --> 00:30:51.950 a month you can help donate and help provide 00:30:51.950 --> 00:30:55.690 some of these causes. Also, if you're like, well, 00:30:55.789 --> 00:30:58.170 how do I really care for my neighbor? I was like, 00:30:58.309 --> 00:31:00.750 okay, you might say you don't have a lot, but... 00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:04.240 How many times are you going to Starbucks a week? 00:31:05.099 --> 00:31:10.160 But the point being is we can also look at that 00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:12.259 and be like, this is the Lord's resources. How 00:31:12.259 --> 00:31:14.980 do I need to align these resources with what 00:31:14.980 --> 00:31:18.279 the Lord wants? Yeah. So the caveat here is not 00:31:18.279 --> 00:31:19.900 to feel bad about anything that you're doing. 00:31:20.530 --> 00:31:24.130 The question is, if you want to line up with 00:31:24.130 --> 00:31:25.509 the heart of Jesus, you need to have a generous 00:31:25.509 --> 00:31:27.890 heart that's about sharing the gospel. You have 00:31:27.890 --> 00:31:29.750 to be able to share the good news of Jesus Christ, 00:31:29.809 --> 00:31:31.490 that the kingdom of heaven is here on earth and 00:31:31.490 --> 00:31:33.170 it's ready for you to interact through the finished 00:31:33.170 --> 00:31:34.549 work of Jesus Christ and the empowerment of the 00:31:34.549 --> 00:31:38.430 Holy Spirit. That's always on our lips. But as 00:31:38.430 --> 00:31:40.490 we do that, we're going to run into people with 00:31:40.490 --> 00:31:45.049 need. Yeah, 100%. And to quote Jesus, who's quoting 00:31:45.049 --> 00:31:46.690 from Deuteronomy, the poor will always be among 00:31:46.690 --> 00:31:49.730 us. And so we need to, from Deuteronomy, always 00:31:49.730 --> 00:31:52.809 have an open hand to take care of those around 00:31:52.809 --> 00:31:57.390 us. That the poor always being around us is actually 00:31:57.390 --> 00:32:01.119 motivation for us to not be stingy. To be generous. 00:32:01.359 --> 00:32:03.259 To recognize that everything comes from God and 00:32:03.259 --> 00:32:05.359 for us to pour out. And the reason I'm inviting 00:32:05.359 --> 00:32:07.819 you into this is because it has been the biggest 00:32:07.819 --> 00:32:10.720 blessing of my life to be generous. I feel like 00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:13.079 I get way more out of being generous than I ever 00:32:13.079 --> 00:32:19.299 give to people. Every time. And I just believe 00:32:19.299 --> 00:32:21.859 it's because God puts that in your life. He wants 00:32:21.859 --> 00:32:25.640 to pour through you into other people. Now, some 00:32:25.640 --> 00:32:27.619 of you heard that I give a lot of things and 00:32:27.619 --> 00:32:29.099 I get a lot of things. I'm not talking about 00:32:29.099 --> 00:32:31.359 money. I'm talking about satisfaction, love, 00:32:31.559 --> 00:32:34.960 compassion, friendships, relationships. It's 00:32:34.960 --> 00:32:37.420 like I give freely of what I have because I believe 00:32:37.420 --> 00:32:39.660 in passing along what God has blessed me with. 00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:45.740 Yep. So should we maybe. Yeah. And it's not hard. 00:32:46.980 --> 00:32:49.859 Jesus gives of himself just on a regular basis. 00:32:50.180 --> 00:32:52.299 Yeah. He is the word made flesh. So what did 00:32:52.299 --> 00:32:56.119 he literally do? He gave a word. Yeah. Right. 00:32:56.359 --> 00:32:59.369 Right. So just to give you guys a couple examples 00:32:59.369 --> 00:33:03.369 of how this can play out in your lives. So story 00:33:03.369 --> 00:33:09.849 time. Story time with Uncle Spencer. So we did 00:33:09.849 --> 00:33:13.309 a cookout fundraiser in town a couple weeks ago. 00:33:13.430 --> 00:33:16.089 And there was a homeless guy who came through. 00:33:16.170 --> 00:33:18.269 Supposed to be like $20 a plate. He didn't have 00:33:18.269 --> 00:33:20.049 any money. And he's like, well, can I just have 00:33:20.049 --> 00:33:22.470 some food? We're like, absolutely. Yeah. Came 00:33:22.470 --> 00:33:24.130 back through a second time. Can I have some more 00:33:24.130 --> 00:33:27.099 food? Absolutely. Came back through a third time. 00:33:27.160 --> 00:33:29.599 He's like, can I have some more food? And I was 00:33:29.599 --> 00:33:32.200 like, absolutely. And the person standing next 00:33:32.200 --> 00:33:34.059 to me was like, dude, I think he's taking advantage 00:33:34.059 --> 00:33:36.259 of you. And I was like, and I don't care. Right. 00:33:36.359 --> 00:33:38.319 Like, I don't know when his last meal was or 00:33:38.319 --> 00:33:40.660 when his next meal is going to be. So he came 00:33:40.660 --> 00:33:42.619 back through a fourth time and he's like, can 00:33:42.619 --> 00:33:44.559 I have another plate? But can I have it wrapped 00:33:44.559 --> 00:33:48.299 in foil to go? I was like, absolutely. Right. 00:33:48.380 --> 00:33:50.279 We can do that. Right. Right. We had plenty of 00:33:50.279 --> 00:33:52.599 food. It wasn't hurting us at all. Right. But 00:33:52.599 --> 00:33:56.420 the point being is like. We often view these 00:33:56.420 --> 00:33:59.859 generous gestures as big, grandiose things. And 00:33:59.859 --> 00:34:02.859 sometimes it's just you're doing what you're 00:34:02.859 --> 00:34:04.319 doing and someone shows up and needs a little 00:34:04.319 --> 00:34:10.019 bit extra. Be generous. When I lived down in 00:34:10.019 --> 00:34:12.019 the lower 48, there was a lot of people at pretty 00:34:12.019 --> 00:34:15.380 much every intersection you can find that have 00:34:15.380 --> 00:34:18.840 signs that talk about every case under the world 00:34:18.840 --> 00:34:23.420 that you can think of. And to the point that 00:34:23.420 --> 00:34:25.909 people get jaded. giving money because uh there 00:34:25.909 --> 00:34:28.250 are people who abuse the system they take money 00:34:28.250 --> 00:34:30.449 and they actually have like a really nice house 00:34:30.449 --> 00:34:33.449 and like stuff like that stuff does happen um 00:34:33.449 --> 00:34:37.849 i was i ran back and forth with with whether 00:34:37.849 --> 00:34:39.590 or not to give to people because i was like i 00:34:39.590 --> 00:34:42.250 don't want to support people who are just abusing 00:34:42.250 --> 00:34:44.289 it but also somebody needs it i don't want them 00:34:44.289 --> 00:34:46.510 to not have money so i came up with a solution 00:34:46.510 --> 00:34:50.130 with god and i said if i have cash in my pocket 00:34:51.879 --> 00:34:53.500 I'm going to give, because like it's hard, you 00:34:53.500 --> 00:34:55.219 can't give somebody a credit card anyways. But 00:34:55.219 --> 00:34:56.719 I was like, if I have cash in my pocket, I'm 00:34:56.719 --> 00:34:58.639 going to, before I go and I see them, I say, 00:34:58.760 --> 00:35:01.099 Holy Spirit, I'm going to give them money. If 00:35:01.099 --> 00:35:04.539 I'm not supposed to, let me know. And then I 00:35:04.539 --> 00:35:07.619 go to be generous. And out of like, I think it's 00:35:07.619 --> 00:35:10.019 probably 45 times that I've given people money. 00:35:10.239 --> 00:35:13.199 One time I went, I had like this physical, like 00:35:13.199 --> 00:35:15.860 spiritual reaction where I was like, I really 00:35:15.860 --> 00:35:19.500 shouldn't do this. And otherwise, I just trust 00:35:19.500 --> 00:35:21.360 God to do what he's going to do. People are like, 00:35:21.380 --> 00:35:22.739 well, what if they take the money? I was like, 00:35:22.760 --> 00:35:25.059 it's not my problem. My job is to be generous. 00:35:25.699 --> 00:35:28.440 My job is to have a heart for people. Yeah. My 00:35:28.440 --> 00:35:30.579 job is to put Jesus on display in all things 00:35:30.579 --> 00:35:32.579 that I do. Yeah. We're not supposed to worry 00:35:32.579 --> 00:35:34.219 about the outcome. Yeah. We're not supposed to 00:35:34.219 --> 00:35:35.940 worry about the outcome. And when you don't have 00:35:35.940 --> 00:35:37.980 to worry about the outcome, man, it gets a lot 00:35:37.980 --> 00:35:43.019 easier to just walk in trust. Yeah. Right? But 00:35:43.019 --> 00:35:45.199 you do have to be faithful. You know, you do 00:35:45.199 --> 00:35:47.420 have to, you have to show up and you got to do 00:35:47.420 --> 00:35:50.340 it. So all of this being said, all this conversation, 00:35:50.440 --> 00:35:52.619 like don't look at your life and be like, man, 00:35:52.739 --> 00:35:55.199 I suck. I'm not doing enough. That's not the 00:35:55.199 --> 00:35:58.079 point. No. The point is Jesus calls us to do 00:35:58.079 --> 00:35:59.760 something and I would love for you to step into 00:35:59.760 --> 00:36:01.800 it because it's a blessing. Yeah. And I mean, 00:36:01.800 --> 00:36:04.139 it ties back into the Mark passage we've been 00:36:04.139 --> 00:36:06.099 reading through today is because what you have 00:36:06.099 --> 00:36:09.219 right here is you have Jesus being generous with 00:36:09.219 --> 00:36:13.750 his time. when it's needed right people uh he's 00:36:13.750 --> 00:36:16.349 preaching in the synagogue and a man blurts out 00:36:16.349 --> 00:36:20.329 why are you interfering and he's like okay you 00:36:20.329 --> 00:36:21.769 gotta deal with this one we're dealing with this 00:36:21.769 --> 00:36:26.170 evil spirit out right yeah um he uh same with 00:36:26.170 --> 00:36:30.090 healing um healing in uh peter's uh mother -in 00:36:30.090 --> 00:36:32.369 -law's house right right and then you actually 00:36:32.369 --> 00:36:35.329 get to the next story right which is the man 00:36:35.329 --> 00:36:39.400 with leprosy People who are supposed to be going 00:36:39.400 --> 00:36:41.059 through saying they're unclean so that other 00:36:41.059 --> 00:36:43.159 people can avoid them. And then Jesus is like, 00:36:43.260 --> 00:36:45.139 no, we got to deal with this. We're going to 00:36:45.139 --> 00:36:47.699 deal with this. I'm going to heal this. And so 00:36:47.699 --> 00:36:50.760 you look at all these stories. It wasn't Jesus 00:36:50.760 --> 00:36:54.860 going out of his way. It was, okay, this situation 00:36:54.860 --> 00:36:58.139 arose right here in front of me right now. How 00:36:58.139 --> 00:37:00.639 can I be generous with my time and what I have? 00:37:01.550 --> 00:37:04.210 I think also there's this reality is that if 00:37:04.210 --> 00:37:07.030 we as believers, just churchgoers, because we're 00:37:07.030 --> 00:37:09.369 interspersed throughout the community. Like one 00:37:09.369 --> 00:37:11.190 of the craziest thing I always think about with 00:37:11.190 --> 00:37:13.510 the church is, even our church, is if you think 00:37:13.510 --> 00:37:15.670 about how widely spread we are throughout town. 00:37:15.789 --> 00:37:18.610 Yeah. Right? Like just our church. We're just 00:37:18.610 --> 00:37:21.030 widely spread throughout town. It's almost like 00:37:21.030 --> 00:37:24.210 God knows what he's doing. Right? We're touching 00:37:24.210 --> 00:37:28.570 every place in the city just by random happenstance 00:37:28.570 --> 00:37:30.809 of us coming together. Random happenstance. I 00:37:30.809 --> 00:37:34.489 put that in quotations. If we just keep our eyes 00:37:34.489 --> 00:37:39.010 open, this entire city would be. Yeah. We wouldn't 00:37:39.010 --> 00:37:40.949 have to go look for the things because all of 00:37:40.949 --> 00:37:43.489 us is going to run into something. We just keep 00:37:43.489 --> 00:37:45.949 our eyes open. Yep. And we say, Holy Spirit, 00:37:46.010 --> 00:37:48.429 what are you doing here? Yep. What do you need 00:37:48.429 --> 00:37:51.929 done here? And then the better thing is to stop 00:37:51.929 --> 00:37:56.469 and listen. Yep. Right? So there we go. Love 00:37:56.469 --> 00:37:59.909 and Context Podcast. Welcome to the Love and 00:37:59.909 --> 00:38:04.409 Context Podcast. Well, if you enjoyed this talk, 00:38:04.550 --> 00:38:07.150 tune in next week. Notice he said talk and not 00:38:07.150 --> 00:38:10.840 song. I was very specific. You're very specific 00:38:10.840 --> 00:38:15.280 about that. It's a good conversation. It's a 00:38:15.280 --> 00:38:19.840 little bit more difficult. I was thinking about 00:38:19.840 --> 00:38:23.019 this this week as we're closing here. It's not 00:38:23.019 --> 00:38:24.599 self -recrimination. I don't want you guys to 00:38:24.599 --> 00:38:26.340 feel bad about any of these things. There's enough 00:38:26.340 --> 00:38:29.079 content on social media about why you should 00:38:29.079 --> 00:38:31.480 feel bad about X, Y, and Z. I want you to feel 00:38:31.480 --> 00:38:33.679 great about being a child of God and feel called 00:38:33.679 --> 00:38:36.320 into something and not sit here and beat yourself 00:38:36.320 --> 00:38:38.920 up. God wants you just to Be involved. Yeah, 00:38:39.000 --> 00:38:41.179 and the more you lean into your relationship 00:38:41.179 --> 00:38:43.320 with Jesus, the more these things are just going 00:38:43.320 --> 00:38:45.860 to naturally happen. Correct. Right? And the 00:38:45.860 --> 00:38:49.039 more you're going to see people through God's 00:38:49.039 --> 00:38:51.619 eyes, and you're going to start managing your 00:38:51.619 --> 00:38:54.159 time, your resources, your money in a way that 00:38:54.159 --> 00:38:56.840 aligns with the Lord. What we're talking about 00:38:56.840 --> 00:38:59.780 is a natural process that happens. I know we 00:38:59.780 --> 00:39:03.469 talk supernatural a lot, but... Super natural. 00:39:03.829 --> 00:39:05.090 We're talking about the natural process that 00:39:05.090 --> 00:39:06.530 happens when you say, yes, I'm going to follow 00:39:06.530 --> 00:39:09.530 Jesus. And the more you lean into that in your 00:39:09.530 --> 00:39:11.849 personal relationship with him, the more you 00:39:11.849 --> 00:39:14.570 see these changes play out in your life. Amen. 00:39:15.230 --> 00:39:19.650 Until next time. Until next time. And that's 00:39:19.650 --> 00:39:22.070 a wrap for today's episode of Love and Context. 00:39:22.170 --> 00:39:24.309 We hope this conversation encouraged you and 00:39:24.309 --> 00:39:26.610 gave you fresh insights into how we can better 00:39:26.610 --> 00:39:28.769 love God and others through the powerful truths 00:39:28.769 --> 00:39:31.409 of the Bible. We'd love to hear from you. Send 00:39:31.409 --> 00:39:34.630 your questions, thoughts, or suggestions to loveandcontext 00:39:34.630 --> 00:39:37.369 at gmail .com. Your feedback means the world 00:39:37.369 --> 00:39:40.269 to us and helps shape future episodes. Stay connected 00:39:40.269 --> 00:39:42.610 with us on social media for updates, behind the 00:39:42.610 --> 00:39:44.869 scenes content, and additional resources. You 00:39:44.869 --> 00:39:47.449 can find us on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and 00:39:47.449 --> 00:39:50.309 Facebook at loveandcontext. Be sure to hit that 00:39:50.309 --> 00:39:51.889 follow button and join our growing community. 00:39:52.369 --> 00:39:54.190 Thanks for being part of the Love and Context 00:39:54.190 --> 00:39:56.170 family. Remember, love is at the heart of it 00:39:56.170 --> 00:39:58.989 all. Until next time, keep seeking wisdom, embracing 00:39:58.989 --> 00:40:01.150 love, and living out your faith in today's world.