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 in Context podcast. Test. Yeah. Once

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again, we're joined by, you do know this is going

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on YouTube, so people will see you. Oh, yes.

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Yes. Okay. So don't worry. This is Ben. I'm a

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very serious person. And I am not Spencer. Not

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Spencer. We're joined again by Matthew Nunley.

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He was on a few episodes again. We were talking

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about prayer, but today we're going to be talking

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about the feeding of the 5 ,000 and the 4 ,000.

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Before I got that, I actually told you, I was

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like, hey, let's go and start recording because

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I want to include this in the podcast. We were

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talking about like when you reveal things to

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people. And I was talking about my son is like

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there's some questions he has about some things

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going on in life. And I was like, I don't, he's

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not ready to understand those things because

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they're adult themes that he doesn't have no

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context on. He's six years old. And so I explained

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it to him in a very generic way. And I said,

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there is more. And I've told him, I said, hey,

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buddy, there's more to this. Exactly. Which is

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so good to let him know that. There is more to

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this, but you're not capable of understanding

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it right now. Trust dad that he's going to reveal

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it to you as you need to know. And I was telling

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Matthew, I was like, right around that time I

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said that, God's like, hey, by the way. Yeah,

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it's almost like, you know. own walk with God

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and our understanding and what we learn and all

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those things. Is it kind of like a similar? Somewhat

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age appropriate, right? Relationship appropriate,

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you know, like our, what we're able to absorb

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and comprehend. Right. Yeah. You know, and so

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the, well, and so, and so you said something

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you were talking about, um, I gave you a book

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recently talking about the sacrificial system,

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which you said is not necessarily one that like

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when somebody first comes as Jesus, this is probably

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not the book that's going to be helpful for them.

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No. Right. Now, once you come to Jesus, you have

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to, and like what I was going to tell you is

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like, um, I will have people who ask me, they're

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like, Hey, when did you, like, where did you

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learn this contextual things? And I said, and

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I said, well, you know, I can give you a list

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of the books, but I can ask you a question. I

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was like, how, how well do you know the Bible?

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Right. Right. Like that's one of the first questions

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that I have. And, uh, you know, there'll be like,

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well, you know, I've read, you know, blah, blah,

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blah. And there's a good percentage of Christians

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that never read the entire Bible. Yep. Right.

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A hundred percent. And yeah, not, not a hundred

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percent. Um, and, uh, and so when the, so the

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washer, I got started, I was like, you should

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read your Bible at least four times a year to

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get started. Hmm. And consider reading the gospels

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once a week. Yeah. Yeah. And they're like, well,

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but I've read those and I say, yeah, but I need

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you to really understand them. Like you need

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to understand the narrative. You need to understand

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how these pieces fit together. The Bible project

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is a great reference, a reference point that

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we use all the time. bama podcast this podcast

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all these things are great for those i was like

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but the reality is you have to be familiar with

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the text yeah you have to let it be familiar

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to you so whether that's listening reading um

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you can watch like they have like these awesome

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artistic renderings of like scripture right and

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i love that too whatever your way to engage is

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you need to engage Because the things we're talking

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about, if you don't know what's true, what's

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part of the narrative, the heart of God throughout

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scripture, you're going to struggle when you

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go in and you start poking at things and being

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like, is this actually something valid the Bible's

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talking about? Or is this something I've been

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told by people that the Bible says? Correct.

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And if you don't understand context, love and

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context, right? Yeah. Love and context. But if

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you don't, if you don't understand context, it

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is so easy to misunderstand. Or even if you don't

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misunderstand it, to not understand the true

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depth. So you read over something, you'll just

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kind of gloss over it because it doesn't really

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connect. Yeah. You know, but then it's like,

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if you do have a good foundation and you can

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start to see where the references really are

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referring to and connecting, it's like, whoa,

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it just opens up to a whole new experience. Well,

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and this is something interesting that happens

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when you actually start studying the Bible and

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start actually just reading it. And by the way,

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this is not the yes study, but I'm talking about

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just read. Yeah. Like, don't try to figure it

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out. Just read and hear the story. Right? And

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I was like, I can do it in different translations.

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Yeah, yeah. You know, multiple translations.

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NLT, then NIV, then the message, then King James

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Version, then the CSV, then the ESV, then the

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NASB, then the ALT? BLT. Yeah, the BLT, the Ben's

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Living Translation. Or bacon, lettuce, and what's

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better than tomato? Because I don't know if I

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want tomato on my... Ooh, you know what? Bacon,

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lettuce, and tostadas. Okay. Try it and let me

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know how it goes. Taquitos. There we go. Bacon,

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lettuce, and taquitos. That's what my sandwich

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is named after. But you get this and you hear

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this rhythm and you hear what's going on in the

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Bible. And what's going to start happening is

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as you're listening to the Old Testament, you're

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going to be like, oh man, Jesus says something

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about that. And you're going to start hearing

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the connections yourself without us doing anything

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else. And we're waving at Talon because that's

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Matthew's son. He walked by the window as we

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were recording. I like how he was tiptoeing like

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he's actually going to get picked up by the mic.

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So, but, you know, you go through these over

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and over again and you'll start making the connections

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because you're going to be like in the New Testament

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and Jesus says, the poor will always be with

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you. And you'd be like, oh, that's in Deuteronomy.

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Right, right, right. And then he says, but I

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won't always be with you. So this gift is extravagant.

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And then you're like, oh, because like honoring

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God, but you always need to be generous because

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that's what Deuteronomy is talking about. You

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should always be generous, but Jesus isn't always

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with you. And so be extravagant when Jesus is

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moving in your midst. Because what's meant for

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basically all those provisions that we have aren't

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just meant for us. Correct. And just like, you

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know, Torah and everything else. And all the

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blessings that the Israelites had wasn't just

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meant for them, but it was to bless the entire

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world. Yeah. The same kind of context. So getting

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into the gospels, you know, like hearing the

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words of Jesus and a lot of people will be like,

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you know, I follow Jesus, but they have no idea

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what he said. Right. Yeah. You know, and, and

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then I'll talk to people about, you know, what

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is, what does it mean to follow Christ? And they'll

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quote Paul, which by the way, it's not a bad

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thing. Correct. Right. It's not a bad thing because

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Paul's quoting Jesus. Correct. But you should

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know what Jesus said. A hundred percent. Right.

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Paul is a helpful teacher to understand Jesus,

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but Jesus is our rabbi. He's our God. He's our

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Messiah. Right. And so like knowing the gospels

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is incredibly crucial because the gospels are

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the heart of everything that beats around it.

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Yep. Right. And then understanding what really

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we should be referencing with when we mentioned

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the gospel is important because there's been,

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you know, like I remember as a child, a common.

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thing that was kind of told in church that i

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just kind of ran with was oh the gospels is okay

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those first books of the new testament that talk

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about the life of jesus and that's the gospels

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yeah it's like yeah yeah yes yeah but but gospel

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literally means correct good news and then and

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then there's the often confused between the specific

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message that jesus presented as the gospel versus

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what like paul presented as The gospel. Well,

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you and I were having this conversation because

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we were talking about parables the other day.

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And in the book of Matthew, he has a sermon on

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the mount where he introduces this concept of

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the kingdom of God because his message is repent

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because the kingdom of God is here. Exactly.

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And then he describes what the kingdom of God

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is and what it means to be a citizen of the kingdom

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of God. And then he tells a parable about the

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kingdom of God is like. Correct. Now we read

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that and we're like, oh, like being a Christian

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is like, no, no, he's just talked. for multiple

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chapters about what the kingdom of God is. This

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message, this thing about like, this is the kingdom

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of God. This is Torah come among you. This is

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God's law coming to life in people's lives. And

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like, this is what it looks like. And then he

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says, so the kingdom of God is like a mustard

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seed. The kingdom of God is like dough that is

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baked and yeast that is sewed into it. It gets

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everywhere, you know, and like, and like, and

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it's always connecting back to this idea of the

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kingdom. Now, why is that important? Because

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the good news. of Jesus Christ is that the kingdom

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of God is here ready to interact with us. It's

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now accessible because of his death, burial and

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resurrection. Correct. Right. Yep. But his death,

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burial and resurrection, they're purposeful and

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their purpose is fulfilled because of the life

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of Jesus. Yep. And one of the places that I think

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we've gotten ourselves in trouble in the church

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is that we focus so hard on the cross and the

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cross is incredibly important and the empty tomb

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is incredibly important and we should focus on

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those, but they're in the context of the life

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of Jesus and this kingdom he came to represent.

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He says, this is the kingdom come among you.

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Yep. Now let me give you access to it. Exactly.

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You trust in my, my faithfulness. is what Paul's

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going to say. We put our faith in the faithfulness

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of Jesus Christ. And when we do that, we're transported

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to heavenly places, seated in heavenly places

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with God, right? And the spirit is sent as a

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down payment for what is to come. And we live

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today, as we quoted a few weeks ago in the Lord's

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prayer, your kingdom come, your will be done

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here on earth as it is in heaven. And so then

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we actually live this mandate to bring the kingdom

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of heaven to the places we go. We bring this

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kingdom, this kingdom of generosity, this kingdom

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of love, this kingdom of care, this kingdom of

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restoration, this kingdom of light. It goes right

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back into the mustard seed or the little bit

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of lemon. So everywhere we go, we are bringing

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the kingdom and we are effectively injecting

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and taking over. Correct. The realm around us

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with the kingdom of heaven. Permeate everywhere.

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Exactly. And, uh, you know, one of the, remember

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one of those, those songs from, uh, like, uh,

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VBS growing up this little light of mine. Right.

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I'm going to let it shine, which is a great song.

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I love that song. Right. I will not. Yes, please

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sing it for us right now. But the thing about

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light is a little light in a lot of darkness

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is really powerful. Extremely. It eliminates.

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If you've ever just like, I want you to like

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just sometime go into your room, completely black

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it out and light a candle. And you let me know

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as you sit there how much that candle impacts

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your view of the room. Oh, exactly. you know

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and the reverse of that too if someone else is

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looking at you inside of a dark room with a candle

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you are illuminated yeah everything else is dark

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and yet there's a guided light to you there's

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a quote from c .s lewis where he talks about

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that and he says i believe in christ like i believe

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in the sun not because i can see it but because

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by it i can see everything else Right? Right.

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Like, and so, and like this idea, like light

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makes a difference in the darkness. Yeah, it

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does. Going back to John 1 .1. Yep. You know?

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Yeah, exactly. The verdict has come. Right? Yep.

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So. That's not actually what we're talking about

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today. That's just a precursor on like why it's

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really important to like, is that things get

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revealed in time, but the biggest thing you can

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do to grow in your, in your faith is to actually

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be familiar with the word of God. Oh, definitely.

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Be familiar with the gospels, be familiar with

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these stories. Hopefully everything that we do

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here on the podcast gets you excited to get into

00:11:13.570 --> 00:11:15.429
this book yourself. A hundred percent. Like that's

00:11:15.429 --> 00:11:19.190
the hope. Today we are reading the feeding of

00:11:19.190 --> 00:11:21.389
the 5 ,000 and reading the feeding of the 4 ,000.

00:11:21.529 --> 00:11:23.870
So I'm going to read both of these stories back

00:11:23.870 --> 00:11:25.789
to back. I'm going to use Matthew for both of

00:11:25.789 --> 00:11:27.480
these. but there is some things from the other

00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:29.799
books that I'm going to reference. But I wanted

00:11:29.799 --> 00:11:32.820
to use Matthew today because Matthew Nunley is

00:11:32.820 --> 00:11:34.340
here. No, that's not why. No, definitely not.

00:11:34.379 --> 00:11:37.840
All right. So if you're in chapter 14, Jesus

00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:41.019
comes and he is, so this is just after John the

00:11:41.019 --> 00:11:44.379
Baptist has been beheaded. And it says in verse

00:11:44.379 --> 00:11:47.279
13, when Jesus heard what had happened, this

00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:50.279
is. John dying. He withdrew by boat privately

00:11:50.279 --> 00:11:52.379
to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds

00:11:52.379 --> 00:11:54.480
followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus

00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:56.399
landed and saw the great crowd, he had compassion

00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:59.220
on them and healed their sick. As evening approached,

00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:01.340
the disciples came to him and said, this is a

00:12:01.340 --> 00:12:03.519
remote place and it's already getting late. Send

00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:05.580
the crowds away so that they can go to the villages

00:12:05.580 --> 00:12:07.759
and buy themselves some food. Jesus replied,

00:12:07.980 --> 00:12:09.960
they do not need to go away. You give them something

00:12:09.960 --> 00:12:13.960
to eat. We have here only five loaves of bread

00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:16.679
and two fish, they answered. Bring them to me,

00:12:16.759 --> 00:12:20.960
he said. And he directed the people to sit down

00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:22.779
on the grass, taking five loaves and two fish

00:12:22.779 --> 00:12:24.299
and looking up to heaven. He gave thanks and

00:12:24.299 --> 00:12:26.360
broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples

00:12:26.360 --> 00:12:28.340
and the disciples gave them to the people. They

00:12:28.340 --> 00:12:30.159
all ate and were satisfied. And the disciples

00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:32.559
picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces that

00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:34.639
were left over. The number of those who ate was

00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:37.000
about 5 ,000 men besides women. and children.

00:12:37.220 --> 00:12:40.980
All right. So pause here. I want to read you

00:12:40.980 --> 00:12:42.799
a couple of things here and I want to pause and

00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:44.500
ask you your, your impression of what's going

00:12:44.500 --> 00:12:47.480
on here. When Jesus heard about what happened,

00:12:47.559 --> 00:12:49.919
his cousin, John has just been beheaded. Yeah.

00:12:50.679 --> 00:12:53.440
He went by boat, withdrew by boat to a private,

00:12:53.460 --> 00:12:58.139
privately to a solitary place. Why? Oh, what

00:12:58.139 --> 00:12:59.679
does Jesus go to solitary places for? He goes

00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:02.279
to pray. He goes to have tabernacle with the

00:13:02.279 --> 00:13:05.600
father to commune, you know, to, to go to him

00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:08.860
and seek his will. Right. You know, and that's

00:13:08.860 --> 00:13:10.779
already been established in this book. Yep. Like

00:13:10.779 --> 00:13:12.720
this is where Jesus does. He withdraws to lonely

00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:17.139
places, wilderness places, the wasteland of places

00:13:17.139 --> 00:13:18.940
like where nothing's going on. That's where we

00:13:18.940 --> 00:13:21.440
tend to grow. Nowhere's nowhere. Yeah. Right.

00:13:21.580 --> 00:13:25.039
Yeah. So Jesus hears that his cousin has been

00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:26.679
beheaded. Somebody that's very close to him.

00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:28.879
Somebody who he picked up the mantle of his conversation

00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:31.200
because John originally was preaching repent

00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:32.779
for the kingdom of heaven is here. And Jesus

00:13:32.779 --> 00:13:34.820
steps into that and carries it in a little bit

00:13:34.820 --> 00:13:36.379
different direction than John because John doesn't

00:13:36.379 --> 00:13:38.220
quite get what Jesus is doing. Right, right.

00:13:38.340 --> 00:13:41.139
But like he respects John. Very much. And he

00:13:41.139 --> 00:13:43.279
loves him too. And he loves him. He's hurting,

00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:47.179
you know. So he's gone with that real raw emotion,

00:13:47.539 --> 00:13:50.659
you know. To the father. He's bringing that with

00:13:50.659 --> 00:13:55.379
him. So he's going to a lonely place to go and

00:13:55.379 --> 00:13:57.000
spend time with the father because he's hurting.

00:13:57.159 --> 00:13:59.519
And it doesn't say that he's hurting, but I think

00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:01.580
that it's implied. A hundred percent. And it

00:14:01.580 --> 00:14:04.860
also says, you know, like he's our mediator,

00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:09.220
right? And he has experienced basically everything

00:14:09.220 --> 00:14:11.440
we have, which is why he's able to do it so well.

00:14:11.539 --> 00:14:14.679
It's not just from a... intellectual knowledge

00:14:14.679 --> 00:14:17.480
as our creator, but as an experiential knowledge

00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:20.220
as one who's also experienced it too. And so

00:14:20.220 --> 00:14:22.820
he can, he can relate to us so much more intimately

00:14:22.820 --> 00:14:26.799
than just the intellectual knowledge and know

00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:32.080
-how of our makeup. Hearing of this, that Jesus

00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:37.960
is withdrawing because John has died. Yeah. The

00:14:37.960 --> 00:14:40.639
crowds followed him on foot from the towns. Right.

00:14:40.899 --> 00:14:44.659
Okay. First of all, And the miracle is about

00:14:44.659 --> 00:14:47.039
to happen, but don't be that guy. Right. You

00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:50.340
know what I mean? like somebody's like man this

00:14:50.340 --> 00:14:52.600
is heavy i need to go and pray and i just need

00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:54.659
some time alone you're like i'm going with you

00:14:54.659 --> 00:14:59.500
you know to read um like sometimes there is like

00:14:59.500 --> 00:15:02.679
i i by the way this by it just went went on in

00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:04.360
my head lord of the rings reference right yeah

00:15:04.360 --> 00:15:06.980
frodo's like sam you can't come with me i'm going

00:15:06.980 --> 00:15:10.220
to mordor alone he's like i know and i'm coming

00:15:10.220 --> 00:15:13.259
with you you know which ultimately ends up being

00:15:13.259 --> 00:15:15.740
a good thing but like this idea like When people

00:15:15.740 --> 00:15:17.899
are going to be alone with God as like ask them

00:15:17.899 --> 00:15:19.580
if they want company, sometimes you need to show

00:15:19.580 --> 00:15:21.320
up there regardless, but also read the room.

00:15:21.799 --> 00:15:25.320
Exactly. A hundred percent. Now when Jesus landed,

00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:27.279
so he gets there, he sees a large crowd. It says

00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:29.679
he had compassion on them and he healed their

00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:34.419
sick. So this is not why he's here. This is not

00:15:34.419 --> 00:15:37.159
why he's here. but he looks out and he sees the

00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:38.740
people and he has compassion. This just shows

00:15:38.740 --> 00:15:40.539
the heart of God. Yeah. Such as like, I mean,

00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:42.860
it's such an extreme example, you know, one who's

00:15:42.860 --> 00:15:45.220
dealing with something that would be so painful

00:15:45.220 --> 00:15:47.059
as it is having, you know, your family member

00:15:47.059 --> 00:15:48.580
and your best friend, you know, one of your,

00:15:48.580 --> 00:15:51.000
you know, dear friends, you know, who's just

00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:55.840
been effectively murdered, you know, for righteousness,

00:15:55.899 --> 00:15:58.860
really, you know, and someone you're close with

00:15:58.860 --> 00:16:01.460
and you're dealing with all that. And yet God

00:16:01.460 --> 00:16:06.059
is in his humanity, able to table, what he's

00:16:06.059 --> 00:16:09.179
dealing with and have compassion and remove and

00:16:09.179 --> 00:16:11.240
compartmentalize himself from what his own issues

00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:15.080
and be able to be there for everyone else. Yeah.

00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:16.700
Like it just did the depth of love that that

00:16:16.700 --> 00:16:19.440
is, is just, it's amazing. And it's inspirational.

00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:24.600
Yeah. So I want to go to a quiet place. I'm going

00:16:24.600 --> 00:16:26.179
to figure out, like spend some time with God

00:16:26.179 --> 00:16:28.259
and process what's going on with John. He sees

00:16:28.259 --> 00:16:30.039
the people are like, Oh, he's going over here.

00:16:30.059 --> 00:16:31.899
We'll go over there first. He comes out and he's

00:16:31.899 --> 00:16:36.590
like, Yeah. I love you guys. And heels are sick.

00:16:36.710 --> 00:16:39.230
And then, so then, uh, it's not actually Jesus

00:16:39.230 --> 00:16:42.070
who brings up them leaving. Jesus is not the

00:16:42.070 --> 00:16:43.750
one who brings up them leaving. Uh, if you read

00:16:43.750 --> 00:16:45.789
next, it says as evening approached, the disciples

00:16:45.789 --> 00:16:49.769
came to him, him as Jesus. And they said, this

00:16:49.769 --> 00:16:52.190
is a remote place. Yeah. No kidding. I went here

00:16:52.190 --> 00:16:55.950
on purpose. Right. Right. This is a remote place.

00:16:56.049 --> 00:16:58.289
Yeah. I know this is, I went here on purpose.

00:16:59.330 --> 00:17:03.450
Um, And it's already getting late. Send the crowds

00:17:03.450 --> 00:17:05.549
away so they can go to the villages and buy themselves

00:17:05.549 --> 00:17:08.890
some food. Okay. Jesus didn't summon the crowds,

00:17:09.009 --> 00:17:13.650
but they want him to send them away. Right. But

00:17:13.650 --> 00:17:16.390
not because of a faith issue or a compassion

00:17:16.390 --> 00:17:18.490
issue, but because they're hungry and they think

00:17:18.490 --> 00:17:21.190
they're hungry and they need to go get some food.

00:17:21.230 --> 00:17:28.430
Yep. Right. So what does Jesus say? They do not

00:17:28.430 --> 00:17:30.660
need to go away. You give them something to eat.

00:17:31.299 --> 00:17:32.940
Hey, if you think this is a problem, why don't

00:17:32.940 --> 00:17:36.579
you take care of it? Exactly. Right? Well, we

00:17:36.579 --> 00:17:38.279
only have five loaves of bread and two fish,

00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:42.220
they answered. Bring them here to me. And he

00:17:42.220 --> 00:17:44.500
directed the people to sit down on the grass,

00:17:44.700 --> 00:17:46.759
taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking

00:17:46.759 --> 00:17:48.859
up to the heavens. He gave thanks and broke the

00:17:48.859 --> 00:17:51.640
loaves. In the middle of his heartbreak, in the

00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:53.599
middle of serving people who needed to be comforted,

00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:54.900
in the middle of people who were being sick,

00:17:55.019 --> 00:17:56.759
in the middle of the disciples who want him to

00:17:56.759 --> 00:17:58.279
send them away because they came to a remote

00:17:58.279 --> 00:18:01.880
place. Of course we did. Yep. Go buy your own

00:18:01.880 --> 00:18:05.299
food. He says, no, we're going to take what we

00:18:05.299 --> 00:18:08.660
got. I'm going to look to my father, who is,

00:18:08.700 --> 00:18:10.579
by the way, who I came to talk to to begin with.

00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:13.779
Exactly. I'm going to bless what you've given

00:18:13.779 --> 00:18:17.000
and it's going to feed everybody. Yeah. Now.

00:18:17.420 --> 00:18:18.660
There's a ton of different ways we could have

00:18:18.660 --> 00:18:20.640
gone with this story, right? Oh, very much so.

00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:23.160
There's so many things to digest here. But it's

00:18:23.160 --> 00:18:25.480
beautiful. It is. Like, you should see the heart

00:18:25.480 --> 00:18:28.460
of God on display here. The miracle isn't that

00:18:28.460 --> 00:18:31.799
people's mouths are full of food. The miracle

00:18:31.799 --> 00:18:36.019
is that God takes what people offer. He made

00:18:36.019 --> 00:18:37.680
some in there. I'm going to say selfishness.

00:18:37.700 --> 00:18:39.759
Like they come in when he's trying to mourn or

00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:41.980
like deal with the death, they come and crowd

00:18:41.980 --> 00:18:44.839
in and get healing and stuff. The disciples are

00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:46.180
like, let's get, get rid of them. And he's like,

00:18:46.259 --> 00:18:49.160
no, we're going to feed them. And like he feeds

00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:51.680
all of them. Exactly. In the middle of all these

00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:53.059
things is all these feelings that he's feeling.

00:18:53.099 --> 00:18:54.359
Now this is of course just the book of Matthew.

00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:56.559
Like other disciples are going to record it slightly

00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:57.940
differently because they experienced slightly

00:18:57.940 --> 00:19:02.640
different things. Right. Like that's this is

00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:04.960
the heart of God on display. Yep. This is a it's

00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:06.440
about this We've been talking about this kingdom

00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:08.960
life the kingdom life. Yeah, like it's it's about

00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:10.980
being devoted to God, but it's also about compassion

00:19:10.980 --> 00:19:14.000
It's about this healing breaking out. It's about

00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:15.980
goodness breaking out. It's about peace breaking

00:19:15.980 --> 00:19:18.779
out It's about community coming together and

00:19:18.779 --> 00:19:21.000
and we're gonna talk about the numbers in a little

00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:22.539
bit But we're gonna do the story of the four

00:19:22.539 --> 00:19:23.799
thousand before we start talking about numbers

00:19:23.799 --> 00:19:25.539
before we do that like another thing to kind

00:19:25.539 --> 00:19:27.220
of like highlight I think here that's important

00:19:27.220 --> 00:19:31.349
is You know, and we see this in, you know, Jesus'

00:19:31.470 --> 00:19:34.910
prayer, you know, garden of Gethsemane, or probably

00:19:34.910 --> 00:19:38.029
said that wrong. But, you know, it's like in

00:19:38.029 --> 00:19:39.470
with the Lord's prayer, right? You know, it's

00:19:39.470 --> 00:19:41.289
like, hey, your will, not mine, be done kind

00:19:41.289 --> 00:19:43.589
of thing. And so like, yeah, he's experiencing

00:19:43.589 --> 00:19:45.809
a very human emotion right now. And so it's his

00:19:45.809 --> 00:19:48.990
will to be able to kind of dislocate from everything,

00:19:49.130 --> 00:19:53.549
go have his time. with the Lord and him process

00:19:53.549 --> 00:19:57.069
it. But yet God's like allowing it, like God's

00:19:57.069 --> 00:19:59.769
will is for, you know, to love all, right. And

00:19:59.769 --> 00:20:01.730
to redeem all. And there's all these others who

00:20:01.730 --> 00:20:04.170
have needs, right. And God has compassion for

00:20:04.170 --> 00:20:06.650
them. And so it's like, Hey, it's not what I'm

00:20:06.650 --> 00:20:09.609
personally feeling, not my will, but like living

00:20:09.609 --> 00:20:13.170
out the, and demonstrating what it is to be interruptible,

00:20:13.190 --> 00:20:16.859
you know, being able to put others. in front

00:20:16.859 --> 00:20:19.099
of yourself and your own feelings, emotions,

00:20:19.319 --> 00:20:21.619
thoughts, needs, right? And putting other people's

00:20:21.619 --> 00:20:23.420
needs first. And it's like a really kind of beautiful

00:20:23.420 --> 00:20:26.599
demonstration of, you know, the Christian walk,

00:20:26.740 --> 00:20:29.359
allowing yourself to be interruptible, to do

00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:30.980
God's will when you're trying to do something

00:20:30.980 --> 00:20:32.900
like, I've got this meeting I got to go do, but

00:20:32.900 --> 00:20:34.259
God's like, oh, I got this person I need you

00:20:34.259 --> 00:20:36.180
to minister to though on the way. And it's like,

00:20:36.200 --> 00:20:38.740
but I got this timeline, right? Like this person's

00:20:38.740 --> 00:20:41.609
hungry. They need that McDonald's cheeseburger.

00:20:41.769 --> 00:20:43.630
Go get them that first, right? Whatever it is.

00:20:44.009 --> 00:20:45.789
Incidentally, we're recording on National Cheeseburger

00:20:45.789 --> 00:20:49.990
Day. So. Perfect. See, got new things. I didn't

00:20:49.990 --> 00:20:53.089
know. You know, but that's what it's showing

00:20:53.089 --> 00:20:55.089
here. And it's really, really cool because it's

00:20:55.089 --> 00:20:58.289
not just in the, you know, like, yes, the feeding

00:20:58.289 --> 00:21:01.609
of the four and five thousand were big events

00:21:01.609 --> 00:21:04.210
that we look at now. But going into this, the

00:21:04.210 --> 00:21:06.509
big event hadn't occurred yet. Yeah. Right. The

00:21:06.509 --> 00:21:09.579
miracle hadn't occurred yet. But yet the demonstration

00:21:09.579 --> 00:21:12.200
of what we see in the big events, like, you know,

00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:17.599
when, you know, you know, Jesus literally submits

00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:20.059
himself to be arrested and go to the cross and

00:21:20.059 --> 00:21:21.940
other things like that. Right. Don't get ahead

00:21:21.940 --> 00:21:23.559
of us. That's that's way further. I know. I know.

00:21:23.660 --> 00:21:26.880
I know. But yeah, it's just the heart here. And

00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:28.900
I love it. Well, I agree. I agree with you completely.

00:21:28.980 --> 00:21:31.839
So why does like so why does Jesus go to a desolate

00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:34.640
place? to pray. Like that's been the motif going

00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:37.000
forward. And yet when he gets there, there's

00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:38.880
people who he has compassion on and are sick

00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:41.759
and they need to hear, they need to hear a word

00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:44.819
of God. And maybe the disciples are like, Oh

00:21:44.819 --> 00:21:46.799
yeah, we're going to go mourn, you know, John

00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:48.000
the Baptist too. We're going to go with Jesus.

00:21:48.059 --> 00:21:49.539
Cause clearly the disciples are with them. So

00:21:49.539 --> 00:21:52.180
he planned on them going with them. Right. And

00:21:52.180 --> 00:21:53.680
like, they're like, man, we're going to get some

00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:55.539
alone time with Jesus. He's going to tell us

00:21:55.539 --> 00:21:56.980
these stories. And then there's these crowds

00:21:56.980 --> 00:21:59.619
and they're like. Now, that is supposition, by

00:21:59.619 --> 00:22:01.240
the way. That's not written in the text. That's

00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:06.119
a thing that I just think. Right, right. But

00:22:06.119 --> 00:22:10.200
the interruption actually ends up being the point

00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:13.180
of being there. Yeah. That the healing breaks

00:22:13.180 --> 00:22:17.240
out and also a miracle breaks out. A miracle

00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:19.799
chock full of significance for the Jewish people.

00:22:19.940 --> 00:22:21.980
Yeah. Right? We're going to come back to that

00:22:21.980 --> 00:22:24.019
in just a minute. So I'm going to jump ahead

00:22:24.019 --> 00:22:29.690
here. So after this story. Jesus then goes, it

00:22:29.690 --> 00:22:31.490
says that Jesus immediately made the disciples

00:22:31.490 --> 00:22:32.970
get into the boat and go ahead of him to the

00:22:32.970 --> 00:22:37.950
other side. Okay. And this is where Jesus is

00:22:37.950 --> 00:22:39.809
then going to walk on water. Peter's going to

00:22:39.809 --> 00:22:41.970
be like, hey, can I come and join you? And he's

00:22:41.970 --> 00:22:45.710
like, sure, come on out. That, by the way, is

00:22:45.710 --> 00:22:48.430
a great story that we should have time to talk

00:22:48.430 --> 00:22:52.650
about at a future date. because Peter does the

00:22:52.650 --> 00:22:54.329
right thing. When you're a disciple of Jesus,

00:22:54.450 --> 00:22:56.910
when you were a disciple of rabbi, you do what

00:22:56.910 --> 00:22:59.549
the rabbi does. Yeah. Right. Exactly. And so

00:22:59.549 --> 00:23:01.170
him walking on the water is the correct thing

00:23:01.170 --> 00:23:04.430
to do. Yep. And Peter does sink, but not before

00:23:04.430 --> 00:23:08.170
he walks. And I was like, I will take three steps

00:23:08.170 --> 00:23:11.390
on water and falling in into the water and being

00:23:11.390 --> 00:23:13.569
pulled up by the hands of God over being one

00:23:13.569 --> 00:23:15.089
of the 11 that's still on the side of the boat

00:23:15.089 --> 00:23:18.589
all day. All day. All day, yeah. 100%. John Orberg

00:23:18.589 --> 00:23:20.829
has a book, and the book is good, but I love

00:23:20.829 --> 00:23:23.329
the title. It says, you can't walk on water if

00:23:23.329 --> 00:23:26.470
you won't get out of the boat. Exactly. And it's

00:23:26.470 --> 00:23:29.069
so true. Right? And how many times have we let

00:23:29.069 --> 00:23:32.430
fear prevent us from ever going into what? God's

00:23:32.430 --> 00:23:35.549
calling us into, right? So, so he goes out and

00:23:35.549 --> 00:23:37.009
he walks on water and they're like, man, who

00:23:37.009 --> 00:23:39.329
is this guy? We just watched him just feed an

00:23:39.329 --> 00:23:41.009
army. Now he's walking on water. Like what's

00:23:41.009 --> 00:23:42.829
going on? There's a great reference to the book

00:23:42.829 --> 00:23:45.069
of Jonah, by the way, in there. Um, not Jonah,

00:23:45.170 --> 00:23:48.990
um, Job, Job, reference to the book of Job inside

00:23:48.990 --> 00:23:51.809
of that, that conversation. Um, then he has a

00:23:51.809 --> 00:23:53.690
conversation with the Pharisees about what, what

00:23:53.690 --> 00:23:56.809
defiles, right? And then after they have this

00:23:56.809 --> 00:23:58.950
conversation about what was going to defile people,

00:23:59.069 --> 00:24:01.609
he then goes and interact with a Canaanite woman.

00:24:02.230 --> 00:24:05.309
Right, right. Right? Yep. So he just talks to

00:24:05.309 --> 00:24:07.509
them about what defiles and then the woman comes

00:24:07.509 --> 00:24:10.829
and she is, let me read it real quick. A Canaanite

00:24:10.829 --> 00:24:12.869
woman came from that vicinity crying out, Lord,

00:24:12.930 --> 00:24:14.410
son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter is

00:24:14.410 --> 00:24:16.230
demon possessed and suffering terribly. He did

00:24:16.230 --> 00:24:18.150
not answer her so that his disciples said, yeah,

00:24:18.190 --> 00:24:20.089
send her away. He answered, I was sent only for

00:24:20.089 --> 00:24:22.390
the lost sheep of Israel. The woman then said,

00:24:22.450 --> 00:24:24.170
and now before him, he said, Lord, help me. He

00:24:24.170 --> 00:24:25.609
replied, it's not right to take the children's

00:24:25.609 --> 00:24:27.190
bread and toss it to the dogs, which, by the

00:24:27.190 --> 00:24:29.609
way, is not as insulting as it sounds. What he's

00:24:29.609 --> 00:24:31.769
saying is, I can't give to you when I haven't

00:24:31.769 --> 00:24:33.170
taken care of the people I'm here for first.

00:24:33.789 --> 00:24:37.589
Right? And then she says, yes, it is, Lord. Even

00:24:37.589 --> 00:24:39.410
the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's

00:24:39.410 --> 00:24:43.000
table. And he goes, yeah. I like that. I like

00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:45.500
that faith. Yeah, exactly. He's like, I love

00:24:45.500 --> 00:24:48.099
that you've got that going on. So he says, woman,

00:24:48.220 --> 00:24:50.339
you have great faith. Your request is granted.

00:24:50.420 --> 00:24:52.160
And her daughter was healed in that moment. Now,

00:24:52.200 --> 00:24:56.210
right after this story. Jesus fed the 5 ,000

00:24:56.210 --> 00:24:58.549
with the Jewish people. Then he goes and walks

00:24:58.549 --> 00:25:00.130
on water and they're like, man, this guy must

00:25:00.130 --> 00:25:02.529
be the son of God. Right. And then he has this

00:25:02.529 --> 00:25:04.650
conversation with the Pharisees about what defiles,

00:25:04.650 --> 00:25:06.089
what you put in or what it's on the outside.

00:25:06.349 --> 00:25:08.170
Then he interacts with the Canaanite woman. He

00:25:08.170 --> 00:25:10.950
says, I'm not here for you. I'm actually here

00:25:10.950 --> 00:25:15.039
for the people of Israel. Now. Jesus left there

00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:17.240
and went along the Sea of Galilee, and he went

00:25:17.240 --> 00:25:18.940
up to the mountainside and sat down. Great crowds

00:25:18.940 --> 00:25:21.740
came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the

00:25:21.740 --> 00:25:23.500
crippled, the mute, and many others, and laid

00:25:23.500 --> 00:25:24.799
them at his feet, and he healed them. The people

00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:26.299
were amazed, and they saw the mute speaking.

00:25:26.599 --> 00:25:28.519
The crippled made well, and the lame walking,

00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:30.859
and the blind seeing. And they praised the God

00:25:30.859 --> 00:25:32.720
of Israel. Okay, why did they say that? Why did

00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:33.859
they say they praised the God of Israel? Oh,

00:25:33.900 --> 00:25:36.819
that's right, because in 34 of chapter 14, when

00:25:36.819 --> 00:25:38.779
they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret,

00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:41.259
and when the men of that place recognized Jesus,

00:25:41.380 --> 00:25:43.109
they sent word. all around the surrounding country.

00:25:43.170 --> 00:25:45.170
People brought all their sick to him and begged

00:25:45.170 --> 00:25:47.210
him to let the sick just touch the edge of his

00:25:47.210 --> 00:25:49.569
cloak and all who healed were healed. So he's

00:25:49.569 --> 00:25:54.190
now in a Gentile place, right? So he does this.

00:25:54.230 --> 00:25:56.230
He walks on water. They go over to this Gentile

00:25:56.230 --> 00:25:57.849
place. Then he has some conversation with the

00:25:57.849 --> 00:25:59.990
Pharisees. The Canaanite woman has faith. He

00:25:59.990 --> 00:26:02.089
sits down and he starts to teach them. And they

00:26:02.089 --> 00:26:04.609
said, they praise the God of Israel. So Jesus

00:26:04.609 --> 00:26:06.950
called his disciples to him and said, I have

00:26:06.950 --> 00:26:10.730
compassion for these people. Okay, what was going

00:26:10.730 --> 00:26:13.019
on in the last story? Well, the last story before

00:26:13.019 --> 00:26:15.059
that, you know, it was the focus on the Jews.

00:26:15.220 --> 00:26:19.240
And he had compassion on them. Yeah. Again. And,

00:26:19.480 --> 00:26:23.880
uh, let's see here. It says, uh, they have already

00:26:23.880 --> 00:26:27.680
been with me for three days and have nothing

00:26:27.680 --> 00:26:30.140
to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry

00:26:30.140 --> 00:26:34.500
or they may collapse on the way. Okay. I want

00:26:34.500 --> 00:26:35.900
to point out what's going on different in this

00:26:35.900 --> 00:26:38.339
story. Who's pointing out that people haven't

00:26:38.339 --> 00:26:40.819
had any food? Now it's the Lord. After how many

00:26:40.819 --> 00:26:43.519
days? Three days. How long was it in the other

00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:48.200
story? I cannot remember. He went to a desolate

00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:49.920
place. When he got there, they were there. And

00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:51.720
that evening. Yeah, that's right. That evening.

00:26:51.759 --> 00:26:53.759
That evening, he's like, they need to go get

00:26:53.759 --> 00:26:56.460
some bread. Right? But apparently these people

00:26:56.460 --> 00:26:59.539
have been with him for three days. Right. And

00:26:59.539 --> 00:27:02.569
what have the disciples said? Not a, well, it's

00:27:02.569 --> 00:27:04.990
interesting. So now Jesus is nothing. Now Jesus

00:27:04.990 --> 00:27:06.990
is going to say, we need to feed them. Yeah.

00:27:07.670 --> 00:27:09.569
Now let me ask you this. Like, what did Jesus

00:27:09.569 --> 00:27:11.549
say before? Like, let me read you this. Yeah.

00:27:11.910 --> 00:27:14.069
His disciples and answer, where could we get

00:27:14.069 --> 00:27:17.430
enough bread in this remote place to feed such

00:27:17.430 --> 00:27:22.109
a crowd? Then Jesus said, how many loaves do

00:27:22.109 --> 00:27:25.349
you have? Okay. They've already learned this

00:27:25.349 --> 00:27:28.150
lesson of what do you have? Right. Yeah. Now,

00:27:28.150 --> 00:27:31.440
um, If, if we were, if we were actually good

00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:34.059
followers of Jesus and he's taken us to this

00:27:34.059 --> 00:27:35.519
place and he says, what do you have? I'm going

00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:37.680
to feed 5 ,000 people. And then he comes to me

00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:39.380
later and he says, Hey, all these people are

00:27:39.380 --> 00:27:41.579
hungry. What should we, what we got to feed them?

00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:44.240
And I was like, Hey, remember last time when

00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:46.660
you multiply food, I got like seven loaves. By

00:27:46.660 --> 00:27:48.680
the way, it was not that long ago. It's not that

00:27:48.680 --> 00:27:50.079
long ago. We're talking like five or six days.

00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:51.880
Literally. Three or four days. This is very fresh

00:27:51.880 --> 00:27:54.960
in everyone's mind. And then also for listeners,

00:27:55.059 --> 00:27:57.119
too, who might not realize it, you can literally

00:27:57.119 --> 00:28:01.680
kind of look from one side of the sea here to

00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:04.140
the other, and you kind of see the same, like

00:28:04.140 --> 00:28:05.819
the other location where this just happened.

00:28:05.900 --> 00:28:08.779
So you've got the geographical references, and

00:28:08.779 --> 00:28:14.869
you've got just the time proximal. Just recollection

00:28:14.869 --> 00:28:17.789
of this happening really recently so then they

00:28:17.789 --> 00:28:24.029
say seven they replied and a few small fish Because

00:28:24.029 --> 00:28:25.990
the number of fish isn't important. Yeah. And

00:28:25.990 --> 00:28:28.829
this one. Yeah. By the way, this is why paying

00:28:28.829 --> 00:28:30.470
attention to numbers is really important. And

00:28:30.470 --> 00:28:31.549
we're going to talk about that in just a minute.

00:28:32.309 --> 00:28:33.890
He told the crowd to sit down on the ground.

00:28:33.990 --> 00:28:36.410
Then he took the seven loaves and the fish. And

00:28:36.410 --> 00:28:38.470
when he had given thanks, once again, he looks,

00:28:38.509 --> 00:28:40.470
he broke them and he gave them to the disciples

00:28:40.470 --> 00:28:42.089
and they in turn gave them to the people. They

00:28:42.089 --> 00:28:43.829
all ate and were satisfied. Afterward, the disciples

00:28:43.829 --> 00:28:46.250
picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that

00:28:46.250 --> 00:28:49.049
were left over. The number of those who ate was

00:28:49.049 --> 00:28:51.829
4 ,000 men besides women and children. After

00:28:51.829 --> 00:28:54.029
Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the

00:28:54.029 --> 00:28:57.849
boat and went into the vicinity of Magadan. Okay.

00:28:58.089 --> 00:28:59.769
And I am actually going to touch on that story

00:28:59.769 --> 00:29:01.569
because I think it's really important because

00:29:01.569 --> 00:29:03.170
it's connected to this other story. Yeah, yeah.

00:29:03.289 --> 00:29:09.589
Okay. All right. I hope at this point when people

00:29:09.589 --> 00:29:11.009
are listening, they've picked up that there's

00:29:11.009 --> 00:29:13.150
some things going on here. Oh, definitely. So

00:29:13.150 --> 00:29:14.970
with the Jewish people, there's 5 ,000 people,

00:29:15.089 --> 00:29:18.759
men. Also women and children. Yep. Okay. Now

00:29:18.759 --> 00:29:20.660
why 5 ,000? Because the number is important.

00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:22.900
Five is important. Yeah. Yeah. So what's five

00:29:22.900 --> 00:29:24.799
going to represent? So you got Torah. Torah,

00:29:24.920 --> 00:29:28.299
right? So it's going to, so 5 ,000 is an exponent

00:29:28.299 --> 00:29:30.519
of Torah. So it's going to be the Jewish people

00:29:30.519 --> 00:29:33.240
are here. Exactly. Right. 5 ,000 men. That's

00:29:33.240 --> 00:29:34.740
not that the women and children aren't important.

00:29:34.859 --> 00:29:36.779
They're using a number to focus on Torah. Otherwise

00:29:36.779 --> 00:29:38.539
there's just say a multitude of people. Exactly.

00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:41.619
Okay. How many, how many loaves are there? With

00:29:41.619 --> 00:29:44.059
this one, there was five. Oh, interesting. Interesting,

00:29:44.200 --> 00:29:48.259
right? And there's how many fish? So with this

00:29:48.259 --> 00:29:51.099
one, two. It's two fish. Which is also interesting.

00:29:51.380 --> 00:29:53.279
Yeah, and I was like, that's interesting because

00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:55.539
if you take five and two, you end up with ten.

00:29:56.079 --> 00:29:58.880
Five and two, you end up with ten, which is,

00:29:58.880 --> 00:30:00.480
by the way, the number of Ten Commandments there

00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:02.500
are, and there's two tablets that have five laws

00:30:02.500 --> 00:30:06.029
down each side. Yep. Interesting. Also, yeah,

00:30:06.130 --> 00:30:07.670
so there's a few things that are going on with

00:30:07.670 --> 00:30:10.650
the numbers here. And then they break the bread

00:30:10.650 --> 00:30:12.150
and they take it out and they collect how many

00:30:12.150 --> 00:30:16.960
basketballs? It's more than 10. Yeah. It was

00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:19.519
12. 12. Weird. Something like that. I think there's

00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:21.839
something with like the tribes of Israel. Yeah.

00:30:21.859 --> 00:30:25.759
And so then they go to, they go to a Gentile

00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:29.059
place and suddenly there's 4 ,000 people, a Gentile

00:30:29.059 --> 00:30:30.779
number, right? Because of the four corners of

00:30:30.779 --> 00:30:34.000
the world. Correct. And there is, they have seven

00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:37.119
loaves, which by the way is a connection to creation

00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:40.000
and all of creation. Exactly. And there is a

00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:41.579
few fish because the Holy Spirit forgot how to

00:30:41.579 --> 00:30:44.349
count. Oh, wait, never mind. That's not what

00:30:44.349 --> 00:30:46.410
happened. Exactly. Right? The Holy Spirit didn't

00:30:46.410 --> 00:30:48.589
forget how to count. And then when they collect

00:30:48.589 --> 00:30:51.470
it all, there's how many basketfuls? With that

00:30:51.470 --> 00:30:55.190
one, there was four. There's seven. Seven? I

00:30:55.190 --> 00:30:57.109
believe there's seven. No, seven, yeah. Let me

00:30:57.109 --> 00:30:59.009
double check. Seven large baskets. Yeah, okay,

00:30:59.089 --> 00:31:00.990
there's seven. The large baskets, not the smaller.

00:31:00.990 --> 00:31:04.210
Yeah, yeah. Because I was having this conversation

00:31:04.210 --> 00:31:05.950
with somebody, and they say, well, these stories

00:31:05.950 --> 00:31:08.170
are very similar. I was like, they're actually

00:31:08.170 --> 00:31:10.109
different words for baskets. So the baskets that

00:31:10.109 --> 00:31:12.529
are at the 5 ,000 are like, I mean, we kind of

00:31:12.529 --> 00:31:14.390
look at them more like communion. baskets is

00:31:14.390 --> 00:31:15.609
what i would call them right like they're kind

00:31:15.609 --> 00:31:17.130
of smaller i was just thinking like little like

00:31:17.130 --> 00:31:19.829
little lunch baskets but the ones in the story

00:31:19.829 --> 00:31:23.890
of uh you have the gentiles right these are the

00:31:23.890 --> 00:31:26.150
baskets that paul was in when they lowered him

00:31:26.150 --> 00:31:28.450
down off the off the wall it's the same kind

00:31:28.450 --> 00:31:31.250
of basket so paul's i don't know i mean there's

00:31:31.250 --> 00:31:33.380
no indication that he's a massive dude But that's

00:31:33.380 --> 00:31:35.779
still. But that's a much bigger basket. Exactly.

00:31:35.900 --> 00:31:38.940
Right. Because if you put Paul, Matthew's not

00:31:38.940 --> 00:31:40.720
a massive person, but if we put him in a little

00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:42.759
like lunch basket and try to lower him down a

00:31:42.759 --> 00:31:44.640
wall, we're going to have flattened Matthew on

00:31:44.640 --> 00:31:48.279
the ground. Right. And so like, like in these,

00:31:48.279 --> 00:31:49.859
in these stories, like they're, they're different

00:31:49.859 --> 00:31:51.619
stories, but they're talking about two, two different

00:31:51.619 --> 00:31:54.119
things as like, it's not an accident how they're

00:31:54.119 --> 00:31:55.539
put together. By the way, this is why we're talking

00:31:55.539 --> 00:31:56.980
about reading the gospels and being familiar

00:31:56.980 --> 00:31:59.240
with the story. The Matthew is putting things

00:31:59.240 --> 00:32:01.319
in an order intentionally to help you see something

00:32:01.319 --> 00:32:04.480
about how God is. He's for the outsider and he's

00:32:04.480 --> 00:32:05.940
for the person on the outside, but he's also

00:32:05.940 --> 00:32:08.039
speaking to the people of Israel because Jesus

00:32:08.039 --> 00:32:09.779
is coming and he's redeeming Israel. And it's

00:32:09.779 --> 00:32:11.299
through the Jews that all the world is going

00:32:11.299 --> 00:32:13.359
to be blessed because Jesus is a Jewish Messiah.

00:32:13.599 --> 00:32:15.779
And through him, we're going to find our identity.

00:32:15.819 --> 00:32:17.500
and we're going to cast our identity onto him.

00:32:17.539 --> 00:32:19.880
And it's going to open up to everybody. And then

00:32:19.880 --> 00:32:21.420
suddenly like the kingdom of God is actually

00:32:21.420 --> 00:32:23.759
going to come alive amongst us. And what does

00:32:23.759 --> 00:32:26.220
that look like? It looks like when I have five

00:32:26.220 --> 00:32:28.940
loaves and two fish, 5 ,000 people are fed. And

00:32:28.940 --> 00:32:31.400
when that's done, we have more leftovers than

00:32:31.400 --> 00:32:34.619
we started with originally. And it's not just

00:32:34.619 --> 00:32:36.859
for the Jewish people. We know that the Jews,

00:32:36.940 --> 00:32:38.460
if you're blessed, then you're going to bless.

00:32:39.279 --> 00:32:41.980
Then he goes to the Gentiles and they have even

00:32:41.980 --> 00:32:48.369
bigger baskets full. But the disciples struggle

00:32:48.369 --> 00:32:50.470
in the middle of this. And I'm not going to be

00:32:50.470 --> 00:32:52.250
too hard on them because I don't think the text

00:32:52.250 --> 00:32:55.829
is too hard on them. But in the first story,

00:32:55.910 --> 00:32:57.990
they're concerned about their fellow Jews. Exactly.

00:32:58.349 --> 00:33:00.490
But in this story, they don't seem terribly concerned

00:33:00.490 --> 00:33:03.509
about the Gentiles. And I mean, just going a

00:33:03.509 --> 00:33:09.049
day without food versus three days. I mean, last

00:33:09.049 --> 00:33:12.410
time you've gone three days with, you know. It's

00:33:12.410 --> 00:33:13.710
been a long time. That's what I'm saying. But

00:33:13.710 --> 00:33:16.029
it's a big difference and it's a lot more uncomfortable

00:33:16.029 --> 00:33:20.150
than just skipping a meal or two. Yeah. And what

00:33:20.150 --> 00:33:21.849
that tells you that these Gentiles are really

00:33:21.849 --> 00:33:23.509
hungry for God. Now, this is not in the book

00:33:23.509 --> 00:33:24.869
of Matthew. You're actually going to find this

00:33:24.869 --> 00:33:27.589
in the other gospels, but the crowds that met

00:33:27.589 --> 00:33:32.509
him at Gerasene, right? So Jesus came here before.

00:33:32.670 --> 00:33:35.849
Yeah. Yep. He had crossed over to this side before

00:33:35.849 --> 00:33:38.329
and he had met a man called Legion that was full

00:33:38.329 --> 00:33:41.549
of many spirits. Yep. And it was in this region

00:33:41.549 --> 00:33:44.390
that he met this man. And he cast those spirits

00:33:44.390 --> 00:33:46.450
into a herd of pigs that went and threw themselves

00:33:46.450 --> 00:33:48.789
into the deep. And the people were like, yeah,

00:33:48.789 --> 00:33:51.509
we don't want you here. And Jesus gets ready

00:33:51.509 --> 00:33:53.410
to go. And the guy who is delivered, he wants

00:33:53.410 --> 00:33:55.430
to ride back with Jesus. And he said, and he

00:33:55.430 --> 00:33:57.170
says, no, you need to go tell the good news.

00:33:57.849 --> 00:34:01.390
When Jesus comes back. There's a crowd of at

00:34:01.390 --> 00:34:04.710
least 4 ,000 people hungry and ready to experience

00:34:04.710 --> 00:34:07.990
healing and teaching at the mouth of Jesus. Exactly.

00:34:07.990 --> 00:34:10.510
Because God healed one person and they told their

00:34:10.510 --> 00:34:12.210
testimony. How much does this guy really know

00:34:12.210 --> 00:34:16.030
about Jesus? Yeah. He met him very briefly. You

00:34:16.030 --> 00:34:17.949
know, there is a guy who drove out the kingdom

00:34:17.949 --> 00:34:21.110
of darkness who restored my life and sanity and

00:34:21.110 --> 00:34:23.510
who put me back on this path. His name is Jesus

00:34:23.510 --> 00:34:27.389
and he's coming back. Exactly. And he had a,

00:34:27.389 --> 00:34:29.170
you know, I'm pretty sure a good comprehension

00:34:29.170 --> 00:34:32.969
of just how terrible his life was at that time

00:34:32.969 --> 00:34:34.670
while he's been, you know, possessed and everything

00:34:34.670 --> 00:34:37.690
else. And the people around him and his neighbors

00:34:37.690 --> 00:34:41.409
all knew of him and the situation, you know,

00:34:41.409 --> 00:34:43.510
and so it was very impactful to go see this same

00:34:43.510 --> 00:34:47.329
person being who they knew him for however long

00:34:47.329 --> 00:34:49.469
they knew him like that to now all of a sudden.

00:34:50.679 --> 00:34:53.280
is unrecognizable. You know, I can guarantee

00:34:53.280 --> 00:34:55.800
you, you know, and it's not like written in the

00:34:55.800 --> 00:34:57.420
scripture or nothing else, but just what we know,

00:34:57.500 --> 00:34:59.960
like I'm sure his, his health looked different.

00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:01.579
I'm sure his skin complexion looked different.

00:35:01.599 --> 00:35:04.300
I'm sure the way he carried himself, his posture,

00:35:04.340 --> 00:35:06.179
everything about him, just when you would see

00:35:06.179 --> 00:35:09.480
him would be like a whole new person. There's,

00:35:09.480 --> 00:35:10.780
there's a story and I can't remember the name

00:35:10.780 --> 00:35:14.000
of the evangelist, but he was a guy who he was

00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:17.159
a, he was just a awful drunk, like drunk all

00:35:17.159 --> 00:35:19.809
the time. Yep. And he got kicked out of a bar

00:35:19.809 --> 00:35:22.050
one night. I was wandering the streets looking

00:35:22.050 --> 00:35:24.050
for somewhere warm, stumbles into a church and

00:35:24.050 --> 00:35:25.429
hears about Jesus. And they're like, if you want

00:35:25.429 --> 00:35:27.550
him in your life, you come up. So he went up

00:35:27.550 --> 00:35:30.730
like just completely sloshed out drunk and gave

00:35:30.730 --> 00:35:33.969
his life to Jesus. Goes home, like, you know,

00:35:33.969 --> 00:35:35.570
cries out his heart and gives his life to Jesus.

00:35:35.690 --> 00:35:37.670
And then he goes home and he's just sleeping

00:35:37.670 --> 00:35:39.989
it off. And the next day he wakes up and he's

00:35:39.989 --> 00:35:43.070
like, doesn't necessarily remember what happened

00:35:43.070 --> 00:35:46.280
exactly. Yeah. But he starts his day and the

00:35:46.280 --> 00:35:48.659
sun feels a little bit brighter and the house

00:35:48.659 --> 00:35:50.139
is a little bit dirty. And so he starts cleaning

00:35:50.139 --> 00:35:52.460
up and he starts to like get himself ready. And

00:35:52.460 --> 00:35:55.119
he goes to his bar that he's so familiar with,

00:35:55.139 --> 00:35:56.360
the place that he's so familiar with. And the

00:35:56.360 --> 00:35:59.199
people look way sadder. Yeah. And it's a little

00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:02.039
bit darker and dingy. And he's like, what is

00:36:02.039 --> 00:36:05.059
going on? Yeah. It's because Jesus entered his

00:36:05.059 --> 00:36:07.619
life and things started changing. Yep. And it

00:36:07.619 --> 00:36:10.300
was just, it was, he said yes. And Jesus took

00:36:10.300 --> 00:36:12.940
up residence and things started to change. Absolutely.

00:36:13.000 --> 00:36:14.760
And like, he went to the same places that he

00:36:14.760 --> 00:36:16.199
was always familiar with. He can't even necessarily

00:36:16.199 --> 00:36:19.139
remember, you know, I mean, later he's able to,

00:36:19.199 --> 00:36:22.000
right. But, um, in the moment he can't remember.

00:36:22.300 --> 00:36:24.079
And then he remembers going to a church who goes

00:36:24.079 --> 00:36:25.960
back to the church and finds the guy who talked

00:36:25.960 --> 00:36:27.980
to him. Right. It's an incredible story. And

00:36:27.980 --> 00:36:29.480
I, and by the way, I apologize. I don't know

00:36:29.480 --> 00:36:31.099
who that was. I can't remember. I've heard the

00:36:31.099 --> 00:36:32.239
story a bunch of times, but I can't remember

00:36:32.239 --> 00:36:35.659
who the evangelist is. Um, but Jesus changes

00:36:35.659 --> 00:36:39.429
lives. Yep. And. If you have the spirit of God

00:36:39.429 --> 00:36:41.690
inside of you, it's going to radically change

00:36:41.690 --> 00:36:44.630
you. Absolutely. You're going to start living

00:36:44.630 --> 00:36:46.409
a kingdom life. Like these things that we're

00:36:46.409 --> 00:36:47.809
talking about in the sermon on the mountain and

00:36:47.809 --> 00:36:49.250
the prayer and all these different things, this

00:36:49.250 --> 00:36:51.429
kingdom life is something that comes when you

00:36:51.429 --> 00:36:54.269
say yes to Jesus, because now he's the gateway.

00:36:54.829 --> 00:36:57.530
He's the doorway to this kingdom life that we're

00:36:57.530 --> 00:37:00.590
supposed to be living, which by the way is why

00:37:00.590 --> 00:37:02.489
I think it's, it's a problem when we focus so

00:37:02.489 --> 00:37:04.190
much on the cross is because I think the doorway

00:37:04.190 --> 00:37:05.610
is really important, but you're supposed to live

00:37:05.610 --> 00:37:08.840
in a house. Exactly. Right. It doesn't it doesn't

00:37:08.840 --> 00:37:12.280
start in there. And like doors are really important.

00:37:12.420 --> 00:37:14.320
I love doors. They get me into my house. They

00:37:14.320 --> 00:37:15.960
keep the cold wind out. You know, they give me

00:37:15.960 --> 00:37:18.960
security. Right. I trust in my door to keep the

00:37:18.960 --> 00:37:21.579
weather outside. Yeah. Right. Yeah. But life

00:37:21.579 --> 00:37:23.980
is meant to be lived in the house. By the way,

00:37:23.980 --> 00:37:25.679
don't carry that analogy too far. It absolutely

00:37:25.679 --> 00:37:29.800
breaks down. Right. But it's it's so important.

00:37:30.900 --> 00:37:33.420
All right. So let me walk you through what's

00:37:33.420 --> 00:37:37.260
happened so far. Jesus has fed John the Baptist

00:37:37.260 --> 00:37:39.139
has died. He wanted to go off into a desolate

00:37:39.139 --> 00:37:42.579
place. Crowds followed him. He had compassion

00:37:42.579 --> 00:37:45.739
on him. He fed him. Exactly. He then sends the

00:37:45.739 --> 00:37:47.599
disciples to the other side of the water to once

00:37:47.599 --> 00:37:49.099
again look for a desolate place. He meets them

00:37:49.099 --> 00:37:51.739
on the road or on the water. And they're like,

00:37:51.760 --> 00:37:54.360
man, who is this guy? And then he has a conversation

00:37:54.360 --> 00:37:58.840
with the Pharisees and law writers and law, what's

00:37:58.840 --> 00:38:00.260
the word I want to use? I'm going to call them

00:38:00.260 --> 00:38:02.159
lawyers. I'm going to call them lawyers. Perfect.

00:38:03.219 --> 00:38:04.579
That's not a negative thing. They're people who

00:38:04.579 --> 00:38:07.369
are familiar with the law, right? the scribes

00:38:07.369 --> 00:38:09.190
and the Pharisees and they say, well, you know,

00:38:09.190 --> 00:38:10.909
is it what goes into a person or comes out of

00:38:10.909 --> 00:38:12.929
the person? Then he, uh, runs into a Canaanite

00:38:12.929 --> 00:38:15.389
woman who's like, well, what about us? Can we

00:38:15.389 --> 00:38:17.389
at least have the crumbs? Yep. And he's like,

00:38:17.469 --> 00:38:20.809
ah, I love that question. Right. And so she gets

00:38:20.809 --> 00:38:22.289
healed and then a bunch of people get healed

00:38:22.289 --> 00:38:23.750
and then he has compassion on them because they've

00:38:23.750 --> 00:38:25.230
been following for three days as he's teaching

00:38:25.230 --> 00:38:26.849
them and walking around because who came before

00:38:26.849 --> 00:38:30.170
the guy who was Legion. Right. And like, so he's

00:38:30.170 --> 00:38:31.769
been preparing the way for Jesus to come and

00:38:31.769 --> 00:38:34.829
actually speak, uh, to these people. And so then

00:38:34.829 --> 00:38:36.519
he has compassion on them. He feels, them and

00:38:36.519 --> 00:38:38.579
they have 4 ,000 people who are fed with a ton

00:38:38.579 --> 00:38:39.780
of bread and things that are going to be left

00:38:39.780 --> 00:38:42.659
over. Wouldn't you know, right after that, the

00:38:42.659 --> 00:38:44.880
Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested

00:38:44.880 --> 00:38:50.380
him by asking him to show a sign from heaven.

00:38:52.699 --> 00:38:55.219
Okay. What has happened in these, in these five

00:38:55.219 --> 00:38:58.480
days, Jesus has, it says he's been healing sick.

00:38:58.539 --> 00:39:02.159
So just that sign from heaven, right? Then there's

00:39:02.159 --> 00:39:05.719
bread multiplied. Yep. He walks on the water.

00:39:05.840 --> 00:39:09.619
Yep. Right? Then he goes and drives out a demon

00:39:09.619 --> 00:39:12.579
for the Canaanite woman. Yeah. Then he goes and

00:39:12.579 --> 00:39:15.019
he's healing people in, I'm sorry, I forgot the

00:39:15.019 --> 00:39:20.519
name of the place real quick here. Gennesaret.

00:39:20.699 --> 00:39:22.760
Gennesaret. So he's healing people in Gennesaret.

00:39:22.900 --> 00:39:26.159
So there, once again, the hand of God is moving.

00:39:26.900 --> 00:39:29.900
And then he. Once again, take seven loaves and

00:39:29.900 --> 00:39:32.539
he feeds 4 ,000 plus people again. And then on

00:39:32.539 --> 00:39:37.079
the heels of this, show us a sign that says you're

00:39:37.079 --> 00:39:39.679
from God. Yeah, because all that's not enough.

00:39:39.940 --> 00:39:42.539
It's not enough. Yeah. And I'm actually going

00:39:42.539 --> 00:39:44.260
to pause here because I'm just going to tell

00:39:44.260 --> 00:39:46.320
you that for the legalistic mind, it's never

00:39:46.320 --> 00:39:50.659
enough. Yeah, yeah. 100%. We have to be really

00:39:50.659 --> 00:39:54.219
careful with our legalism. Like, by the way,

00:39:54.260 --> 00:39:56.559
the legal portion of our life is really important.

00:39:57.239 --> 00:40:00.159
But legalism will always lead to stifling life.

00:40:00.300 --> 00:40:04.519
Oh, yeah, absolutely 100 % Yeah, I mean even

00:40:04.519 --> 00:40:08.420
in uh, you know even in like the way that we

00:40:08.420 --> 00:40:11.440
interpret and enforce laws, there's, there's

00:40:11.440 --> 00:40:13.000
a thing called the letter of the law and the

00:40:13.000 --> 00:40:14.800
spirit of the law. You know, like in other words,

00:40:14.820 --> 00:40:16.480
what's the purpose of the law? Yeah. You violate

00:40:16.480 --> 00:40:18.920
the purpose. Then yeah, you definitely need to

00:40:18.920 --> 00:40:20.579
be held accountable in it. Yeah. You know, but

00:40:20.579 --> 00:40:22.019
if you didn't violate the purpose in it, well,

00:40:22.099 --> 00:40:24.039
there's a lot of room for grace and instruction

00:40:24.039 --> 00:40:27.139
and teaching and admonishing and, and a way to

00:40:27.139 --> 00:40:28.920
build you up. So that way you don't violate that

00:40:28.920 --> 00:40:33.679
spirit. Yeah. Full side note. All right. Let

00:40:33.679 --> 00:40:35.480
me read this to you here and see what you think.

00:40:36.110 --> 00:40:38.449
He replied, when evening comes, you say it will

00:40:38.449 --> 00:40:41.070
be fair weather for the sky is red. And in the

00:40:41.070 --> 00:40:43.750
morning today is to be stormy for the sky is

00:40:43.750 --> 00:40:46.869
red and overcast. You know how to interpret the

00:40:46.869 --> 00:40:48.610
appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret

00:40:48.610 --> 00:40:51.789
the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous

00:40:51.789 --> 00:40:54.369
generation looks for a sign, but none will be

00:40:54.369 --> 00:40:56.929
given to you except the sign of Jonah. So Jesus

00:40:56.929 --> 00:40:59.469
left them and went away. Okay. What's the sign

00:40:59.469 --> 00:41:03.650
of Jonah? And this may not be something that

00:41:03.650 --> 00:41:05.349
you know, but it's a really interesting thing.

00:41:05.759 --> 00:41:08.820
Yeah, I actually can't call it right now. Correct

00:41:08.820 --> 00:41:10.960
me if I'm wrong, but what I was told a lot growing

00:41:10.960 --> 00:41:13.139
up is that the sign of Jonah is that Jesus is

00:41:13.139 --> 00:41:14.719
going to be in the ground for three days and

00:41:14.719 --> 00:41:19.900
he's going to rise up. Right. The fish, whale,

00:41:20.039 --> 00:41:22.960
whatever, right? Right. That period of time before

00:41:22.960 --> 00:41:24.719
he was released and then went and carried out

00:41:24.719 --> 00:41:29.360
his message. Yeah. The problem is in Jewish antiquity,

00:41:29.380 --> 00:41:31.900
that's not the sign of Jonah. The sign of the

00:41:31.900 --> 00:41:35.300
Jonah is that Jonah went to the Ninevites who

00:41:35.300 --> 00:41:38.920
were Samaritans, not Samaritans, Assyrians who

00:41:38.920 --> 00:41:41.539
had just conquered their people, Sennacherib

00:41:41.539 --> 00:41:43.840
and all those different things. He went to basically

00:41:43.840 --> 00:41:47.559
a hostile country because God said, I don't want

00:41:47.559 --> 00:41:50.639
to kill them. He preached them a half -hearted

00:41:50.639 --> 00:41:53.699
message and all of the city got in sackcloth

00:41:53.699 --> 00:41:56.679
and ashes and repented. So what is the sign of

00:41:56.679 --> 00:42:00.500
Jonah? It's that the Gentiles believe. Now hear

00:42:00.500 --> 00:42:02.480
this again because Jesus has just come from the

00:42:02.480 --> 00:42:05.800
Gentiles, right? Yeah, yeah. You know how to

00:42:05.800 --> 00:42:07.780
interpret the appearance of the sky, but you

00:42:07.780 --> 00:42:10.880
cannot interpret the sign of the times. A wicked

00:42:10.880 --> 00:42:13.139
and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but

00:42:13.139 --> 00:42:15.800
none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.

00:42:16.239 --> 00:42:20.840
In other words... Look over there. Exactly. Look

00:42:20.840 --> 00:42:23.500
at these people. Look at these people who are

00:42:23.500 --> 00:42:26.619
praising the God of Israel. Repenting, who are

00:42:26.619 --> 00:42:31.699
exactly. Look at them. Yeah. Right? Yeah. And

00:42:31.699 --> 00:42:34.559
by the way, people have pulled this and they

00:42:34.559 --> 00:42:36.980
say, well, it's not good to ask God for a sign.

00:42:37.079 --> 00:42:39.219
I was like, no, it's not good that when God is

00:42:39.219 --> 00:42:41.539
moving and God is being gracious and God is healing

00:42:41.539 --> 00:42:44.440
and God is providing for you to say, prove it.

00:42:44.719 --> 00:42:47.840
Yeah, exactly. That is a childish thing to do.

00:42:48.599 --> 00:42:51.019
It is a wicked thing to do that when God is moving

00:42:51.019 --> 00:42:53.440
and God is comforting and God is redeeming and

00:42:53.440 --> 00:42:56.119
God is purifying for us to sit there and go prove

00:42:56.119 --> 00:42:59.320
it. Yeah, exactly. Right. A hundred percent.

00:42:59.340 --> 00:43:01.239
Because like, yeah, we're to test all things

00:43:01.239 --> 00:43:03.840
that we're told. Right. But when it's, but we've

00:43:03.840 --> 00:43:06.440
been told how to do so, you know? And so if you

00:43:06.440 --> 00:43:09.500
can see that, oh, these are miracles from God,

00:43:09.519 --> 00:43:11.480
that God is moving, that none of this is violating

00:43:11.480 --> 00:43:15.079
his word, his character, his nature. So we, and

00:43:15.079 --> 00:43:19.039
everything is, is, is literally confirming him.

00:43:19.599 --> 00:43:22.619
Well, then we know it's from him, you know, it's

00:43:22.619 --> 00:43:25.340
not in conflict. So there's nothing more to say.

00:43:25.719 --> 00:43:29.119
Well, prove. Yeah. Like, like, what are you,

00:43:29.119 --> 00:43:30.880
what are you doing? Yeah, exactly. What are you

00:43:30.880 --> 00:43:32.599
doing? Or it's like, okay, so I saw you did all

00:43:32.599 --> 00:43:34.940
that, but now I need you to do it this way. No.

00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:38.199
God, your word isn't enough is what we're saying.

00:43:38.320 --> 00:43:40.880
Right. God, your action isn't enough. What you

00:43:40.880 --> 00:43:42.880
already did for me is not enough. I need more.

00:43:43.139 --> 00:43:45.619
Yeah. And that's like, hold on guys. It's rough.

00:43:45.800 --> 00:43:48.039
Yeah. It's a rough place. And I think the thing

00:43:48.039 --> 00:43:51.900
that's mostly rough about this is this is more

00:43:51.900 --> 00:43:56.190
often than not us. Oh yeah. we love to paint

00:43:56.190 --> 00:43:57.690
ourselves as like, Oh, we're the people being

00:43:57.690 --> 00:43:59.429
ministered to and where the peace will be redeemed.

00:43:59.429 --> 00:44:01.030
No, most of the time we're the Pharisees. Yeah.

00:44:01.090 --> 00:44:02.949
A hundred percent. I'm very guilty. Most of the

00:44:02.949 --> 00:44:06.130
time we're the Pharisees. Like my, my, my, unfortunately

00:44:06.130 --> 00:44:07.909
I probably have talked more, more to God with

00:44:07.909 --> 00:44:11.449
complaining and, you know, and lament that I

00:44:11.449 --> 00:44:14.829
have, you know, um, honest, just like joyful

00:44:14.829 --> 00:44:17.170
praise. And that's just an honest admonition

00:44:17.170 --> 00:44:19.210
of myself. All right, last little piece here,

00:44:19.269 --> 00:44:21.210
and then we're going to kind of bring this in

00:44:21.210 --> 00:44:23.510
for a conversation. So when they went across

00:44:23.510 --> 00:44:25.590
the lake, this is the disciples, the disciples

00:44:25.590 --> 00:44:31.289
forgot to take bread. Be careful, Jesus said

00:44:31.289 --> 00:44:33.309
to them, be on your guard against the yeast of

00:44:33.309 --> 00:44:35.429
the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and other places

00:44:35.429 --> 00:44:36.929
he's going to say of Herod, which, by the way,

00:44:36.949 --> 00:44:38.969
definitely connects to Sadducees. Very much so.

00:44:39.050 --> 00:44:41.909
Right? They discussed this among themselves and

00:44:41.909 --> 00:44:43.230
said, it's because we didn't bring any bread.

00:44:44.909 --> 00:44:49.300
After everything that's been going on. Aware

00:44:49.300 --> 00:44:51.920
of their discussion, Jesus asked, you of little

00:44:51.920 --> 00:44:53.739
faith, why are you talking among yourselves about

00:44:53.739 --> 00:44:55.260
having no bread? Do you still not understand?

00:44:55.440 --> 00:44:57.219
Don't you remember the five loaves for the 5

00:44:57.219 --> 00:44:59.500
,000 and how many basketfuls you gathered or

00:44:59.500 --> 00:45:02.199
the seven loaves for the 4 ,000? How many basketfuls

00:45:02.199 --> 00:45:04.429
you gathered? How did you not? or how is it that

00:45:04.429 --> 00:45:06.309
you don't understand that I was not talking to

00:45:06.309 --> 00:45:08.409
you about bread, but be on your guard against

00:45:08.409 --> 00:45:10.769
the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Then

00:45:10.769 --> 00:45:12.309
they understood that he was telling them to guard

00:45:12.309 --> 00:45:14.230
against the yeast, not against the yeast used

00:45:14.230 --> 00:45:17.150
in bread, but against the teachings of the Pharisees

00:45:17.150 --> 00:45:19.769
and the Sadducees. Okay. Exactly. Which there

00:45:19.769 --> 00:45:22.269
is actually a, there's actually in a, in, I believe

00:45:22.269 --> 00:45:23.710
it's in the gospel of Mark, but it might be Luke.

00:45:23.809 --> 00:45:26.050
So just don't quote me on that. Um, there is

00:45:26.050 --> 00:45:29.230
a story that follows us up and he says, all right,

00:45:29.250 --> 00:45:31.889
do you see, but not understand. And then he goes

00:45:31.889 --> 00:45:34.530
into a, into a village and he takes a blind man.

00:45:34.570 --> 00:45:36.070
He leads them outside to where the disciples

00:45:36.070 --> 00:45:40.070
are. Right. Right. Yeah. And he goes and he,

00:45:40.070 --> 00:45:43.030
and he, uh, he puts a mixture on the guy's eyes

00:45:43.030 --> 00:45:45.289
and he says, what do you see? He's like, why?

00:45:45.530 --> 00:45:48.920
I don't see clearly. I see like. figures moving

00:45:48.920 --> 00:45:51.280
and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it's like,

00:45:51.340 --> 00:45:53.039
and then he heals him completely and he sends

00:45:53.039 --> 00:45:55.739
them out. Yeah. Right. Now people are like, well,

00:45:55.780 --> 00:45:57.440
that's because Jesus, you know, he didn't, you

00:45:57.440 --> 00:45:59.519
know, there's a process and like healing and

00:45:59.519 --> 00:46:01.760
the, which by the way, maybe applicable, maybe

00:46:01.760 --> 00:46:03.920
not, but definitely the point of this story is,

00:46:04.000 --> 00:46:07.920
do you have eyes and can see, but don't understand.

00:46:08.320 --> 00:46:11.039
So now he's taken a blind man. He's like physically

00:46:11.039 --> 00:46:13.820
demonstrated. He's like, see, now he can see.

00:46:14.829 --> 00:46:16.750
But he still can't see it because all he sees

00:46:16.750 --> 00:46:19.409
is these random figures. Yeah. But Jesus is also

00:46:19.409 --> 00:46:20.849
compassionate. He's not going to half heal somebody.

00:46:20.949 --> 00:46:22.250
So he's going to send him out healed, right?

00:46:22.429 --> 00:46:24.929
Exactly. He's using this as a time to really

00:46:24.929 --> 00:46:27.489
teach those around him. Yeah. It's a physical

00:46:27.489 --> 00:46:30.210
reminder. It's a physical healing to demonstrate.

00:46:30.389 --> 00:46:34.369
He's like, no, like you have eyes. You need to

00:46:34.369 --> 00:46:38.230
see. Stop trusting in like this random teaching

00:46:38.230 --> 00:46:40.889
and trust in God. Exactly. Stop trusting in these

00:46:40.889 --> 00:46:43.170
things that justify yourself. Trust in the things

00:46:43.170 --> 00:46:46.429
that bring out God in you. Beware of the yeast

00:46:46.429 --> 00:46:48.730
of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Exactly.

00:46:48.929 --> 00:46:51.349
A hundred percent. We talked briefly about this

00:46:51.349 --> 00:46:53.730
Spencer and I, a few, a few months ago on the

00:46:53.730 --> 00:46:56.050
podcast and this, this idea of beware of the

00:46:56.050 --> 00:46:59.090
yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod. Right. So

00:46:59.090 --> 00:47:01.550
beware of the things about being legalistic.

00:47:01.570 --> 00:47:04.409
Yeah, exactly. Right. Beware this idea where

00:47:04.409 --> 00:47:07.710
the law is the point. Yep. The law isn't the

00:47:07.710 --> 00:47:09.789
point. Life is the point and law brings order

00:47:09.789 --> 00:47:13.510
to the life. Exactly. Right. But the law is meant

00:47:13.510 --> 00:47:15.710
to serve life, not smother it. A hundred percent.

00:47:15.909 --> 00:47:17.469
Right. And by the way, in that way, I'm talking

00:47:17.469 --> 00:47:19.429
about Torah. When you're missing the heart of

00:47:19.429 --> 00:47:21.309
it. Right. And you start putting the emphasis

00:47:21.309 --> 00:47:25.349
on a specific action and you're missing the entire

00:47:25.349 --> 00:47:27.369
character of why even that action was ever even

00:47:27.369 --> 00:47:29.409
brought up to begin with. You're missing the

00:47:29.409 --> 00:47:32.489
point. And that's a big, big part of what's being

00:47:32.489 --> 00:47:34.650
talked about here. And we see that like with,

00:47:34.710 --> 00:47:36.730
for instance, like healing on what was on the

00:47:36.730 --> 00:47:40.889
Sabbath or whatever, you know, and. in other

00:47:40.889 --> 00:47:43.809
instances like that where it's like hey um you

00:47:43.809 --> 00:47:46.090
yourself would do something similar under this

00:47:46.090 --> 00:47:47.570
circumstance this is so much more important why

00:47:47.570 --> 00:47:50.989
would you not do this i um this is this is uh

00:47:50.989 --> 00:47:53.469
this is by the way it's close to controversial

00:47:53.469 --> 00:47:55.789
as i'm going to get on the podcast um well but

00:47:56.480 --> 00:47:58.599
about talking about. I had this conversation

00:47:58.599 --> 00:48:01.519
and God did a dramatic healing in a person's

00:48:01.519 --> 00:48:04.460
life. And they were explaining the story and

00:48:04.460 --> 00:48:06.559
they were explaining who was preaching and like

00:48:06.559 --> 00:48:08.400
the healing that God did internally in their

00:48:08.400 --> 00:48:11.059
life when the person made a statement. And as

00:48:11.059 --> 00:48:12.800
the person was talking about this dramatic thing

00:48:12.800 --> 00:48:14.840
that God was doing in their life, someone else

00:48:14.840 --> 00:48:17.219
in the room said, oh, I don't like that teacher.

00:48:17.280 --> 00:48:20.699
They have bad ideas. While the healing was being

00:48:20.699 --> 00:48:23.530
done. While the person is describing the move

00:48:23.530 --> 00:48:26.150
of God in their life, where they're getting healed

00:48:26.150 --> 00:48:27.809
for something that they've been struggling with

00:48:27.809 --> 00:48:30.230
for years. Now that may very well be true. They

00:48:30.230 --> 00:48:33.309
may have bad ideas. You know, when's not a time

00:48:33.309 --> 00:48:35.389
to mention that right then when somebody is talking

00:48:35.389 --> 00:48:36.489
about a breakthrough they're having with the

00:48:36.489 --> 00:48:39.289
Holy Spirit. Right. Yeah. Right. Yeah. When they're

00:48:39.289 --> 00:48:40.889
having a breakthrough with God, like healing

00:48:40.889 --> 00:48:43.429
something that's been a long held wound in their

00:48:43.429 --> 00:48:48.639
life. Yeah. Right. Yeah. That's it's just going

00:48:48.639 --> 00:48:50.960
back to the assassinating people's character

00:48:50.960 --> 00:48:53.039
from the Sermon on the Mount part one mm -hmm

00:48:53.039 --> 00:48:56.900
when we when we When we murder our brothers when

00:48:56.900 --> 00:48:58.960
we murder their reputation when we come after

00:48:58.960 --> 00:49:02.800
them as I get it's really problematic 100 % it's

00:49:02.800 --> 00:49:05.880
really problematic because you know all of us

00:49:05.880 --> 00:49:10.079
came from where we don't want to be and I'd say

00:49:10.079 --> 00:49:12.920
arguably none of us should be comfortable with

00:49:12.920 --> 00:49:16.769
where we are you know all of us should be you

00:49:16.769 --> 00:49:20.909
know, having that continual refinement and, you

00:49:20.909 --> 00:49:22.869
know, in our character and our walk with the

00:49:22.869 --> 00:49:25.349
Lord, you know, and our knowledge and understanding

00:49:25.349 --> 00:49:27.190
and everything. Right. We shouldn't just be like,

00:49:27.289 --> 00:49:32.230
okay, with where we are. And, uh, and we're all

00:49:32.230 --> 00:49:35.469
on a different part of the journey. Right. And

00:49:35.469 --> 00:49:40.130
so with whether someone is, you know, perceivably

00:49:40.130 --> 00:49:42.150
in our own understanding of right and wrong,

00:49:42.210 --> 00:49:44.670
whatever else, and have, you know, judgmental

00:49:44.670 --> 00:49:47.440
ways, right. Thinking, you know, hey, this person

00:49:47.440 --> 00:49:50.079
should be here and they're there, but God is

00:49:50.079 --> 00:49:51.980
still working on with them right here and they're

00:49:51.980 --> 00:49:54.199
bringing them from here to here just because

00:49:54.199 --> 00:49:56.840
you think they should be there, right? And God's

00:49:56.840 --> 00:49:58.719
intent, like, you know, it's like we're kind

00:49:58.719 --> 00:50:01.199
of like almost, it's hard to say it any other

00:50:01.199 --> 00:50:03.960
way, but like kind of like playing God and judge

00:50:03.960 --> 00:50:07.179
here, you know, in a way rather than seeing how

00:50:07.179 --> 00:50:09.579
God's working through their life and further

00:50:09.579 --> 00:50:11.440
refining them and bringing them through different

00:50:11.440 --> 00:50:13.280
situations to get them to where they're supposed

00:50:13.280 --> 00:50:17.400
to be. Yeah. I, we're in the, especially in American

00:50:17.400 --> 00:50:19.420
culture, we're much more Greek and Roman than

00:50:19.420 --> 00:50:21.400
we want to admit. Oh yeah. And we're trying to

00:50:21.400 --> 00:50:23.960
make gods in our image. Oh yeah. A hundred percent.

00:50:24.280 --> 00:50:26.079
Rather than recognizing that we're made in the

00:50:26.079 --> 00:50:32.679
image of God. Right. We, if this is, I, I think

00:50:32.679 --> 00:50:34.920
that if I said this out loud, most Christians

00:50:34.920 --> 00:50:37.500
would deny it. But I think if you actually look

00:50:37.500 --> 00:50:40.360
at the way that we live our faith, that it's

00:50:40.360 --> 00:50:44.059
confirmed in the way, what we do. we would prefer

00:50:44.059 --> 00:50:46.639
to be able to control God. Yeah, absolutely.

00:50:46.940 --> 00:50:49.099
And tell you what God is going to do and not

00:50:49.099 --> 00:50:51.420
do. A hundred percent. We definitely would love

00:50:51.420 --> 00:50:53.159
to tell you what God says is okay and not okay.

00:50:53.300 --> 00:50:56.559
Yeah. And like determining factor, this is black

00:50:56.559 --> 00:50:59.260
and white. Yeah. And Christians are wildly uncomfortable

00:50:59.260 --> 00:51:03.539
with gray. Yeah. I just don't think that that's

00:51:03.539 --> 00:51:05.880
where God is. He says, he says, listen, if you

00:51:05.880 --> 00:51:07.820
could see how much gray is in all of your lives,

00:51:07.880 --> 00:51:09.440
you'd know that if I wasn't okay with gray, I'd

00:51:09.440 --> 00:51:10.599
never get to spend any time with any of you.

00:51:11.440 --> 00:51:13.880
What we're going to do is I'm going to be with

00:51:13.880 --> 00:51:16.420
you. I'm going to walk with you. And first John

00:51:16.420 --> 00:51:19.340
is going to say that if we have, uh, if we walk

00:51:19.340 --> 00:51:21.559
in the light as he's in the light, then we have

00:51:21.559 --> 00:51:23.440
fellowship with one another. Then the blood of

00:51:23.440 --> 00:51:25.420
Christ purifies us from all unrighteousness.

00:51:25.880 --> 00:51:28.780
When does it happen? As we walk. Yeah. So coming

00:51:28.780 --> 00:51:30.300
back full circle to this thing that didn't have

00:51:30.300 --> 00:51:32.239
to do with our meeting or our podcast, right?

00:51:32.519 --> 00:51:34.809
Right. Why do you need to know the gospels? Why

00:51:34.809 --> 00:51:36.230
do you need to know the narrative? Because you

00:51:36.230 --> 00:51:37.889
need to understand how these stories fit together.

00:51:37.949 --> 00:51:39.730
Even as we're talking here in this story, like

00:51:39.730 --> 00:51:41.909
4 ,000 to 5 ,000, we didn't even talk about the

00:51:41.909 --> 00:51:44.469
fact that Jesus is being positioned as a second

00:51:44.469 --> 00:51:47.269
Moses. Correct. That, uh, there are, it's not

00:51:47.269 --> 00:51:50.170
in this one, but in other, uh, other gospels

00:51:50.170 --> 00:51:52.070
talk about, they sat him down in fifties and

00:51:52.070 --> 00:51:54.389
one hundreds. Yep. Right. Like we didn't even

00:51:54.389 --> 00:51:57.570
talk about that. Like, and so like, we just talked

00:51:57.570 --> 00:51:59.730
about this briefly, just like reading the story

00:51:59.730 --> 00:52:02.730
and actually reading what it says. Yep. Right.

00:52:03.030 --> 00:52:06.230
Exactly. What does it actually say? Well, who

00:52:06.230 --> 00:52:09.289
said what? Then who said what? Like who is the

00:52:09.289 --> 00:52:11.969
one instigating this, this event? Why is Jesus

00:52:11.969 --> 00:52:15.269
here? That 5 ,000 people are here. Exactly. Like

00:52:15.269 --> 00:52:17.110
these kinds of questions, like knowing these,

00:52:17.190 --> 00:52:18.869
like talking about these kinds of things are

00:52:18.869 --> 00:52:20.170
going to help you understand the narrative of

00:52:20.170 --> 00:52:22.050
what's going on because it actually informs the

00:52:22.050 --> 00:52:24.519
story. It does. And it also shows the orchestration

00:52:24.519 --> 00:52:26.320
of God, how he's working in ways that we don't

00:52:26.320 --> 00:52:29.360
often see or understand. And so I'm sure the

00:52:29.360 --> 00:52:33.400
disciples weren't thinking about, you know, how

00:52:33.400 --> 00:52:36.340
the purpose of going over there to cast Legion

00:52:36.340 --> 00:52:41.119
out. Right. to set the stage for a huge miracle.

00:52:41.300 --> 00:52:42.900
And they're just like, man, Jesus doesn't like

00:52:42.900 --> 00:52:46.900
demons or pigs, right? But really it's like,

00:52:46.900 --> 00:52:48.239
no, there's, there's, there's something where,

00:52:48.320 --> 00:52:50.219
uh, I don't know if God really has this intention

00:52:50.219 --> 00:52:52.000
of redeeming us all and bringing us all into

00:52:52.000 --> 00:52:54.539
tabernacle with him. And, uh, and they got this

00:52:54.539 --> 00:52:57.019
really cool, uh, miracle that's going to be put

00:52:57.019 --> 00:53:01.000
on display to confirm the, the inclusiveness

00:53:01.000 --> 00:53:03.559
of Jews and Gentiles and how it's all going to

00:53:03.559 --> 00:53:05.480
connect together and how now we can see both

00:53:05.480 --> 00:53:09.360
the 4 ,000, uh, you know, in the 5 ,000, you

00:53:09.360 --> 00:53:11.800
know, these are interconnected stories. They're

00:53:11.800 --> 00:53:15.920
not just for them and them, but it's, it's God

00:53:15.920 --> 00:53:18.320
bringing everything together. And like, there's

00:53:18.320 --> 00:53:20.780
this mirroring almost going on. And, and I would

00:53:20.780 --> 00:53:22.599
tell you that for a Christian, there is no us

00:53:22.599 --> 00:53:25.199
or them. Exactly. by the way, hear that, hear

00:53:25.199 --> 00:53:28.039
that in your politics. Yeah. Hear that in your

00:53:28.039 --> 00:53:31.199
patriotism. Yeah. Hear that in your, uh, when

00:53:31.199 --> 00:53:32.860
your enemies, your enemies are people that are

00:53:32.860 --> 00:53:35.320
just friends of you or they're, they're people

00:53:35.320 --> 00:53:36.500
that you're supposed to love. A house divided

00:53:36.500 --> 00:53:38.619
cannot stand. Yeah. And God does not promote

00:53:38.619 --> 00:53:40.940
division like that. Yeah. You know, sometimes

00:53:40.940 --> 00:53:42.420
in families, you gotta have hard conversations.

00:53:43.070 --> 00:53:45.630
but that's different. There's, but listen, family

00:53:45.630 --> 00:53:48.070
doesn't, does not get cut out. And so like, I

00:53:48.070 --> 00:53:50.010
just, these, these, these stories are cool and

00:53:50.010 --> 00:53:51.110
we're going to, we're going to, we're going to

00:53:51.110 --> 00:53:52.630
bring this in for a landing because I think we're

00:53:52.630 --> 00:53:55.090
over an hour again. Um, we'll see what happens

00:53:55.090 --> 00:53:56.610
when I actually cut it, but it'll probably end

00:53:56.610 --> 00:53:58.590
up being a little bit longer and people will

00:53:58.590 --> 00:54:00.250
just be like, Oh, Matthew Nunley's on. It's going

00:54:00.250 --> 00:54:04.530
to be a long episode. But, uh, But it's such

00:54:04.530 --> 00:54:06.650
a big deal that we see these stories. Because

00:54:06.650 --> 00:54:08.929
I think the tendency with 5 ,000 and 4 ,000,

00:54:08.949 --> 00:54:11.030
we get so focused on the miracle, we miss what

00:54:11.030 --> 00:54:13.010
God's doing in the middle of it. And just the

00:54:13.010 --> 00:54:16.570
setup, too. We miss the setup. And this goes

00:54:16.570 --> 00:54:18.170
back to our American Western culture anyways.

00:54:18.369 --> 00:54:20.530
It's like we have the end game in mind, right?

00:54:20.929 --> 00:54:23.190
We see everything from the end state. You know,

00:54:23.250 --> 00:54:26.130
like we make our aspirations usually aren't,

00:54:26.130 --> 00:54:28.769
well, I want to go to, you know, like we usually

00:54:28.769 --> 00:54:31.860
don't focus so much on like, you know. the process

00:54:31.860 --> 00:54:33.579
of getting where we want to go we just want to

00:54:33.579 --> 00:54:35.079
get to where we want to go and we got to get

00:54:35.079 --> 00:54:36.219
through what we got to get through to get to

00:54:36.219 --> 00:54:38.679
where we want to go and then we missed everything

00:54:38.679 --> 00:54:40.840
in between and everything that we missed and

00:54:40.840 --> 00:54:42.500
then now like we're looking back like oh man

00:54:42.500 --> 00:54:44.079
that was actually a really good time and i really

00:54:44.079 --> 00:54:45.920
wish i would have actually enjoyed that process

00:54:45.920 --> 00:54:48.960
you know in the moment rather than just having

00:54:48.960 --> 00:54:54.280
the hindsight 2020 retrospect of you know what

00:54:54.280 --> 00:54:59.190
i had i have two kids six and four And there

00:54:59.190 --> 00:55:02.670
are times, like, so my son and I say six, and

00:55:02.670 --> 00:55:04.550
you're like, man, that's young. And I was like,

00:55:04.570 --> 00:55:07.570
yeah, but I remember when he fit here. Right?

00:55:07.809 --> 00:55:10.269
Yeah. And that never goes away. It never goes

00:55:10.269 --> 00:55:12.590
away. No matter how old your kids are. And the

00:55:12.590 --> 00:55:19.550
thing is that, can you imagine if, like, I didn't

00:55:19.550 --> 00:55:23.210
treasure that time? Yeah. I didn't take a thousand

00:55:23.210 --> 00:55:25.670
pictures. 10 ,000 pictures is what it feels like.

00:55:25.730 --> 00:55:29.369
I was like, that time doesn't come back. No,

00:55:29.369 --> 00:55:32.130
it doesn't. And, and now like the reality is

00:55:32.130 --> 00:55:34.070
my son is six. I don't want to go back to him

00:55:34.070 --> 00:55:36.949
being a baby. Right. I mean, there are, there

00:55:36.949 --> 00:55:38.530
are times when it'd be nice to be able to just

00:55:38.530 --> 00:55:41.110
pick him up. But, but the reality is I, I enjoy

00:55:41.110 --> 00:55:43.730
who he is becoming. Exactly. And I want to know

00:55:43.730 --> 00:55:45.650
him. I want to know who he's becoming and where

00:55:45.650 --> 00:55:48.090
he's going. The, uh, I wrote about this in my

00:55:48.090 --> 00:55:51.849
book. Um, one of the hardest things about, um,

00:55:52.010 --> 00:56:00.400
parenting. Yeah. is um is watching your kids

00:56:00.400 --> 00:56:06.659
grow up right and uh the best thing about parenting

00:56:06.659 --> 00:56:09.679
is watching your kids grow up yeah yeah so the

00:56:09.679 --> 00:56:11.300
worst and the best thing are the exact same thing

00:56:11.300 --> 00:56:14.119
exactly i was like because there you can't get

00:56:14.119 --> 00:56:16.139
time back that you have and so like learning

00:56:16.139 --> 00:56:20.039
to treasure the moment i um I think we've had

00:56:20.039 --> 00:56:21.559
this conversation and you can share a little

00:56:21.559 --> 00:56:23.679
bit is like, is like, I am excited for the day

00:56:23.679 --> 00:56:25.559
that I get to join Jesus in heaven. Oh yeah,

00:56:25.619 --> 00:56:30.039
absolutely. But I'm, I'm also looking here and

00:56:30.039 --> 00:56:34.519
I'm like, is this the time? like for my kids,

00:56:34.519 --> 00:56:36.260
when, when I'm crawling around and learning how

00:56:36.260 --> 00:56:38.400
to walk and all those kinds of things, is this

00:56:38.400 --> 00:56:40.460
the time that God is going to treasure? And then

00:56:40.460 --> 00:56:42.500
I'm going to treasure looking back on the fact

00:56:42.500 --> 00:56:44.619
that I like this life is when I got to know my

00:56:44.619 --> 00:56:47.480
father and my father got to know me so that as

00:56:47.480 --> 00:56:51.340
I graduate and I want to try to cut it short,

00:56:51.440 --> 00:56:55.840
maybe I should just learn to enjoy every moment

00:56:55.840 --> 00:56:58.519
of it right now. Right now. It's really good.

00:56:58.619 --> 00:57:04.010
Yeah. Cause, uh, It really is. It gives a perspective

00:57:04.010 --> 00:57:06.550
that, you know, a lot of people, and there's

00:57:06.550 --> 00:57:08.250
a lot of people that do struggle with just the

00:57:08.250 --> 00:57:11.789
harshness of life and whatnot, you know, but

00:57:11.789 --> 00:57:16.750
just like anything else, there's a purpose. Yeah.

00:57:16.909 --> 00:57:19.670
There's a growing, there's a, there's, there

00:57:19.670 --> 00:57:23.969
is always good, even in the midst of chaos and

00:57:23.969 --> 00:57:25.869
destruction and everything else. And God uses

00:57:25.869 --> 00:57:29.869
everything. Yeah. You know, and. And yeah, no,

00:57:29.989 --> 00:57:37.730
it's, it's, it's really something worth looking

00:57:37.730 --> 00:57:42.349
at and, and slowing down and kind of taking a

00:57:42.349 --> 00:57:45.190
step back and seeing the parallels, you know,

00:57:45.210 --> 00:57:48.010
like God is, he's given us imagery of marriage

00:57:48.010 --> 00:57:50.909
throughout the Bible. He's given us imagery of,

00:57:50.969 --> 00:57:55.309
you know, parenthood with our, you know, relationship

00:57:55.309 --> 00:57:59.260
and everything else. I just always think about

00:57:59.260 --> 00:58:02.199
how excited I was to be an adult. And then when

00:58:02.199 --> 00:58:04.159
I was an adult, I'm like, I'm so glad I spent

00:58:04.159 --> 00:58:07.119
time being a kid. Yeah, exactly. You know, there

00:58:07.119 --> 00:58:09.679
are good things to look forward to, but there

00:58:09.679 --> 00:58:14.139
are good things to enjoy now. Yeah. So with that

00:58:14.139 --> 00:58:16.079
being said, if you got kids, go spend some time

00:58:16.079 --> 00:58:18.099
with your kids. 100%. Spend some time with your

00:58:18.099 --> 00:58:20.199
wife. Spend time with people who you value and

00:58:20.199 --> 00:58:23.099
who value you. Go and take that feeling that

00:58:23.099 --> 00:58:24.880
you get when you spend time with them and carry

00:58:24.880 --> 00:58:27.380
it to a world that's broken. Yeah. Be interruptible.

00:58:27.719 --> 00:58:30.280
A hundred percent. Read the Bible, hear it in

00:58:30.280 --> 00:58:32.780
the context and see these stories of Jesus and

00:58:32.780 --> 00:58:34.900
actually put like, understand like where these

00:58:34.900 --> 00:58:37.380
stories are going. Like keep joining us on this

00:58:37.380 --> 00:58:39.099
journey. We love it. We're going to keep going

00:58:39.099 --> 00:58:40.679
through the life of Jesus. We're not going to

00:58:40.679 --> 00:58:42.760
share every story because I think that podcast

00:58:42.760 --> 00:58:45.820
season would be like 80 ,000 episodes long. There's

00:58:45.820 --> 00:58:46.980
so many things that we want to talk about even

00:58:46.980 --> 00:58:50.000
today that we haven't even gotten into. But I

00:58:50.000 --> 00:58:53.420
also really want to reinforce, I think it's important.

00:58:53.659 --> 00:58:56.079
Be interruptible. Like when I learned to be.

00:58:56.900 --> 00:58:58.940
interruptible that has been one of the single

00:58:58.940 --> 00:59:08.900
most positively impactful experiences of actually

00:59:08.900 --> 00:59:11.360
living out a christian walk that just took my

00:59:11.360 --> 00:59:14.440
relationship with god to a different level uh

00:59:14.440 --> 00:59:18.300
was when i started to learn to allow god to interrupt

00:59:18.300 --> 00:59:22.059
me as horrible as that is to say it's just the

00:59:22.059 --> 00:59:25.679
reality of it you know like His will be done,

00:59:25.719 --> 00:59:29.820
not mine. So let yourself be interrupted, everyone.

00:59:30.179 --> 00:59:33.039
When God's moving, like it's going to work out.

00:59:33.119 --> 00:59:35.039
And sometimes we're asked to make sacrifices.

00:59:35.119 --> 00:59:36.860
Sometimes we're asked to miss out on certain

00:59:36.860 --> 00:59:42.360
things. But it's everything that when we're letting

00:59:42.360 --> 00:59:46.840
God lead us, it is 100 % to accomplish his purpose,

00:59:46.920 --> 00:59:49.519
his will. And ultimately it's for our good and

00:59:49.519 --> 00:59:52.039
his glory. And that is so much more valuable.

00:59:52.920 --> 00:59:59.760
than whatever, you know, natural thing that you're

00:59:59.760 --> 01:00:02.579
focused on. So many of these stories that we

01:00:02.579 --> 01:00:04.980
just covered today are about Jesus being interrupted.

01:00:05.400 --> 01:00:08.460
Exactly. Right? The temple's there. Well, so

01:00:08.460 --> 01:00:10.519
like, he gets interrupted when he's going to

01:00:10.519 --> 01:00:12.860
go try to go to a quiet place. He sends his disciples

01:00:12.860 --> 01:00:14.679
across. He's walking across the water. They interrupt

01:00:14.679 --> 01:00:17.239
him as he's on a stroll. Yeah, exactly. He gets

01:00:17.239 --> 01:00:19.079
to where he's going. The Pharisees come and interrupt

01:00:19.079 --> 01:00:23.039
him to test him on the law. He's walking to teach

01:00:23.039 --> 01:00:26.159
people in Geraset, right? And this Canaanite

01:00:26.159 --> 01:00:29.360
woman interrupts him. And he's like, yes! Right?

01:00:29.960 --> 01:00:34.300
Like, uh, allow the kingdom to break through.

01:00:34.380 --> 01:00:36.159
Exactly. And that's how you make divine appointments.

01:00:36.239 --> 01:00:37.880
We've all heard the term divine appointment.

01:00:37.900 --> 01:00:39.260
It was a divine appointment of God. Correct.

01:00:39.960 --> 01:00:42.119
That you met because you allowed yourself to

01:00:42.119 --> 01:00:44.969
be interrupted. Yeah. All right. Well, we're

01:00:44.969 --> 01:00:47.349
going to cut it there. This has been a fun episode

01:00:47.349 --> 01:00:50.489
of Love and Context. And you can find us at loveandcontext

01:00:50.489 --> 01:00:52.909
.gmail .com or you can contact us there. You

01:00:52.909 --> 01:00:54.610
can find us at Love and Context on almost every

01:00:54.610 --> 01:00:57.050
social media platform when I remember to post

01:00:57.050 --> 01:01:02.650
clips. And then... We love emails to be at...

01:01:03.279 --> 01:01:06.519
Bencer. Yes. I have gotten some emails from somebody

01:01:06.519 --> 01:01:12.239
that say to Bencer. So Matthew, thanks for being

01:01:12.239 --> 01:01:14.139
with us and we'll catch up with you guys next

01:01:14.139 --> 01:01:18.349
time. God bless you. And that's a wrap for today's

01:01:18.349 --> 01:01:21.170
episode of Love and Context. We hope this conversation

01:01:21.170 --> 01:01:23.630
encouraged you and gave you fresh insights into

01:01:23.630 --> 01:01:25.909
how we can better love God and others through

01:01:25.909 --> 01:01:28.489
the powerful truths of the Bible. We'd love to

01:01:28.489 --> 01:01:30.289
hear from you. Send your questions, thoughts,

01:01:30.469 --> 01:01:33.670
or suggestions to loveandcontext at gmail .com.

01:01:33.829 --> 01:01:36.030
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01:01:36.030 --> 01:01:38.710
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01:01:38.710 --> 01:01:40.730
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01:01:40.730 --> 01:01:43.130
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01:01:45.690 --> 01:01:48.469
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01:01:50.690 --> 01:01:52.250
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01:01:52.530 --> 01:01:54.969
Remember, love is at the heart of it all. Until

01:01:54.969 --> 01:01:57.230
next time, keep seeking wisdom, embracing love,

01:01:57.349 --> 01:01:59.070
and living out your faith in today's world.